Border identities in Galway and Derry

The introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in 1912 to the House of Commons created further tension between the unionist and nationalist communities in Ireland. This tension was described that year by the Times journalist William Flauvelle Monypenny as more than a political dispute; instead, during the nineteenth century, the country had split into "Two Irelands". Monypenny described two communities which existed separately and with completely different histories. This was particularly evident in the press at the time. This article examines the growing alienation of religious minorities in Galway and Derry in 1912, through a close reading of the unionist Galway Express and nationalist Derry Journal newspapers respectively. These provincial newspapers represented a minority community or opinion within their wider geographical area, at odds with the political and cultural background of the majority of the local population. Over the year, articles in these papers illustrated the growing unease of these minority border communities as more extreme opinions began to take hold in the Home Rule debate.