Holly Bough editor is the Cork Person of the Month
JOHN DOLAN HONOURED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION SINCE TAKING THE HELM AT THE PUBLICATION
THE man behind arguably Cork’s most venerable publication, the Holly Bough, has been unveiled as the Cork Person of the Month for January.
Although not a native Corkonian, John Dolan has had his finger on the pulse of life in the Rebel County for the best part of two decades, overseeing the much-loved publication that has been a famous Cork tradition since 1897.
John, the assistant editor and features editor at the Evening Echo, was born in Cheshire but has lived in Clondrohid near Macroom since moving to Ireland in 2001. Prior to that he worked for many years in UK print media with newspapers including the Lancashire Evening Posts and the London Metro.
The following year he took over the helm at the Holly Bough, something he said was a “huge honour” for him.
Under his watchful eye the Holly Bough has gone from strength-tostrength, increasing its circulation with each passing year, remaining an essential part of Cork life and is as much a part of the Yuletide season as Santa and Christmas turkey.
Accepting the award John said that what makes the publication so special was the fact that it tells the stories that delve into the memory banks of all Corkonians.
“The Holly Bough, even though it has input from professional writers and historians, contains, in essence, stories that are written by ‘ordinary’ Cork people who have extraordinary stories to tell,” said John.
“In short, it is written by the people, for the people,” he added.
The Person of the Year awards organiser, Mallow-native Manus O’Callaghan, said that John had done a magnificent job in helping to ensure the Holly Bough has continued to grow and expand during his tenure.
He said John had been instrumental in helping The Holly Bough to “buck all trends within print journalism” - tripling its circulation and expanding its size from 60-pages to a full colour, 164-page publication.
“It is indeed a 122-year institution that is part of all our lives in Cork and even follows us abroad when necessary. There is a great tradition of sending copies abroad to the Cork diaspora and locals also bring it abroad on summer holidays for a selfie, then get their holiday snaps published in the Holly Bough at Christmas,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
“It is only right that John be recognised for the key role he has played in its ongoing success,” he added.
John Dolan’s name will go forward, with the monthly winners selected throughout the coming year for possible selection as overall 2019 Cork Person of the Year.