James Connolly

Born Edinburgh, Scotland of Irish parents – said to have first come to Ireland in his youth as a member of the British Army – married in 1889 – active in The Socialist movement in Edinburgh in the early 1890s – came to Ireland in 1896 and founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party – lectured on socialism in Britain and U.S., 1902 – emigrated to U.S. in 1903 – member of Socialist Labour Party (U.S.) and the Industrial Workers of the World – founded the Irish Socialist Federation in New York, 1907 – returned to Ireland in 1910 as organiser for The Socialist Party of Ireland – Belfast organiser of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, 1910 – acting Gen. Sec. of I.T.G.W.U. and Commandant of the Irish Citizen Army, 1914 – Commandant General of Dublin Division of the Army of the Republic, 1916 – executed following the 1916 Uprising.

Our demands most moderate are –
We only want the earth!

James Connolly: “Be Moderate”

WORKS ARCHIVED:

1894

Party Politicians – Noble, Ignoble and Local (Labour Chronicle, 1 December)

1895

Currently, no texts available.

1896

Irish Socialist Republican Party

1897

Socialism and Nationalism (Shan Van Vocht, January) Patriotism and Labour (Shan Van Vocht, August) Socialism and Irish Nationalism (L’Irlande Libre, Paris) Erin’s Hope – The End & The Means (pamphlet) Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

1898

The Fighting Race (Workers’ Republic, 13 August) Home Rule Journalists and Patriotism (Workers’ Republic, 13 August) The Men We Honour (Workers’ Republic, 13 August) An Open Letter to Dublin Castle (Workers’ Republic, 13 August) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 20 August) The Roots of Modern War (Workers’ Republic, 20 August) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 27 August) Labour Representation (Workers’ Republic, 27 August) Peasant Proprietorship and Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 27 August) British and Russian Imperialism I (Workers’ Republic, 3 September) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 3 September) British and Russian Imperialism II (Workers’ Republic, 10 September) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 17 September) Regicide and Revolution (Workers’ Republic, 17 September) The Irish Land Question (Workers’ Republic, 24 September) The Independent and New Machinery (Workers’ Republic, 1 October) Parnellism and Labour (Workers’ Republic, 8 October) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 22 October) A Socialist Candidate for Dublin Corporation (Workers’ Republic, 22 October)

1899

Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, May) Resurgam! (Workers’ Republic, May) The Sweating System (Workers’ Republic, 3 June) State Monopoly versus Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 10 June – The New Evangel) Socialism and Religion (Workers’ Republic, 17 June – The New Evangel) Father Finlay, S.J., and Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 1 July – The New Evangel) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 1 July) Socialism and Political Reformers (Workers’ Republic, 8 July – The New Evangel) “Soldiers of the Queen” (Workers’ Republic, 15 July) Physical Force in Irish Politics (Workers’ Republic, 22 July) The Economic Basis of Politics (Workers’ Republic, 12 August – The New Evangel) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 19 August) The South African War I (Workers’ Republic, 19 August) Law and Order (Workers’ Republic, 26 August) The Re-Conquest of Ireland (Workers’ Republic, 2 September) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 9 September) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 23 September) Compositors and the Linotype (Workers’ Republic, 30 September) America and Ireland – Farmers’ Demands (Workers’ Republic, 21 October) Imperialism and Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 4 November) Socialism and Imperialism (Workers’ Republic, 4 November) Landlordism in Towns (Workers’ Republic, 18 November) The South African War II (Workers’ Republic, 18 November) A Plea for the Children (Workers’ Republic, 2 December) Dogma and Food (Workers’ Republic, 9 December) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 9 December) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 16 December) Dublin and the War (Workers’ Republic, 30 December) Our Mad Rulers (Workers’ Republic, 30 December) Let Us Free Ireland! (Workers’ Republic)

1900

Bruce Glasier in Ireland (Justice, 31 March) The Difficulties of Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 3 June) The Difficulties of Socialism (Workers’ Republic, 3 June) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 3 June) The Difficulties of Capitalism (Workers’ Republic, 16 June) Resolution of Sympathy with the Boers (Workers’ Republic, 30 June) The Coming Generation (Workers’ Republic, 15 July) Ireland Sober is Ireland Free? (Workers’ Republic, 15 July) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 15 September) Parliamentary Democracy (Workers’ Republic, 22 September) Home Thrusts (Workers’ Republic, 10 November) The Corporation and the Children (Workers’ Republic, 24 November) An Object Lesson (Workers’ Republic, 15 December)

1901

Socialist Electioneering (Workers’ Republic, February) Class Government and Class War (Workers’ Republic, May) Justice And Millerand (Justice, 25 May) Irish Trade Union Congress (Workers’ Republic, June) Home Rulers and Labour (Workers’ Republic, October) Letter to the Secretary of the Edinburgh branch of the SDF (letter, 1 November) Wood Quay Ward – To the Electors (Workers’ Republic, December) The New Evangel – Preached to Irish Toilers (pamphlet)

1902

Coronation of King Edward VII, 1902 Taken Root! (Workers’ Republic, March) The Irish Socialist Republican Party and the Dewsbury Election (Justice, 29 March 1902) Our “American Mission” (Workers’ Republic, August)

1903

Wood Quay Ward, Election Address – Dublin (January) The New Danger (Workers’ Republic, April) A Rebel Song (The Socialist, May) Unpatriotic? (Workers’ Republic, May) The Socialist Labour Party of America and the London SDF (The Socialist, June) The American SDP – Its Origin, its Press, and its Policies (The Socialist, July) Loubet – and Other Things (The Socialist, August)

1904

The Connolly–DeLeon Controversy (April–June)

1905

Currently, no texts available.

1906

Currently, no texts available.

1907

Revolutionary Song (Songs of Freedom) We Only Want the Earth (Songs of Freedom) Wages and Prices (The Industrial Union Bulletin, 26 October 1907) Notes from New York (The Industrial Union Bulletin, 7 December 1907)

1908

Declaration of Principles of the Irish Socialist Federation (New York, January) The Coming Revolt in India I (The Harp, January) Harp Strings (The Harp, January) Our Purpose and Function (The Harp, January) A Political Party of The Workers (The Harp, January) The Coming Revolt in India II (The Harp, February) Irish Socialist Republic – To the Irish People (The Harp, March) Sinn Féin and Socialism (The Harp, April) To Irish Wage Workers in America (The Harp, May) Harp Strings (The Harp, June) Political Action (The Harp, July) Michael Davitt – A Text for a Revolutionary Lecture (The Harp, August) The Irish Masses in History (The Harp, September) Roman Catholicism and Socialism (The Harp, September) Facets of American Liberty (The Harp, December) The Future of Labour (Socialism Made Easy) Industrial Unionism and Constructive Socialism (Socialism Made Easy)

1909

Sinn Fein, Socialism and the Nation (Irish Nation, 23 January) Learning Their Lesson (The Harp, September) Ballots, Bullets, Or – (The International Socialist Review, October) Capitalism and the Irish Small Farmers (The Harp, November) Erin’s Hope – The End & The Means (Revised American edition) Socialism Made Easy (Extracts from Labor Action) Workshop Talks

1910

A New Labour Policy (The Harp, January) Industrialism and the Trade Unions (International Socialist Review, February) Labour and Politics in Ireland (The Harp, April) Labour in Irish History, (pamphlet 1910) Labour, Nationality and Religion, (pamphlet 1910) Socialist Party of Ireland, (1910 or early 1911)

1911

John Redmond, M.P. – His Strength and Weakness (Forward, 11 March) Sweatshops Behind the Orange Flag (Forward, 11 March) The Connolly–Walker Controversy: On Socialist Unity in Ireland (Forward, May–July) Belfast Dockers – Their Miseries and their Triumphs (Irish Worker, 26 August) Walter Carpenter Free (Irish Worker, 2 September) Direct Action in Belfast (Irish Worker, 16 September) Visit of King George V

1912

An Exchange on Rome and Irish Catholics (Catholic Times, November) Some Rambling Remarks (Irish Worker, Christmas number) Belfast Labour Meeting & Home Rule Bill (resolution)

1913

Belfast Municipal Elections January 1913 – Dock Ward: Election of a Councillor (January) British Labour and Irish politicians (Forward, 3 May) Catholicism, Protestantism & Politics (Forward, 3 May) The United Irish League, the Labour Party, and “the Pleasant Relations” (Forward, 3 May) Many-Headed Opposition (Forward, 10 May) The Awakening of Ulster’s Democracy (Forward, 7 June) The Larne Strike I (Forward, 14 June) The Larne Strike II (Forward, 28 June) July the 12th (Forward, 12 July) The Irish Nationalist Press (Forward, 26 July) North-East Ulster (Forward, 2 August) A Forgotten Chapter in Irish History (Forward, 9 August) Belfast and Dublin To-Day (Forward, 23 August) The Dublin Lock Out: On the Eve (Irish Worker, 30 August) Press Poisoners in Ireland (Forward, 30 August) Labour in Dublin (Forward, October) Glorious Dublin! (Forward, 4 October) Documents for the Askwith Inquiry The Children, The Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union and the Archbishop (Forward, 1 November) How to Release Larkin (Irish Worker, 1 November) Importation v. Deportation (Irish Worker, 8 November) Irish Rebels and English Mobs (Irish Worker, 22 November) A Titanic Struggle (The Daily Herald, 6 December) Capitalist Dove of Peace? (Irish Worker, 6 December) Home Thrusts (Irish Worker, 6 December) Arms and the Man (Irish Worker, 13 December) Home Thrusts (Irish Worker, 13 December) Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union
To the Working Class of Dublin (Irish Worker, 13 December) A Fiery Cross or Christmas Bells (Irish Worker, 20 December) To the Linen Slaves of Belfast (Manifesto of Irish Textile Workers’ Union)

1914

Mr Murphy’s Great New Year Speech (Irish Worker, 3 January) A Lesson From Dublin (Forward, 2 February) The Isolation of Dublin (Forward, 9 February) The Lenten Pastorals – A Challenge (Irish Worker, 28 February) Labour and the Proposed Partition of Ireland (Irish Worker, 14 March) The Outrages at Jacob’s (Irish Worker, 14 March) Industrial Unity and Political Division in Ireland (Forward, 21 March) The War in Ulster (Forward, 28 March) Ireland and Ulster: An Appeal to the Working Class (Irish Worker, 4 April) The Exclusion of Ulster (Forward, 11 April) The Solidarity of Labour (Forward, 18 April) Old Wine in New Bottles (New Age, 30 April) Independent Labour Party of Ireland: Ireland Upon The Dissecting Table (April) Changes (Forward, 9 May) The Legacy (Irish Worker, 23 May) The Problem of Trade Union Organization (Forward, 23 May) The Liberals and Ulster (Forward, 30 May) Address to the Delegates (Irish Worker, 30 May) Yellow Unions in Ireland (Forward, 20 June) Labour in the New Irish Parliament (Forward, 4 July) (abridged version) Labour in the New Irish Parliament (Forward, 4 July) The Latest Massacre in Dublin (Forward, 1 August) The Carsonite Position (Irish Worker, 8 August) Our Duty In This Crisis (Irish Worker, 8 August) A Continental Revolution (Forward, 15 August) The National Danger (Irish Worker, 15 August) No Compromise – No Conciliation (Irish Worker, 15 August) A Martyr For Conscience Sake (Forward, 22 August) America and Europe (Irish Worker, 22 August) Northern Notes (Irish Worker, 22 August) On German Militarism (Irish Worker, 22 August) The War Upon The German Nation (Irish Worker, 29 August) The Real Situation In Ireland (Forward, 5 September) Connolly’s Speech on War’s Outbreak (Irish Worker, 5 September) Recruiting – Let the Wastrels Go (Irish Worker, 5 September) The Friends of Small Nationalities (Irish Worker, 12 September) Ruling By Fooling: “Home Rule On the Statute Book” (Irish Worker, 19 September) Some Perverted Battle Lines (Irish Worker, 26 September) A Matter of Coercion (Irish Worker, 3 October) Redmond Cannot Deliver the Goods (Irish Worker, 3 October) A Forward Policy for Volunteers (Irish Worker, 10 October) Forward! (Irish Worker, 17 October) How England Sacrificed Belgium (Irish Worker, 17 October) Ireland and the War – The Position of the Nation (Irish Worker, 17 October) The Ballot or the Barricades (Irish Worker, 24 October) The Hope of Ireland (Irish Worker, 31 October) Rally for Labour (Irish Worker, 14 November) Disturbed Dublin (Irish Worker, 18 November) Labour Mans the Breach (Irish Worker, 21 November) Tell the Truth – A Challenge to Mr Birrell (Irish Worker, 28 November) Courtsmartial and Revolution (Irish Work, 19 December) Independent Labour Party of Ireland: Appeal to the Irish Working Class War: What It Means To You (Irish Citizen Army [Belfast Division])

1915

“In This Supreme Hour of Our National Danger” (The Worker, 9 January) Jottings (The Worker, 16 January) Our Rulers as a Study (The Worker, 30 January) Can Warfare Be Civilized? (The Worker, 30 January) Revolutionary Unionism and War (International Socialist Review, March) Love of Freedom (Workers’ Republic, 8 April) Revolutionary Warfare (Workers’ Republic, May–July) The Dublin Lock-Out and Its Sequel (Workers’ Republic, 29 May) Moscow Insurrection of 1905 (Workers’ Republic, 29 May [from Revolutionary Warfare]) Our Policy (Workers’ Republic, 29 May) From a Labour Day Speech in Dublin (Workers’ Republic, 5 June) Insurrection in the Tyrol (Workers’ Republic, 5 June [from Revolutionary Warfare]) Our Disappearing Liberties (Workers’ Republic, 5 June) College Green: A Labour Candidate (Workers’ Republic, 12 June) Revolution in Belgium (Workers’ Republic, 12 June [from Revolutionary Warfare]) After the Battle (Workers’ Republic, 19 June) Defence of the Alamo (Workers’ Republic, 19 June [from Revolutionary Warfare]) Liberty and Labour (Workers’ Republic, 19 June) A Railway Thief (Workers’ Republic, 26 June) War at Home (Workers’ Republic, 26 June) Revolution in Paris, 1830 (Workers’ Republic, 3 July [from Revolutionary Warfare]) The Right to Strike (Workers’ Republic, 3 July) Lexington (Workers’ Republic, 10 July [from Revolutionary Warfare]) What is a Scab? (Workers’ Republic, 10 July) Coercion in England (Workers’ Republic, 17 July) June 1848 (Workers’ Republic, 17 July [from Revolutionary Warfare]) Street Fighting – Summary (Workers’ Republic, 24 July [from Revolutionary Warfare]) Strikes and Revolution (Workers’ Republic, 24 July) Dublin Trades Council (Workers’ Republic, 31 July) The Man and the Cause! (Workers’ Republic, 31 July) Why The Citizen Army Honours Rossa (Rossa Souvenir, July) Ireland’s Travail and Ireland’s Resurrection (Workers’ Republic, 7 August) To All Labourers’ Societies (Workers’ Republic, 14 August) Militarism (Workers’ Republic, 21 August) Coercion in England (Workers’ Republic, 28 August) Wee Joe Devlin (Workers’ Republic, 28 August) The Party Versus the People (Workers’ Republic, 4 September) Protect Your Women (Workers’ Republic, 11 September) God Help the Poor Irish (Workers’ Republic, 18 September) Some Irish Slaves and Slavishness (Workers’ Republic, 25 September) James Keir Hardie (Workers’ Republic, 2 October) Labour and the Budget – Dublin Transport Workers’ Protest (Workers’ Republic, 2 October) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 2 October) In Praise of the Empire (Workers’ Republic, 9 October) Without Principle (Workers’ Republic, 9 October) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 16 October) To Hell with Contracts (Workers’ Republic, 16 October) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 23 October) The Immorality of Dublin (Workers’ Republic, 23 October) For the Citizen Army (Workers’ Republic, 30 October) A War For Civilization (Workers’ Republic, 30 October) Diplomacy (Workers’ Republic, 6 November) Recruiting the Irish Citizen Army (Workers’ Republic, 6 November) Ireland – Disaffected Or Revolutionary (Workers’ Republic, 13 November) The Returned Emigrants (Workers’ Republic, 13 November) The Dispute on the Docks – Is it War? (Workers’ Republic, 20 November) The Manchester Martyrs (Workers’ Republic, 20 November) Conscription(Workers’ Republic, 27 November) “Enlist or Starve!” (Workers’ Republic, 27 November) Dublin Trade and Dublin Strikes (Workers’ Republic, 4 December) “Trust Your Leaders!” (Workers’ Republic, 4 December) The Housing Problem from a New Standpoint (Workers’ Republic, 11 December) Economic Conscription I (Workers’ Republic, 18 December) Forgive and Forget (Workers’ Republic, 18 December) Correspondents (Workers’ Republic, 25 December) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 25 December) Two Fateful Christmas Weeks (Workers’ Republic, 25 December) The Re-Conquest of Ireland (pamphlet, 1915)

1916

A Happy New Year (Workers’ Republic, 1 January) A Lesson of the Strike (Workers’ Republic, 8 January) The Volunteers of ’82 (Workers’ Republic, 8 January) Economic Conscription II (Workers’ Republic, 15 January) The Programme of Labour (Workers’ Republic, 19 January) What Is Our Programme? (Workers’ Republic, 22 January) In the Gap of Danger (Workers’ Republic, 22 January) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 5 February) The Slackers I (Workers’ Republic, 5 February) Cannon Fodder for British Imperialism (Workers’ Republic, 12 February) Still Fighting (Workers’ Republic, 12 February) What Is A Free Nation? (Workers’ Republic, 12 February) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 19 February) The Slums and the Trenches (Workers’ Republic, 26 February) Unemployment in Ireland (Workers’ Republic, 26 February) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 4 March) To the Seafarers of Ireland (Workers’ Republic, 4 March) The Days of March (Workers’ Republic, 11 March) The Slackers II (Workers’ Republic, 11 March) The German or the British Empire? (Workers’ Republic, 18 March) The National Festival (Workers’ Republic, 18 March) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 18 March) The Slackers III (Workers’ Republic, 25 March) We Will Rise Again (Workers’ Republic, 25 March) The Call To Arms (Workers’ Republic, 1 April) A Cheap Bargain (Workers’ Republic, 1 April) The Irish Flag (Workers’ Republic, 8 April) Forces of Civilisation (Workers’ Republic, 8 April) Irish Trade Union Congress (Workers’ Republic, 15 April) Notes on the Front (Workers’ Republic, 15 April) Labour and Ireland (Workers’ Republic, 22 April) Last Statement (Given to his daughter Nora Connolly on the eve of his execution by the British, 9 May)

Other Dates

The Humours of Politics (Forward July 26, 1913 and Irish Worker, January 14, 1914, respectively.) Socialism in Ireland (The Harp, March, 1908 and Forward, August 16, 1913, respectively.) The Language Movement (The Workers’ Republic, October 1, 1898 and The Harp, April, 1908, respectively.)

Posthumously

The Watchword of Labour (From The Legacy and Songs of Freedom, 1918)

To contribute to this section please contact:
Einde O’Callaghan (Administrator, James Connolly Internet Archive).

Writings by James Connolly are also available at the following sites:

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

Irish Republican Socialist Movement

James Connolly Society

Workers’ Web On-Line Reader: Connolly Collection