FEARLESS! VINCENT BROWNE, MAGILL AND IRELAND IN THE 1980s

Magill was the magazine that held a mirror up to Ireland at its most turbulent. In an era marked by mass unemployment, emigration, ferocious battles over abortion and divorce, and the political duels of Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald, Magill chronicled a country on the brink of profound change.Kevin Rafter uncovers the drama behind the magazine’s creation and survival - from its 1977 launch through its helter‑skelter editorial regimes under Vincent Browne, Colm Tóibín, Fintan O’Toole, Brian Trench and John Waters. Drawing on extensive interviews and rich archival material, he reveals how Magill became the publication that, as the Sunday Times claimed, dragged Irish journalism out of 'comfortable, unquestioning dullness', and which the Guardian said wielded political influence unmatched in Britain or Europe.This is not just the story of a magazine - it’s the story of a society in upheaval. To revisit Magill is to witness the unravelling of conservative Catholic Ireland and the rise of a more open, liberal, and diverse nation.