Editing Seán Lester (section)

==Early life==
He was born in County Antrim as John Ernest Lester, the son of a [[Protestant]] grocer Robert Lester and his wife, the former Henrietta Ritchie. Although the town of [[Carrickfergus]], where he was born and raised, was strongly [[Unionists (Ireland)|Unionist]], he joined the [[Gaelic League]] as a youth and was won over to the cause of [[Irish nationalism]].<ref name=timesobit>[[The Times]], (Obituary) 15 June 1959{{full citation needed|date=March 2024}}</ref> As a young man, he joined the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]. He worked as a journalist for the ''North Down Herald'' and a number of other northern papers before he moved to [[Dublin]], where he found a job at the ''Freeman's Journal''. By 1919, he had risen to become its news editor.

After the [[Irish War of Independence]], a number of his friends joined the new government of the [[Irish Free State]]. Lester was offered and accepted the position as director of publicity.

He married Elizabeth Ruth Tyrrell in 1920 by whom he had three daughters.<ref name=timesobit />