The first issue of Greann, one of the earliest known Irish comics, was released in 1934, published in Drogheda by Irish patriot, Joseph Stanley, and made available across Ireland. James Bacon investigates…
1934 was a good year for comics internationally. In the United States, comic readers enjoyed the debut of strips such as Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon and Lee Falk and Fred Fredericks’ Mandrake the Magician, among others, both distributed by by King Features Syndicate in US Sunday newspapers, and Famous Funnies #1 published by Eastern Color Printing, an early American comic sold on newsstands, in the same format still used today by major US comic publishers. In mainland Europe, Le petit Vingtième published the first episode of the Tintin story, “The Blue Lotus”, by Hergè, while in Italy, he first issue of the Italian comics magazine L’Avventuroso was published, which survived until May 1943.
Into the widening world of comic books came Ireland’s own Greann, making its debut on with an issue cover dated Friday 6th July 1934. Its simple masthead shows two children and a dog reading a comic next to the title. Its fictional editor Uncle Seamus soon tells us that “Greann is pronounced like the first half of Granny and is the Gaelic word for ‘Fun’.”
“Barney the Bawk”, an adventurous young baker, is the front cover text comic, and, as with British comics of the same period, such as Comic Cuts, the sequential images have the narrative underneath them.
The weekly 16-page black and white comic, released every Friday and costing One Penny (No Tax), contains a variety of text comic stories, including: “Barney the Bawk”, “Bid’s Butterfly Bothers”, “The Frightening Fate of Fergus the Face-Maker”, “Taispeanann Luirgna Fad Do Seamus Conas Tomadh Do Deanaimh” (“Long Shanks Shows Seamus how to Dive”), “The adventures of Daithi and Nuala” (the tales of a pair of anthropomorphic mice), and “The Cats – whose adventures we follow”.
These are children’s humorous stories of the time: simplistic fun, that present a full story, some would continue with fresh episodes each issue, others are one off. The single page “Taisbeánann Luirgne Fada do Sheámus Connus Tomadh do Dhéunamh” shows a youngster being shown how to dive, although it is to comic effect and it is in Sean Chló, the older typescript for Irish, and credited to Doiminic mac Uidhir.
Also included in each issue are a selection of puzzle challenges and entertainments such as “Can You Discover Where Our Crazy Artist Went Wrong?”, “A Corner For Grown Ups” and an “Unfinished Drawing and Colouring Competition”.
The Origins of Greann
The first issue includes a long editorial introduction from Uncle Seamus, which establishes an element of kindhearted fun and helps us understand the genesis of the comic and the editor’s mission:
UNCLE SEAMUS TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF IRELAND. HOW YOU CAME TO HAVE “GREANN.”
Some time ago I noticed a little Dublin boy looking into a newsagent’s shop window.
He was acting very strangely. First he would look in the window then he would go to the door and look into the shop. Back he would go to the window, go down on one knee and twist his head on one side in a funny way.
I went over to see what he was looking at. I found it was the front page of a comic picture paper that had fallen down and was lying crumpled up at the bottom of the window.
“Why don’t you buy the paper?” I asked him “Then you could read it all.”
He searched his pockets, all seven of them. At last he produced two half-pennies one of them from the lining in a far away corner of his coat
That’s all I have,” he he said, “and they’re twopence now – with the tax” “I used to buy that one (pointing to the paper in the window) every week but sure I can’t now”
I gave him the extra penny and you should see how happy he was as he dashed into the shop and proudly demanded his favourite paper.
“Then and there, I decided that it ought to be possible to let Irish boys and girls have an Irish picture paper at a penny the same as and girls of other countries.”
“And that’s how you come to have GREANN. GREANN IS OUT FOR FUN.”
This is quite a thoughtful introduction, demonstrating generosity and charity, but also mindful that foreign comics cost more, and that Irish children deserve an Irish newspaper at the same cost that English children would pay. The editors also remind the reader that “Greann (pronounced like the first half of Granny) is the Gaelic word for Fun – as I need scarcely tell most you who are learning Irish at School.”
This is clever stuff, clearly noting the cost – an issue relevant to many readers – as well as promoting national pride.
Reader engagement was always important with comics, and indeed, could change the direction and influence editorial decisions, and Uncle Seamus encouraged people to get in touch:
“WRITE TO UNCLE SEAMUS – So don’t be shy about sending me a little letter to say if you prefer Barney the Bawk letters to “Dathi and Nuala.”
There is the element of word-of-mouth as readers are asked:
And there’s another way you can help. Tell all your friends and playmates who may not have seen it about Greann. Get them to buy it every week, and spread the news about it to their friends and playmates.” Uncle Seamus further presses the nationalist angle noting, “together-we can make Greann better and better. And Irish children can have an Irish picture paper which they will be proud of as their very own.
Returning to the example of kindness, Uncle Seamus also mentions “that there are lots of little Irish boys and girls that haven’t even a penny to buy Greann – and they’d love to read it just as much as you.” and he encourages children to be kindly, and generous, and suggests that “You can pass on your copy of GREANN to some boy or girl when you have finished with it.”
A contact address is supplied, post welcomed to “Greann” 31/32 Fair Street, Drogheda, with a telephone number of Drogheda 70, and printed by the Drogheda Independent, located at 9 Shop Street, Drogheda.
In Issue 3, we have some new stories, another single-page story as Gaeilge, “Dearmhad Bhráin” – Bran’s Mistake – by Sean Óg, “Mickey Gets Muddled” and “Sean’s Birthday Present.”
The seed that was sown in the first issue bears fruit and in Issue 3 features lists of winners of the picture painting and unfinished design competition with commendations, as well as a thank you editorial from Uncle Seamus.
In Issue 4 we see a story as Gaeilge, which is problematic for a modern reader as it contains an outdated portrayal of a black child and relies on skin colour for humour; “Páid Dubh Fiosrach – Inquisitive Black Patrick.” For clarity, the story follows the following structure and narrative:
We see a depiction of a black child walking, in football gear and the text tells us:
- Panel 1: Inquisitive Páid is walking one day
- Panel 2: He sees a ladder against a wall (with some builders’ scaffold)
- Panel 3: He interfered with it, (we see a bag of white powder fall) and instead of being black he was white
- Panel 4: He was sorry, but he learnt a lesson
- Panel 5: He saw black things in a bag on the same day (might be coal)
- Panel 6: He rubbed his face and hands with them, and now he is delighted.
Such racially-based humour would be considered racist today, just as with the African prince in the first The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, first published in 1920, which was later re-edited by his son, Chris Lofting, to remove its contentious passages.
Such casual racism, anathema today, isn’t an isolated event. In a later issue, Barney the Bawk is at a fancy dress in a “Red Indian” costume which is the cause of “humour” when he returns to work. There is also a “Cats” story, where they are playing games in old coal bags and all the cats end up being black and cannot tell the white cat Lilly apart from them.
Issue 6 sees that the mail has caught up with publications and we have a slew of Uncle Seamus replies and the launch of “The Greann League”, with its own merchandise and badges. Subsequently, offices of the League are opened, located wherever readers offer to host them.
Some of the comic strips in Greann were imported. “Moloney Falls”, a stand-alone cartoon in Issue 8 for example, has the signature of A. G. Badert, aka Albert-Georges Badert, who at this time had been drawing illustrations for Offenstadt publications such as Parisiana.
In Issue 9 we see “Daithi and Nuala” is signed by G. Th. Rotman, aka Gerrit Theodoor Rotman (31st January 1893 – 23rd October 1944), an acclaimed early Dutch comic pioneer, much respected today, who initially learnt his craft by following a written course in Illustrative Drawing by Harry Rowntree.
The Lambiek Comiclopedia notes that Rotman’s first comic, then called a ‘picture-story’ was “Snuffelgraag en Knagelijntje”. Telling the adventures of a brother and sister mouse the series, written by Arie Pleijsier, first appeared in the Dutch socialist periodical Voorwaarts in 1924, and soon became very popular, not only among the very young readers. For reasons unknown, Rotman fell out with Voorwaarts in 1927, moving to the Christelijke Nationale Dagbladen, and the comic was continued by Albert Funke Küpper.
The series was also translated into English and French and syndicated widely, not only featuring in Greann, but in Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland and Yugoslavia. You can find some examples of the strip as originally published here.
“The Only Irish Comic”
Irish elements permeate Greann, however, so we get “Dan Donovan from Ballymacwhack”, and the prose story “The Monster of Lough Lurgan,” and “Na Liopracain,” while we also have the creation of Mad Meehaul, the artist, who features as a humorous relief that is utilised to engage with children.
That the comic stories were coming from elsewhere is often more obvious. In one issue, we see a group of anthropomorphic animals, Seamus, Sean and Saoirse, who are a regular strip in Greann, albeit the strip just starting with just Seamus and Sean. The outline of speech bubbles is visible, and actually look like clouds, except in Issue 10, where one set of words was missed, leaving a speech bubble with “moi!” in it.
By Issue 17, children are being offered “over 200 pages of fun for a shilling,” in volume 1, number 1 to 13 collected and available for a shilling from “Greann” in Fair Street, Drogheda, or 1’2 by post.
The paper had changed in Issue 15, and again in Issue 18, being more pink and also larger, and now states “The Only Irish Comic” on its front page; this was still 1d on the issue cover dated Friday 2nd November 1934. With this new format, some comics changed size, increasing, while others, such as ‘Seamus, Sean and Saoirse’, are centred, allowing the page to be shared, and the margins containing the “Uncle Seamus Replies”, results of competitions and new league offices. Noticeably, the increase in page dimensions brought a decrease in page count, and the comic is now only eight pages! Quite a reduction down from sixteen.
Issue 25 advertises Greann Christmas Cards, 12 for 6d, another method to generate income. But signs of trouble are there – fewer pages for the same amount, cheaper printing, etc. Comic book readers of today will know the signs, and indeed, on Friday 1st March 1935, Volume 3, Issue 33 we get the sad news:
UNCLE SEAMUS TALKS – THIS IS LAST ISSUE OF GREANN
Uncle Seamus is more sorry than he can say to announce the bad news to his nieces and nephews that this is the last issue of Greann. Uncle Seamus had earnestly hoped that it would have been possible to continue Greann as a fortnightly.
But unfortunately, the sales have not been sufficient to meet the expenses of continuing our little paper. It is a great pity because Uncle Seamus is convinced that it would be better for Irish children if they had an Irish paper of their own.
To the many loyal nieces and nephews who supported Greann and the Greann League, Uncle Seamus, sends his very best thanks: As he said before, it is not their fault that Greann cannot continue.
He has had so many letters from them expressing their sorrow that Greann was not being supported that it would be impossible to reply to them all. But each and everyone of them will always have a warm spot in the heart of
UNCLE SEAMUS
Bringing to an end – until we find an earlier one – Ireland’s first comic.
Sinn Fein Connections
With thirty-three issues in all, these Volume 1, Issue 1 from the 6th July, 1934, to Volume 3, issue 33, 1st March 1935, are bound into a single volume in the National Library of Ireland. The first issue is incomplete, suffering some damage at some stage, but these comics are available to see and read, which is incredible.
The perennial issue of comic book printing and distribution, an issue continued today with the bankruptcy of Diamond Comics in 2025, triggered legal action being taken in the courts in 1934. This event offers considerable insight into the operation of Grann, as reported in the Drogheda Independent on Saturday 22nd December, 1934:
PRINTING ACCOUNT AND COUNTERCLAIM. Printing: of Irish Comic Weekly. Owen J. (Belton,. Receiver, and ‘The Examiner,’ Press Ltd., 68 Clanbrassil St., Dundalk, Printers, were plaintiffs and Joseph M. Stanley, Fair Street, Drogheda, Publisher, defendant in a civil bill for £17 15s. balance due for printing, work and labour done by plaintiffs.
This legal matter, while unfortunate, helps us understand a considerable amount about the publishers, as it centred on the printing and distribution of Greann. The issue at hand was that:
Defendant owed £17 15s. to the paper for the printing of “Greann” a weekly Irish comic for children as well as for letter-heads, certificates and things like that.
Joseph M. Stanley, Fair Street, Drogheda, brought a civil bill against Owen J. (Belton, Receiver), and the ‘Examiner’ Press Ltd., Clanbrassil St., Dundalk, for £25 for damage for breach of contract… the defendants… contracted with the plaintiff to print weekly the issue of a paper called “Greann” and to deliver some in accordance with the plaintiff’s instructions. They failed to carry out these instructions with regard to issue number 3 of the said paper resulting in loss and damage to the plaintiff. The defendants without giving proper notice to the plaintiff refused to print issue number 10 of said paper resulting in loss and damage to the plaintiffs.
The Examiner was engaged to print the comic, but with issue No 3, things went wrong, being sent by rail as “Returned News” instead of the correct form and “An incident like that would have a terrible effect on a new publication starting off, and showed great negligence on the part of the ‘Examiner’ officials.”
Joseph Stanley, the plaintiff, swore he was proprietor of Greann, which started publication in July of this year. Number 2 issue was the first one printed by the “Examiner.” The “copy” was to be supplied on a Thursday and the paper was to have been printed and delivered to the wholesalers on the following Tuesday. There might have been a little latitude until Wednesday morning. The paper was then sold to the children on Friday. The papers were to have been dispatched by the quickest service which would obviously be by passenger train to places like Limerick, Cork, Galway and Belfast.
Returned news is a cheaper rate of transportation, and also less prompt, and Stanley had to pay the difference, and there was subsequently an issue with the fourth edition, which was about to go by goods train only for an intervention. The court reporting includes some sales data:
In the number 3 issue there were 6,500 copies printed, and the returns were 3,140. Fifty per cent of the issue was unsold as a result of the late delivery. This would, of course, affect the subsequent sales of a newspaper especially when the readers were children. It lies largely with the wholesalers to make or mar a paper and wholesalers having the impression that Irish publishers do not keep to schedule, he was trying from the beginning to disabuse that idea by keeping to schedule.
We also learned that “Mr. Stanley said that he had a paper in Dublin known as the ‘Gaelic Press’ that had been broken up three or four times and witness suffered a loss of £3000 or £4000. He then got into a libel action and was driven into the bankruptcy Court.”
This is a stunning connection. The Gaelic Press was a nationalist press and this means we are dealing with Joe Stanley, who was Padraic Pearse’s press officer during the 1916 Rising. Another issue with Greann was the cancellation of printing, and the clarity of communication and instructions, and there seems to have been some issue in regard to transportation between printers and railway:
The Justice then reviewed the evidence and gave a decree in the second civil bill, Stanley v. Examiner Press, for £12 10s. In the first civil bill, Examiner Press v. Stanley a decree by consent was given for the full amount sued for. viz., £17 15s.
Joseph M. Stanley had made mention of owning the “Gaelic Press,” which was a radical publishing company established on Liffey St in Dublin and it printed many of the 1916 Rising documents, including the Proclamation of Independence and the Irish War News. Stanley was himself a Republican activist.
The witness statement of Captain Sean Prendergast, Captain of the Dublin Brigade Irish Volunteers shared details:
Joseph Stanley, proprietor of the “Gaelic Press”, been interned in Frongoch after Easter Week.” He continues: “Joe Stanley, through his printing press had and was rendering important service to the republican cause in turning important out seditious literature and publications, song sheets and pamphlets, and because of that was not very much in the good graces of the Dublin Castle Authorities. Joe Stanley was proprietor of the “Gaelic Press”, Upper Liffey st and its printing establishment in Proby’s Lane adjacent thereto. He also carried on a shop “The Art Depot” in Mary Street for the sale of Irish literature, publications, photographs, song sheets etc.”
That shop was raided by police on Castle orders on at least one occasion… Joe became almost one of the first recruits to the auxiliary unit attached to our Company…
After release from Frongoch, Joe Stanley was promoted to Lieutenant in September 1917 as confirmed by Captain Prenderghast: “Joe Stanley joined the became at a later date a Lieutenant of ‘H’ Company.”
Joe Stanley was a volunteer, who travelled to and delivered printed items to the GPO during the Easter Rising. Joe Stanley said: “This work involved my attendance at the GPO for two or three hours each day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in addition to dangerous penetrations through the British corr dons which were drawing in around the Post Office from Wednesday.” (Joe Stanley – Printer To The Rising by Tony Reily, Page 47). Pearse also handed Joe a letter for his mother.
Joe Stanley wrote later that “one month from the Rising of 1916 my printing plant valued at over £2,000 was dismantled and removed to Dublin Castle…two and a half years later, nearly £5,000 worth of plant and machinery was again seized and removed under similar circumstances.” The full correspondence is published in Riley’s book.
That such a person is subsequently the publisher of Greann is quite astonishing.
In 1929, Stanely moved to London, to work as a Sub-Editor for the Daily Mail, while supporting the family in Hacketts Cross, Clogherhead. The cinema business was managing itself, and he desired to earn money and seems to have been a determined entrepreneur. At this time Greann came to mind.
An image of an October issue of Greann and a mention of the comic appear in Tony Reilly’s excellent book, noting: “Joe spent the following six years in London. Even from that distance, he tried another business venture when he started one of the earliest Irish comics. He called it An Greann (The Fun), but it had limited success.”
It is notable in the court case that he at one stage stated he had to go to London, so he must have delegated a considerable amount of the tasks to Greann to others, which is quite an accomplishment. Joe Stanley went on to purchase the Drogheda Argus and Advertiser and again according to Riley “restored it to its former glory, assembled a staff and was soon operating from the original Argus premises at 6 Peter Street, Drogheda. He was up and running in the printing business again. He pushed ever onward and soon added the Monaghan Argus to his publication portfolio, and his printing empire began to blossom once again.”
31/32 Fair Street as advertised in Greann seems to have been at the time of publication the Boyne Cinema, which makes total sense. Riley notes that the Drogheda Independent reported on the 27th January 1919, that the cinema was under “Irish-Ireland management”, belonging to Joe Stanley. Controversy was to follow soon enough, with the showing of The Sinn Fein Review on the 14th, 15th and 16th of April, with British forces raiding the cinema on the 16th April.
This building has a fascinating history, starting as St Mark’s Church, then Hall, then becoming the St Oliver Plunkett Hall, then Picture Palace in 1910, and Boyne Cinema in 1919. David Clougher has written a superb article on the history of the building.
Joe Stanley had a garden named after him in 2016, which features a flagpole and Tricolour, a life sized replica of the Proclamation and seven trees representing the seven signatories.
As the Meath Chronicle reported on Thursday 21st April 2016: “The Garden is named after Drogheda native, Captain Joe Stanley, a former Alderman of Drogheda Corporation. He served as Press Agent to Pádraig Pearse during Easter Week at the GPO. He printed the first documents of the newly proclaimed Republic: the iconic Irish War News, along with the Proclamation to the Citizens of Dublin and The Irish War Bulletin 3. These were the only documents issued by the leaders from the GPO during Easter Week.”
That Ireland’s first comic was published by someone as singularly fascinating as Joseph Stanley, who had such a varied and crucial part in Irish history himself through his publishing, is amazing.
James Bacon
This article also features on File 770 and is republished here with James’ full permission
Further Reading
Greann: Sources
Images of Greann reproduced with permission of the National Library of Ireland.
I am indebted to the staff at the National Library of Ireland, where a lovely bound volume of these comics exists for all to enjoy. My thanks to Frances Clarke, Nikki Ralston and Sinead McCoole for support and all those at the Library who have helped with research
The collected and bound volume of Greann is in the National Library of Ireland.
Uncle Seamus is spelled “Seumas” in the early volumes and it switches to Seamus, we spelt it “Seamus” in all cases here, taking it to be an early error.
• The Drogheda Independent of Saturday 22nd December 1934 reported on the court case.
• Lambiek Comiclopedia has been invaluable for sourcing information on European artists
• Lambiek: Albert Georges Badert
• Lambiek: Gerrit Theodoor Rotman
• A Guide to “Snuffelgraag and Knagelijntje”
Joe Stanley
The Boyne Cinema and The Sinn Fein Review
• The Irish Independent: The Mystery of The Sinn Fein Review
• Northern Ireland Film Archive: Sunniva O’Flynn, Irish Newsreels: An Expression of National Identity?
• Early Irish Cinema: “Leaning towards the Spectacular”: The Suppression of The Sinn Fein Review in April 1919
• The Irish Antiquarian: The Lost Church of Saint Mark, Drogheda, Co. Louth
• Cinema Treasures: Savoy Cinema, Fair Street, Drogheda
Links of Interest about Joe Stanley
• Joe Stanley: Printer to the Rising (AmazonUK Affiliate Link), Brandon Books, DINGLE, 2005 by Tom Reilly – also available direct from The Galiec Press
Joe Stanley was a young printer who flouted the laws suppressing free speech under the noses of the Dublin Metropolitan Police.
His crucial role came during the Easter Rising – as the rifles cracked around the GPO, he acted as Pearse’s press agent, getting word out that Ireland was rebelling once again. Numerous iconic documents passed through his hands, the most significant of which are reproduced here.
After the rising, Stanley was imprisoned in Frongoch, where he fraternised with Michael Collins.
• Information on the book, Joe Stanley – Printer to the Rising
The Stanley Collection, now in the ownership of the Irish Government, provides and unprecedented insight into Ireland’s struggle for Independence. A living history of the period from a prominent propagandist of the national cause, who published the Irish political and cultural views of the day. A history saved and handed down directly over ninety years through generations of his family to the electronic age when it has finally been reproduced for the first time and digitally saved for posterity.
• Memorabilia from The 1916 Easter Rising, its Prelude and Aftermath: Irish Nationalist Newspaper Publications
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Pádraig Ó Méalóid for his assistance with the translation of séan chló, agus Allison Hartman Adams. Photos of Fair St by James Shields with thanks.
James Bacon found himself reading Greann while conducting research for his forthcoming book Rebellion, Nazi Spies and the Troubles; Irish Conflict in 20th Century Comics and welcomes any information on this subject, Irish Horror Comics, early Irish comic book publications, and welcomes corrections and correspondence to irishconflictincomics at gmail dot com.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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