KILLARNEY NEWSPAPER the Kingdomis to close with the loss of 11 jobs, its owner Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) said yesterday.

The final edition of the paper, founded in the 1920s by the MacMonagle family, will be published next Tuesday, the group said in a statement. Employees of the newspaper were told of the closure yesterday morning, it said.

The Kingdomis the second newspaper to close since the start of the year, following the announcement last week that the Irish Daily Star Sundayis to close with the loss of 17 jobs.

Weekly tabloid the Kingdomhas been owned by TCH since 2000, when it acquired the publication from Anne Lundon and Susan O'Keeffe. It competed with the Tralee-based Kerry's Eye and the dominant provincial paper in Co Kerry, the Kerryman.

TCH chief executive Tom Murphy said the decision to close the newspaper was regrettable, but had been taken as a result of the effect of the economic downturn on the Kingdom's advertising revenues and circulation volumes.

“We had a strong business in Kerry with a fantastic staff, and the current situation is sad indeed,” Mr Murphy said.

The editor and general manager of the Kingdom, John O'Mahony, paid tribute to his staff. "The Kingdomis immensely proud of the role it has played, offering award-winning news and sports coverage to the people of Kerry," he said.

The newspaper had previously ceased publication for many years but was re-established in the 1980s by MacMonagle family members. It was later taken over by Ms Lundon and Ms O'Keeffe before becoming part of the TCH group, which also counts the Irish Examinerand Sunday Business Postamong its newspaper titles.

TCH reported operating losses of €2.95 million for 2009 last November, and said it expected to be loss-making in 2010.