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Top 10 Amazing Facts about James Connolly

James Connolly, as shown, the commandant of the Irish Republican ArmyBy Unknown author –

James Connolly, a revolutionary socialist, a trade union leader, a political theorist, and a human rights advocate. He is a leading figure in Irish history and a cause for change through his fight for the freedom of the Irish to uproot capitalism and fight for workers鈥� rights. James was the first person to found an Irish Labour Party without seeing it come to fruition. Here are 10 facts about the revolutionary James Connolly.

1. His parents were Irish immigrants

Both John Connolly and Mary McGinn were of Irish origin. They migrated to Scotland from the county Monagan in Ireland. James lived with his family in a place known as Little Ireland which is Cowgate in Edinburgh.

His father was a cobbler and earned very little leading the family into poverty.  Due to financial struggles, James started working at 11 years old. James worked as an apprentice in a print shop, an assistant in a bakery, and a laborer in a mosaic factory.

2. James Connolly joined the British army at the age of 14

Young James Connolly public domain –

When James was 14 years old, he enlisted in the army. James was underaged as the enlisting age was 16. His brother John had done the same 4 years earlier under the false name John Reid. James served for seven years from 1882 to 1889.

He went to Ireland with the second battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment. He spent most of those years in the rural areas of Ireland fighting for the British Army. That war was historically known as the 鈥楲and War where he came to grow a great dislike for the British army.

3. He deserted the army

During these seven years, James Connolly got acquainted with the Irish People and came to understand their issues and struggles. This added to his hatred for the British Army. In 1889, when his regiment was due to travel to India, he deserted the army. Shortly after he married his sweetheart Lillie Reynolds in April 1890. They moved back to Scotland and settled in Edinburgh.

in 1895 Connolly established a cobbler’s shop to provide for his family. The shop wasn鈥檛 doing well and was shut down after a few months because of his insufficient shoe-mending skills. He became interested in socialism and got involved with the Scottish Socialist Federation where he became very involved and prioritized it over cobbling.

3. Connolly was the organizer of the Dublin Socialist Society

James Connolly By National Party from Dublin, Ireland – Wikimedia Commons

James Connolly moved to Dublin after the failure of his cobbler鈥檚 business and organized the Dublin Socialist Society. It aimed to establish an Irish workers’ republic. In 1896, helped found the Irish Socialist Republican Party.

The Socialist Labour Party played a massive role in the fight against police brutality and the idea of a fully independent and socialist Irish nation. James Connolly embarked on a series of lecture tours, both in Scotland and America with the party. In 1902 he returned to Dublin from America to find the socialist labor party was barely functional.

5. James took over his brother John鈥檚 work

John Connoly was the secretary of the Scottish Socialist Federation and was leading an agitation for working only eight hours a day. He demanded this in a rally organized by the angering his employers the Edinburgh Corporation, who sacked him.

This consequently forced John to concentrate on finding new work. James then took over from his brother and became the secretary of the Scottish Socialist Federation. Consequently, James continued his brother鈥檚 unfinished work by pushing for shorter work hours for employees. He also associated himself with the Independent Labour Party formed by Keir Hardie in 1893.

6. James and his family lived in America

Connolly could not get any money and his party was breaking up. He got invited to New York by the socialist company that had printed his pamphlet Erins hoped for a 5-month speaking tour. He had no wish of returning to Ireland saying 鈥渉e had no wish of returning to Ireland like a dog to his vomit.鈥�

James traveled to America for the first time in 1902 on his own, his tours went well and raised enough money to send to his family to join him in America. When he went to collect his children, he finds out that his firstborn child Moana died from being burnt alive. James sold insurance in New York and gained stability for a while.

He moved to New Jersey as insurance wasn鈥檛 selling anymore and worked at the Singer factory and soon resigns to follow his socialist beliefs. He joined a new union and became an organizer for the industrial workers of the world but they were financially unstable. James got an offer to speak in Ireland in 1910 where he joined Jim Larken and started organizing strikes.

7. He was a newspaper Editor

James Brendan Connolly By James Edward Purdy –

In 1898 he founded Ireland’s first socialist paper The Workers’ Republic and became the founding editor in 1901 while still an active socialist in Glasglow. In 1903, the paper became the paper of the Socialist Labour Party when it was founded by Connolly and others. He used the skills he got from his apprenticeship at the print shop to type, set, print, and sold the pamphlet. George Yates took over the editorship from James in 1902 but resigned in 1904.

The newspaper continued to be published as the organ of the Socialist Labour Party of Great Britain throughout the 1920s and 1930s, briefly lapsing from publication during the second half of the latter decade. Publication of the monthly was resumed in January 1939.

8. He was a founder of the Irish Citizens’ Army.

Connolly and Larkin founded the Irish citizen鈥檚 army to protect workers and strikers in the wake of the infamous Lockout of 1913. Though their numerical strength was just around 250, they were committed to establishing a Sovereign, Independent, and Socialist Irish State.

In 1914, James became the head of the Irish Transport and General Workers鈥� Union but many workers and their families were on the brink of starvation.  The workers returned to work, signing off that they would not return to the union. Leaving the union to failure.

Over the two years, Connolly dreamed of a revolution for workers鈥� freedom and rights. Connolly was kidnapped by the secret Irish Republican brotherhood in January 1916 to convince him to wait before launching any attack and agreed on an easter rebellion.  The Irish Citizen Army under the diminutive leadership of James Connolly declared an independent, socialist Irish Republic.

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, around 1600 people under him staged an armed rebellion against the British Government in Ireland. The rebels seized essential buildings including the Dublin General Post Office of the City and fought pitched battle with the Government forces. James was wounded but carried on regardless. As they were going to find a haven they were captured and had to surrender and sign a handwritten surrender.

9. “Socialism made easy” was written by James

Connolly felt strongly that socialism should be accessible and understandable for the people it was trying to reach, as evidenced by work such as his popular book Socialism Made Easy.

Connolly often worked to organize recent immigrants, especially but not limited to, the Irish. He also made an effort to work with already established labor and socialist organizations to bring them into the SLP and IWW.

10. He died proud of himself

Statue of James Connolly in Dublin city center –

After his capture, James and the other leaders were set to be executed. With the injuries incurred, James was weak and dying. He was the last of 9 to be executed. On May 12^th, 1916, James Connolly was tied to a chair as he was too weak from his injuries and was executed by being shot.

His last words to his wife and daughter were 鈥渂ut hasn鈥檛 it been a full life, Lillie? And isn鈥檛 this a good end?鈥�. His execution by firing squad after the Easter Rising, supported by a chair because of his wounds, significantly contributed to the mood of bitterness in Ireland.

James set out a legacy that drives workers鈥� rights and inspired many to fight for equality and independence.