James Connolly and 'The Workers' Republic'Connolly (James) A...

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€35,000 - €50,000

James Connolly and 'The Workers' Republic'


Connolly (James) An archive of the first importance, consisting of what appears to be Connolly's own working collection of drafts and documents over the last year of his life, May 1915-April 1916, together with a complete file of 'The Workers' Republic' (37 original issues and a further 11 later supplied in Xerox).

The archive was purchased by a previous owner at a clearance sale in Dublin in the early 1950s. Its earlier history is not known, but presumably it was recovered from Connolly's office in Liberty Hall after the Rising. It was sold by Fonsie Mealy Auctioneer at his Christmas sale in 1996 (lot 1445), and is now again offered for sale. Nothing has been removed from the collection since the earlier sale.

The principal contents are

A. Connolly (James), ed. The Workers' Republic. Printed for the Proprietors of the Irish Workers' Co-operative Society and published at Liberty Hall, Dublin. Folio, Vol. 1 nos. 1-48 (all published), May 19th 1915 - April 22nd 1916. 37 original issues, with the remaining 11 supplied in Xerox facsimile.

B. Connolly manuscripts and related material.
The archive contains approx. 75 full m/ss. pages of articles and drafts in Connolly's own hand, including the following:
1. Obituary, 'J. Keir Hardie M.P.', editorial, 3 sheets. A fine tribute from one champion of human liberty to another.
2. 'Without Principle', editorial, 4 sheets.
3. 'Irish Workers' Dramatic Company', draft of advertisement, 1 sheet.
4. 'We Will Rise Again', editorial, 7 sheets.
5. 'Forces of Civilisation', editorial, 5 sheets.
6. Some others listed in section C below.
These are mostly written either on blank sheets or on the verso of headed notepaper from various sources, such as The Irish Worker, United Trades & Labour Institute, Independent Labour Party of Ireland, Dept. for Recruiting for Ireland, Galway, etc. There are also about 48 smaller items in Conolly's hand, many of them mss. headings for articles or for news-cuttings from other papers to be reprinted in the workers' Republic.

C. Other manuscripts and typescripts including
1. Skeffington (F. Sheehy). 'Under Which Flag', typescript with mss. continuation in pencil by author, and mss. ink additions by Connolly.
2. Skeffington (Hanna Sheehy). 'Irish Womens Franchise League', typescript carbon, with mss. additions by author, 1 sheet.
3. Bourke, J.J. 'An Appeal to Gallant Irishmen', 4 sheets; also 'The Irish People Must Free Ireland', 3 sheets.
4. 'X.Y.Z.' 'Women! Welcome Conscription', 11 sheets; also 'The Folly of Trust', 4 sheets.
5. 'The Slackers', mss., ink letter to the Editor, signed 'Glasgow Reader', with 11 sheet reply in Connolly's hand, headed 'Our Answer'.
6. Two copies of Dublin Trades Council & Labour League - List of Delegates, with delegates' signatures.
7. 'Councillor Partridge's Reply to the Felon-Setting Freeman', 7 sheets.
8. Manuscript draft advertisement for 'Honesty, an Outspoken Scrap of Paper', published Gaelic Press.
9. Cavanagh (Maeve). 'Opportunity', original mss. poem of 4 verses, signed.
10. MacGowan (Seamas), 'The Awakening', orig. mss. poem of 5 verses, signed.
11. 'The Truth about Tullamore', from 'Liam' to the Editor, 3 sheets.
12. 'The Defence of the Realm Act in Ireland', by M.K. C[onnery], 2 pp, also similar item by Sean P. Campbell, 1 sheet.
13. 'Gort Notes', by S. Reyard, 3 sheets.
14. 'Northern Notes', by Crobh-Dearg [Cathal O'Shannon].
15. 'Tralee Notes', by Robal.
16. Dublin Trades Council Notes, possibly in the hand of Winifred Carney, Connolly's Secretary, and many others.

The collection offers an unrivalled insight into Connolly's working methods as an editor, writer and labour organiser in the last year of his life. It has not been available to his recent biographers.
It is now contained in 9 pocket files, one large file with 'The Workers Republic', and the remainder in 8 pocket files. A detailed list is available on request.

Of all the 1916 leaders, James Connolly was arguably the most talented and the most original. Born in Edinburgh to Irish parents, he went to work at eleven, and enlisted in the British Army aged 14 (the details of his service are still unclear). His education, such as it was, came through the labour and socialist movement, led by men like Keir Hardie and John Leslie.

By 1890 he was working for Edinburgh Corporation, and was (unpaid) secretary of the Independent Labour Party there. In that year he married, while leading a strike with his brother. In 1896 he moved to Dublin, where John Leslie got him a job with the Dublin Socialist Society. A few years later he founded his own Irish Republican Socialist Party and the first Workers' Republic.

Money was short in Dublin for a married man with responsibilities, and after a lecture tour in America he moved his family there. During the years when Irish nationalists were convulsed by the aftermath of the Parnell split, Connolly was debating socialism and syndicalism with the De-Leonites and the Industrial Workers of the World, and clarifying his ideas on the links between socialism and patriotism.

He returned to Ireland in July 1910, as Belfast organiser for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union. Between his other duties he found time to write the first substantial book on 'Labour in Irish History'. In 1912 he was joint founder with Jim Larkin of the Irish Labour Party. He was back in Dublin for the Lock-Out in 1913, and co-founded the Irish Citizens' Army to protect striking workers from the police and from gangs hired by the employers.

On the outbreak of world war in 1914, he was one of very few European Socialist leaders to stick by their pledges to oppose recruitment and mobilisation. Connolly opposed imperialist war, but he understood the need for a subject nation to win its freedom. His writings brought him into contact with the IRB, and he was co-opted to its military committee (partly because they feared he would launch a Rising before they were ready).

This led him to sign the 1916 Proclamation, which shows his influence in several well-known passages, and to serve as Commandant in the GPO. Severely wounded by a sniper, he was tied in a chair for execution. He made no complaint, telling his wife, 'Sure hasn't it been a full life'. He was just 48.

Manuscript material by James Connolly is notably scarce, and very little has come to light in the last 20 years. The present archive offers a unique opportunity to acquire what must be the best extant collection of his writings. (1)