Episode Details

James Connolly is most associated with the Easter Rising of 1916 when, amidst the imperialist slaughter of the First World War, Irish republicans and the revolutionary socialist Irish Citizen Army launched an armed uprising against the British Empire. The Rising triggered a series of events, culminating in the Irish War of Independence in 1919 and the Irish Civil War, and shaped the course of modern Irish history. Before 1916, Connolly had almost three decades of activity behind him, as a socialist propagandist and a trade union organiser, in Scotland, Ireland and the United States. So who was Connolly and what were his political ideas? How did he come to be involved in the Rising, and what can socialists learn from his life, writings and political activity? Micheál MacEoin, author of a forthcoming book on Connolly, discussed these questions and more at a Workers' Liberty public meeting: this is the audio recording of the intro speech.