G8s and G8 protests have, by now, become something of a ritual. One where each side already knows the rules of the game. The great and good come together to discuss how they might set the world to right, and the protestors outside condemn them for not doing it quickly enough – or not really intending to do it at all. Charity is promised to Africa, and folks like Sir Bob Geldof will proclaim that a successful G8 has been had. Other folks will throw bricks and bottles at the police, and feel that they have stuck a blow for the cause. What cause exactly is not always clear. The media have a field day – a morning glimpse of presidents and prime ministers, and then spend the rest of the day with the unwashed outside; hoping that they will start a riot – or, at least, do something that looks good on camera and will fill thirty seconds on primetime news. And the general public have a little bit of entertainment to lighten the daily drudge of work, or more and more commonly, unemployment.

So why should the G8 Summit on the 17th and 18th of June 2013 be any different? Well, the location is quite different this year. G8 Summits have generally been held in the countries of the great powers, the Great Eight. All of these powers reached their position of “greatness” through imperial conquest, and their populations, be they Left or Right, have the preoccupations of mature economies, which have enjoyed the benefits of huge transfers of wealth from the former colonies, and the continued transfers from the sweatshop economies of the Third World. G8 protestors tend to see the world’s problems in terms of ecological destruction, Austerity, or development aid for Africa. These are First World concerns.

In late 2012, the British government, who host the event this year, surprised everybody by announcing that the G8 Summit would be held in Ireland, more specifically, the six north eastern counties of Ireland, still under British occupation. Within a few weeks, the unusualness of this location became quite clear. Police intercepted a car bomb intended for the Lough Erne Golf Resort Hotel, i.e. the G8 Hotel. Shortly afterwards, primed mortar bombs were found near the Hotel, which sits on a piece of land, surrounded on three sides by one of Ireland’s largest lakes. To add to the bizarre atmosphere, the local police have been taking great pride in telling international media reporters about the hundreds of prison cells they have available for G8 protestors – and that, as an added precaution, they are going to re-open closed British Army bases for the occasion, to make sure they have even more prison space. The last four decades of armed resistance have given the British state in Ireland one great resource – plenty of prison cells.

Clearly, the G8 has been moved from Great Britain to Ireland to avoid a repeat of widespread summer riots in England in 2011. It’s a sign of the times that the British government now considers IRA bombs to be less of a threat than the class anger of English youth. But still, hosting the G8 Summit in Ireland brings a very different colour to the proceedings, or the ritual, as we have called it above – one that is not entirely predictable. Ireland is England’s first colony. It was in Ireland that the Anglo-Saxon first learned to think of himself as the master of men, the bringer of civilisation to the native. The genocidal methods used to exterminate the entire population of Tasmania, and to reduce so many native peoples to abjection, where first practiced and perfected in Ireland. The Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser, lamented that the English sword could never do the job that needed doing. Only famine would clear Irish land of the Irish. Centuries later, the US Army repeated this sentiment, when they wantonly shot dead thousands of bison, to starve the Native American into submission – and exile to reserved concentration camps. These are very different methods and ideals to those of ancient empires. Anglo-Saxon imperialism was never just about enslaving and extracting surplus value. It was, always, and at the same time, a religious crusade – a jihad to bring competition and the rule of the market to the lazy native. To make him a respecter and a saver of money – and a saver of sexual energy, wrenched from its natural course and put to the service of profit, as Freud so eloquently noted.

So, when the G8 circus comes to Ireland this June, ecology, austerity and charity for Africa will not take pride of place among all those who intend to give the G8ers a warm welcome. In Belfast, The Irish Anti-Imperialist Forum has been organised by Republican Sinn Féin, for the 14th and 15th of June. Speakers are expected from organisations across the Third World, from India to the Philippines, who are actively resisting Western imperialism. They themselves will tell what they want – and it certainly doesn’t seem to be the charity of those who pollute their rivers, steal their resources, and murder their patriots.

In Dublin, anti-imperialists were not slow to recognise the symbolism of hosting the G8 in occupied Ireland. The message was clear: This land is British land, won by the sword, and held by the sword. Resistance has been defeated, the process of normalization completed. Croppy was lying down, and nobody expected him to get up anytime soon. The Dublin Alternative G8 Committee was established to pick up that gauntlet, and work begun to make sure that the flag of anti-imperialism would fly proudly in Ireland’s capital city, and principal population centre. On the 17th of June, anti-imperialists will gather in Dublin, from across Ireland and from Africa, Iraq, Palestine, the Basque Country, the Philippines, Syria, the USA and from Canada. Not to make any claims of the G8, but to begin work on building a very real and effective network to take on the New Imperialism and the New Scramble for Africa. When we are strong enough, the G8 will have nothing to give us – as we will already have taken everything. On the 18th of June, a National Demonstration will assemble in Dublin to remember the 1913 Lockout, and to present to the Working Class of Dublin, 100 years later, it’s own strength, massed and present, for it’s own inspection.

Ireland is a small island, on the north eastern edge of Europe. World movements do not begin in Ireland, but rather wash over the waves to us. The Celts came from Central Europe, bringing their language and customs. Then Christianity came. Feudalism was brought by the Normans, and Capitalism by the English. While world movements do not begin in Ireland, Ireland has never stayed aloof from them. And so it was when the banner of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, was raised by Robespierre and his fellow citizens. By 1798, Ireland had risen in arms, under the leadership of Theobald Wolfe Tone and with the help of French Revolutionary Forces. That rising was suppressed with a violence that surpassed that of La Terreur in Paris. One of the many mass graves from that year, filled with the bodies of Irish volunteer soldiers, who had faced the English cannon with only pikes in their hands, lies beside the River Liffey in Dublin City.

In 1867, Karl Marx published Das Kapital. In the same year, Irish Revolutionaries called on their fellow working men in England: “You workmen of England, it is not only your hearts we wish, but your arms. Remember the starvation and degradation brought to your firesides by the oppression of labour. Remember the past, look well to the future, and avenge yourselves by giving liberty to your children in the coming struggle for human liberty.” In 1867, those words were not idly spoken. They were sealed in patriot blood.

1913 was to Ireland what 1905 was to the Russians. By then, Ireland had one of the largest rural proletariats, as a percentage of population, in Europe. And it was a hugely politicised proletariat. In the cities, the workers lived in huge ghettos, often with three families to a room. In the summer of 1913, workers were locked out of their places of work because they refused to leave their trade unions. Blacklegs were brought in to take their places. Led by James Larkin and James Connolly, for eight long months the heroic workers held out against starvation, bitter cold, police beatings, and media vilification. Finally, broken by hunger, they returned to work. But the seed had been sown. Between 1916 and 1922, James Connolly was to suffer martyrdom before a British firing squad, for his leadership role in the 1916 Rising in Dublin, the rural proletarians were to take over hundreds of workplaces and declare them Soviets, with the Red Flag flying over them. “We make bread, not profit,” read the sign over the Bruree Soviet Mills, in County Limerick. Limerick City was taken by the people, and the Limerick Soviet declared – which even printed its own Soviet money.

The imperialists, however, would not be beaten. They have had a long schooling in the art of divide and conquer. The British made a dirty deal with the Irish comprador classes. They got their free states, north and south, to better keep Ireland for the interests of British capital. In the south, liquidating the numerous and dangerous rural proletariat became a key priority. They were exiled in their hundreds of thousands, by the weapons of hunger and exclusion, or sometimes, they were allowed to join the ranks of the small landowners, the keepers of Irish conservatism.

In the 1950s, the great Abdel Nasser fired the hearts of young patriots all over the colonized world – not least in Ireland. Before long, the IRA was back in action. The people were not ready, however, and Operation Harvest, as the IRA Army Council had named it, was ended with the dumping of arms in 1962. But, a strong and disciplined leadership, with a good grounding in Socialism and international solidarity was now in place. They did not have long to wait.

1969 was the year when one of the young men, who idolized Nasser, stepped boldly onto to the world stage. That young man was Muammar al-Gaddafi. In the same year, the Irish people once more rose up against imperial domination and discrimination. Young Muammar would not stand idly by as Irish people were beaten off their own streets. He gave the people the means to defend themselves, and take the war to the belly of the beast.

That was then, and this is now. Muammar is dead and the hungry dogs of the New Scramble for Africa have marched across his disappeared body. The dream of African independence has burned in the White Phosphorus inferno that was Sirte, and the full Restoration of the Ancien Régime is almost complete. That extraordinary flourishing of the human spirit, from the French Revolution, to the October Revolution, to the great national liberation struggles of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s – a concrete slab has been slammed down on it. That period is to be regarded as a horrific aberration, buried now, and never to be repeated. These days, Restoration goes by the name of Revolution. Opposition is only acceptable from religious fanatics – who love private property.

Today, the Irish people float like dead fish on a filthy pool that has no prospect of moving. Years of Capitalist excess has hung the millstone of debt around the nation’s neck, and people are too frightened to even think of what might be done next. When the IMF and EU stepped in to relieve us of any pretense of economic sovereignty we ever might have had, many Irish people sighed in relief. Almost nobody protested. England’s old taunt, that the Irish are not capable of ruling themselves, is regularly heard on the lips of Irish media pundits – carelessly stated as obvious fact. The obvious, and horrific, fact that the EU has never shown any ability to lead anything either, is not mentioned.

No doubt, at this year’s G8 protests, some people will rail against Austerity, or maybe even ecological collapse. But, what is the point? Is that not like condemning rain for being wet? This is Capitalism. Its not meant to work for the little people of Europe or America, and much less for Africa. But, maybe, that concrete slab was not slammed down on our heads hard enough. Maybe, as the Dylan song goes, something is still blowing in the wind. In Belfast and Dublin we will find out. And if there is, I doubt that Ireland will be found wanting.

The Dublin Alternative G8 Committee invites all Anti-Imperialists to join us, this June. If you or your organisation wish to speak, or to help with the preparations for the Summit, then please contact us at:

dublinalternativeg8@gmail.com

Or visit or website at:

http://dubaltg8.org/

Les sommets du G8 et les manifestations contre eux sont désormais devenus un rituel. Un rituel dont les règles sont bien établies et bien connues des deux côtés. Les grands hommes se réunissent pour discuter de la façon de corriger les maux de ce monde, et les protestataires au-dehors les blâment de ne pas le faire assez vite, ou de ne pas avoir l’intention de le faire. On promet à l’Afrique la charité, et des gens comme Sir Bob Geldof vont proclamer qu’un G8 réussi a été tenu. D’autres personnes vont jeter des briques et des bouteilles à la police, en pensant avoir frappé un grand coup pour la cause. Mais de quelle cause s’agit-il exactement ? Ce n’est pas toujours très clair. Pour les médias, c’est un grand jour : quelques visages de présidents et de premiers ministres filmés le matin, puis des images de manifestations l’après-midi, dans l’espoir que survienne quelque émeute, ou au moins quelque événement télégénique susceptible de passer trente secondes au journal télévisé. Le public aura ainsi son lot d’excitants pour soulager son fardeau de labeur quotidien, ou ce qui est de plus en plus fréquent, de chômage.

Pourquoi le sommet du G8 de cette année, qui aura lieu le 17 et 18 juin 2013 devrait-il être différent ? Son emplacement est assez différent cette année. Les sommets du G8 ont lieu en général sur le territoire des grandes puissances, les Huit Grands. Toutes ces puissances ont gagné leur statut de « Grands » par le truchement de la conquête impériale, et leurs populations, qu’elles soient de droite ou de gauche, entretiennent les préoccupations propres aux économies matures, qui profitent des vastes transferts de richesses provenant des anciennes colonies et des transferts continuels venant des économies de sous-traitance du Tiers Monde. Les protestataires qu’on voit lors des sommets du G8 tendent à voir les problèmes du monde sous l’angle de la destruction écologique, de l’austérité, ou de l’aide au développement pour l’Afrique. Il s’agit de préoccupations propres au premier monde.

A la fin de l’année 2012, le gouvernement britannique, qui héberge l’événement cette année, a créé la surprise en annonçant que le sommet du G8 aurait lieu en Irlande, et plus précisément sur le territoire des six comtés du nord-est de l’Irlande, qui est toujours sous occupation britannique. Quelques semaines plus tard, éclata l’incongruité de ce choix, lorsque la police intercepta une voiture piégée destinée à exploser près de l’hôtel du Lough Erne, où va se tenir le G8. Peu de temps après, des bombes furent trouvées près de cet hôtel, caché au bout d’une bande de terre au milieu d’une futaie, entouré sur trois côtés par un des plus grands lacs d’Irlande.

S’ajoutant à l’étrangeté de l’atmosphère, la police locale a parlé fièrement aux medias internationaux des centaines de cellules de prison qui étaient disponibles pour les protestataires anti-G8, et du fait qu’elle avait pris la précaution supplémentaire de ré-ouvrir des bases militaires britanniques pour l’occasion, afin de s’assurer qu’aucune place ne manque pour incarcérer les manifestants. Les quatre décennies de résistance armée ont donné à l’Etat britannique une grande ressource en Irlande : tout un tas de cellules de prison.

Il est clair que le sommet du G8 a été déplacé de Grande-Bretagne en Irlande afin d’éviter une répétition de l’été d’émeutes qui a parcouru l’Angleterre en 2011. C’est un signe des temps : le gouvernement britannique considère les bombes de l’IRA moins dangereuses que la haine de classe de la jeunesse anglaise. Cela étant, l’hébergement du sommet en Irlande donne une couleur particulière à ce rituel, un aspect en partie imprévisible. L’Irlande est la première colonie de l’Angleterre. C’est en Irlande que les Anglo-Saxons ont appris à se considérer comme des maîtres et des exportateurs de civilisation. Les méthodes génocidaires employées pour exterminer la population de la Tasmanie entière et réduire à l’abjection tant de peuples indigènes ont d’abord été pratiquées et perfectionnées en Irlande. Le poète élisabéthain Edmund Spenser se lamentait que le sabre anglais pût jamais venir à bout de ce labeur interminable. Seule la famine allait nettoyer la terre irlandaise des Irlandais.

Quelques décennies plus tard, l’armée US allait reprendre ces manières en tuant sans raison des milliers de bisons, poussant par la faim les Américains Indigènes à se soumettre et accepter l’exil dans les camps de concentration des réserves. Ces méthodes et ces idéaux sont fort différents de ceux des anciens empires. L’impérialisme anglo-saxon ne se contentait pas de prendre des esclaves et d’extraire la plus-value. Il s’agissait toujours en même temps de mener une croisade religieuse, un jihad visant à imposer les lois de la concurrence et du marché à l’indolent indigène. Il fallait qu’il respectât l’argent et l’épargnât, tout en épargnant son énergie sexuelle, arrachée à son cours naturel et placée au service du profit, comme Freud l’a si bien remarqué.

Pour ces raisons, lorsque le cirque du G8 viendra en Irlande au mois de juin, l’écologie, l’austérité et la charité pour l’Afrique n’auront pas une grande place parmi ceux qui veulent dignement accueillir les huit grands. A Belfast, un forum anti-impérialiste est organisé par Republican Sinn Féin, les 14 et 15 juin. On y attend des orateurs du Tiers Monde, de l’Inde et des Philippines, qui résistent activement à l’impérialisme occidental. Ils diront ce qu’ils ont à dire, et il ne s’agira certainement pas de demander la charité à ceux qui souillent leurs rivières, volent leurs ressources et massacrent leurs patriotes. A Dublin, les anti-impérialistes virent tout de suite le symbole représenté par la tenue du G8 en Irlande occupée. Le message était clair. Cette terre est britannique, gagnée par l’épée, et tenue par l’épée. La résistance a été défaite, et le processus de normalisation achevé. L’Irlandais rampe, et personne ne s’attend à son redressement dans l’avenir immédiat.

Le comité du G8 alternatif de Dublin a été établi pour défier l’affront et nous avons commencé notre travail visant à faire en sorte que le drapeau de l’anti-impérialisme flotte fièrement dans la plus grande ville d’Irlande. Le 17 juin, les anti-impérialistes se rassembleront à Dublin, venus de toute l’Irlande et aussi d’Afrique, d’Irak, de Palestine, du Pays Basque, des Philippines, de Syrie, des USA et du Canada. Non pas pour adresser des demandes au G8, mais pour construire un réseau réel et efficace visant à affronter le nouvel impérialisme et la nouvelle lutte pour le repartage du butin en Afrique. Lorsque nous serons assez forts, le G8 n’aura plus rien à nous offrir, car nous aurons déjà tout pris. Le 18 juin, une manifestation à Dublin commémorera le Lockout de 1913 et montrera à la classe ouvrière de Dublin, cent ans après, sa propre force, massée et présente, pour sa propre inspection.

L’Irlande est une petite île, au coin nord ouest de l’Europe. Les mouvement qui agitent le monde ne commencent pas en Irlande, mais leurs vagues nous inondent et nous lavent. Les Celtes sont venus d’Europe centrale, apportant avec eux leurs langues et leurs coutumes. Puis vient le christianisme. Le féodalisme fut apporté par les Normands, et le capitalisme par les Anglais. Les mouvements mondiaux ne naissent pas en Irlande, mais celle-ci ne leur est pas restée étrangère. Il en fut ainsi lorsque la bannière ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ fut arborée par Robespierre et ses concitoyens. En 1798, l’Irlande se souleva les armes à la main, sous la direction de Theobald Wolfe Tone et avec l’assistance des forces révolutionnaires françaises. Ce soulèvement fut réprimé avec une violence supérieure à celle de la Terreur à Paris. Une des fosses communes datant de l’an 1798, remplie des corps des soldats volontaires irlandais qui avaient affronté les canons anglais avec des pics, se trouve près de la Liffey à Dublin.

En 1867, Karl Marx publia le Capital. La même année, les révolutionnaires irlandais adressaient ce message à leurs camarades les travailleurs d’Angleterre : « Quant à vous, travailleurs d’Angleterre, ce ne sont pas seulement vos cœurs que nous souhaitons avoir avec nous, mais aussi vos bras. Rappelez-vous la faim et la dégradation apportées dans vos foyers par l’oppression du travail. Souvenez-vous du passé, regardez-bien le futur, et vengez-vous en donnant la liberté à vos enfants dans la lutte à venir pour la liberté humaine.» [in Proclamation de la République Irlandaise, par l'IRB]

En 1867, ce n’étaient pas des paroles en l’air, elles étaient écrites avec le sang des patriotes. 1913 a été aux Irlandais ce que 1905 a été aux Russes. A cette époque, l’Irlande comptait proportionnellement le plus grand prolétariat rural d’Europe. Ce prolétariat était largement politisé. Dans les villes, les travailleurs vivaient dans de vastes ghettos, avec souvent trois familles dans une même pièce. A l’été 1913, des ouvriers furent lock-outés de leur lieu de travail parce qu’ils refusaient de quitter leurs syndicats. Des jaunes furent employés à leur place. Sous la direction de James Larkin et de James Connolly, pendant huit mois, les travailleurs héroïques tinrent bon face à la disette, au froid, à la brutalité policière et à la curée médiatique.

Finalement, brisés par la faim, ils reprirent le travail. Mais les graines avaient été semées. Pendant la période 1916-1922, James Connolly mourut en martyr devant un peloton d’exécution britannique, à cause de son rôle de dirigeant pendant l’insurrection de Dublin en 1916, et plus tard dans cette période le prolétariat rural investit des centaines de lieux de travail et déclara des soviets, ornés du drapeau rouge. « Nous faisons du pain, pas des profits » disait l’écriteau sur la devanture du soviet de Bruree Mills, dans le comté de Limerick. La ville de Limerick fut prise par le peuple, et le soviet de Limerick fut déclaré, qui frappait sa propre monnaie soviétique.

Toutefois, les impérialistes ne s’avouaient pas vaincus. Ils étaient passés maîtres dans l’art de diviser pour régner. Les Britanniques firent un marché sordide avec les éléments compradores irlandais. Ils eurent leurs « Etats Libres », au Nord et au Sud, pour mieux maintenir l’Irlande sous l’emprise du capital britannique. Dans le Sud, la liquidation du prolétariat rural nombreux et dangereux devint une priorité urgente. Par centaines de milliers, ils partirent en exil, sous la pression des armes, de la faim et de l’exclusion, et parfois on les laissa s’incorporer dans les rangs des petits propriétaires terriens, gardiens du conservatisme irlandais.

Dans les années 1950, le grand Abdel Nasser enflamma les cœurs des jeunes patriotes du monde colonisé, en particulier en Irlande. L’IRA reprit ses activités. Cependant, le peuple n’était pas prêt, et l’opération Harvest [‘Moisson’], comme l’avait nommée le conseil militaire de l’IRA, se termina en 1962 avec l’ordre de cacher les armes. Mais une direction forte et disciplinée, fermement ancrée dans le socialisme et la solidarité internationale était en place. Elle n’eut pas longtemps à attendre. 1969 vit bondir sur la scène mondiale un jeune homme, qui idolâtrait Nasser. C’était Mouammar el Kadhafi. Cette même année, le peuple irlandais se souleva à nouveau contre la domination impériale et la discrimination. Le jeune Mouammar ne resta pas les bras croisés lorsque les Irlandais se faisaient passer à tabac dans leurs propres rues. Il donna au peuple les moyens de se défendre et de porter la guerre dans le ventre de la bête.

Cela appartient désormais au passé. Mouammar est mort et les les chiens de guerre qui luttent pour le repartage de l’Afrique ont marché sur son corps disparu. Le rêve de l’indépendance africaine a brûlé dans l’enfer de Sirte, plein de phospore blanc, et la restauration de l’ancien régime est presque achevée. Cette efflorescence extraordinaire de l’esprit humain, qui a duré de la révolution française à la révolution d’octobre, jusqu’aux grandes luttes de libération nationale des années 1950, 60 et 70, a été écrasée sous une plaque de béton. Il est approprié aujourd’hui de considérer cette période comme une abominable aberration, désormais enterrée, et qui ne doit surtout pas se répéter. Aujourd’hui, la restauration prend le nom de révolution. L’opposition n’est tolérée que si elle vient de fanatiques religieux amoureux de la propriété privée.

Aujourd’hui, le peuple irlandais flotte comme un poisson mort à la surface d’un bassin d’eau stagnante qui a perdu l’espoir de revoir passer le courant. Des années d’excès capitaliste ont passé la corde de la dette autour du cou de la nation, et les gens ont trop peur de penser à ce qui pourrait arriver plus tard. Lorsque le FMI et l’UE arrivèrent ici pour nous soulager de nos dernières prétentions à la souveraineté économique, beaucoup d’Irlandais ont soupiré d’aise. Presque personne n’a protesté. Le vieux sarcasme anglais, selon lequel les Irlandais sont incapables de se gouverner eux-mêmes, s’entend régulièrement dans la bouche des pontes médiatiques, énoncé comme un fait évident. Le fait, aussi affreux qu’évident, que l’UE n’a jamais prouvé aucune capacité de direction n’est pas mentionné.

Sans doute, après les manifestations contre le G8, certains parleront de l’austérité ou de l’effondrement écologique. Mais à quoi bon ? Ceci ne revient-il pas à accuser la pluie de mouiller ? Tel est le capitalisme. Il n’est pas fait sur mesure pour les petites gens d’Europe ou d’Amérique, encore moins pour celles d’Afrique. Peut-être que cette plaque de béton n’a pas frappe nos têtes assez fort. Peut-être, comme le chante Dylan, quelque chose continue-t-il de frapper dans le vent. A Belfast et à Dublin nous verrons bien. Si c’est le cas, je doute que l’Irlande soit sur la liste des absents. Le comité du G8 alternatif de Dublin invite tous les anti-impérialistes à nous rejoindre, ce mois de juin.

Si vous ou votre organisation voulez parler ou nous aider dans nos préparatifs, contactez-nous à : dublinalternativeg8@gmail.com, ou visitez notre site web ici : http://dubaltg8.org/

DUN LAOGHAIRE’S 1913 LOCK-OUT MARTYR
By Brian Riddick

Near the Republican plot in Deansgrange cemetery lie the remains of one of Dun Laoghaire’s forgotten sons. James Byrne was born and reared at 5 Clarence Street, Kingstown (now called Dun Laoghaire) and, inspired by the leadership of James Connolly and Jim Larkin, he became an active trade unionist in the ITGWU.

By the time of the Great Lock Out of 1913, Byrne, a thirty-eight year old father of six, was Secretary of Bray and Kingstown Trades Council and also the Kingstown ITGWU Branch Secretary.

The 1913 Lock Out was the most significant and tragic era of trade union history ever witnessed in Ireland. Trade Unionists from up to 45 different unions combined against the might of Dublin.

Employers, who were led by William Martin Murphy, owner of the ‘Irish Independent’ and director of the United Tramways Company, the principal source of public transport in the capital at the time. The reason for this confrontation was simple; the refusal of Murphy and others to employ trade union members.

James Byrne was arrested and falsely charged with ‘intimidation’ of a tram-worker on October 20th 1913 by the Dublin Metropolitan Police and remanded to Mountjoy prison. While there, he embarked on a hunger and thirst strike in protest at the refusal of bail.

After a number of days, the British government gave in and Byrne was released on bail awaiting trial. However, due to the conditions prevailing in the jail at the time and helped in no way by his hunger and thirst strike, he caught pneumonia from which he died in Monkstown Hospital two weeks after he was first arrested.

 James Connolly

Up to 3,000 people, along with 25 mourning coaches and cabs accompanied by two trade union bands, left Byrne’s home at 1pm for the funeral walk. The procession took two hours to reach Deansgrange, due to its size.

The funeral oration by James Connolly was delivered from the roof of a cab. He is quoted as saying that:

“… their comrade had been murdered as surely as any of the martyrs in the long list of those who had suffered for the sacred cause of liberty.”

“The police vultures and master vultures were not content until they had got Byrne into prison. He had been thrown into a cold, damp, mouldy cell, but while in prison, so contemptuous had he been of those who put him there that he had refused food and drink.”

“If their murdered comrade could send them a message, it would be to go on with the fight for the sacred cause of liberty, even if it brought them hunger, misery, eviction and even death itself, as it had done Byrne.”

British and Irish police forces have begun arranging for hundreds of extra holding cells in anticipation of protests at this summer’s G8 summit turning ugly (most probably by the provocative action of the police themselves.)

The British colonial commanders have decided to re-open a number of British army barracks to use as temporary prisons for the duration of the G8 summit, including the infamous Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh, a center of torture and abuse during the 1980s and 90s.

The British colonial constabulary expect to make numerous arrests and to bring hundreds of protestors before their “courts,” so the so called NIPS, the “Northern Ireland Prison Service” has taken complementary steps to increase its capacity to hold remand prisoners.

Work is under way to make available extra cell capacity inside Maghaberry high security prison in Co Antrim, as well as at Magilligan prison in Co Derry and Hydebank Wood young offenders’ centre and women’s prison in Belfast.

The currently unused 108-capacity “Foyle House” (a nice poetic name for a concentration camp) in Maghaberry will be the main prison camp used for charged demonstrators.

Additional camp space for scores more prisoners will be supplied inside units inside Magilligan Prison.

(The reader may be amazed that the six occupied counties of north eastern Ireland has so much prison space – with a population of only one and a half million people – but remember that there is an ongoing war of attrition against British occupation in this zone, with hundreds of Prisoners of War still being held and many more people interned without charge or prospect of ever facing a court.)

A ring of steel will be in place around the summit venue at the Lough Erne resort, with British SAS members being dressed in “ordinary” police uniform.

Lough Erne (one of Ireland’s biggest lakes) surrounds the G8 hotel on three sides, so defending it should be a relatively easy task, given the thousands of police and troops and drones being deployed from both north and south of the border.  Police are confident that protestors will not get anywhere near the hotel.

The demonstrators’ focus will therefore shift to the main urban centers of Ireland.

Who says I can’t handle mugs…

The Good Boys of Europe are really in their Master’s good books these days.  The so called “Troika” had demanded that the free state régime lower its budget deficit to 8.2% of GDP.  Following a series of savage cuts against the most vulnerable in Irish society, while protecting the ill gotten gains of their Gombeen backers, the Blueshirts and their Labour Lapdogs have amazed their Troika Masters by cutting the deficit to 7.6% of GDP.  Enda Kenny will be getting plenty of pats on the head from his European betters.  Maybe he will win the European of the Year Award for the second year running.

The price of his success?  The emmigrant boats full again with the Youth of Ireland, old people and handicapped people stripped of any dignity they ever had, long lines for food parcels and people taking their own lives because they can’t pay bankster debts.

For more see that organ of truth, RTÉ.

http://www.rte.ie/ne…icit-euro-zone/

Christopher Lee on an episode of the 1913 Lockout. For more articles on the strike see here.

Hundreds of rioters advance on the two lone policemen in a darkened Finglas street, the only light coming from the windows of the pub.

The police retreat in the face of a barrage of stones and sticks hurled by the huge crowd; more stones are hurled at the pub shattering the plate glass windows.  The two police take refuge around the corner of the pub but the crowd is still after them.

The police step out of the shadows, one with a revolver in hand, and order them back. They keep coming and one of the police drops to one knee and fires a volley of shots across the street.  By the time the sound of the shots has died away the crowd have fled out of sight.  In the now silent and deserted street lies a boy,face down on the road with a bullet in his back, another youth running to his aid.

Finglas in 1913

This was the scene 100 years ago on the night of September 16, 1913 in the normally quiet rural village of Finglas.  During the Dublin Lockout Finglas briefly became a flash point in the farm labourers’ dispute.  This event is not generally well-remembered today with only an occasional paragraph devoted to it in the books and articles on the Dublin Lockout and the farm labourers’ strike in County Dublin.

The events of the riot have been reconstructed from the extensive newspaper coverage of the time. But almost totally absent from these reports, the press being generally hostile to the strikers, are the voices of the farm labourers themselves

Modern Finglas, a vast sprawl of mostly public housing, has had more than its fair share of violence, social unrest and bad press over the last few decades, but it was not always like that.  In 1913 Finglas was a rural village with a population of about 900 people a few miles north of Dublin. The main sources of employment were dairying and agriculture. In the era before widespread mechanisation agriculture required a substantial workforce. It was this group of farm labourers who became the focus of a movement to improve their pay and conditions.

In early 1913, James Larkin and the Irish Transport & General Workers Union (ITGWU) started a campaign to improve and standardise the pay and conditions of the County Dublin farm workers.The conditions of the farm labourers varied significantly from village to village and from farm to farm with each employer setting their own wages and conditions.

For example in Balbriggan farm labourers were paid 12s per week, in Balscadden 10s and in Gormanstown, 9s[1].  In addition to wages the labourers received perquisites, or ‘perks’ which also varied from employer to employer. An impression of a labourer’s ‘perks’ can be gained from the following example: “The lowest wage is 14s a week, but at that a man gets a free house. The average pay is 17s a week constant. Then we get £2 as harvest money, 3 tons of coal, half-ton of potatoes in the year, and milk twice a day.”[2]

Throughout June 1913 mass meetings in County Dublin led to large numbers of farm and transport workers joining the ITGWU and by the end of July, around 1000 labourers were on strike[3].

Rather than see their crops rot in the fields, the County Dublin Farmers Association agreed to the demands of the ITGWU on the 16th August 1913.  The conditions the farm labourers had won were; a six-day week,  a 12 hour day with 2 hours for meal breaks and a half day on Saturday. Their wages were set at 17s per week plus the usual perquisites, or 4s per day for casual labourers.[4]

However, it was to be a short lived victory for the ITGWU. By the end of the same week newspaper articles appeared suggesting that the agreement wouldn’t survive long, as both the labourers and farmers were dissatisfied with it[5].Many expected that they would soon be on strike again.

The Lockout begins in the city

Events in Dublin were soon to overtake the parties to the farm labourers’ dispute.  William Murphy, President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company, was a vehement opponent of Larkin, the ITGWU and a unionised workforce.  By mid-August Murphy had sacked over 200 of his employees for refusing to resign their membership of the ITGWU.The situation quickly escalated with Larkin calling on the union membership to strike on the 26^th August.  However, Murphy refused to back down and replaced the strikers with ‘scab’ labour.

The dispute in Dublin rapidly became violent and culminated in the events of 30^th August and “Bloody Sunday”. During the rioting and police baton charges on 30^th August,James Nolan and John Byrne sustained head injuries from which they would later die, allegedly at the hands of drunken policemen.[6]An inquest into their deaths found that, despite their injuries being caused by police batons, the police were exonerated.Over the two days of rioting hundreds of people were injured, including many innocent bystanders.According to one report, “…over 450 people were treated in the various hospitals for scalp wounds.”[7] The actions of the police led to deep hostility toward them on the part of the strikers.

On September 3, William Murphy persuaded 400 of Dublin’s leading employers to support him in action against the ITGWU. They agreed not to employ any person who was a member of the union, sacking any who refused to give up their membership.  On the 9^th, the Dublin Building Trades Employers Federation also agreed to not employ members of the union, joining the ‘lockout’ of union members.On the 15^th the Dublin Master Builders Association dismissed 3000 workers who had refused to resign their union membership[8].

On the 12^ththe Co. Dublin Farmers Association decided to join the ‘lockout’and dismiss any farm labourer who chose to remain a member of the ITGWU.  As a result, the labourers walked off the farms and went on strike. This was the catalyst which led to the riot in Finglas a few days later on Tuesday 16^th September.

The riot in Finglas

The riot had a prequel in an attack on the farm of John Butterly, resident of Newpark, Finglas.  Some of the labourers on Butterly’s farm had refused to join the strike and in retaliation strikers destroyed a field of Butterly’s cabbages and threw his agricultural tools and machinery into a drain.[9]The village must have remained tense as:

“All day on Tuesday there was simmering unrest in the locality. Many agricultural labourers out of work owing to the strike congregated in the street, and there was shouting and marching, but no incident of particular note occurred.”[10]

The situation in Finglas began to escalate when it became known that a “scab” had been served drink in one of the local pubs. A farm labourer by the name of Patrick Perry, from Finglas Wood, employed by Mr Craigie of Harristown, St Margaret’s, was served drink in the public house owned by Mrs Hannah Flood in the main street of Finglas (now the Drake Inn[11]).  Perry was “…one of the few workmen in the district who had not joined the strike,…”[12].

From around 3pm a number of men began picketing the pub and by 8pm an estimated 300 to 350 people had gathered in the street outside the pub, many of whom were boys;“The youngsters were very demonstrative…calling offensive names and shouting.”[13]There were three police stationed in Finglas, but only two on duty at the time, Sergeant John Brennan and Constable H. Barry, “…a young policeman of boyish appearance.”[14]In an attempt to protect the pub they stationed themselves outside it.  Some reports suggested that members of the crowd were armed with “sticks and other weapons”[15] and another suggested they intended to loot the premises. [16]

After 10pm, when the other pubs in the village had closed, the crowd, many of whom, the police and press were later to allege, were drunk, became increasingly noisy and belligerent. Speeches were made by members of the crowd; Joseph Mackey spoke, saying that “Murphy was already beaten” and Owen Keane said to “stand by Larkin, that he was the man who would get them more wages, and if he were dead there would be others to take his place.”  James Connell spoke, saying that “Healey of Clonmellon had locked out his men on a week’s notice.”[17]

James Brady made a speech denouncing the police, that “…the police in the city had murdered women and children.”[18]The police were later to allege that Brady’s speech contributed most to the subsequent events, that it was inflammatory and “calculated to stir up the crowd to acts of violence against the police”[19].  The crowd hoisted Connell on their shoulders and paraded down to the end of the village.

It was during this interval that Sergeant Brennan and Constable Barry returned to the RIC barracks to arm themselves. Fearing the situation was deteriorating rapidly Sergeant Brennan directed Barry to arm himself with a revolver.  They returned to the street outside the pub and not long after the crowd made its way back again.

At around 10.30pm the crowd began pelting the pub and police with stones.Stones shattered the plate glass windows of the pub and the police were forced to take refuge around the corner of the pub.The crowd advanced on the police accompanied by shouts of, “Go for them now, there are only two of them. Drive them to hell off the street. Let’s wipe them out”[20].  Sergeant Brennan reportedly said to Barry, “…they must do something to save themselves or they would be killed.”[21]

The police stepped out to confront the crowd and Sergeant Brennan ordered them to disperse, warning he would order Barry to fire. When the crowd continued to advance and was only five to seven yards away, Sergeant Brennan ordered Barry to fire over their heads.  Constable Barry dropped to one knee and instead of firing over their heads, fired to one side, towards the other side of the street. Barry had fired four shots by the time Sergeant Brennan ordered him to cease fire, by which time the crowd had fled out of sight up the old North Road.

The shooting of Patrick Daly

As the crowd fled a youth by the name of Patrick Daly was seen to stumble and fall. Daly was seventeen years of age, the son of the local maternity nurse.[22] Another member of the crowd, a boy named Cummins, saw him fall and “…helped Daly over to where the police were standing, and pointed out to them that the youth had been shot. The policemen is alleged to have stated that only blank cartridge was used, and this Cummins answered by showing the hole in the boy’s clothing, about the middle of the back, through which the blood was oozing.”[23]

Despite their having shot the young man, both police returned to the barracks for their rifles before taking Daly to seek medical assistance.[24]The two policemen were later to claim that they only found Daly after they returned from their barracks.[25]It was now around 10.45pm and Sergeant Brennan was to later say that he saw James Brady again addressing the crowd[26], “…and that the demeanour of the mob was very menacing”[27].

The police took Daly to Dr D’Arcy Benson at Farnham House accompanied by seven or eight people who had been members of the crowd.  While Daly’s wound was being dressed Dr Benson had to intervene to prevent the members of the crowd present from assaulting the police.[28]By this time Daly was semi-conscious and Dr Benson dispatched him in his own carriage to the Mater Misericordia Hospital in Dublin.

In the meantime the crowd had reassembled and surrounded Farnham House. Groups had gathered at all the exits to the grounds and gathered large quantities of cobble stones and other missiles. One report stated of the police that “…if they confronted the infuriated crowd under the circumstances (they) would have been “torn to smithereens”.[29]

Sergeant Brennan and Constable Barry were unable or at least unwilling to attempt to leave Farnham House until around 11.30am the next morning when a car carrying four policemen arrived from Swords. [30],[31]A report on the situation in Finglas that morning stated that: “….the police, reinforced, are marching around in parties of four almost inviting a conflict.”[32]

Though Finglas remained quiet throughout the day large crowds gathered in the evening. This time however through the intervention of Rev. Philip Ryan there was no incident and the crowd dispersed at about 11pm.[33]

That same evening in Dublin, James Larkin took up the cause of young Patrick Daly. Addressing a crowd outside Liberty Hall, Larkin advised those present to be peaceable and quiet, that:

“The police were already responsible for the murder of their comrades, Byrne and Nolan, and only a few hours ago they shot down young Daly, at Finglas, like a dog. The people should not give any chance to the police who are thirsting to continue their murderous assaults.”[34]

In the earliest accounts of the riot in Finglas there were reports that Constable Barry was arrested following the shooting of Daly[35].  However, there is no mention of this in any of the subsequent reporting of the riot or the court appearance of the rioters.  There was also mention that the two policemen attempted to break up the large crowd with a baton charge. Though it is not clear,it is possible that this is what actually prompted the crowd to attack them.

Patrick Daly was admitted to the Mater Misericordia Hospital and the next day Sir Arthur Chance, the chief surgeon of the hospital, operated on Daly to remove the bullet[36].  By the 19^th September, Daly was reported to be recovering well.

Aftermath – the defeat of the County Dublin strikers

Finglas remained quiet throughout the remainder of September and there was no further unrest.In late September the labourers in County Dublin received some strike pay.  The amount paid was very small and varied across locations, depending it was said, upon the strength of the local union branch.  In the Swords area married men received 4s. to 3s. 6d. while single men received 2s, and others, nothing. In the Finglas area married men received 2s. to 3s. while single men received 1s. 6d. to 2s. Casual labourers received nothing.

In the Santry area married men on strike received only 2oz. tea, 2lbs. sugar and some other groceries with no cash[37]. The men on strike were told by the union to say they were actually receiving 10s in strike pay.[38]In a seemingly desperate move a group of strikers in Swords who had received no strike pay visited a number of shops demanding money from the owners[39].

In the interim farmers were taking steps to limit the impact of the strike. The introduction of the “free labour” movement into the Fingal area is credited to Mr Andrew Kettle Sr. of St. Margaret’s, who had been a founding member of the Land League and a close friend of Charles Parnell. Kettle brought in non-union labourers from counties not involved in the strike and employed them on his farm at Newtown, a short distance north of Finglas. Ten police were stationed in Newtown to provide protection for the farmers and the workers.[40]. As more farmers in Co. Dublin employed labour from other counties the prospects of those on strike began to look grim.

By early October there were reports of “privation and poverty” in Finglas, the wives of the striking labourers resorting to selling mushrooms and blackberries in an attempt to survive[41].  Faced literally with starvation, eviction from farmer-owned cottages and the approach of winter, some strikers began to return to work[42].

By early November,except for Swords, Kinsealy, and Clondalkin districts,the farm labourer strike was drawing to a close in County Dublin. Most of the labourers had already returned to work and the remainder were expected over the coming weeks[43].

However, even though the men of Finglas had mostly returned to work the authorities had not forgotten about them.Ten men were summoned to appear at Drumcondra Courthouse on 7^th November 1913 charged with riot, unlawful assembly and assaulting the police.The defendants were: James Brady (age 22, Finglas), James Connell (age 30, Finglas), Joseph McKee (age 31, Finglas), Owen Keane (age 20, Tolka), Patrick Dunne (age 37, Dubber), brothers Thomas Cummins (age 22, Finglas) and Peter Cummins (age 20, Finglas), and brothers Patrick Brennan (age 23, Finglas), John Brennan (age 21, Finglas) and Charles Brennan (age 19, Finglas). All the defendants were described as “…men of respectable character.”[44]

The defence solicitor raised issues regarding the conduct of the police but chose not to pursue them.When Sergeant Brennan was giving evidence about the speeches made against the police, the defence asked if they said: “…something about halves of malt?” or “…anything reflecting on the temperance of the police?”.Sergeant Brennan denied any suggestion that the police had been drinking prior to the shooting of Patrick Daly, echoing the circumstance surrounding the death of James Nolan.

The defence pressed Sergeant Brennan to confirm that he had indeed put a junior constable who had been in the RIC only 2 years,in charge of the revolver.  Sergeant Brennan was asked if he had ordered Constable Barry to go down on one knee and fire to one side of the crowd.  Sergeant Brennan denied that he had, saying he ordered Barry to shoot over the heads of the crowd.  He also denied that he had ever said the revolver had only fired blanks and stated that he had only seen Daly after returning from the police barracks.

On cross examining Constable Barry, the defence asked why he had disobeyed an order from a superior officer and not fired over the heads of the crowd.   At this point the magistrate intervened, saying “…that such questions to a young officer, in the presence of the County Inspector, might prove very damaging to him.” Rather than press the point the defence responded that “…he would not in that case persist in the questions. The officer was an able young man and he had not the least desire to injure his prospects of promotion.”[45]This ineffectual display was the extent of the defence for the men aside from a suggestion that “The case, … was much ado about nothing.” and that the defendants should be given good behaviour bonds.

The prosecution felt that it was as serious case of riot as he had ever encountered and was glad the defendants had made no attempt to justify their actions. However he did agree that good behaviour bonds would be the most appropriate measure in the circumstances. The Magistrate ruled that as there had been no further trouble in the district and that the men were of good character, they would be placed on good behaviour bonds.

James Brady, James Connell, Joseph McKee and Owen Keane were bound to keep the peace for 12 months on a surety of £10 each; the remaining defendants were bound to the peace for 12 months on a surety of £5 each.  As the final act of the hearing the Magistrate commended the police officers for their actions, that “…he had never come in contact with a set of circumstances that justified the police more in using deadly weapons..” and that the “…young officer had performed his duty in a most humane manner.”[46]

Post Script

I first encountered mention of the 1913 Finglas riot while researching the history of my partner’s grandfather, Francis (“Terry”) Brennan of Finglas. It was particularly interesting when I found that three of the defendants in the resulting hearing were Francis’ older brothers, Patrick, John and Charles Brennan. Francis was 14 years old at the time and I imagine that he would have been one of the many “demonstrative” boys who made up the crowd, following his older brothers in hurling abuse and stones at the police.  

Charles later enlisted in the British army and fought at Gallipoli, in Libya and at the Battle of the Somme, being wounded and discharged in 1917. ‘Terry’ joined the IRA in 1917 and went on to serve in the War of Independence and Civil War. He was sentenced to death when captured fully armed as a member of an anti-Treaty flying column. The sentence was later commuted to 7 years imprisonment. In 1923 he spent 22 days on hunger strike. He was released from internment in July 1924 and returned home to Finglas where he remained until his death in 1955.

Christopher Lee is an independent Irish researcher living in Australia.

Bibliography

Coyle, E. A., 2005. Larkinism and the 1913 County Dublin Farm Labourers Dispute. Dublin Historical Record, 58(2), pp. 176-190.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. “No Starvation” – Coal and Bread for Strikers. Freeman’s Journal, 18 September, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Bloodshed in Dublin. Freeman’s Journal, 1 September, p. 7.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Commission Cases – Swords Troubles. Freeman’s Journal, 25 October, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Complaints on Both Sides. Freeman’s Journal, 12 September, p. 2.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Condition of Patrick Daly. Freeman’s Journal, 22 September, p. 9.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Finglas Disturbance. Freeman’s Journal, 19 September, p. 7.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Finglas Sensation – Ten Men Summoned. Freeman’s Journal, 7 November, p. 11
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Lucan Lock-out. Freeman’s Journal, 21 October, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Outrages Near Finglas. Freeman’s Journal, 18 September, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Saturday Night Scenes – Repeated Baton Charges. Freeman’s Journal, 1 September , p. 7.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Strike Riot at Finglas Village. Freeman’s Journal, 18 September, p. 7.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Strong Criticism of the Police. Freeman’s Journal, 1 September, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. Swords Glass Breaking Case. Freeman’s Journal, 13 October, p. 5.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. The Farm Disputes. Freeman’s Journal, 11 November, p. 8.
Freeman’s Journal, 1913. The Finglas Riot. Freeman’s Journal, 8 November, p. 8.
Irish Independent, 1913. County Commission – Farm Strike Charges. Irish Independent, 25 October, p. 7.
Irish Independent, 1913. Dublin Farm Hands. Irish Independent, 8 October, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Farm Hands Return. Irish Independent, 10 October, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Farmers and Striker. Irish Independent, 3 November, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Farmers and Strikers. Irish Independent, 31 October, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Harassed Farmers – Unrest in North Dublin. Irish Independent, 18 September, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Items of the Unrest. Irish Independent, 18 September, p. 7.
Irish Independent, 1913. Riot at Finglas. Irish Independent, 18 September, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. Sequel To the Finglas Riot. Irish Independent, 7 November, p. 5.
Irish Independent, 1913. The Co. Dublin Strikes – Nearing the End. Irish Independent, 11 November, p. 6.
Irish Independent, 1913. The Finglas Riot – Two Policemen in Peril. Irish Independent, 8 November, p. 7.
Irish Independent, 1913. The Injured Boy Daly. Irish Independent, 19 September, p. 6.
Irish Independent, 1913. The Labourer’s Strike in Co. Dublin. Irish Independent, 19 September, p. 3
Irish Times Weekly, 1913. Young Man Shot at Finglas. Irish Times Weekly, 27 September.
Irish Times, 1913. The Finglas Riot – Fierce Attack on the Police. The Irish Times, 8 November , p. 5.
Poverty Bay Herald, 1913. The Plight of Dublin. Poverty Bay Herald, 22 October, p. 4.
Sunday Independent, 1913. Sunday Independent, 21 September, p. 8.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 1913. Disorder in Dublin. Renewed Outbreaks. The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September, p. 9.
The West Australian, 1913. Dublin Disturbances. The West Australian, 19 September, p. 7.
Ulster Herald, 1913. Strike Riots in Dublin. Ulster Herald, 6 September, p. 7.
Yeates, P., 2001. Lockout: Dublin 1913. s.l.:Palgrave Macmillan.
Yeates, P., 2001. The Dublin 1913 Lockout. History Ireland, 9(2), pp. 31-36.
Yeates, P., n.d. Lockout Chronology 1913 – 1914.

[1]Freeman’s Journal, 23 August 1913, Page:8
[2] Irish Independent, 18 September 1913, Page:5
[3]“Larkinism and the 1913 County Dublin Farm Labourer’s Dispute” Eugene A. Coyle, Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 176-190
[4] Irish Independent,  18 August 1913, Page:6
[5] Freeman’s Journal,  23 August 1913, Page:8
[6] Captain Robert Monteith: writing in “Casemate’s Last Adventure”.
[7] Ulster Herald, 6 September 1913, Page:7
[8] Sunday Independent, 21 September 1913, Page:8
[9] Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[10]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[11] Also known as the top Flood’s, as opposed to the bottom Flood’s which were both owned by the Flood family. The bottom Flood’s was later to become the Bottom of the Hill pub. The Drake Inn was closed in December 2008.
[12]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[13]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[14]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[15] Irish Independent, 18 September 1913, Page:5
[16]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[17] Freeman’s Journal, 8 November 1913, Page:8
[18] Freeman’s Journal, 8 November 1913, Page:8
[19] Irish Independent, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[20] Irish Times, 8 November 1913, Page:5
[21] Freeman’s Journal, 8 November, 1913, Page:8
[22]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:7
[23] Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:7
[24]Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:7
[25] Irish Independent, 8 November 1913, Page:7
[26] Irish Times, 8 November 1913, Page:5
[27] Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:7
[28] Irish Times Weekly, 27 September 1913.
[29]Irish Times Weekly, 27 September 1913..
[30] Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:7
[31]   The shot which struck Daly was reported to have ricocheted from the wall of Heery’s public house, which was opposite Flood’s pub.  Heery’s later became the Duck Inn which closed in 1976.   Daly was hit in the back, not in the leg as stated by Eugene Coyle in “Larkinism and the 1913 County Dublin Farm Labourer’s Dispute”, Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 58, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 176 – 190. Coyle also names the doctor who treated Daly as “Dr. Darcy Benton” and writes that the two police in Farnham House could not leave until “…a convoy of armed RIC men arrived to rescue them, that order was restored in the village.”
[32] Poverty Bay Herald, 22 October 1913, Page:4
[33] Irish Independent, 19 September 1913, Page:6
[34] Freeman’s Journal, 18 September 1913, Page:8
[35] The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September 1913, Page:9
[36] Irish Independent, 19 September 1913, Page:6
[37] Irish Independent, 25 September 1913, Page:7
[38] Irish Independent, 8 October 1913, Page:5
[39] Irish Independent, 25 September 1913, Page:7
[40] Irish Independent, 3 November 1913, Page:5
[41]Irish Independent, 1 October 1913, Page:5
[42]Irish Independent, 1 October 1913, Page:5
[43] Freeman’s Journal, 11 November 1913, Page:8
[44] Irish Independent, 8 November 1913, Page:7 (some ages are approximate based upon 1911 Census)
[45]Irish Times, 8 November 1913, Page:5
[46] Irish Times, 8 November 1913, Page:5

1913 Lockout Podcast – Episode 1 – Introduction

http://unfinishedbus…-1-introduction

The introductory podcast of the 1913 Unfinished Business series on the centenary of the Dublin Lock-out. The team look at Ireland and Dublin in the early twentieth century and introduce two of the key protagonists of the battle, the ITGWU’s Jim Larkin and the employers’ leaders William Martin Murphy. Historian Dr. Conor Kostick speaks about the genesis of the Lock-out, its politics and how it developed. We finish by asking what relevance the 1913 Lock-out has in our society one hundred years on.

Featuring: Moira Murphy, Kevin Brannigan, Donal Fallon, Shane Fitzgerald, Rónán Burtenshaw. Recording/Edit: Thom McDermott. Artwork: Moira Murphy. With thanks to: Dr. Conor Kostick, Barra Hamilton, John Tighe, Eoin Griffin, Fiona Dunkin, Pádraig Madden and Aoife Campbell.
credits

from 1913 Lockout Podcast Series, track released 19 March 2013

1913 Lockout Podcast – Episode 2 – Women of 1913
http://unfinishedbus…2-women-of-1913

The second episode of the 1913 Unfinished Business series on the centenary of the Lockout explores the role women played in the labour conflict.

We speak to Dr. Ann Matthews – historian, author and now playwright – about her play ‘Lockout’, which runs from April 15th to 20th in the New Theatre in Temple Bar. The drama aims to bring the story of the working-class women of 1913, often peripherised in historical accounts.

The podcast looks at women’s roles in the Irish society of the 19th century and how this shaped their position in 1913. Fiona Dunkin interviews the president of the Women’s History Association of Ireland, Dr. Mary McAuliffe, who talks about women in the Ireland of the 20th century and their role in the strike.

We remember one of the most well-known figures of early twentieth century nationalism, socialism and republicanism in Ireland, Constance Markievicz, examining some of the better and lesser known roles she played in the development of the Lockout. The show rounds off with a segment from the Feminist Walking Tour recorded at Liberty Hall covering the Irish Women Workers’ Union.
credits

from 1913 Lockout Podcast Series, released 15 April 2013
Contributors: Moira Murphy, Fiona Dunkin, Pádraig Madden, Rónán Burtenshaw, Jen O Laoire.

Produced by: Thom McDermott and Barra Hamilton.

Thanks to: Siobhán Clancy and the organisers of the Feminist Walking Tour.

Music: Lynched and Lawless