45 Facts About James Connolly

James Connolly was an Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader.

James Connolly was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party.

James Connolly was the long term right-hand man to Larkin in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union until taking over leadership of both the union and its military wing the ICA upon Larkin's departure for the United States, then leading both until his death.

James Connolly opposed British rule in Ireland, and was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916, commanding the Irish Citizen Army throughout.

James Connolly was born in an Edinburgh slum in 1868, the third son of Irish parents John James Connolly and Mary McGinn.

James Connolly's parents had moved to Scotland from County Monaghan, Ireland, and settled in the Cowgate, a ghetto where thousands of Irish people lived.

James Connolly spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life.

James Connolly was born in St Patrick's Roman Catholic parish, in the Cowgate district of Edinburgh known as "Little Ireland".

James Connolly had an education up to the age of about ten in the local Catholic primary school.

James Connolly enlisted at age 14, falsifying his age and giving his name as Reid, as his brother John had done.

James Connolly served in Ireland with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment and King's Regiment for nearly seven years, during a turbulent period in rural areas known as the Land War.

James Connolly developed a deep hatred for the British Army that lasted his entire life.

James Connolly had another reason for staying: his future wife Lillie Reynolds.

James Connolly briefly established a cobbler's shop in 1895 to provide for his family, but the shop failed after a few months because of his insufficient shoe-mending skills.

James Connolly was increasingly active within the socialist movement and prioritized it over cobbling.

James Connolly described himself as a socialist, while acknowledging the influence of Marx.

James Connolly is credited with setting the groundwork for Christian socialism in Ireland.

At the time his brother John was secretary; after John spoke at a rally in favour of the eight-hour day he was fired from his job with the Edinburgh Corporation, so while he looked for work, James Connolly took over as secretary.

James Connolly joined Maud Gonne and Arthur Griffith in the Dublin protests against the Boer War.

James Connolly became the editor of the Free Press, a socialist weekly newspaper that was published in New Castle, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania from 25 July 1908 and discontinued in 1913.

James Connolly stood twice for the Wood Quay ward of Dublin Corporation but was unsuccessful.

In 1911, James Connolly wrote a piece titled decrying George V's upcoming coronation tour visit to Ireland, advocating that "public ownership must take the place of capitalist ownership, social democracy replace political and social inequality, the sovereignty of labour must supersede and destroy the sovereignty of birth and the monarchy of capitalism".

James Connolly was editor of The Irish Worker which was suppressed under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914.

James Connolly was not actually held in gaol, but in a room at the State Apartments in Dublin Castle, which had been converted to a first-aid station for troops recovering from the war.

James Connolly was sentenced to death by firing squad for his part in the rising.

James Connolly had been so badly injured from the fighting that he was unable to stand before the firing squad; he was carried to a prison courtyard on a stretcher.

James Connolly's body was put in a mass grave without a coffin.

James Connolly was not simply a socialist, but specifically was a Syndicalist.

James Connolly's syndicalism was developed through his interactions with Daniel DeLeon, the Industrial Workers of the World, and Jim Larkin.

James Connolly was a supporter of the syndicalist and IWW view that workers should organise themselves into "One Big Union".

James Connolly suggested that endorsing the idea that wage increases were meaningless would result in socialists never fighting to improve the conditions of workers.

In 1914, James Connolly published the book Labour in Irish History in which he analysed Irish history from a Marxist perspective.

James Connolly envisioned the Industrial Workers of the World forming their own political party which would bring together the feuding socialist groups such as the Socialist Labor Party of America and the Socialist Party of America.

James Connolly held that socialists should campaign on economic and political issues alone, and completely avoid debating spirituality, particularly with clergy.

James Connolly saw attacking religion as a strategic and tactical mistake for socialists, bogging them down in an unnecessary conflict.

James Connolly believed that any religion that promoted egalitarianism and humanitarianism could, in fact, aid the introduction of socialism.

In 1910 James Connolly wrote the pamphlet Labour, nationality and religion in which he specifically outlined his view that Socialism and Catholicism were not incompatible.

The historian Fergus D'arcy has argued that prior to his return to Ireland in 1910, James Connolly was not particularly concerned with the ideological idea of nationalism, but living in Ireland forced James Connolly to grapple with the "national question".

In 1911, James Connolly entered into a public debate with Belfast socialist William Walker.

James Connolly rebutted with his belief that "the only true socialist internationalism lay in a free federation of free peoples".

In Scotland, James Connolly's thinking influenced socialists such as John Maclean, who would, like him, combine his leftist thinking with nationalist ideas when he formed the Scottish Workers Republican Party.

James Connolly had a particular concern with the role of women in society.

James Connolly supported the Suffragette movement, and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington opined that James Connolly was "the soundest and most thorough-going feminist among all the Irish labour men".

James Connolly suggested the oppression of women was a consequence of private property.

James Connolly held the view that it was not the role of men to liberate women, but for women to liberate themselves with the help of supporting men.