Biography:

Founded in 1981in Philadelphia by Publisher Anthony R.Byrne, Managing EditorNancy Mortimer, and Associate Editor Jane Duffin, the Irish Edition was intended to meet the perceived demand for local coverage on Irish and Irish-American affairs, which were not adequately represented in existing newspapers. An early editorial listed the paper’s goals as being, “To sustain and enrich the American Irish tradition....To increase communication about Irish affairs here and ‘in the land we left’....To encourage and record in words and pictures the current local Irish experience.” An additional goal of the publishers appears to have been to dispel commonly held beliefs and myths about the nature of Irish ancestry and culture: the paper strives to eliminate the popular misconception of “Irishness” as epitomized by green beer and shamrocks.