Tag: Easter Rising

Remembering with pride Michael O’Rahilly who was born in Ballylongford, Co Kerry, on April 22nd 1875.

Born on this day 

Michael O’Rahilly who was born on this day Ballylongford, Co Kerry, on April 22nd 1875.

Michael O’Rahilly Michael O’Rahilly was born in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry on 22nd April 1875 the unique distinction of being an Irish Volunteer leader who opposed the idea of a Rising in 1916 and initially tried to stop it but who then played his part once the fight began and, at the end of Easter Week, gave his life for Irish freedom. 
Known as ‘The O’Rahilly’ after he adopted this name to emphasise his ancestry in the Ó Raithile clann of Kerry, he played a central role in the establishment of the Irish Volunteers. He was untypical of most Volunteer leaders in that he was a wealthy man and there was no nationalist or republican background in his family. However, O’Rahilly brought an energy and enthusiasm to the many Irish nationalist activities in which he became involved. 

Michael Joseph Rahilly (he restored the ‘O’ later) was born to a prosperous merchant family in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry in 1875. He attended the local national school, where he was taught Irish after school hours by the principal, who was a native speaker from An Daingean. He was then sent to the Jesuit-run Clongowes Wood College, the private boarding school for wealthy Catholics. 

In 1899 he married Nancy Browne of Philadelphia and they settled near Dublin. They moved to Philadelphia in 1905. By this time O’Rahilly had developed strong nationalist politics and was a contributor to Arthur Griffith’s newspaper the United Irishman. In 1909 he returned to Ireland with his wife and children and became more deeply involved in politics. He worked on Griffith’s Sinn Féin newspaper when it became a daily in 1909, a short-lived venture which failed commercially and ceased in 1910. In the Sinn Féin organisation O’Rahilly did much to promote Irish industries. 

O’Rahilly was centrally involved in the opposition to the visit of King George V to Dublin in 1911. In the following year he was elected to the Coiste Gnó (Executive) of Conradh na Gaeilge. He became editor of its journal An Claidheamh Soluis and in November 1913 it was O’Rahilly who asked Eoin Mac Néill to write for that paper his article ‘The North Began’. This was the spark which led to the founding of the Irish Volunteers. O’Rahilly wrote and issued the invitation to nationalists in Dublin to the meeting in Wynn’s Hotel which founded the Volunteers. 

For the next two and half years O’Rahilly threw himself into the work of the Volunteers, of which he was Treasurer and Director of Munitions. He was one of the small group that organised the purchase of guns for the Volunteers and their landing at Howth and Kilcoole in July 1914. John Redmond’s machinations in trying to take over and suppress the Volunteers were exposed in O’Rahilly’s pamphlet The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers. 

In the days prior to the Easter Rising O’Rahilly worked with Mac Néill in attempting to prevent the insurrection. When he realised on Easter Monday that the mobilisation in Dublin was going ahead he reported for duty and fought in the GPO during Easter Week.  On Easter Friday evening he led a small detachment of Volunteers up Moore Street in an effort to clear the British barricade at the Parnell Street end. Four Volunteers – Henry Coyle, Francis Macken, Michael Mulvihill and Patrick Shortis – were killed in their charge up Moore Street and O’Rahilly was fatally wounded.

O’Rahilly managed to drag himself into Sackville Lane (now O’Rahilly Parade) where he lay dying for many hours. Volunteers and civilians were unable to come to his aid because of the British firing. He died on Easter Saturday and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery as the prison executions of his comrades were beginning.

With  many thanks to: Easter Rising War of Independence and Irish Civil war History.

Remembering Ireland’s Patriot Dead

THE BRAVE Men & Women Who Give Their Lives For Irish Freedom.

80 men and women travelled the Irish Sea from various parts of the UK to play their part with the Irish Volunteers in the Easter Rising some had Irish Parents,some had not.They too helped fight against the oppression and tyranny of British Government and Crown Forces in Ireland 1916

With many thanks to: Easter Rising War of Independence and Irish Civil War History.

Sheila O’Hanlon was linked to several of the previously ‘Lost’ Volunteers who traveled from Manchester to take part in the Rising.

Sheila took part in the Rising as a member of Cumann na mBan, being stationed in the Marrowbone Lane Distillery until she was arrested after the surrender.

image
Sheila O'Hanlon

https://m.facebook.com/dakota29#!/groups/250140148442168?view=permalink&id=796571927132318

Link to the new book being released in November:
http:// https://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhiddenheroesofeasterweek.wordpress.com%2F&h=UAQGCvlem&s=1

With many thanks to: Gillean Robertson Miller – 1916 Easter Rising Historical Society….
http:// https://m.facebook.com/groups/250140148442168?view=permalink&id=796571927132318#!/groups/250140148442168

JUSTICE FOR THE CRAIGAVON TWO

 

10505079_1474493649459920_2906183279849869575_o

10506799_1474493662793252_8232179921513393943_o

1531688_1474493556126596_1893311826415335438_o

 

10321491_1474493566126595_8441624107826153659_o

Below is a copy of the letter that was sent to all MSP’s by the James Connolly Society, Scotland.

1

Seán Heuston Dublin 1916 Society

A chara,

On behalf of the 1916 Societies I request your support for our campaign to hold an All Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity. The people of Scotland will exercise their right to national self-determination in a constitutional referendum in September 2014 and we believe the people of Ireland have the same right to determine their constitutional future without outside interference or impediment.

Irrespective of their personal and political positions on independence Scottish parliamentarians have acknowledged the right of the people of Scotland to decide. We ask you to support the campaign to for the Irish peoples rights in this regard to be respected.

The 1916 Societies are Ireland’s fastest growing political movement. We have established Societies throughout Ireland, Australia, United States as well as Scotland. The 1916 Societies are an independent Irish Political Movement that looks upon the ideals and principals set out in the 1916 Proclamation as our significant point of reference.

The proposed Six County border poll under Britain’s Northern Ireland Act 1998 permits the Secretary of State (an English politician devoid of a single vote in Ireland) to determine:

when and if a poll may be called,

the wording of the poll and,

who qualifies to vote.

Even if passed the British parliament retains the final say on whether or not the result will be endorsed by the UK government.

We believe the core concept of Irish republicanism is that Irish constitutional authority derives from the Irish people and does not defer to laws or decrees emanating from London.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising it is clear that Britain continues to refuse to recognise Ireland as one democratic unit and presumes that Westminster will define the parameters of Irish democracy.

Republicanism is a unifying concept based on interdependence as opposed to tribal commonality. The exceptional Republican leadership of 1916 knew that interdependence could only be nurtured within a national context and not a partitionist one. They were very specific about that in the Proclamation calling for a ‘National Government representative of the whole people of Ireland’ and declaring that the Republic must be,

‘…oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.’

A Six County poll legitimises the very mechanisms invented by Britain to harness these differences to British interests by endorsing the Unionist veto and accepting the artificial statelet that incubates and nurtures the sectarian dynamic in Irish politics.

The 1916 Proclamation for too long has been relegated to the status of a notional aspiration. The 1916 Societies wish to be part of a broad movement which reinstates the Proclamation of the Republic to its rightful place and its original intent as a template for action. In that spirit we respectfully request your endorsement of an All Ireland Referendum on Irish Unity. One Ireland – One Vote.

Is mise le meas,

Jim Slaven

Related articles

Oglach Kevin Barry – Fuair se bas ar son Saoirse ahEireann R.I.P

Oglach Kevin Barry – Fuair se bas ar son Saorise ahEireann.

Creggan Man

1920: Execution of Kevin Barry

Eighteen year old medical student Kevin Barry is executed following an ambush on British troops in Dublin in which one soldier is killed.

On the morning of 20 September 1920, Kevin Barry went to Mass and received Holy Communion, he then joined a party of IRA volunteers on Bolton Street in Dublin. Their orders were to ambush a British army truck as it picked up a delivery of bread from a bakery and capture their weapons. The ambush was scheduled for 11AM, which gave him enough time to take part in the operation and return to UCD in time for a Medical examination he had at 2PM. Captured at the scene, Barry was court martialled and hanged in Mountjoy Jail November 1st 1920. He was the first Republican to be executed since the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. The execution of Barry led to a swell of support for the Independence struggle, both nationally and internationally.

The image attached is a poignant letter from an 18 year old boy about to meet his end.

Kevin Barry

youtube.com

Gerry Duddy

Volunteer Kevin Barry, C Company of the first Battalion of the Dublin Brigade, A TRUE AND BRAVE IRISH SOLDIER. R.I.P.

Related articles

Protestants and Catholics UNITED will never be Defeated

970007_221318211350265_123821019_n

Jase Black

Republicans of British-Occupied Ireland Unite!

The Protestant & United Irish Republican, Wolfe Tone:

“To unite Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter under the common name of Irishmen in order break the connection with England, the never failing source of all our political evils, that was my aim”.

“If the men of property will not support us, they must fall. Our strength shall come from that great and respectable class, the men of no property”.

James Connolly was an Irish republican, Agnostic and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland. He left school for working life at the age of 11 & became one of the leading Marxist theorists of his day. He took a role in Scottish and American politics. He was Murdered by a British firing squad because of his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916.

Connolly became secretary of the Scottish Socialist Federation.

At the time his brother John was secretary; after John spoke at a rally in favour of the eight-hour day, however, he was fired from his job with the Edinburgh Corporation, so while he looked for work, James took over as secretary. During this time, Connolly became involved with the Independent Labour Party which Keir Hardie had formed in 1893.

Sometime during this period, he took up the study of, and advocated the use of, the neutral international language, Esperanto.

By 1892 he was involved in the Scottish Socialist Federation, acting as its secretary from 1895. Two months after the birth of his third daughter, word came to Connolly that the Dublin Socialist Club was looking for a full-time secretary, a job that offered a salary of a pound a week. Connolly and his family moved to Dublin, where he took up the position. At his instigation, the club quickly evolved into the Irish Socialist Republican Party (ISRP). The ISRP regarded by many Irish historians as a party of pivotal importance in the early history of Irish socialism and republicanism. While active as a socialist in Great Britain, Connolly was the founding editor of The Socialist newspaper and was among the founders of the Socialist Labour Party which split from the Social Democratic Federation in 1903. While in America he was a member of the Socialist Labor Party of America (1906), the Socialist Party of America (1909) and the Industrial Workers of the World, and founded the Irish Socialist Federation in New York, 1907. He famously had a chapter of his 1910 book “Labour in Irish History” entitled

“A chapter of horrors: Daniel O’Connell and the working class.”

critical of the achiever of Catholic Emancipation 60 years earlier. On his return to Ireland he was right hand man to James Larkin in the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. He stood twice for the Wood Quay ward of Dublin Corporation but was unsuccessful. His name, and those of his family, appears in the 1911 Census of Ireland – his occupation is listed as “National Organiser Socialist Party”. In 1913, in response to the Lockout, he, along with an ex-British officer, Jack White, founded the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), an armed and well-trained body of labour men whose aim was to defend workers and strikers, particularly from the frequent brutality of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Though they only numbered about 250 at most, their goal soon became the establishment of an independent and socialist Irish nation. He founded the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress in 1912 and was a member of its National Executive. Around this time he met Winifred Carney in Belfast, who became his secretary and would later accompany him during the Easter Rising.

“Though I have usually posed as a Catholic, I have not done my duty for 15 years, and have not the slightest tincture of faith left!”

Letter from James Connolly to John Carstairs Matheson, 30 January 1908.

Socialism Today – The Connolly & religion debate.

“The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go. And in the work of abolishing it the Catholic and the Protestant, the Catholic and the Jew, the Catholic and the Freethinker, the Catholic and the Buddhist, the Catholic and the Mahometan will co-operate together, knowing no rivalry but the rivalry of endeavour toward an end beneficial to all. For, as we have said elsewhere, socialism is neither Protestant nor Catholic, Christian nor Freethinker, Buddhist, Mahometan, nor Jew; it is only Human. We of the socialist working class realise that as we suffer together we must work together that we may enjoy together. We reject the firebrand of capitalist warfare and offer you the olive leaf of brotherhood and justice to and for all!”

“We do not mean that its supporters are necessarily materialists in the vulgar, and merely anti-theological, sense of the term, but that they do not base their socialism upon any interpretation of the language or meaning of scripture, nor upon the real or supposed intentions of a beneficent Deity. They as a party neither affirm or deny those things, but leave it to the individual conscience of each member to determine what beliefs on such questions they shall hold. As a political party they wisely prefer to take their stand upon the actual phenomena of social life as they can be observed in operation amongst us to-day, or as they can be traced in the recorded facts of history!”

“If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain.

England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs!”

“Yes, friends, governments in capitalist society are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class!”

Irish Worker (socialist newspaper) 29 August, 1915. Reprinted in P. Beresford Ellis (ed.), “James Connolly – Selected Writings”, p. 248.

‘Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword’ say the Scriptures, and it may well be that in the progress of events the working class of Ireland may be called upon to face the stern necessity of taking the sword (or rifle) against the capitalist class!”

The Worker (socialist newspaper) 30 January, 1915. Reprinted in P. Beresford Ellis (ed.), “James Connolly – Selected Writings”, p. 210.

“Under a socialist system every nation will be the supreme arbiter of its own destinies, national and international; will be forced into no alliance against its will & will have its independence guaranteed and its freedom respected by the enlightened self-interest of the socialist democracy of the world!”

– James Connolly”

“Such a scheme – the betrayal of the national democracy of Industrial Ulster, would mean a carnival of reaction both North and South, would set back the wheels of progress, would destroy the oncoming unity of the Irish labour movement and paralyse all advanced movements while it lasted!”

– James Connolly.

“The cause of labour is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour!”

Workers’ Republic (socialist newspaper) 8 April, 1916. Reprinted in P. Beresford Ellis (ed.), “James Connolly – Selected Writings”, p. 145.

Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, Atheist, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. Politically a Marxist, his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism, which coupled with Marxian economic theory have collectively come to be known as Marxism–Leninism.

Lenin gained an interest in revolutionary leftist politics following the execution of his brother in 1887. Briefly attending the Kazan State University, he was ejected for his involvement in anti-Tsarist protests, devoting the following years to gaining a law degree and to radical politics, becoming a Marxist. In 1893 he moved to St. Petersburg, becoming a senior figure within the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. Arrested for sedition and exiled to Siberia for three years, he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, and fled to Western Europe, living in Germany, England and Switzerland. Following the February Revolution of 1917, in which the Tsar was overthrown and a provisional government took power, he returned home.

As the leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, he took a senior role in orchestrating the October Revolution in 1917, which led to the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government and the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the world’s first constitutionally socialist state. Immediately afterwards, Lenin proceeded to implement socialist reforms, including the transfer of estates and crown lands to workers’ soviets. In 1921 Lenin proposed the New Economic Policy, a system of state capitalism that started the process of industrialisation and recovery from the Russian Civil War. In 1922, the Russian SFSR joined former territories of the Russian Empire in becoming the Soviet Union, with Lenin as its leader.

Lenin was a Marxist and principally a revolutionary. His revolutionary theory—the belief in the necessity of a violent overthrow of capitalism through communist revolution, to be followed by a dictatorship of the proletariat as the first stage of moving towards communism, and the need for a vanguard party to lead the proletariat in this effort—developed into Marxism–Leninism, a highly influential ideology.

As stated in his Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin’s revolutionary project embraced not just Russia but the world. To implement world revolution the Third or Communist International was convened in Russia in 1919, to replace the discredited Second International. Lenin dominated the first, second (1920) and third (1921) Congresses of the International and hoped to use the organisation as an agency of international socialist revolution. After the failure of revolutionary ambitions in Poland, in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–21, and after various revolutions in Germany and Eastern Europe in 1919 had been crushed, Lenin, increasingly, saw that anti-colonial struggles in the Third World would be the foci of the revolutionary struggle. He believed that revolution in the Third World would come about through an alliance of the proletarians with the rural peasantry.

In 1923 Lenin said:

“The outcome of the struggle will be determined by the fact that Russia, India, China, etc,. account for the overwhelming majority of the population of the globe. And during the last few years it is this majority that has been drawn into the struggle for emancipation with extraordinary rapidity, so that in this respect there cannot be the slightest doubt what the final outcome of the world struggle will be. In this sense the complete victory of socialism is fully and absolutely assured.”

Lenin praised Chinese socialist revolutionary leader Sun Yatsen and his Kuomintang party for their ideology and principles. Lenin praised Sun, his attempts on social reformation and congratulated him for fighting foreign Imperialism. Sun also returned the praise, calling him a “great man”, and sent his congratulations on the revolution in Russia. Organised on Leninism, the Kuomintang was a nationalist revolutionary party, which had been supported by the Soviet Union.

Related articles

Cathal Brugha RIP, your sacrifice for Ireland will never be forgotten.

1017154_142527989283906_705240589_n

Óglaigh Na HÉireann

Cathal Brugha.

A simple stroke of pen and ink by simple men who failed to think

(or thinking failed to pay due heed to consequence and future need)

has left in wake of smile and speech a lesson for our sons to teach

of how a leader must not be: all money-mad and moral-free.

For future generations cringe when thinking back upon this binge

of glutton-driven money greed so blind to children’s children’s needs.

And every passing douring day, another dreamer fades away

as poisoned progress has its way and businessmen decide our fates.

Well mór bhur nair! Mór bhur nair, ye whose pens have brought this fire!

Mór bhur nair! Mór bhur nair, ye who’ve sold the heart of Eire!

Mór bhur nair ye ministers: who’ve trampled and dishonored her!

Mór bhur nair ye businessmen: who sold her soul for silver yen!

Mór bhur nair ye Síocháin Gaurds: who’ve left for dead your sacred charge!

Mór ár nair we sleeping bards: who’ve withheld aoirs and blunted barbs!

Now’s no time for seeing-short, nor money-hoarding last-resorts.

These issues of both time and space: of travelling and fair Tara’s face;

Have and can be swift resolved; this controversy can dissolve:

By listening to the people’s pleas for future generations’ needs.

Let conscience lead you, Leaders- Think! A simple stroke of pen and ink

Can open up the Iron Road to carry families safely home,

And save that now embattled place, preserving Tara’s sacred space.

To do what’s right is often hard, for moneyed men will scoff and barb,

But heroes never came to be by bowing down to money greed.

I beg you, take the rocky road: prove your souls are yet unsold.

Save your honor and your name; not for money, power or fame;

But simple love of doing right: to end a wasteful, foolish fight;

And be, in darkness, yet a Light.

Related articles

THE IRISH NATIONAL ANTHEM

382561_144059212464117_340258145_n

Óglaigh Na HÉireann

Written in 1907 by Peadar Kearney, an uncle of Brendan Behan. It was sung outside the GPO during the Easter Rising in 1916, and later at various camps where republicans were interned, and was officially adopted as the national anthem in 1926, replacing God Save Ireland

——————————————————

A SOLDIER’S SONG

We’ll sing a song, a soldier’s song

With cheering rousing chorus

As round our blazing fires we throng

The starry heavens o’er us

Impatient for the coming fight

And as we wait the morning’s light

Here in the silence of the night

We’ll chant a soldier’s song

Chorus:

Soldiers are we

whose lives are pledged to Ireland

Some have come

from a land beyond the wave

Sworn to be free

No more our ancient sire land

Shall shelter the despot or the slave

Tonight we man the gap of danger

In Erin’s cause, come woe or weal

‘Mid cannons‘ roar and rifles peal

We’ll chant a soldier’s song

In valley green, on towering crag

Our fathers fought before us

And conquered ‘neath the same old flag

That’s proudly floating o’er us

We’re children of a fighting race

That never yet has known disgrace

And as we march, the foe to face

We’ll chant a soldier’s song

Chorus

Soldiers are we

whose lives are pledged to Ireland

Some have come

from a land beyond the wave

Sworn to be free

No more our ancient sire land

Shall shelter the despot or the slave

Tonight we man the gap of danger

In Erin’s cause, come woe or weal

‘Mid cannons’ roar and rifles peal

We’ll chant a soldier’s song

Sons of the Gael! Men of the Pale!

The long watched day is breaking

The serried ranks of Inisfail

Shall set the Tyrant quaking

Our camp fires now are burning low

See in the east a silv’ry glow

Out yonder waits the Saxon foe

So chant a soldier’s song

Chorus

Soldiers are we

whose lives are pledged to Ireland

Some have come

from a land beyond the wave

Sworn to be free

No more our ancient sire land

Shall shelter the despot or the slave

Tonight we man the gap of danger

In Erin’s cause, come woe or weal

‘Mid cannons’ roar and rifles peal

We’ll chant a soldier’s song

Related articles

SUPPORT THE DEPENDANTS OF REPUBLICAN POW’s

941797_172353262943393_1489256739_n-1

Stiofán Mac Óda

IRPWA-COGUS-CABHAIR PLEASE SHARE GRMA

CABHAIR – IRISH REPUBLICAN PRISONERS DEPENDANTS FUND

Cabhair is a charitable organisation, solely dependant on public subscriptions. It was established in early 1987, following the revolutionary / reformist split in the republican movement, for “the relief of cases of distress arising out of republican activity”.

Immediately followimg the Ard-Fheis of Sinn F?in in 1986 when the Provisionals departed from the Republican road a number of Irish political prisoners in England, the Six Counties and the 26 Counties adhered to the revolutionary path and refused to accept support from the Provisionals.

To meet this pressing need CABHAIR was formed and has continued with this noble work. Prisoners that they have cared for have been released on completion of sentence and others have gone to prison. At no time since 1987 have no prisoners been in CABHAIR’s care. As long as British rule continues in Ireland, Irish people will resist that foreign occupation and, unfortunately, there will be political prisoners.

CABHAIR currently supports Republican prisoners in Portlaoise prison in the 26 Counties and Maghaberry prison in the Six Occupied Counties.

Donations can be sent to CABHAIR, Irish Republican Prisoners Dependants Fund, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland

COGUS- REPUBLICAN NETWORK OF UNITY POW DEPARTMENT

The name “Cogús,” has being adopted by the RNU’s POW Department, meaning “Conscience.”

It is from here that we aim to highlight the injustice suffered by POW’s incarcerated within oppressive Gaols.

Cógus help support the families of imprisoned Irish POWs. Anyone who would like to donate to Cógus to help aid us in easing the hardships of Cógus prisoners can do so directly to Ulster Bank, Antrim Road Belfast. Account Number 10584365 Sort Code 98-00-11

http://www.republicanunity.org/

IRISH REPUBLICAN PRISONERS WELFARE ASSOCIATION

http://www.irpwa.com/

Jim Lockhart

In the U.S. -MAKE A DONATION TODAY TO AID THE DEPENDENTS of Irish Political Prisoners interned or sentenced under British laws in Ireland! Donations can be sent via Friends Of Irish Freedom, P.O. Box 210-Riverdale Station, Riverdale, NY 10471.

FOIF was founded in 1916 in NYC to aid the dependents of the Volunteers arrested in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. FOIF continued to support Republican Prisoners dependents through the War of Independence. We continue to aid Republican Prisoners Dependents today! Make a difference. Give something back to the land of our forebears.

Related articles
%d bloggers like this: