James Connolly

James Connolly

James Connolly worked together with Constance Markievicz and Jim Larkin during the Dublin Lockout to get more rights for workers. During the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin forces.

Courtesy of the Irish Democrat Newspaper.

James Connolly
Courtesy of the Irish Democrat Newspaper.

James Connolly

James Connolly worked together with Constance Markievicz and Jim Larkin during the Dublin Lockout to get more rights for workers. During the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin forces.

Courtesy of the Irish Democrat Newspaper.

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James Connolly (1868-1916) was born in Edinburgh in 1868. He emigrated to Dublin in 1896 where he founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party. He spent time in America and then returned to Ireland to look for worker’s rights with a man called James Larkin. There was a workers strike in Dublin in 1913 and many of the workers were attacked by the police. James Connolly was one of the founders of an army set up to protect workers. It was called the Irish Citizen Army. During the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin forces. About 150 of the rebels took over the General Post Office in Dublin and James Connolly lead that group. He was wounded in the G.P.O. and  was executed on the 12th of May 1916. He was the last of the leaders to be executed.