Type: Article
Davies, Simon. ‘The Northern Star and the propagation of enlightened ideas.’, Eighteenth-century Ireland/Iris an dá chultúr, Vol. 5 (1990), pp 143-152.
The first issue of The Northern Star in Belfast on 4 January 1792 effectively launched, the organ of the founding fathers of the Society of United Irishmen. This article gives general details as to the size and circulation of the newspaper, its history as a newspaper and discusses its mandate to promote freedom of speech and the dissemination of ideas based on the Enlightenment, against the arbitrary supremacy of Britain. According to Davies, the paper saw its function as improving the lot of the people of Ireland and that of mankind in general, focussing its coverage on the Enlightenment culture in America and France.