The Corkman

The Corkman is a weekly regional paper founded in 1966 to serve areas of North Cork, as well as Muskerry and Avondhu. The Corkman is the sister paper to the Kerryman in neighbouring County Kerry. The Kerryman was established in 1904 by “Maurice Griffin, his close friend Thomas Nolan, and the latter’s cousin, Daniel Nolan” (Mark O’Brien). The Nolan family would retain an interest in the paper until 1972, with Thomas Nolan’s son Dan, taking over as Managing Director after his father’s death in 1939. Dan would remain on the board of directors of the paper until 1970 and was responsible for the decision to spin off The Corkman as a separate paper in 1966.

In 1972, Independent Newspapers acquired The Kerryman group for £378,000. At this point in time, the board consisted of Donal Nolan, Don Nolan, Kathleen Foley and Maurice Foley, with ownership resting in ten private shareholders. (Independent Newspapers would rebrand as Independent News and Media Limited the following year - 1973 - to reflect the company’s growing portfolio of national and regional newspapers.) The Corkman was acquired by Independent Newspapers as part of the deal.

The Corkman remained in Independent News and Media ownership until the holdings of the latter were purchased by Mediahuis NV in 2019 and re-branded as Mediahuis Ireland. Mediahuis NV owns news titles throughout the EU, including the entire Euractiv media network. The company’s largest individual shareholders are the Baert Family, the van Puijenbroek Family, and Thomas Leysen.

Information on circulation and readership is not readily available. This lack of information is perhaps unsurprising as Mediahuis Ireland, the paper’s owner, foresees phasing out all print sales by 2033. The Corkman’s offices are in Mallow, which is approximately 30 kilometres north of Cork City.