Ireland.

World
Comics

Ireland

1870

In short

Irish comics history begins with Dublin's satirical cartoon papers, such as John Fergus O'Hea's Zozimus and Pat and Thomas Fitzpatrick's The Lepracaun, and with the Christian Brothers' magazine Our Boys (1914 to 1990), which carried an Irish-language comics section.

The home market stayed small and close to Britain's, so many Irish artists drew for British comics, while Jim Fitzpatrick's Nuada of the Silver Arm (1974 to 1975) was an early home-grown adventure strip. Since 2001, Irish-language graphic novels from Cló Mhaigh Eo, a Dublin small press and books such as Gerry Hunt's Blood Upon the Rose have built a tradition rooted in Irish myth and history.

Ireland in numbers

01 • 04

Ireland in numbers · 01 • 04

1870

2000s

Artists

Artists from Ireland in the archive.

Comics from Ireland in the archive.

Zozimus, the earliest comic from Ireland in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Ireland began.

Artists from Ireland in the archive.

Comics from Ireland in the archive.

Zozimus, the earliest comic from Ireland in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Ireland began.

comics

comics · Comics from Ireland

History

Ireland in 4 chapters

A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.

World Comics Heritage

Ireland.

4 chapters

Turn the page

Chapter 1

1870

to 1921

Satirical cartoon papers

The Christian Brothers' monthly Our Boys (1914 to 1990) offered Irish heroes in place of British boys' papers and included the Irish-language comics section Tír na nÓg, while the cartoonists Arthur Booth and Charles E. Kelly founded the satirical monthly Dublin Opinion (1922 to 1968). Irish artists such as Paddy Brennan, who drew for D. C. Thomson from 1949, and the Dublin-born Mike Hubbard, who drew the Daily Mail strip Jane from 1948 to 1959, worked mainly for British publishers.

1914 to 1968

Chapter 3

1969

to 2000

Newspaper strips and graphic histories

The Irish Times ran Peter Bruce's strip The Druid from 1969 to 1975, and Jim Fitzpatrick's Nuada of the Silver Arm ran in the Sunday Independent in 1974 and 1975 until objections to its violence and nudity ended it. Arja Kajermo's In Dublin strips were collected in 1982, and Ireland: A Graphic History (1995) retold Irish history in comics form.

1969 to 2000

Chapter 4

2001

to today

Irish-language graphic novels and the small press

Colmán Ó Raghallaigh's Cló Mhaigh Eo published An Sclábhaí in 2001, described as the first graphic novel produced and published in Ireland, and later An Táin (2006). Dublin small presses such as Atomic Diner (Freakshow, from 2003) and 20,000 Leagues (Sancho, from 2004) grew alongside the Irish-language anthology Rí-Rá (2008), Gerry Hunt's Blood Upon the Rose (2009) and Will Sliney's Celtic Warrior (2013), while artists such as Declan Shalvey, Stephen Mooney and Nick Roche worked for American publishers.

2001 to today

Keep reading

The comics to know Comics from Ireland

World Comics Heritage

Cover

1870
to 1921
Chapter 01
Satirical cartoon papers
John Fergus O'Hea was the chief artist of the weekly Zozimus (1870 to 1872) and co-founded Pat (1879 to 1883), where Thomas Fitzpatrick joined him in 1881. Fitzpatrick founded The Lepracaun Cartoon Monthly in 1905, and his daughter Mary Fitzpatrick O'Brien ran it after his death in 1912.
1914
to 1968
Chapter 02
Our Boys and Dublin Opinion
The Christian Brothers' monthly Our Boys (1914 to 1990) offered Irish heroes in place of British boys' papers and included the Irish-language comics section Tír na nÓg, while the cartoonists Arthur Booth and Charles E. Kelly founded the satirical monthly Dublin Opinion (1922 to 1968). Irish artists such as Paddy Brennan, who drew for D. C. Thomson from 1949, and the Dublin-born Mike Hubbard, who drew the Daily Mail strip Jane from 1948 to 1959, worked mainly for British publishers.
1969
to 2000
Chapter 03
Newspaper strips and graphic histories
The Irish Times ran Peter Bruce's strip The Druid from 1969 to 1975, and Jim Fitzpatrick's Nuada of the Silver Arm ran in the Sunday Independent in 1974 and 1975 until objections to its violence and nudity ended it. Arja Kajermo's In Dublin strips were collected in 1982, and Ireland: A Graphic History (1995) retold Irish history in comics form.
2001
to today
Chapter 04
Irish-language graphic novels and the small press
Colmán Ó Raghallaigh's Cló Mhaigh Eo published An Sclábhaí in 2001, described as the first graphic novel produced and published in Ireland, and later An Táin (2006). Dublin small presses such as Atomic Diner (Freakshow, from 2003) and 20,000 Leagues (Sancho, from 2004) grew alongside the Irish-language anthology Rí-Rá (2008), Gerry Hunt's Blood Upon the Rose (2009) and Will Sliney's Celtic Warrior (2013), while artists such as Declan Shalvey, Stephen Mooney and Nick Roche worked for American publishers.