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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 ShareMissing Data
Ownership TypePrivate
Geographic CoverageLocal
Content TypePaid
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

Media Companies / Groups

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.

ContactDenny Street
Tralee
Co. Kerry
khughes@kerryman.ie
+353 (0) 066 71 45500
www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
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
Documents (PDF)
  • Financial Statement Mediahuis Ireland Limited (2023)
    Link File