Connolly: The Workers' Republic

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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Connolly, James (1868 – 1916)

James Connolly was born in Edinburgh in 1868, the son of Irish immigrants.  His childhood in working-class Edinburgh influenced his socialism, which later developed into republican socialism and led to his participation in the 1916 Rising against British rule in Ireland.

James Connolly’s achievements were as a labour leader.  In Belfast he led a successful docker’s strike.  In Dublin he worked with Jim Larkin in the Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union, organising a series of strikes which culminated in the unsuccessful 1913 Dublin Lock-out.  He set up the Irish Citizen Army to defend the workers.

James Connolly is best remembered for his part in the 1916 Rising and his execution by firing squad, although injured and unable to stand, in Kilmainham Jail.

Connolly, James.  The Worker’s Republic: a selection from the writings of James Connolly.  Dublin: At the Sign of the Three Candles, 1951.