153-697: Workers organizations Supported by Employers & companies Supported by James Larkin James Connolly Jack White William Martin Murphy The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Dublin , Ireland. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often viewed as the most severe and significant industrial dispute in Irish history . Central to
306-825: A Teachta Dála (TD) on three occasions, and two of his sons ( James Larkin Jnr and Denis Larkin ) also served as TDs . Jim Larkin served as Labour Party deputy in Dáil Éireann from 1943 to 1944, leaving Dáil Éireann for the last time in 1944, and dying in Dublin in 1947. Catholic Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid gave his funeral mass, and the ICA in its last public appearance escorted his funeral procession through Dublin to his burial site at Glasnevin Cemetery . Larkin
459-588: A baton charge at worker's rallies. On 31 August 1913, the DMP attacked a meeting on Sackville Street (now known as O'Connell Street ) that had been publicly banned. It caused the deaths of two workers: James Nolan and John Byrne. Over 300 more were injured. The baton charge was a response to the appearance of James Larkin, who had been banned from holding a meeting, to speak for the workers. He had been smuggled into William Martin Murphy's Imperial Hotel by Nellie Gifford ,
612-823: A syndicalist and association with the Industrial Workers of the World was looked down on by the right wing of the Socialist Party of America. Larkin was reported as having helped to disrupt Allied munitions shipments in New York City during World War I . In 1937, he voluntarily assisted US lawyers investigating the Black Tom explosion by providing an affidavit from his home in Dublin. According to British Army Intelligence officer, Henry Landau: Larkin testified that he himself never took part in
765-441: A "first generation communist leader" whose ideology had been formed during the period prior to 1914. It is also claimed that he had, by this time, fallen into a degenerated state of egomania, was "violently" averse to being accountable to anyone but himself and consequently suspicious of anything that was outside of his own personal control. It could be said that some of Larkin's suspicions and apparent paranoias were justified, as it
918-625: A 'yellow countenance'. In January 1907, Larkin undertook his first task on behalf of the trade union movement in Ireland, when he arrived in Belfast to organise the city's dock workers for the NUDL. He succeeded in unionising the workforce and, because employers refused to meet the wage demands, he called the dockers out on strike in June. The Belfast Dock strike was soon joined by carters and coalmen,
1071-533: A change in circumstances and was also a clear indication that the Red Scare had largely abated. Smith granted Larkin a pardon hearing which was set for January 1923, the pardon was granted and he was released from prison. Foran cabled Larkin to convey the ITGWU's satisfaction with the events and to seek the date of his return to Ireland. Although Larkin had his mind set on a return to Ireland, he had grander plans than
1224-567: A commercial agent in Ireland for the Soviet Union may have contributed to his disenchantment with Stalinism . The Soviets, for their part, had been increasingly impatient with what they saw as his ineffective leadership. From the early 1930s, Larkin drew away from the Soviet Union entirely. In the 1932 general election, he stood, without success, as a communist and, in 1933 and subsequently, he ran as "Independent Labour". The reasons for
1377-464: A day. Dublin tramway workers were paid substantially less than their counterparts in Belfast and Liverpool and were subjected to a regime of punitive fines, probationary periods extending for as long as six years and a culture of company surveillance involving the widespread use of informers. Murphy was not opposed in principle to trade unions, particularly craft unions, but he was vehemently opposed to
1530-577: A declining interest in the now crippled ITGWU, and became increasingly difficult to work with. Speculation had risen during the lock-out that he was planning to leave for America. A speaking tour of the New World had been suggested to Larkin by Bill Haywood in November 1913 and the following month. The growing speculation prompted the New York Times to publish an editorial simply titled 'Larkin
1683-514: A disastrous settlement for the last of the strikers resulted in a lasting rift between Sexton and Larkin. In 1908, Larkin moved south and organised workers in Dublin , Cork and Waterford , with considerable success. His involvement, against union instructions, in a dispute in Dublin resulted in his expulsion from the NUDL. The union later prosecuted him for diverting union funds to give strike pay to Cork workers engaged in an unofficial dispute. After trial and conviction for embezzlement in 1910, he
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#17327659219191836-538: A greasy till, and add the halfpence to the pence" and asked: Was it for this the wild geese spread The grey wing upon every tide; For this that all that blood was shed, For this Edward Fitzgerald died, And Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone , All that delirium of the brave? Romantic Ireland's dead and gone, It's with O'Leary in the grave. James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim ,
1989-490: A large number of his colleagues in the ITGWU. In addition to recuperating from the strain of the lockout and undertaking a tour of the United States, Larkin also intended to raise funds for the union and the fledgling ICA, and to rebuild their headquarters Liberty Hall . Many in the union assumed that Larkin's trip would be a short one and that he would soon return. However, it quickly became clear that this would not be
2142-507: A meeting called by Larkin for Sunday 31 August 1913 was proscribed, Constance Markievicz and her husband Casimir disguised Larkin in Casimir's frock coat and trousers and stage makeup and beard, and Nellie Gifford , who was unknown to the police, led him into William Martin Murphy's Imperial Hotel , pretending to be her stooped, deaf old clergyman uncle (to disguise his instantly recognisable Liverpool accent). Larkin tore off his beard inside
2295-515: A minimum-wage act by the government that is hailed as a victory by the strikers. The accuracy of the account is disputed. A more official version states, "The strike finally ended in August 1911, with the workers forced to accept the 2 s 3 d per ton negotiated by William Abraham MP prior to the strike... the workers actually returning to work on the first Monday in September", ten months after
2448-405: A new communist group became active in Dublin but had orders not to "disturb the big noise", with Moscow fearing that Larkin would smash its initiatives in the city, whilst also secretly still hoping that Larkin would provide the mass base it desired in Ireland. Ultimately, Larkin would neither support communist activity nor oppose his successors. Larkin's unsuccessful attempts to gain a position as
2601-533: A paternalistic management that refused to join a lockout of unionised staff by virtually all the major Dublin employers. This was far from the case on the tramways. The chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company, industrialist and newspaper proprietor William Martin Murphy , was determined not to allow the ITGWU to unionise his workforce. On 15 August, he dismissed 40 workers he suspected of ITGWU membership, followed by another 300 over
2754-819: A police cell. Connolly, Larkin and ex- British Army Captain Jack White formed a worker's militia, the Irish Citizen Army , to protect workers' demonstrations. For seven months, the lock-out affected tens of thousands of Dublin families. Murphy's three main newspapers, the Irish Independent , the Sunday Independent and the Evening Herald , portrayed Larkin as the villain. Influential figures such as Patrick Pearse , Countess Markievicz and William Butler Yeats supported
2907-481: A position in Dublin 's collective memory and streetscape, with a statue of him unveiled on O'Connell Street in 1979. Larkin was said to have been born on 21 January 1876, and this was the date that he himself believed was accurate. However, it is now believed that he was actually born on 28 January 1874. He was the second eldest son of Irish emigrants, James Larkin, from Drumintee and Mary Ann McNulty, from Burren, County Down . The impoverished Larkin family lived in
3060-642: A rendezvous in Mexico City in 1917. Following this, Larkin briefly worked with the IWW in San Francisco, before settling in New York and becoming involved with the Socialist Party of America again. He took advantage of the growing support for left-wing politics, and also of the increasing support for Irish republicanism amongst Irish Americans to gain influence amongst its ranks. Larkin was instrumental in
3213-808: A republican delegation to Moscow and directing £500 sent by the Russian Red Cross intended to aid the Irish famine relief effort to George Lansbury a left-wing British Labour M.P., rather than to the WUI. Under pressure from Comintern to operate as a political party or risk losing affiliation, Larkin fielded three candidates at the September 1927 Irish general election ; himself, his son James Larkin Jnr , and WUI President John Lawlor. Larkin ran in Dublin North and, in circumstances that surprised many,
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#17327659219193366-535: A request by Archie Crawford , President of the South African Federation of Labour who wanted Larkin for a speaking tour of the country. A trial took place in which Larkin represented himself, presenting his view that his own beliefs rather than his deeds were on trial, and exhibiting a philosophy incorporating his new-found Bolshevism as well as his Christianity, Socialism, Syndicalism, Communism and Irish nationalism. Despite many onlookers being of
3519-705: A result, his performance so impressed the National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) that he was appointed a temporary organiser. He later gained a permanent position with the union, which, in 1906, sent him to Scotland , where he successfully organised workers in Preston and Glasgow . Larkin campaigned against Chinese immigration, presenting it as a threat that would undercut workers, leading processions in 1906 in Liverpool with fifty dockers dressed as 'Chinamen', wearing faux- 'pigtails' and wearing powder to provide
3672-413: A return to union work. The Comintern wrote to Larkin on 3 February to express their 'great joy' at his release and to extend an invitation to visit Soviet Russia at his earliest opportunity, to 'discuss a number of burning questions affecting the international revolutionary movement'. Larkin made a number of financial requests to the ITGWU, including asking them to cover the costs of purchasing passage on
3825-472: A socialist revolutionary . Notably, Guinness , the largest employer and biggest exporter in Dublin, refused to lock out its workforce. It refused to join Murphy's group but sent £500 to the employers' fund. It had a policy against sympathetic strikes and expected its workers, whose conditions were far better than the norm in Ireland, not to strike in sympathy; six who had done so were dismissed. It had 400 of its staff who were already ITGWU members and so it had
3978-414: A steamer ship, although he, in characteristic fashion, did not reveal the reason. The union's new leadership began to see him as out of touch, and that if allowed to do so he would attempt to restore his previous near-total command over the union. The union had also already spent large sums of money on Larkin's behalf—making sure his wife Elizabeth was taken care of, covering his medical expenses and covering
4131-645: A sympathetic strike in Britain were rejected by the British TUC. Larkin's attacks on the TUC leadership for this stance also led to the cessation of financial aid to the ITGWU, which in any case was not affiliated with the TUC. Although the efforts of the ITGWU and the smaller UBLU did not succeed in securing significantly better pay and conditions for the workers, they represented a turning point in Irish labor history. The principle of union action and workers' solidarity
4284-497: A time and then worked as a sailor and docker . By 1903, he was a dock foreman, and on 8 September of that year, he married Elizabeth Brown. From 1893, Larkin developed an interest in socialism and became a member of the Independent Labour Party . In 1905, he was one of the few foremen to take part in a strike on the Liverpool docks. He was elected to the strike committee and, although he lost his foreman's job as
4437-457: A traitor to the Irish people and who had had no intention of arming the movement effectively for Irish independence. He also claimed that in the process of receiving and protecting the guns, 100 of his men from the ICA with no ammunition or bayonets had faced and routed 150 of the King's Own Scottish Borderers , whom he disparagingly said had been referred to as 'England's best'. He went on to attack
4590-505: A variety of jobs while still a child. He became a full-time trade union organiser in 1905. Larkin moved to Belfast in 1907, where he was involved in trade unionism and syndicalist strike action including organising the 1907 Belfast Dock strike . Larkin later moved south and organised workers in Dublin, Cork and Waterford, with considerable success. He founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union after his expulsion from
4743-524: A vicious attack on Tom Johnson who was now leader of the Labour Party and who like Larkin, was Liverpool-born. Johnson had been born to English parents but had spent much of his life in Ireland. Larkin, although born to Irish parents, had spent as long in the US as he had in Ireland. Larkin said that it was "time that Labour dealt with this English traitor. If they don't get rid of this scoundrel, they'll get
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4896-613: A working relationship with the union. Larkin appealed to have the six reinstated but without success. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leader, Bill Haywood , was in Paris when he heard of the lockout. He collected 1000 francs to aid the strikers and travelled to Dublin where he addressed a crowd in front of City Hall. Strikers used mass pickets and intimidation against strike-breakers, who were also violent towards strikers. The Dublin Metropolitan Police carried out
5049-425: Is coming'. This dismayed colleagues in the ITGWU and Larkin felt obliged to deny that he was planning on running away. However, noting the effect of the strain of the lock-out on Larkin, union officials reluctantly concluded that a break would probably be of great benefit to him. Following the advice given by 'Big Bill', 'Big Jim' therefore left for America. His decision to leave dismayed many union activists, including
5202-617: The Communist Labor Party of America . Favouring the latter, as he believed it to be more 'American' (something which he believed was crucial), Larkin joined their ranks. Larkin's speeches in support of the Soviets, his association with founding members of both the American Communist Party and Communist Labor Party of America , and his radical publications made him a target of the " First Red Scare " that
5355-713: The Imperial Hotel . He controlled the Irish Independent , Evening Herald and Irish Catholic newspapers and was a major shareholder in the B&;I Line . Murphy was also a prominent Irish nationalist and a former Home Rule MP in Parliament. Even today, his defenders insist that he was a charitable man and a good employer and that his workers received fair wages. However, conditions in his many enterprises were often poor or worse, with employees given only one day off in 10 and being forced to labour up to 17 hours
5508-677: The Irish Socialist Republican Party and the newspaper The Workers' Republic . In 1911, Connolly was appointed the ITGWU's Belfast organiser. In 1912, Connolly and Larkin formed the Irish Labour Party to represent workers in the imminent Home Rule Bill debate in the British Parliament . Home rule, although passed in the House of Commons, was postponed, by the start of World War I . The plan
5661-560: The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) at the end of December 1908. The organisation exists today as the Services Industrial Professional & Technical Union (SIPTU). It quickly gained the affiliation of the NUDL branches in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk , Waterford and Sligo . The Derry and Drogheda NUDL branches stayed with the British union, and Belfast split along sectarian lines. Early in
5814-610: The Irish Volunteers and smuggled into Ireland at Howth in July 1914. A written constitution was established stating the Army's principles as follows: "the ownership of Ireland, moral and material, is vested of right in the people of Ireland" and to "sink all difference of birth property and creed under the common name of the Irish people". Exhausted by the demands of organising union work, Larkin fell into bouts of depression, took
5967-468: The National Union of Dock Labourers for his taking part in strike action in Dublin against union instructions, this new union would quickly replace the NUDL in Ireland. He later moved to Dublin which would become the headquarters of his union and the focus of his union activity, as well as where the Irish Labour Party would be formed. Larkin is perhaps best known for his role in organising
6120-597: The Naval Colliery Company opened a new coal seam at the Ely Pit in Penygraig . After a short test period to determine what would be the future rate of extraction, owners claimed that the miners deliberately worked more slowly than possible. The roughly-70 miners at the seam argued that the new seam was more difficult to work than others because of a stone band that ran through it. On 1 September 1910,
6273-667: The Rhondda mines of the Cambrian Combine, a cartel of mining companies formed to regulate prices and wages in South Wales . The disturbances and the confrontations were the culmination of the industrial dispute between workers and the mine owners The term "Tonypandy riot" initially applied to specific events on the evening of Tuesday, 8 November 1910, when strikers smashed windows of businesses in Tonypandy . There
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6426-466: The Rhondda Valley . The Tonypandy riots are subject of a popular historical myth that troops fired on the miners. Josephine Tey refers to this in her novel The Daughter of Time , and coined the term "tonypandy" to refer to "when a historical event is reported and memorialized inaccurately but consistently until the resulting fiction is believed to be the truth." The only bloodshed in
6579-480: The South Wales Miners' Federation , resulting in the 12,000 men working for the mines owned by the Cambrian Combine going on strike. A conciliation board was formed to reach an agreement, with William Abraham acting on behalf of the miners and F. L. Davis for the owners. Although an agreed wage of 2 s 3 d per ton was arrived at, the Cambrian Combine workmen rejected the agreement. On 2 November,
6732-742: The Workers' Union of Ireland (the two unions later merged to become SIPTU , Ireland's largest trade union). Along with Connolly and Jack White , he was also a founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA; a paramilitary group which was integral to both the Dublin lock-out and the Easter Rising ). Larkin was a leading figure in the Syndicalist movement. Larkin was born to Irish parents in Toxteth , Liverpool , England. Growing up in poverty, he received little formal education and began working in
6885-484: The 18th Hussars to reach Pontypridd at 8:15 am. Upon arrival, one contingent patrolled Aberaman and another was sent to Llwynypia, where it patrolled all day. Returning to Pontypridd at night, the troops arrived at Porth as a disturbance was breaking out, and then maintained order until the arrival of the Metropolitan Police. Although no authentic record exists of casualties since many miners would have refused treatment for fear of prosecution for their part in
7038-405: The 1913 strike that led to the Dublin lock-out . The lock-out was an industrial dispute over workers' pay and conditions as well as their right to organise, and received worldwide attention and coverage. It has been described as the "coming of age of the Irish trade union movement". The Irish Citizen Army was formed during the lock-out to protect striking workers from police violence. Not long after
7191-488: The British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and sources in Ireland, distributed by the ITGWU. For seven months, the lockout affected tens of thousands of Dublin workers and employers, with Larkin portrayed as the villain by Murphy's three main newspapers, the Irish Independent , the Sunday Independent and the Evening Herald , and by other bourgeois publications in Ireland. Other leaders in
7344-588: The British Army, volunteered to train this army and offered £50 towards the cost of shoes to workers so that they could train. In addition to its role as a self-defence organisation, the Army, which was drilled in Croydon Park in Fairview by White, provided a diversion for workers unemployed and idle during the dispute. The lock-out eventually concluded in early 1914 when calls by Connolly and Larkin for
7497-483: The First World War directly, particularly the efforts of the British to get men from Ireland to join their war effort, going on to say that if Ireland was to fight it would be against the British in an effort to create an Irish republic: 'Why should Ireland fight for Britain in this war? What has Britain ever done for our people? Whatever we got from her we wrested with struggle and sacrifice. No, men and women of
7650-716: The Four Winds Fellowship a society open to all trade unionists and socialists born in the British Empire and who were opposed to the war. Elsewhere, he was reported as having said that he did not want a German victory, instead preferring a military deadlock, leading to workers' revolts in the belligerent countries, a desire which came partly true, following the Russian Revolution of 1917. This perceived association with German agents further distanced him from American socialists, and his reputation as
7803-572: The German embassy and he had been approached by military Attachés shortly after his speech in Philadelphia and offered $ 200 per week to undertake waterfront sabotage work. Larkin refused on humanitarian grounds and informed them that he was already engaged in organising strikes that would effectively hamper the Allied war effort by restricting American war-related industry, and that he had established
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#17327659219197956-414: The ITGWU and saw its leader, Larkin, as a dangerous revolutionary. In July 1913, Murphy presided over a meeting of 300 employers during which a collective response to the rise of trade unionism was agreed. Murphy and the employers were determined not to allow the ITGWU to unionise the Dublin workforce. On 15 August, Murphy dismissed 40 workers whom he suspected of ITGWU membership, followed by another 300 over
8109-413: The ITGWU and the ICA, the latter of which he would soon utilise as a revolutionary force. Larkin arrived in New York on 5 November 1914. Following his arrival there were positive initial prospects. The lock-out had been widely reported in America and he was well received by socialists there. He found support from both socialists and Irish-Americans, who were eager to hear his position on the World War which
8262-413: The ITGWU at the time were James Connolly and William O'Brien ; influential figures such as Patrick Pearse , Constance Markievicz and W. B. Yeats supported the workers in the generally anti-Larkin Irish press. The Irish Worker published the names and addresses of strike-breakers, and the Irish Independent published the names and addresses of men and women who attempted to send their children out of
8415-418: The ITGWU. The "Kiddies' Scheme" for the starving children of Irish strikers to be temporarily looked after by British trade unionists was blocked by the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Ancient Order of Hibernians , which claimed that Catholic children would be subject to Protestant or atheist influences when in Britain. The Church supported the employers during the dispute and condemned Larkin as
8568-499: The Irish race, we shall not fight for England. We shall fight for the destruction of the British Empire and the construction of an Irish republic. We shall not fight for the preservation of the enemy, which has laid waste with death and desolation the fields and hills of Ireland for 700 years. We will fight to free Ireland from the grasp of that vile carcase called England'. In a speech to Clan na Gael in November 1914, Larkin promoted his Irish Republican ideals stating 'I assure you that
8721-419: The Irish section of the world communist movement. The IWL enrolled 500 members on its inauguration and, following the death of Lenin on 21 January 1924, Larkin led a march of 6,000 people to mourn his passing. In March 1924, Larkin lost his battle for control of the ITWGU and, in May, the army prevented his followers from seizing Liberty Hall . In June 1924, Larkin attended the Comintern congress in Moscow and
8874-414: The Labour Party and then his newly formed Irish Worker League . Connolly by this time had been executed for his part in the Easter Rising and Larkin mourned the passing of his friend and colleague. After he lost control of the ITGWU, Larkin formed the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI). The WUI was affiliated to Red International of Labour Unions (Profintern) soon after its formation. Larkin served as
9027-418: The Lenin School be supported, noting that James Jnr was "his own man and an earnest communist". Larkin would, in fact, continue to be politically active for all of his life and used the League as a political platform into the 1930s. He did, however, sever ties with Profintern , declaring that they had not given the WUI proper financial support and accusing Lozovsky of intriguing against him. In September 1929,
9180-476: The Lockout) sued him. The bitterness of the court case between the former organisers of the 1913 Lockout would last over 20 years. Larkin agreed with British and Soviet communists to take on the leadership of communism in Ireland and, in September 1923, Larkin formed the Irish Worker League (IWL), which was soon afterwards recognised by The Communist International (Comintern; a Soviet Union controlled international organisation that advocated world communism) as
9333-451: The Republican cause in Ireland to a cheering crowd. During this speech, Larkin showed one of the rifles that had been smuggled into Ireland at Howth, which he noted could be better but still worked. (He added that better weapons could be obtained with more money.) He compared it with a rifle given to the Irish Volunteers by John Redmond , which was an obsolete weapon for which no new ammunition could be procured, using this to vilify Redmond as
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#17327659219199486-442: The St Lawrence Mill Strike in March 1919. The Connolly Club became the national hub of the new communist project, housing the offices of Larkin's SPA faction's Revolutionary Age and Reed's Voice of Labour . In June 1919, Larkin topped the polls for elections to the national left-wing council. He supported the view that the left of the SPA should attempt to take control at its national convention in August. A minority faction favoured
9639-471: The Tonypandy area. By this time, strikers had successfully shut down all local pits, except Llwynypia colliery. On 6 November, miners became aware of the owners' intention to deploy strikebreakers to keep pumps and ventilation going at the Glamorgan Colliery in Llwynypia. On Monday, 7 November, strikers surrounded and picketed the Glamorgan Colliery to prevent such workers from entering. That resulted in sharp skirmishes with police officers posted inside
9792-410: The WUI executive wanted to break with Profintern unless their promises were made good. Relations between Larkin and Moscow would ultimately continue to strain, despite occasional apparent promise, and, in the time building up to the 1930s, the final break was fast approaching. In 1929, in a letter to Moscow, Larkin announced his retirement from active political work. However, he asked that the Irish at
9945-474: The World union (the Wobblies). Within days of arriving in the country, he addressed a crowd of 15,000 people gathered at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the election of Socialist candidate Meyer London to the United States House of Representatives . Soon after his speech at Maddison Garden, he was invited by Devoy to speak to a combined audience of German Uhlans and Irish Volunteers in Philadelphia, where he enthusiastically called for money and arms for
10098-488: The actions of the ITGWU and the smaller UBLU had been unsuccessful in achieving substantially better pay and conditions for workers, they marked a watershed in Irish labour history. The principle of union action and workers' solidarity had been firmly established. No future employer would ever try to "break" a union as Murphy had attempted to with the ITGWU. The lock-out had damaged commercial businesses in Dublin, with many forced to declare bankruptcy. September 1913 , one of
10251-566: The actual sabotage campaign but, rather, confined himself to the organising of strikes to secure both higher pay and shorter hours for workmen and to prevent the shipment of munitions to the Allies. Larkin, however, had first-hand knowledge of German sabotage operations, supplied them with intelligence and contacts and was involved in the transfer of monies from the Germans to Irish Republican causes. He maintained communication with his German contacts. However, they began to tire of his refusals to cooperate with violence and broke contact with him after
10404-495: The alarm of employers. Larkin had learned from the methods of the 1910 Tonypandy riots and the 1911 Liverpool general transport strike . Another important figure in the rise of an organised workers' movement in Ireland at the time was James Connolly , an Edinburgh -born Marxist of Irish parentage. Connolly was a talented orator and a fine writer. He became known for his speeches on the streets of Dublin in support of socialism and Irish nationalism. In 1896, Connolly established
10557-525: The allegiance of about two-thirds of the Dublin membership of the ITGWU and of a smaller number of rural members. It was affiliated to the Soviet Red International of Labour Unions (Promintern). With Soviet support, Larkin sought to remove British unions from Ireland, seeing them as 'outposts of British imperialism'. It was also agreed that Irish sections of the communist movement would deal directly with Moscow and would have permanent representation there, rather than going through Britain. Larkin later launched
10710-434: The audience to support Josef Stalin . He also endorsed the Comintern line that the Communist Party of Great Britain should adopt a hostile rather than fraternal attitude towards the British Labour Party as well as denouncing the CPGB's refusal to back the removal of British unions from Ireland and their record on trade unions in general. Before leaving, Larkin warned Solomon Lozovsky (General Secretary of Profintern) that
10863-426: The authorities in South Wales were enquiring about the procedure for requesting military aid in the event of disturbances caused by the striking miners. The Glamorgan Constabulary 's resources were stretched, as in addition to the Cambrian Combine dispute, there was a month-old strike in the neighbouring Cynon Valley , and the Chief Constable of Glamorgan had by Sunday, 6 November, assembled 200 imported police in
11016-426: The bullet and the bayonet in reward. There's nothing for it, but a dose of the lead which Johnson promises to those who look for work." This implied incitement to murder Johnson in a still-violent post-Civil War country resulted in the court awarding Johnson £1000 in libel damages against Larkin. In his 2006 biographical anthology, Donal Nevin noted that his attacks on colleagues in the labour movement, including those
11169-580: The case. Shortly before his departure, he declined a request by the Irish Trades Union Congress to join a two-man mission to raise funds for the Labour Party, replying that if he went he would be 'going alone and freelance'. His intention was to agitate in America rather than organise, but it is unclear whether he intended to return. Larkin set sail for America on 25 October 1914, leaving long-time associate James Connolly in charge of
11322-411: The chemist Willie Llewellyn , which was rumoured to have been spared because he had been a famous Welsh international rugby footballer. A small police presence might have deterred window-breakages, but police had been moved from the streets to protect the residences of mine owners and managers. At 1:20 am on 9 November, orders were sent to Colonel Currey at Cardiff to despatch a squadron of
11475-501: The city to be cared for in foster homes in Belfast and Britain. However, Larkin never resorted to violence. He knew it would play into the hands of the anti-union companies, and that he could not build a mass trade union by wrecking the firms where his members worked. A group including Tom Kettle and Thomas MacDonagh formed the Industrial Peace Committee to attempt to negotiate between employers and workers;
11628-592: The clan was successful being asked to attend other speaking engagements. Divisions began to appear, however, largely stemming from his anti-capitalist socialist ideals and pro-worker ideology, which were fundamentally at odds with many of the views of those in the clan and the Irish-America movement. Larkin's religious ideals were also at odds with the largely secular American left, so he effectively alienated himself from both movements and speaking engagements began to dwindle. His speeches had attracted interest from
11781-462: The costs of James Jnr's visit to see him in America. For these reasons, the additional financial requests were denied, a decision which begat what would become an intense split in the union movement in Ireland. After lobbying the Secretary for Labor for a deportation order, which was granted, he was arrested and charged with being an alien activist. He was then taken to the British consulate where he
11934-625: The country, meeting trade union members and appealing for an end to the Irish Civil War . However, he soon found himself at variance with William O'Brien, who, in Larkin's absence, had become the leading figure in the ITGWU and the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress. Larkin was still officially general secretary of the ITGWU. The ITGWU leaders (Thomas Foran, William O'Brien, Thomas Kennedy: all colleagues of Larkin during
12087-582: The dispute was the workers' right to unionise . Many of Dublin's workers lived in terrible conditions in tenements . For example, over 830 people lived in just 15 houses in Henrietta Street 's Georgian tenements. At 10 Henrietta Street, the Irish Sisters of Charity ran a Magdalene laundry that was inhabited by more than 50 single women. An estimated four million pledges were taken in pawnbrokers every year. The infant mortality rate among
12240-564: The employers refused to meet them. Larkin and others were arrested for sedition on 28 August, and he was released on bail later that day. Connolly told the authorities "I do not recognise the English government in Ireland at all. I do not even recognise the King except when I am compelled to do so." On 30 August, a warrant for Larkin's arrest was put out, claiming he had again been seditious and had incited people to riot and to pillage shops. When
12393-647: The establishment of the New York James Connolly Socialist Club on St Patrick's Day, 1918. Whilst in America, Larkin had become an enthusiastic supporter of the Soviets and, following an address at the club by Jack Reed , who had recently returned from Russia, interest in the Bolsheviks was revitalised. Larkin decided to put all his efforts into reforming the SPA into a communist party. This meant that he had to turn down an offer to lead
12546-504: The eventual collapse in relations between the Soviet Union and Larkin can, to some extent, be put down to his underlying motivations. According to Emmet O'Connor, his aims were to "discredit the ITWGU, and Labour Party leadership, drive the British unions out of Ireland, and build an anti-imperialist front with republicans". His Syndicalist ideology was also largely out of place in a Leninist context, eventually being regarded by Comintern as
12699-468: The execution of Connolly, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. The union was rebuilt by William O'Brien and Thomas Johnson . By 1919, its membership had surpassed that of 1913. Many of the blacklisted workers joined the British Army since they had no other source of pay to support their families, and they found themselves in the trenches of World War I within the year. Although
12852-629: The hotel and raced to a balcony, where he shouted his speech to the crowd below. The police – some 300 Royal Irish Constabulary reinforcing Dublin Metropolitan Police – savagely baton-charged the crowd, injuring between 400 and 600 people. MP Handel Booth, who was present, said that the police "behaved like men possessed. They drove the crowd into the side streets to meet other batches of the government's minions, wildly striking with their truncheons at everyone within reach ... The few roughs got away first, most respectable people left their hats and crawled away with bleeding heads. Kicking victims when prostrate
13005-514: The immediate creation of a new communist party and left in protest. Larkin, along with numerous other sympathisers of the Bolsheviks , was expelled from the Socialist Party of America at its national convention during the Red Scare of that year. As a result of this exodus, two new parties were formed from the ranks of the SPA's communist former members, namely the American Communist Party and
13158-430: The issue, stating: "When I was Home Secretary in 1910, I had a great horror and fear of having to become responsible for the military firing on a crowd of rioters and strikers. Also, I was always in sympathy with the miners..." A major factor in the dislike of Churchill's use of the military was not in any action undertaken by the troops, but the fact that their presence prevented any strike action which might have ended
13311-481: The latter refused to sign the pledge, employing blackleg labour from Britain and from elsewhere in Ireland. Guinness, the largest employer in Dublin, refused the employers' call to lock out its workers but it sacked 15 workers who struck in sympathy. Dublin's workers, amongst the poorest in the whole of what was then the Great Britain and Ireland , were forced to survive on generous but inadequate donations from
13464-634: The latter settling their dispute after a month. With active support from the Independent Orange Order and its Grand Master, R. Lindsay Crawford , urging the "unity of all Irishmen", Larkin succeeded in uniting Protestant and Catholic workers and even persuaded the local Royal Irish Constabulary to strike at one point, but the strike ended by November without having achieved significant success. Tensions regarding leadership arose between Larkin and NUDL general secretary James Sexton . The latter's handling of negotiations and agreement to
13617-464: The local authorities were overreacting and believed that the Liberal government could calm matters down. He instead despatched Metropolitan Police officers , both on foot and mounted, and sent some cavalry troops to Cardiff. He did not specifically deploy cavalry but authorised their use by civil authorities if it was deemed necessary. Churchill's personal message to strikers was, "We are holding back
13770-477: The lockout Larkin assumed direct command of the ICA, beginning the process of its reform into a revolutionary paramilitary organisation by arming them with Mauser rifles bought from Germany by the Irish Volunteers and smuggled into Ireland at Howth in July 1914. In October 1914 Larkin left Ireland and travelled to America to raise funds for the ITGWU and the ICA, leaving Connolly in charge of both organisations. During his time in America, Larkin became involved in
13923-706: The main protagonist on the side of the workers in the dispute, was a docker in Liverpool and a union organiser. In 1907, he was sent to Belfast as a local organiser of the British-based National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL). In Belfast, Larkin organised a strike of dock and transport workers . It was also in Belfast that Larkin began to use the tactic of the sympathetic strike in which workers who were not directly involved in an industrial dispute with employers would go on strike in support of other workers, who were striking. The Belfast strike
14076-542: The medical evidence concluded, "The fracture had been caused by a blunt instrument—it might have been caused by a policeman's truncheon or by two of the several weapons used by the strikers, which were produced in court." Authorities had reinforced the town with 400 policemen, one company of the Lancashire Fusiliers , billeted at Llwynypia, and the squadron of the 18th Hussars. Thirteen miners from Gilfach Goch were arrested and prosecuted for their part in
14229-635: The most famous of W. B. Yeats ' poems, was published in The Irish Times during the lock-out. Although the occasion of the poem was the decision of Dublin Corporation not to build a gallery to house the Hugh Lane collection of paintings (William Martin Murphy was one of the most vocal opponents of the plan), it has sometimes been viewed by scholars as a commentary on the lock-out. In the poem, Yeats wrote mockingly of commerciants who "fumble in
14382-485: The new year, 1909, Larkin moved to Dublin, which became the main base of the ITGWU and the focus of all his future union activity in Ireland. In June 1911, Larkin established a newspaper, The Irish Worker and People's Advocate , as a pro-labour alternative to the capitalist-owned press. This organ was characterised by a campaigning approach and the denunciation of unfair employers and of Larkin's political enemies. Its columns also included pieces by intellectuals. The paper
14535-503: The next week. The resulting industrial dispute was the most severe in the history of Ireland . Employers in Dublin locked out their workers and employed blackleg labour from Britain and elsewhere in Ireland. Dublin's workers, despite being some of the poorest in the United Kingdom at the time, applied for help and were sent £150,000 by the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other sources in Ireland, doled out dutifully by
14688-411: The next week. On 26 August 1913, the tramway workers officially went on strike. Led by Murphy, over 400 of the city's employers retaliated by requiring their workers to sign a pledge not to be a member of the ITGWU and not to engage in sympathetic strikes. The resulting industrial dispute was the most severe in Ireland's history. Employers in Dublin engaged in a sympathetic lockout of their workers when
14841-665: The ninth plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International . Here he departed from his usual subject matter. His public speeches in Russia were usually and almost exclusively centred on the need for trade union solidarity and largely avoided comment on communist politics. However, he now delivered a lecture on "Ireland, trade unions and the peasantry" at the Moscow Soviet, and asked
14994-409: The opinion that he had gained enough sympathy to divide the jury, Larkin's fears were instead realised: he was found guilty and sentenced to five to ten years, to be served in the notorious Sing Sing prison. While most of his sentence was served at Sing Sing, Larkin also spent time in other prisons in America, briefly moving to Clinton prison (Dannemora) after only one month at Sing Sing. This move
15147-498: The outside world. Keeping a keen eye on Irish affairs, Larkin sent a 'thunderous denunciation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty ' to Dublin on 10 December 1921. Larkin's most famous visitor whilst he was imprisoned was Charlie Chaplin who noted that he was 'diffident' and 'concerned for his family', about whom he had heard nothing since his incarceration. Chaplin sent presents to Larkin's wife Elizabeth and their children. Larkin
15300-415: The owners posted a lock-out notice at the mine that closed the site to all 950 workers, not just the 70 at the newly opened Bute seam. The Ely Pit miners reacted by going on strike . The Cambrian Combine then called in strikebreakers from outside the area to which the miners responded by picketing the work site. On 1 November, the miners of the South Wales coalfield were balloted for strike action by
15453-454: The police, whose role under Lionel Lindsay was, in the words of historian David Smith, "more like an army of occupation". The incident continued to haunt Churchill throughout his career. Such was the strength of feeling, that almost forty years later, when speaking in Cardiff during the general election campaign of 1950, this time as Conservative Party leader, Churchill was forced to address
15606-641: The poor was 142 per 1,000 births, extraordinarily high for a European city. The situation was made considerably worse by the high rate of disease in the slums, which was worsened by the lack of health care and cramped living conditions. The most prevalent disease in the Dublin slums at the time was tuberculosis (TB), which spread through tenements very quickly and caused many deaths among the poor. A report, published in 1912, found that TB-related deaths in Ireland were 50% higher than in England or Scotland . The vast majority of TB-related deaths in Ireland occurred among
15759-405: The poorer classes. The report updated a 1903 study by Dr John Lumsden . Poverty was perpetuated in Dublin by the lack of work for unskilled workers, who did not have any form of representation before trade unions were founded. The unskilled workers often had to compete with one another for work every day, with the job generally going to whoever agreed to work for the lowest wages. James Larkin ,
15912-418: The riots, nearly 80 police and over 500 citizens were injured. One miner, Samuel Rhys, died of head injuries that were said to have been inflicted by a policeman's baton, but the verdict of the coroner's jury was cautious: "We agree that Samuel Rhys died from injuries he received on 8 November caused by some blunt instrument. The evidence is not sufficiently clear to us how he received those injuries." Similarly,
16065-485: The same speech, that 'The time is ripe for an active movement. We have waited years for this opportunity, and it could not come at a better time. We have the men and the plans, but only have 5000 rifles and no ammunition. Give us more guns and ammunition and we will not fail you. We have got something better than England ever had—destiny'. His speech was received well by the Clan and other nationalists, and his initial time with
16218-455: The sister-in-law of Thomas MacDonagh , and spoke from a balcony. The event is remembered as Bloody Sunday, a term used for two subsequent days in 20th-century Ireland and for the murderous charge of police in the Liverpool general strike. Another worker, Alice Brady , was later shot dead by a strike-breaker as she brought home a food parcel from the union office. Michael Byrne, an ITGWU official from Kingstown , died after he had been tortured in
16371-416: The site. Although miners' leaders called for calm, a small group of strikers began stoning the pump-house. A portion of the wooden fence surrounding the site was torn down. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued between miners and police. After repeated baton charges, police drove strikers back towards Tonypandy Square, just after midnight. Between 1 am and 2 am on 8 November, a demonstration at Tonypandy Square
16524-407: The slums of Liverpool during the early years of his life. From the age of seven, he attended school in the mornings and worked in the afternoons to supplement the family income, a common arrangement in working-class families at the time. At the age of fourteen, after the death of his father, he was apprenticed to the firm his father had worked for but was dismissed after two years. He was unemployed for
16677-693: The socialist movement there, becoming a member of the Socialist Party of America . Larkin then became involved in the early communist movement in America, and he was later jailed in 1920 in the midst of the Red Scare after being found guilty of "criminal anarchy". He then spent several years in Sing Sing , before he was eventually pardoned by the Governor of New York Al Smith in 1923 and later deported. Larkin then returned to Ireland where he again became involved in Irish socialism and politics, both in
16830-707: The soldiers for the present and sending only police". Despite that assurance, the local stipendiary magistrate sent a telegram to London later that day and requested military support, which the Home Office authorised. Troops were deployed after the skirmish at the Glamorgan Colliery on 7 November but before rioting on the evening of 8 November. During the evening of rioting, properties in Tonypandy were damaged, and some looting took place. Shops were smashed systematically but not indiscriminately. There
16983-661: The strike began and twelve months after the lock-out that had started the confrontation. Churchill's role in the events at Tonypandy during the conflict left anger towards him in South Wales that still persists today. The main point of contention was his decision to allow troops to be sent to Wales. Although this was an unusual move and was seen by those in Wales as an overreaction, his Tory opponents suggested that he should have acted with greater vigour. The troops acted more circumspectly and were commanded with more common sense than
17136-489: The strike early in the miners' favour. The troops also ensured that trials of rioters, strikers and miners' leaders would take place and be successfully prosecuted in Pontypridd in 1911. The defeat of the miners in 1911 was, in the eyes of much of the local community, a direct consequence of state intervention without any negotiation; that the strikers were breaking the law was not a factor with many locals. This result
17289-410: The strike prompted Larkin to call for a workers' militia to be formed to protect themselves against the police, so Larkin, James Connolly , and Jack White created the Irish Citizen Army . The Citizen Army for the duration of the lock-out was armed with hurleys (sticks used in hurling, a traditional Irish sport) and bats to protect workers' demonstrations from the police. Jack White, a former Captain in
17442-531: The subject of this libel action, meant that Larkin "alienated practically all the leaders of the movement [and] the mass of trade union members". In January 1925, the Comintern sent Communist Party of Great Britain activist Bob Stewart to Ireland to establish a communist party in co-operation with Larkin. A formal founding conference of the Irish Worker League, which was to take up this role,
17595-480: The unrest. The trial of the thirteen occupied six days in December. During the trial, they were supported by marches and demonstrations by up to 10,000 men, who were refused entry to the town. Custodial terms of two to six weeks were issued to some of the respondents; others were discharged or fined. Purported eyewitness accounts of alleged shootings persisted and were relayed by word of mouth. In some instances, it
17748-526: The unskilled workers of Dublin, which was a cause of concern for the NUDL, which was reluctant to engage in a full-scale industrial dispute with the powerful Dublin employers. It suspended Larkin from the NUDL in 1908. Larkin then left the NUDL and set up an Irish union, the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). The ITGWU was the first Irish trade union to cater for both skilled and unskilled workers. In its first few months, it quickly gained popularity and soon spread to other Irish cities. The ITGWU
17901-578: The unskilled workers'. In early 1913, Larkin achieved some successes in industrial disputes in Dublin and, notably, in the Sligo Dock strike ; these involved frequent recourse to sympathetic strikes and blacking (boycotting) of goods. Two major employers, Guinness and the Dublin United Tramway Company , were the main targets of Larkin's organising ambitions. Both had craft unions for skilled workers, but Larkin's main aim
18054-417: The unskilled workers'. However other commentators have noted that Larkin was "vilified as a wrecker by former comrades", with anthologist Donal Nevin noting that some of Larkin's actions, including his attacks on others in the labour movement, meant Larkin had "alienated practically all the leaders of the movement [and] the mass of trade union members" by the mid-1920s. "Big Jim" Larkin continues to occupy
18207-404: The windows of Liberty Hall . The sentence was widely seen as unjust. Larkin was released about a week later. As the lock out continued Larkin continued to speak out about the conditions being faced by workers and their families. On 4 October 1913 Larkin spoke at the lock out Tribunal of Inquiry: When the position of the workers in Dublin was taken into consideration, was it any wonder that there
18360-470: The workers in the media. The lock-out eventually concluded in early 1914, when the TUC in Britain rejected Larkin and Connolly's request for a sympathetic strike. Most workers, many of whom were on the brink of starvation, went back to work and signed pledges not to join the ITGWU. It was badly damaged by its defeat in the Lockout and was further hit by the departure of Larkin to the United States in 1914 and
18513-513: The workers of Ireland are on the side of the dear, dark-haired mother, whose call they never failed to answer yet ... again will the call ring out over hill and dale to the men who have always answered the call of Caithlin-ni-Houlihan. For seven hundred long, weary years we have waited for this hour. The flowing tide is with us ... [and we must be] ready for the Rising of the Moon'. He went on to say, in
18666-403: Was a settled part of the police programme." Larkin went into hiding, charged with incitement to breach the peace. Larkin was later re-arrested, charged with sedition and was handed a 7-month imprisonment. The Attorney General claimed Larkin had said: "People make kings and can unmake them. I never said 'God Save the King', but in derision. I say it now in derision." to a crowd of 8,000 people from
18819-416: Was a violent attempt by coal miners to maintain wages and working conditions in parts of South Wales, where wages had been kept low by a cartel of mine owners. What became known as the Tonypandy riots of 1910 and 1911 (sometimes collectively known as the Rhondda riots ) were a series of violent confrontations between the striking coal miners and police that took place at various locations in and around
18972-531: Was an Irish republican , socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and William O'Brien , and later the founder of the Irish Worker League (a communist party which was recognised by the Comintern as the Irish section of the world communist movement), as well as the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) and
19125-523: Was asking a question, during Prime Minister's Questions, on miners' pay; he was warned by the Labour leader and Prime Minister James Callaghan not to pursue "the vendetta of your family against the miners of Tonypandy". In 2010, ninety-nine years after the riots, a Welsh local council made objections to an old military base being named after Churchill in the Vale of Glamorgan because of his sending troops into
19278-408: Was back in custody by 31 August, despite various plans being discussed, including a potential escape plan raised by Thomas Foran of the ITGWU and numerous legal challenges. Larkin decided to bide his time. During this time it was also arranged for Larkin's son, James, to visit him in prison. The election of Irish-American Al Smith to the position of Governor of New York in November 1922 represented
19431-459: Was by now raging throughout Europe. Opposition to the war was intended to be his main position whilst in America. Upon presenting his credentials to the Socialist Party of America and John Devoy , the Irish leader of Clan na Gael (the leading Irish republican supporting organisation in America), his services were quickly taken up by both and he also became involved in the Industrial Workers of
19584-664: Was cabled by Grigory Zinoviev President of the Communist International (Comintern) who gave their 'warmest greetings to the undaunted fighter released from the "democratic" prisons'. In February of that year, Larkin had been elected to the Moscow Soviet to represent the Moscow International Communist Tailoring Factory by a union of tailors, most of them returnees to Russia from the USA. Larkin's court appeal failed and he
19737-754: Was clear that the Communist Party of Great Britain frequently attempted to circumvent him in liaising with the IRA and the Worker's Party behind his back. Additionally its Minority Movement blatantly ignored Profintern instructions and refused to honour the agreement on the withdrawal of British unions from Ireland, which resulted in Larkin directing much of his irritation on the matter towards Profintern. Tonypandy riots Employers Police Armed forces William Abraham F. L. Davis Lionel Lindsay Winston Churchill The Miners Strike of 1910-11
19890-457: Was criticised for its creative approach to truth. For example, in the chapter "Soldiers are sent to the Valley", he narrates an incident in which eleven strikers are killed by two volleys of rifle fire in the town square after which the miners adopt a grimly-retaliatory stance. In that account, the end of the strike is hastened by organised terror directed at mine managers, leading to introduction of
20043-541: Was dispersed by Cardiff Police, using truncheons, resulting in casualties on both sides. That led Glamorgan 's chief constable , Lionel Lindsay, supported by the general manager of the Cambrian Combine, to request military support from the War Office . Home Secretary Winston Churchill learned of that development and, after discussions with the War Office, delayed action on the request. Churchill felt that
20196-545: Was elected to its Executive Committee . The League's most prominent activity in its first year was to raise funds for imprisoned members of the Anti-Treaty IRA . During Larkin's absence from Ireland at the 1924 Comintern Congress in Moscow (and apparently against his instructions), his brother Peter took his supporters out of the ITGWU, forming the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI). The new union quickly grew, gaining
20349-577: Was elected, becoming the first and only communist to be elected to Dáil Éireann . However, as a result of a libel award won against him by William O'Brien, which he had refused to pay, he was an undischarged bankrupt and could not take up his seat. Between November of that year and March 1928, six students including Larkin's son James Larkin Jnr were sent to Moscow to attend the International Lenin School . In February 1928, Larkin made what would be his penultimate visit to Moscow for
20502-434: Was firmly established. Perhaps even more importantly, Larkin's rhetoric condemning poverty and injustice and urging the oppressed to stand up for themselves left a lasting impression. Not long after the lockout Jack White resigned as commander and Larkin assumed direct command of the ICA. Beginning the process of its reform into a revolutionary paramilitary organisation by arming them with Mauser rifles bought from Germany by
20655-529: Was given a passport to travel by ship first to the United Kingdom and then to Ireland. Although Larkin had hoped to have been allowed to travel to Germany, Austria and Russia on business matters, this request was denied. On 21 April, he boarded a ship bound for Southampton and left America for good. Upon his return to Ireland in April 1923, Larkin received a hero's welcome and immediately set about touring
20808-842: Was hand-to-hand fighting between the strikers and the Glamorgan Constabulary , which was reinforced by the Bristol Constabulary . Home Secretary Winston Churchill 's decision to agree to the government's decision to send the British Army to reinforce the police shortly after 8 November riot caused rumours that generated much ill feeling towards him in South Wales. Historians such as Paul Addison however, argue that Churchill did his best to prevent violence; he promised miners that peaceful conduct would be rewarded with sympathetic arbitration. When major riots erupted he sent troops in but "made strenuous efforts to avoid direct confrontation." The conflict arose when
20961-469: Was in order to discourage visitation. A journalist from the New York Call managed to gain an interview with Larkin whilst he was incarcerated there, and the reported deterioration of Larkin's condition led to international protests which ultimately resulted in him moving back to Sing Sing later that year. Whilst at Sing Sing, Larkin was supplied with books and the means to write and communicate with
21114-443: Was later moved to Great Meadow , a comfortable, open prison, where he was visited by Constance Markievicz who, whilst noting his apparent appreciation of his conditions, also sensed his fretfulness at being cut off from politics. On 6 May 1922, Larkin was released before being rearrested shortly afterwards for another charge of criminal anarchy and served with a deportation warrant. Larkin appealed and, during his time out of jail, he
21267-514: Was little looting, but some rioters wore clothes taken from the shops and paraded in a festival atmosphere. Women and children were involved in considerable numbers, as they had been outside the Glamorgan colliery. No police were seen at the town square until the Metropolitan Police arrived around 10:30 pm, almost three hours after the rioting began, when the disturbance subsided of its own accord. A few shops remained untouched, notably that of
21420-407: Was moderately successful and boosted Larkin's standing among Irish workers. However, his tactics were highly controversial and so Larkin was transferred to Dublin. Unskilled workers in Dublin were very much at the mercy of their employers. Employers who suspected workers of trying to organise themselves could blacklist them to destroy them any chance of future employment. Larkin set about organising
21573-492: Was necessity for a Larkin to arise, and if there was one thing more than another in my life of which I will always be proud it was the part I have taken in rescuing the workers of Dublin from the brutalizing and degrading conditions under which they labored. We are out to break down racial and sectarian barriers. My suggestion to the employers is that if they want peace we are prepared to meet them, but if they want war, then war they will have. The violence at union rallies during
21726-463: Was produced until its suppression by the authorities in 1915. Afterwards, the Worker metamorphosed into the new Ireland Echo . In May 1912, in partnership with James Connolly and William O'Brien Larkin formed the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress . Later that year, he was elected to Dublin Corporation . He did not hold his seat long, as a month later he
21879-416: Was removed because he had a criminal record from his conviction in 1910. Under Larkin's leadership, the union continued to grow, reaching approximately 20,000 members in the time leading up to the Dublin lock-out. In August 1913 during the lock-out, Larkin was described by Vladimir Lenin as a 'talented leader' as well as 'a remarkable speaker and a man of seething energy [who] has performed miracles amongst
22032-450: Was respected by commentators both during and after his lifetime, with George Bernard Shaw describing him as the "greatest Irishman since Parnell ", his friend and colleague in the labour movement James Connolly describing him as a "man of genius, of splendid vitality, great in his conceptions, magnificent in his courage", and Vladimir Lenin noting him as 'a remarkable speaker and a man of seething energy [who] performed miracles amongst
22185-404: Was said that there were many shots and fatalities. There are no records of any shots being fired by troops. The only recorded death was Samuel Rhys. In the autobiographical "documentary novel" Cwmardy , the later communist trade union organiser Lewis Jones presents a stylistically romantic but closely-detailed, account of the riots and their agonising domestic and social consequences. The account
22338-411: Was seen as a direct result of Churchill's actions. Political fallout for Churchill also continued. In 1940, when Neville Chamberlain 's war-time government was faltering, Clement Attlee secretly warned that the Labour Party might not follow Churchill because of his association with Tonypandy. There was uproar in the House of Commons in 1978 when Churchill's grandson, also named Winston Churchill ,
22491-486: Was sentenced to prison for a year. This was widely regarded as unjust, and the Lord-Lieutenant , Lord Aberdeen , pardoned him after he had served three months in prison. Also in 1908, Arthur Griffith during the Dublin carter's strike described Larkin as an "Englishman importing foreign political disruption into this country and putting native industry at risk". After his expulsion from the NUDL, Larkin founded
22644-467: Was set for May 1925. A fiasco ensued when the organisers discovered at the last minute that Larkin did not intend to attend. Feeling that the proposed party could not succeed without him, they called the conference off as it was due to start in a packed room in the Mansion House, Dublin . Larkin perceived certain actions undertaken by Stewart as attempts to circumvent his authority, including sending
22797-470: Was sweeping the US and he was arrested on 7 November 1919 during a series of anti-Bolshevik raids. Larkin was charged with 'criminal anarchy' due to his part in the publishing of the SPA's 'Left-wing manifesto' in Revolutionary Age . Larkin was released on 20 November, after $ 15,000 bail was paid, of which John Devoy paid $ 5,000. He resumed his political activities but was under no illusion of what
22950-472: Was then suspended for one year, then indefinitely, after the rise of militant nationalism after the 1916 Rising . Among the employers in Ireland opposed to trade unions such as Larkin's ITGWU was William Martin Murphy , Ireland's most prominent capitalist, born in Castletownbere, County Cork. In 1913, Murphy was chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company and owned Clery's department store and
23103-406: Was to come, expecting to be handed a lengthy jail sentence. New York State Prosecutor Alexander Rourke took advantage of a query from Scotland Yard as to whether Larkin would be allowed to travel to South Africa to turn his allies in the Irish nationalist movement, including Devoy, against him. In reality, this request did not stem from any association with figures of authority in Britain, but rather
23256-532: Was to unionise the unskilled workers as well. He coined the slogan "A fair day's work for a fair day's pay". Larkin advocated Syndicalism , which was a revolutionary brand of socialism. Larkin gained few supporters from within, particularly from the British Trade Union Congress who did not want strike action such as the lock-out to lead to a growth in radicalism. Guinness staff were relatively well-paid and enjoyed generous benefits from
23409-420: Was used as a vehicle for Larkin's syndicalist views. He believed in bringing about a socialist revolution by the establishment of trade unions and calling general strikes . The ITGWU initially lost several strikes between 1908 and 1910 but after 1913 won strikes involving carters and railway workers like the 1913 Sligo dock strike . Between 1911 and 1913, membership of the ITGWU rose from 4,000 to 10,000, to
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