February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
On this side of the Atlantic, most trade unionists hail Connolly as the original working class hero. Born on June 5, 1868 to migrant Irish parents in Edinburgh, Connolly came from a poor family and left school at 10 to work in a printing factory.
In 1903, he moved to Troy, New York. There he lived for seven years, becoming one of the key figures in the trade unionism movement. Throughout his time in the U.S., Connolly traveled extensively, often for months at a time, spreading the message of socialism and solidarity amongst workers.
In 1905 he helped found the Industrial Workers of the World, an organization that paved the way for modern trade unionism, becoming organizer in 1908.
So important is Connolly to American trade unionists that the centenary celebrations of the founding of the IWW in Albany last weekend doubled as a commemoration of Connolly’s life.
“He believed that all workers in one organization should belong to the same union to exert more economic strength within that organization,” according to Greg Giorgio, Branch Secretary for the New York IWW, who spoke at the commemoration.
“He had a vision that monopolies and business barons would have to be challenged in order for democracy to prevail. He saw the need to increase solidarity amongst workers and not have them crossing each other’s picket lines.”
Connolly’s commitment inspired the admiration of leading U.S. trade union leaders like Bill Haywood, who later traveled to Dublin to support Connolly during the 1913 lockout. Socialist Party founder Daniel De Laon was less impressed with Connolly, whose superior writing and oratory skills were said to be superior to his own.
Throughout his time in New York, Connolly wrote several of his most important publications, including “Socialism Made Easy,” which set forth his socialist credo.
In 1986, the James Connolly Society of Canada and the United States erected a monument to Connolly in Troy, several years before a corresponding monument appeared in Dublin.
Connolly was instrumental in introducing the idea of socialism and trade unionism in Ireland. He founded the Irish Socialist Republican party and later the Irish Labor Party and also helped establish the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.
But many commentators argue that Connolly’s political importance in history is continually overshadowed by his role in the Easter Rising and his subsequent execution.
Historian Tom Stokes and theatre producer Frank Allen hope to change that when they bring Connolly’s life to the big screen next year. Their film, entitled “Connolly,” will involve the first cinematic depiction the events of the 1916 Rising. Irish actor Adrian Dunbar will direct the film and Scottish actor Peter Mullin will play the title role.
“We want to take Connolly down from that picture on the wall,” according to Stokes. “We want to illustrate the fact that people who do ordinary things have to leave people behind.”
Connolly’s frequent touring of Ireland, the UK and the U.S. meant frequent, and often, prolonged absences from his wife Lillie Reynolds and their six children. One scene in the film depicts an excited Connolly waiting at Ellis Island for his family, whom he has not seen in almost a year. Only five children climb off the ship and Connolly finds out that his eldest daughter died in a fire on the night before the ship set sail.
Told through the eyes of his daughter Nora, the film will also highlight Connolly’s role as a radical feminist. One of the earliest advocates of universal suffrage, Connolly regularly appointed women to prominent positions in his organizations.
“Connolly was a true believer in equality,” said Stokes. “Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington described him as ‘the finest feminist amongst all the labor men.’ Women like Maude Gonne and Countess Markievicz surrounded him. He encouraged his daughter Nora to become active in politics.”
In keeping with Connolly’s beliefs, Stokes and Allen have set up the James Connolly Foundation for Educational Equality, a facility that will enable members of the public to donate money towards financing the film. In turn, profits from “Connolly,” will be used to fund programs to alleviate inequality in education caused by poverty.
This year will also see the release of a number of books that will bring to light Connolly’s life and the work of the early socialist movement in Ireland.
“Radical Politics in Modern Ireland — The History of the Irish Socialist Republican party 1896 — 1904,” focuses on Connolly’s first seven years in Ireland when he formed the Irish Socialist Republican Party, which many argue was the first left-wing political party in Ireland.
“The ISRP were extremely forward thinking,” according to author David Lynch.
“They would hold meetings in places like St. Stephen’s Green and the Phoenix Park calling for an end to British Rule, universal suffrage, reducing the working week. Nobody else would have been saying these things out loud at the time.”
In her book, “Rebel Girl” feminist writer Elizabeth Gurley-Flynn recalled one of her many meetings with Connolly at an Italian socialist meeting in 1907.
“I asked Connolly: ‘Who will speak Italian?'” she wrote. “He smiled his rare smile and replied, ‘We’ll see. Someone surely.’ Then we returned to the platform and Connolly arose. He spoke beautifully in Italian to my amazement and the delight of the audience, who ‘viva’d’ loudly.”
Connolly’s desire to communicate with all workers drove him to learn Italian and German. On one occasion, he reputedly published a pamphlet in Yiddish for the Jewish Community living around the Christ Church area in Dublin.
In ideological terms, Lynch argues that Connolly’s achievements and writings were comparable to those of the main socialist leaders across Europe.
“What’s different about Connolly is that he came from an absolutely de facto working class background,” said Lynch.
“He experienced the difficulties of a working class life unlike many Soviet socialists like Lenin and Rosa Luxembourg, who came from middle class backgrounds. He was one of the first socialists to come from a colonized country and the first to articulate a left-wing view of imperialism.”
Said Stokes: “Of all the big leaders, Connolly was the one who left a body of work behind. He gave us a belief system that could be applied worldwide. Workers who read Connolly today would find solutions to many of their work problems.”
Some say that Connolly’s less than celebrated position in history is part of an increasing agenda to play down the revolutionary activities of 1916, whilst others believe it is symptomatic of the Irish Government’s nervous attitude towards socialism.
“In the early days of the Free State, the government consciously downplayed a lot of Connolly’s ideas and tried to portray him as just another 1916 martyr,” Lynch pointed out.
“His ideas are also uncomfortable for a lot of parties now in Celtic Tiger Ireland. There is a debate about whether we’ve used the wealth we have amassed in the best way. That debate is increasing. Connolly’s views on redistribution of wealth have a lot of resonance in that argument.”