The Cork Gazette and General Advertiser was published between 1790 and 1797, initially by John and James Jones, though the latter died in December 1790, printing being carried on by "Jones & Co." The printing of the paper was taken over in 1795 by John Swiney (1773-1844), who appended the banner "Magna est Veritas et Praevalebit" (Great is Truth, and It Must Prevail), a reflection of the radical sympathies of the proprietor. From its inception, the paper was edited by Denis Driscol (1762-1811), a former priest who returned from the continent and converted to Protestantism, becoming a curate at the French Reformed Church in Cork. Dismissed from his position, he steered the paper towards an outspoken advocacy of the values of the French Revolution, while also reflecting his links with the United Irishmen. In April 1794 he was convicted of seditious libel, being unsuccessfully defended by the Sheares Brothers and Thomas Addis Emmet. Though he returned to the editorship of the paper after his release from prison, an impending prosecution led to him accepting a deal to close the paper, and he subsequently emigrated to the United States.
The Cork Gazette and General Advertiser was published twice-weekly, on Wednesday and Saturday.
Special Collections holds 123 issues of The Cork Gazette from 14 April 1792 to 16 September 1797 (the final issue).
These are contained in
(i) A sequence of issues from 19 May to 26 December 1792, bound with issues from the same year of The Hibernian Chronicle and The New Cork Evening Post. The bound volume contains 52 of the 63 issues for this period. In addition, there are 11 loose issues for 1792 (also available on microfilm). Between them, the following issues are available:
2 June, 6 June, 9 June (2nd copy), 13 June, 16 June, 20 June, 23 June, 27 June, 30 June;
4 July, 11 July, 14 July (2nd copy), 18 July (2nd copy), 25 July (2nd copy), 28 July;
1 August, 4 August, 8 August, 11 August, 15 August, 18 August, 22 August, 25 August, 29 August;
1 September, 5 September, 8 September, 15 September, 19 September, 22 September, 26 September, 29 September;
3 October, 6 October, 10 October, 13 October, 17 October, 20 October, 24 October, 27 October, 31 October;
3 November, 7 November, 10 November, 17 November, 21 November (2nd copy), 24 November, 28 November (2nd copy);
1 December, 5 December, 8 December, 12 December, 15 December, 19 December, 22 December and 26 December.
(ii) Additional loose issues (also available on microfilm) are available for:
1793: 16 January, 23 February and 20 April.
1794: 4 January.
(iii) For 1797, there are 11 loose issues (also available on microfilm), and Special Collections also holds a bound volume with issues from 18 March to 16 September 1797. This contains 46 of the 54 issues for this period. Between them, the following issues are available:
4 January, 7 January, 11 January, 18 January, 25 January;
8 February, 11 February, 22 February, 25 February;
1 March, 4 March, 11 March, 15 March, 18 March, 22 March, 25 March, 29 March;
1 April, 5 April, 8 April, 12 April, 15 April, 19 April, 22 April, 26 April, 29 April;
3 May, 10 May, 13 May, 20 May, 27 May;
3 June, 7 June, 10 June, 14 June, 17 June, 21 June, 24 June;
1 July, 5 July, 8 July, 12 July, 15 July, 19 July, 22 July, 26 July, 29 July;
9 August, 12 August, 16 August, 19 August, 26 August, 30 August;
2 September, 6 September, 13 September, and 16 September (final issue).
Other holdings
The National Library of Ireland holds issues from June 1790 to August 1797. Additionally, Cork County Libraries hold a microfilm (from a British Library original) for 1795.
A fuller list of the issues of The Cork Gazette held in Special Collections is available here:
McElroy, Martin. "Denis Driscol," Dictionary of Irish Biography.
Smith, Jim. The Men of No Property: Irish Radicals and Popular Politics in the late Eighteenth Century. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1992.
