Biography

Socialist and Revolutionary

James Connolly was born in Edinburgh on the 5th June, 1868.

The son of a manure-carter, Connolly was a socialist and trade unionist who was active in Dublin in the 1890s and 1910s. In between he spent almost a decade in America as organiser, public speaker and fund-raiser. He co-founded the Irish Socialist and Republican Party, and was the driving force behind its newspaper, 'The Workers' Republic'. He also co-founded the Irish Citizen Army to defend workers in their struggle for better conditions during the 'Great Lock Out' of 1913.

In the 1916 Easter Rising, Connolly led the Irish Citizen Army alongside the IRB & Irish Volunteers. He signed the Proclamation of the Republic alongside Pearse and five others and was commandant in the General Post Office at the time. He was seriously injured during the fighting and was arrested on his surrender. He was unable to stand due to his injuries, and was executed strapped to a chair in Kilmainham Gaol on May 12th 1916.

Joe Duffy Biography:

Joe Duffy is the presenter of RTE Radio's Liveline, and one of Ireland's most popular broadcasters. Born in the heart of Dublin, Joe was active in student politics from an early age and was president of the Union of Students in Ireland in 1983. While a student in Trinity Joe was introduced to James Connolly's writings, and has remained an ardent fan ever since: "Connolly's fought for the dignity of working class men & women: he wanted them to be seen as more than numbers on a balance sheet. His thinking is as relevant today as it was a century ago."

Why Joe believes James Connolly deserves to be "Ireland's Greatest":

Patriot / Martyr:
He had 48 years of a very full life, but his final few weeks are etched into Irish History. He knew, leaving Liberty Hall for the GPO on Easter Monday morning, that he and his men would be slaughtered, but he felt it was a cause worth dying for: an independent Republic that would put Irish Working Men & Women at its heart.

Working Class Hero:
Connolly was born into extreme poverty, the son of famine emigrants. He remained in similar poverty for much of his life: he would always put the cause of others before his own comfort. He believed totally that freedom for Ireland was inextricably linked with freedom for Irish workers from the slavery of Capitalism.

Intellectual Genius:
A self-taught man, Connolly is renowned internationally for his socialist thinking & writing...

He the first to connect the ideas behind socialism to ancient traditions in the Irish Clann system, and to great moments in Irish history - he wanted to make this new political way of thinking appeal to the ordinary Irish man & woman.

Compassion:
He wrote & spoke with great dignity about the plight of the working class... how a man might spend his one day off a week in bed, just to save his family the price of a meal; He attacked the Catholic Church during the Dublin Lock-out for making little or no effort to feed the children of striking workers; he wrote angrily about how the US capitalist system made poor people line up in shame at the doors of city soup-kitchens; he once resigned from a job he needed desperately, just to save his decent foreman the pain of firing him.