The Kerryman

The Kerryman is a weekly regional paper published in County Kerry in the West of Ireland. It is the sister paper to the Corkman in neighbouring County Cork.

The Kerryman was established in 1904 by “Maurice Griffin, his close friend Thomas Nolan, and the latter’s cousin, Daniel Nolan” (Mark O’Brien) with Griffin holding the most influence over the paper’s editorial positions. The paper was a staunch advocate for Irish independence and was aligned with the Sinn Féin political party. As a result of its anti-British activities, the paper’s printing press was destroyed by the Black and Tans in 1921. The Kerryman was then printed secretly in Dublin and delivered hidden in coal trains until 1923.

The Kerryman remained a key news outlet for the southwest of Ireland throughout the 20th century. The paper’s print circulation reached 50,000 in the 1970s and 1980s, making it the most bestselling regional paper in the country at that time.

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.

In 1972, Independent Newspapers acquired The Kerryman group for £378,000. At that point, the board consisted of Donal Nolan, Don Nolan, Kathleen Foley and Maurice Foley, with ownership resting with 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. In 1981, following a stock market listing, the company became Independent News and Media (INM) Plc.

In 2019, INM was purchased by Mediahuis NV and re-branded as Mediahuis Ireland. Mediahuis NV is individually owned by the Baert Family, the van Puijenbroek Family, and Thomas Leysen.

The Kerryman retains a strong regional presence even in the 21st century. According to the Mediahuis website, the paper has a print circulation of approximately 20,000 and is read by 75% of households in County Kerry. It also populates an online ‘Kerry’ section of www.independent.ie website.

Key Facts

Audience Share	Missing Data
Ownership Type	Private
Geographic Coverage	Local
Content Type	Paid
Data Publicly Available	ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

Ownership

Ownership Structure	The Kerryman is operated by Mediahuis Ireland, the parent company of which is the Belgian media conglomerate, Mediahuis NV. Mediahuis NV’s largest shareholders include the Belgian Baert Family (29.5%) via their 90% ownership of Concentra, The van Puijenbroek family (16.7%) via their 100% ownership of VP Exploitatie and Thomas Leysen (13.25%) via their 26.5.% ownership of Mediahuis Partners NV.
Individual Owner	Thomas Leysen 13.25 van Puijenbroek Family 16.7 Baert Family 29.5

Media Companies / Groups

Mediahuis NV
100%

Facts

Founder	Maurice Griffin Maurice Griffin was born in Dingle Co. Kerry. He was a strong supporter of Irish independence and founded the Kerryman in 1904 to further the nationalist cause in the Kerry Region. Griffin was at one point jailed in Dublin for his nationalist advocacy.
CEO	Sheena Peirse Sheena Peirse became the CEO of Mediahuis Ireland on 1 October 2025, having previously served as the company’s chief customer officer. Peirse formerly held senior roles at ITV and Channel 4 in the UK.
Editor-In-Chief	Kevin Hughes Kevin Hughes has served as editor of The Kerryman since 2015. He previously held the sub-editor position at the paper. Hughes is originally from Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Other Important People	Jim Hayes Jim Hayes has served as the Regionals Group Editor for Mediahuis Ireland since 2019. He was previously Group Editor for People’s Papers in County Wexford.
Contact	Denny Street Tralee Co. Kerry Ireland khughes@kerryman.ie +353 (0) 066 71 45500 www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry

Revenue	Missing Data
Operating Profit	Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)	Missing Data
Market Share	Missing Data

Headlines	New editor appointed at The Kerryman (2015), Tralee Today, Accessed 18 September 2025 The page turns at INM as it ponders a digital future (2019), The Irish Times, Accessed 7 September 2025 The Kerryman founders feature in new anthology (2005), Irish Independent, Accessed 19 September 2025 Court approves INM takeover by Mediahuis (2019), The Irish Independent, Accessed 18 September 2025 Mediahuis Ireland names new chief executive (2025), Irish Examiner, Accessed 18 September 2025 Podcasting our Story (2021), The Irish Independent, Accessed 17 September 2025
Meta Data	Historical information about The Kerryman was obtained from historical articles on the paper’s website. Information about circulation was gathered from the Mediahuis website. Ownership and financial information was gathered from Mediahuis Ireland’s filings with CORE. Exchange rates for 2023 were taken from the European Central Bank calculator. https://data.ecb.europa.eu/currency-converter Information regarding editor, Kevin Hughes, was sourced from an article appearing on the paper’s website. Accurate estimation of outlet market share was not possible because reporting on income levels in Ireland is typically done at the group level rather than the individual title level. Additionally, overall revenue details for the market as a whole are not available. Accurate estimation of audience share is not possible. Although Kantar collects publicly available figures on readership for national titles, parallel figures are not available for regional and local newspapers. Individual outlets may publish data on readership or users; however, measurement parameters and sources vary between organisations, thereby limiting opportunities for comparison.
Sources	Ireland Companies Online Registration Office Environment (CORE) (2023), Form B1C, Mediahuis Ireland, Accessed on 20 October 2025 The Kerryman Advertising (2025), Mediahuis, Accessed 17 September 2025
Documents (PDF)	Financial Statement Mediahuis Ireland Limited (2023) Link File