In 1933, Connolly Hall, No.64 Great Strand Street was rented as a headquarters by the Revolutionary Workers Groups. It opened in early March but by March 30th the building had been wrecked - windows broken, doors and staircases smashed, the roof was damaged, the building seared with fire, and here and there the pockmark of a bullet could be seen. 

For Ireland it was a foreshadowing of the Blueshirt - Republican violence that was to find expression in all the twenty six counties. In the broader European sense it was a microcosmic acting out of the Spanish Civil War. The forces inside and out represented the views of the subsequent warring factions in Spain. In fact, two of the people in the house, Bill Scott and Liam McGregor, later joined the International Brigade; McGregor was killed in action in 1938, one of the last Irishmen to die in Spain. 

Some contemporaries maintain that the mob were led by members of the Army Comrades Association, who were wearing white armbands. The defenders of the house dispute this and lean towards the belief that the group outside were a leaderless mob spearheaded by Animal Gang elements. 

Presented and Produced by Pat Feeley

FIrst Broadcast March 14th 1976