Recent Publications



Saothar 42
including
Peter Murray John McAteer and Marshall Plan technical assistance;
Fionnuala Walsh 'We work with shells all day and night': Irish female munitions workers during the First World War;
Luke Dineen The Cork Harbour Soviet of 1921;
Kieran McNulty Working-Class Radicalism in Co Kerry 1914-22;
Ruairí Gallagher 'Smash every Cross-Channel union': Inter-trade union rivalry in Watt's Distilleries Derry, 1920-21;
Elaine Sugrue Women and Irish trade unionism - a case study: the Irish Drapers' Assistants' Association, 1901-20;
Andy Cook'Nature's Own Moderate': Vivian Simpson and the Northern Ireland Labour Party 1958-72;
Brian Hanley 'We mourn our brothers ...': Workers respond to Bloody Sunday and the conflict in Northern Ireland 1969-72;
Andrew Newby Labour Lives, no. 19: Edward McHugh (1853-19 15);
Peter Rigney Document Analysis - The Dock Strike 1923;
Emmet O'Connor Essay: "Hail Russia!" Labour and the Bolshevik Revolution;
Martin Maguire Sources in the ILHS Archives: The Labour Gazette;
Conor McCabe Labour Classic Revisited: Dunsmore Clarkson, Labour and Nationalism (1925);
Order Saothar 42

Saothar 41
including
Michael D. Higgins A Celebration of James Connolly & the Irish Citizens Army;
Róisín Higgins The 'Incorruptible Inheritors of 1916': The Battle for Ownership of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Easter Rising;
Seán Byers Belfast Trades Council, the Easter Rising & the Trade Union Politics of Commemoration, 1916-1966;
Eve Morrison Class, Gender & Occupation Among the Bureau of Military History Witnesses & Ernie O'Malley Interviewees Who Were 'Out' in 1916;
Mary McAuliffe From Inghinidhe na héireann to the Irish Citizen Army: Women, Radical Politics & the 1916 Rising;
Kate O'Malley 'Thrilled by the Irish Rising ... and the Irish Story Ever Since': Indian Nationalist Reactions to the Easter Rising;
Bruce Nelson 'The Greatest Epic of Modern History': Caribbean Radicals and the Irish Revolution;
Dónal Fallon Joseph Connolly (1893-1956): Firefighter & ICA Fighter;
John Dorney The Rabble & the Republic;
Pádraig Yeates Who Were Dublin's looters in 1916?' Crime & Society in Dublin During the Great War;
Stefan Berger & Stefan Braun International Socialist Responses to the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916 (Essay);
Adrian Grant C.D. Greaves, The Life & Times of James Connolly (Labour Classic);
Conor McNamara An Introduction to Manuscript Sources on the Irish Citizen Army (sources);
Edmund Penrose Objects in the ILHS Archives & Museum: Records & Uniforms of the Irish Citizen Army (sources);
Cécile Gordon The Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection: Evidence of a Revolution Through Ordinary Voices (sources);
Francis Devine 'A Great & Trusted Custodian of Confidences' Betrayed? Winifred Carney's Military Service Pension Application (sources);
Peter Rigney The Rising & Railway Workers (sources);
Order Saothar 41

Saothar 40
including
Padraic Kenna and Alan Sheerins Development of Irish Housing 1900 - 1970s;
Donal Ó Drisceoil Sex and socialism: the class politics of immorality in pre-First-World-War Ireland;
Gerry Watts The Battle for Liberty Hall;
David Convery From Misfit to Anarchist: The impact of the Spanish Civil War on Captain J.R.White;
Therese Moylan 'She did it properly': Women in the hotel and catering industry, 1926-1971;
Tish Gibbons Trade union recognition in late 20th century Ireland;
Francis Devine The Catholic Workers' College: Some Data From 1951-1961;
Mary Muldowney Labour Lives, no. 17: Michael Enright;
Order Saothar 40


Saothar 39
including
Francis Devine 'Hearing the Children Weeping': Samuel Monro, 1846-1925, President, Belfast Trades Council & British TUC;
Gerard Madden Bishop Michael Browne of Galway and Anti-Communism, 1937-1976;
Sinéad Ní Choncubhair Brendan Corish: a life in politics, 1945-1977;
Aidan Seery and Liam McKenna, S. J. The Catholic Workers' College Dublin: a personal history;
Ida Milne Gender, hierarchies and change: an oral history of Independent Newspapers since the 1960s;
Mary Jones Essay: Working lives;
James Curry Labour lives, no. 16 Rosie Hackett, 1893-1976;
Order Saothar 39


Saothar 38
including
Margaret Brehony Free labour and 'whitening' the nation: Irish migrants in colonial Cuba;
Ciaran Mulholland and Michael Walker 'Our cause is a just one': trade union organization in Irish asylums, 1896-1917;
Denis Foley On tour and exiled: James Connolly, 1902-1905;
Padraig G. Lane Daniel Corkery and the Cork working class;
John Newsinger 'The duty of Social Democrats in this labour unrest': Justice, the British Socialist Party and the Dublin Lockout of 1913;
Padraig Yeates 'An injury to one is the concern of all': Dublin port, the Namebook, the 1913 Lockout and the sympathetic strike;
Caitriona Clear Woman's Life magazine and women's lives in Ireland in the 1950s;
Brian Hanley 'The needs of the people': the IRA considers its future, 1967-68;
Michael J. Quinn The Ireland-USSR Society, 1966-92;
Michael Dwyer Abandoned by God and the Corporation: Housing and the health of the working class in Cork City;
D.R. O'Connor Lysaght Essay: From the GPO to the Winter Palace: How a workers' revolution was lost and how a workers' revolution was won;
Order Saothar 38

Membership Renewal for 2018

ILHS Membership Subscription for 2018 is now due (and also open to new members). If you've previously paid by cash, cheque or postal order, you can now pay online via PayPal here. Membership for 2018 includes Saothar 43, the latest edition of the society's journal.

Saothar 43 ad

Membership Renewal for 2018

ILHS Membership Subscription for 2018 is now due (and also open to new members). If you've previously paid by cash, cheque or postal order, you can now pay online via PayPal here. Membership for 2018 includes Saothar 43, the latest edition of the society's journal.

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Centenary of William Walker 1870-1918 Belfast Union; Labour Unionism & Socialism

The Irish Labour History Society and the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions are jointly organising a conference in the MAC in Belfast the weekend of Friday 19th/Saturday 20th October 2018. The conference will see a number of historical talks including Michael Mecham, Emmet O'Connor, Myrtle Hill and Seán Byers. A new collection of essays on William Walker will also be launched on the Friday evening.


Full programme here

Labor Day

US Labor Day Parade 2018


Fraternal greetings to our American Trade Union Comrades on the occasion of the celebration of Labor Day 2018 from the Irish Labour History Society.



Pictures from the Parade.


Leaflet distributed at the Parade.

Labor Day
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Check out the May 2018 issue of our bi-annual newsletters:

Irish Labour History News May 2018 Volume 4 No 1

saothar-41-buy online

Bumper 1916 edition of Saothar (Vol. 41) is now available to purchase online.

Co-Edited by Francis Devine, Sarah-Anne Buckley and Brian Hanley, Saothar 41 covers a range of themes relating to labour's place in the 1916 Rising, including the role of women; the legacy and contested ownership of the Rising; gender and class; memory and commemoration; Belfast Trades Council; the ICA; the Workers' Republic; and the response of international radicals to the events of 1916.
Purchase Saothar 41 online here.

saothar-41-buy online
1913 Lockout

A series of articles relating to the Lockout of 1913 in Dublin


The 26th of August 2013 marked the anniversary of the start of the 1913 Lockout and Strike. A chronology of events from this date in 1913 to December 1913 & January 1914 when the striking workers gradually began to return to work. The Lockout ended by degrees.

1913 Lockout


Access to library and archives by appointment only:
Tel: 01 668 1071
Email: info@irishlabourhistorysociety.com
Appointment Times:
10 am - 4 pm (Mon-Thu) 10 am - 1 pm (Fri)

Larkin Statue

Welcome to the Irish Labour History Society. The Society aims to preserve the records and reminiscences, written and oral, of the Irish working class and its organisations. Society membership is composed of individuals, labour-related organisations, academic institutions, libraries and archival bodies. The Society frequently organizes conferences and events and also issues publications on Irish labour, including its annual journal Saothar.






The Working Class Movement Library (UK) is being featured as a website of interest with a comprehensive links section. Check it out here




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