After World War I and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the paper turned to local affairs, specializing in shilling for the Democratic Party.
The newspaper infamously declared as its headline after Al Smith lost the 1928 Presidential election "Bigotry Won the Day".
In 1934 Mike began a back-page sports section, which remained in the paper, save during the hiatus caused by World War II.
During World War II the paper routinely published columns written by various Barry family members who were serving in the military.
Roosevelt and Harry Truman both subscribed to the paper, and the sportscaster Red Smith said that the Kentucky Irish American was "all the excuse a man needs for learning to read".
[4][5] The University of Louisville has copies of almost all issues of the Kentucky Irish American, held on sixteen reels of microfilm due to the paper's fragility.