Family donate Douglas Gageby Papers to DCU
- 29 November 2005

The family of Douglas Gageby – the distinguished editor of The Irish Times - today donated a significant collection of his papers to Dublin City University.

The collection includes a selection from his personal library of books about Irish journalism and written by Irish journalists. It also includes personal copies of editorials written by him over many years on a wide variety of topics, many of them dealing with key national issues, during his 20 years as editor of the Irish Times.

Douglas Gageby was the editor of The Irish Times from 1963 to 1974 and then again from 1977 to 1986. He died in 2004 at the age of 85.

Members of his family who attend a reception at the DCU John and Aileen O’Reilly Library for the donation included his daughters Mrs Justice Susan Denham and Sally Berman and sons Patrick Gageby, SC and John Gageby. The event was also attended by colleagues of Douglas Gageby, as well as senior figures from the Irish Times including the editor, Geraldine Kennedy.

He became a legendary figure in Irish journalism, taking over the Irish Times when it was becoming marginalised in Irish society with a stagnant circulation. Mr Gageby modernised the paper, recruiting a team of noted writers and journalists, and when he first left the editor’s chair in 1974, the circulation had nearly doubled.

Under his leadership, the Irish Times was considered to have become more liberal and pluralist. He appointed journalists such as Maeve Binchy, Mary Maher, Michael Viney, Mary Holland, and Nell McCafferty, all of whose reports caused considerable public debate during a period of rapid social and economic change.

DCU is building up a foundation collection of historic papers and personal materials of public figures in the Library.

The President of DCU Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski said: “DCU is delighted to get the papers of such a celebrated and respected figure in Irish journalism for the Library foundation collection. Over the years DCU has made a substantial contribution to the Irish media through our School of Communications, and this welcome donation by Douglas Gageby’s family will serve as an important resource for our students and other researchers in the future.”

Dr. John Horgan, Professor of Journalism at DCU, said that these papers were especially significant because newspaper editorials are traditionally unsigned.

“In Douglas’s case, his very distinctive style was often a giveaway, but with the passage of time one could never be entirely sure which were the ones he had personally written. This collection traces the lineaments of his editorial policies over two decades in an unambiguous manner that future historians will find fascinating.”

ENDS