Finnerty, Peter (1766?–1822), printer, journalist and parliamentary and war reporter, was born probably at Loughrea, Co. Galway, where his father was a small tradesman. In the 1790s he served as an apprentice to William Corbet (qv), publisher of the Hibernian Telegraph (Dublin). He first came to public attention on account of his connection with the Press, a radical newspaper started by Arthur O'Connor (qv) but registered in the name of Finnerty, then still a minor (17 September 1797). The first 39 issues bore his name (‘Peter Finerty’) as printer (28 September–26 December 1797), in consequence of which he was arrested (2 November) and tried (22 December) for libelling the government in the Press (24 October) over the trial and execution of William Orr (qv). Found guilty, Finnerty was sentenced to the pillory, a fine of £20 and two years’ imprisonment. He stood one hour in the pillory in Green St. (30 December), where he was watched by a large crowd of sympathisers.
By 1799 he was in England. After settling in London he joined the staff of the Morning Chronicle, a whig newspaper, and for over 20 years reported the proceedings of parliament. Knowing the controversial naval officer Sir Home Popham, he managed to go with the British expedition to Walcheren (1809). The military action proved ignominious for the British force, which suffered heavy losses. So critical were Finnerty's despatches that he was expelled and sent back to England in a man-of-war, for which he blamed Viscount Castlereagh (qv); he also repeated accusations that Castlereagh had deceived United Irish ‘state prisoners’ during negotiations in 1798. In February 1811 he was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for libelling Castlereagh. At the instigation of the radical MP Sir Francis Burdett, the public responded by subscribing £2,000 towards his costs. A pamphlet, The case of Peter Finnerty (1811), went into four editions. Afterwards he continued his work as a parliamentary reporter with the Morning Chronicle and became a friend of William Hazlitt, working alongside him in the house of commons. Finnerty narrowly escaped being imprisoned a third time by order of the house of commons for taking notes in the public gallery (15 June 1815). He died at Westminster on 11 May 1822 aged 56. Finnerty can be considered the first Irish war reporter, a predecessor of Sir William Howard Russell (qv), as well as an asserter of a right to enter the Palace of Westminster and report parliamentary proceedings.