Nolan’s comments were reported in The Irish Times the next day, on July 8th, 1905. A search for “drunkenness” and “Ireland” in the archive of The Irish Times throws up some interesting results. By the late 1870s, Sunday was identified frequently in Irish Times reports as the drunkest day of the week. The Irish Times even ran an “ask the expert” type Q&A with Isaac Butt on October 5th. But The Irish Times, which was critical of some of the political tactics used to oppose the legislation, didn’t actually agree with the idea at the outset.

Source: The Irish Times October 11, 2020 10:52 UTC