Academic biography

Mark O’Brien is Professor of Journalism History and Head of the School of Communications. His 2017 book, The Fourth Estate: Journalism in Twentieth-Century Ireland examined the interplay between politics, media ownership, religion, interest groups, social change, and journalism from the 1890s to the 1990s. His other monographs include The Irish Times: A History (2008) and De Valera, Fianna Fáil and the Irish Press: The Truth in the News? (2001).

Among his co-edited volumes are The Sunday Papers: A History of Ireland's Weekly Press (2018), Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland (2014), Independent Newspapers: A History (2012), and Political Censorship and the Democratic State: The Irish Broadcasting Ban (2004). He is also co-editor of the two volume series Periodicals and Journalism in Twentieth-Century Ireland (2014 & 2021).

His current research focuses on the relationship between writers, journalism, and the Irish state from 1922 to 1967. He is chair of the Mary Raftery Prize for Journalism.