James Connolly (1868-1916) was one of the main leaders in the struggle for independence of the Irish Republic. A politician deeply rooted in socialist and Marxist ideology, he led numerous actions as part of the workers’ struggle, and was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916, before being executed by the British authorities a few days later…
James Connolly – Public Domain
James Connolly was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 5, 1868. His family was of modest Irish origin. She would have fled Ireland during the dark years of the Great Famine of 1845-1848 to settle in Edinburgh, where life was nevertheless precarious.
The family’s needs soon drove James Connolly into the world of work. Barely 10, he took on odd jobs as a printer’s apprentice, a baker’s assistant, and even worked in a tile factory. In 1882, at the age of 14, he decided to enlist in the 1st Battalion of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, a regiment based in Ireland.
It was here that James Connolly met Lillie Reynolds, his future wife, and enjoyed reconnecting with his Irish roots. In 1889, the regiment was reassigned to Scotland, and Connolly suddenly deserted the army, taking refuge in Perth, marrying Lillie Reynolds, and taking up Marxism.
By 1885, he was well established in socialist circles, and joined the Scottish Socialist Federation as secretary. He takes the opportunity to publish a few articles in the political journal “Social Democratic Federation”. But these meagre texts are not enough for Connolly’s family to survive, and Connolly gradually sinks into poverty and unemployment. After diligent research, he found a job as a journalist in Ireland, for the Dublin Socialist Club newspaper.
Finally settled in Ireland, James Connolly wanted to found an official Socialist Party, in collaboration with the Irish Socialist Republican Party. He took the opportunity to publish numerous texts and essays on his Marxist and socialist ideologies.
In 1898, he launched his own newspaper, the “Worker’s Republic”. Firmly rooted in his political convictions, he was eventually elected to Dublin’s Trade Council, and tried unsuccessfully to be elected mayor of the city. After these setbacks, Connolly decided to move to the United States to pursue his political career on behalf of Irish immigrants.
He did not return to Ireland until 1910, when he settled in Belfast. He wrote numerous works and gave his political support to the city’s working classes. He was the first to organize huge strikes in Belfast, on behalf of the city’s mirror factory workers.
In January 1913, he created the Irish Volunteer Force and organized a general strike in Dublin on August 26. Tensions in the town soon boil over, leading to numerous clashes and Connolly’s arrest. In protest, James Connolly staged a hunger strike in his cell, but was released less than 30 days after his imprisonment.
Increasingly radical, on November 23 James Connolly created the Irish Citizen Army, a military group dedicated to protecting the Irish working class and strikers. But tensions soon boiled over in Ireland, and the nationalists and Connolly decided to use this army, aided by the Irish Volunteers, to foment an insurrection:
The uprising got underway on April 24, with James Connolly joining forces with Patrick Pearse, Michael Collins, Joseph Plunkett and Thomas J. Clarke. Unfortunately for Connolly, he was wounded on April 27, and the Insurrection ended in bitter failure: the insurgents were mostly overpowered and imprisoned. James Connolly, for example, was one of the leaders to be shot.
His execution took place on May 9, 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol. Suffering from a particularly serious wound at the time, he was shot blindfolded, sitting on a chair in front of the British firing squad.
