History of Censorship in Ireland

DESCRIPTION: Independent Western European nation with a predominantly Roman Catholic population

SIGNIFICANCE: Ireland’s moral conservatism and resistance to foreign influences are reflected in government efforts to suppress the serious literature of modern world writers

The moral ethics of Ireland’s government, strongly influenced by Roman Catholic values, are most effectively demonstrated in the Censorship of Films Act of 1926 and the Censorship of Publications Act of 1929. The Irish theater was not rigorously subjected to censorship before the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Although cases of unofficial censorship of the theater took place before the Censorship of Films Act was passed, official censorship of the theater had not existed and did not become a significant political issue in the Irish Free State.

The Censorship of Publications Act (1929) authorized the banning of publications deemed indecent or obscene, including those considered to promote immoral or socially harmful behavior, such as advocacy of birth control. The most distinctive feature of the law was its provision for a censorship board of five members appointed by the minister of justice. Their duty was to assess the suitability of publications circulating in the nation. Once a publication was banned, its publication, importation, or distribution was prohibited in Ireland.

The Censorship of Publications Act was modified twice after 1929. Provision for an appeal board was incorporated in 1946. Although this legislation liberalized the act, it had little real impact because of the small number of appeals brought before the board. In 1967, the length of a ban was limited to twelve years. However, the impact of this modification was also limited because provision for re-banning publications was also incorporated into the act. The greatest impact of the 1967 legislation was the automatic removal of several thousand publications from the government’s Register of Prohibited Publications. The Censorship of Publications Act was further modified in 1979 when the Irish Parliament passed the Health Act. This act removed the Censorship Board’s authority to ban literature advocating birth control.

Proponents and Opponents of Censorship

After World War I, several nations advocated government regulation of obscene publications. The formation of the Committee of Inquiry on Evil Literature in Ireland in 1926 was a response to a global trend in censorship of indecent publications. Ireland’s censorship law, however, represented more than a government’s effort to restrict pornography. Before Ireland achieved its independence in 1922, British Statutes regulated the publication of literature in Ireland. The establishment of the Irish Free State that year generated a Gaelic cultural revival in which Irish national identity was defined around the Roman Catholic religion and the country’s early Gaelic culture. This was evident in the “Irish Ireland” movement, which advocated government-sponsored protection from foreign influences. This movement’s philosophy was rooted in the assumption that Ireland could retain its unique qualities only through cultural isolation. Ireland’s Catholic government accepted responsibility for protecting the public from external influences, particularly those from England.

Public support for censorship was generated by Irish vigilante societies. Catholic activists, particularly the Catholic Truth Society, campaigned for censorship. Several Irish journals, including The Catholic Bulletin and The Irish Rosary, published articles condoning censorship. In addition, the Roman Catholic church itself lobbied the government to regulate literature. Many Irish politicians advocated censorship. Éamon de Valera, who was Taoiseach of the Free State in 1932, considered censorship a necessary tool to achieve national purity.

Opposition to the Censorship of Publications Act began before the bill even became law. Several writers objected to it out of fear that it would stifle intellectual life. Authors William B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and George Russell—whose work was later censored—opposed the act because they believed it was part of an effort to restrict individual freedom. Opposition to the act culminated in the establishment of the Irish Academy of Letters in 1932. Founded to protect Irish writers from censorship, the academy was largely unsuccessful in its efforts.

Censorship in Action

The Censorship of Publications Act legitimized the unofficial censorship that existed before it became law in Ireland. The xenophobia and cultural puritanism evident in unofficial censorship were apparent in the actions of the Censorship Board. Books containing references to sexual activity and birth control were banned. Novels by European and American writers were also prohibited. In addition, foreign periodicals and the work of many modern Irish writers were barred. Nude images were deemed indecent and removed from public display in locations such as the National Gallery.

The Censorship Board was aided by Catholic societies and customs officials. The board banned literature based on the recommendations of Catholic activists and relied on customs officials to seize banned books published in foreign countries upon their arrival in Ireland. Writers whose work was censored became stigmatized. A moralism dominated Irish society so much between the 1930s and the 1950s that anyone objecting to censorship risked both public and private persecution. The supplies of libraries and bookstores shrank until only literature relating to religion and Irish culture was available to the Irish reading public.

The rigor of censorship began to lessen in the 1940s. Controversy over the banning of Tailor and Antsy (1942) by the English scientist Eric Cross escalated into a serious debate on censorship policy and resulted in the establishment of an Appeal Board in 1946. However, the work of Irish, American, and European writers continued to be banned in the post-war period. Approximately 1,034 publications were banned by 1954.

The 1950s and 1960s were a period of political change in Ireland. This is demonstrated by the changing attitudes toward censorship. An investigation of the Censorship Board in 1956 resulted in the appointment of two members to the board. The new Fianna Fáil Minister of Justice appointed three additional members to the board a short time later. The changing social values of Ireland were evident in the new board’s attempts to limit its duties to the regulation of offensive literature. As Ireland modernized, censorship and authoritarian control could not fight foreign influences.

Although a growing part of Ireland’s modern reading public has become familiar with modern literature, a restrictive mentality has remained in the country. The government’s Register of Prohibited Publications contained four thousand titles in 1970. The Censorship of Publications Act remained law, and additional literature continued to be banned in Ireland more than in any other Western European nation.

Twenty-First Century

While the Film Censorship Board moved into a new role as the film classification office and focused more on rating films than deciding whether they should be shown at all, Ireland’s reputation for banning books and periodicals continued into the twenty-first century. The Censorship Board officially still prohibits “indecent or obscene” publications. In the late twentieth century, publications related to abortion and contraception were frequently subject to censorship, although such bans became rare by the 2020s since abortion was legalized in Ireland in 2018 following a constitutional referendum. The Fianna Fáil attempted to abolish the Censorship Board in 2013, but was not successful.

Between 1930 and 2016, the censorship board banned over 12,000 publications. Ireland also introduced a law against blasphemy in 2009, but the offense was removed following a 2018 referendum and formally repealed in 2020. In November 2023, the government began drafting legislation to repeal the Censorship of Publications Act after the Department of Justice found it irrelevant in modern society. The repeal aimed to dissolve the Censorship of Publications Board and the Appeal Board. At the time of the decision, the Register of Prohibited Publications contained nine books and 264 periodicals. In the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, Ireland dropped six places to eighth position. The decline was attributed to judicial intimidation by politicians and legal actions against journalists and media outlets.

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