Andrew Boyd was one of the great working-class autodidacts of twentieth century Ireland, and offe... more Andrew Boyd was one of the great working-class autodidacts of twentieth century Ireland, and offered a unique perspective on Irish politics, one that was socialist republican in essence, but qualified by the knowledge of his own Protestant working class stock and peppered with his acerbic views on fellow Labour personalities.
A biographical essay on Young Jim Larkin from his days as a communist to his leadership of the Wo... more A biographical essay on Young Jim Larkin from his days as a communist to his leadership of the Workers' union of Ireland
Ireland between the wars was one of the European countries in which communism never established a... more Ireland between the wars was one of the European countries in which communism never established a substantial presence. Nevertheless, Ireland acquired some importance in Communist International (Comintern) thinking from the potential of its national question to foment revolution at home, embarrass Britain and encourage unrest in the empire.1 It would be a troublesome outpost for Moscow, in which ideological issues were frequently overshadowed by problems of organization. Relations with the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) revolved around three themes: logistical support, policy application and control, and tactics towards republicans and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). There were several, sequential communist organizations during these years. After ineffectual Bolshevization of the first Communist Party of Ireland (CPI, 1921–24), the ECCI conferred its imprimatur on Jim Larkin’s Irish Worker League (IWL, 1924–29), but suffered acute difficulty in collaborating with Big Jim. The IWL’s successor, the Revolutionary Workers’ Groups (RWG, 1930–33), was Bolshevized from the outset, and prepared the ground for the second CPI (1933–41). Throughout this period, the ECCI tried to give the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) a ‘fostering’ role in Ireland. The role was rejected by the CPI up to 1923, and by Larkin, but accepted by the Irish in 1934.
... Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: O'Connor, Emmet. PUBLISHER: Gill andMacmillan ... more ... Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: O'Connor, Emmet. PUBLISHER: Gill andMacmillan (Dublin and New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1992. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0717120163 [pbk]). VOLUME/EDITION: PAGES (INTRO/BODY): 270 p. ...
On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which... more On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which is the Democratic Programme, a statement of social values, based on proposals from the Labour Party. The Programme is usually regarded as a cynical reward to Labour for its abstention from the 1918 general election, and nationalist elites have frequently been criticised for reneging on it. This paper will argue that the Programme was written to advance the Irish cause at the International Socialist Conference at Berne in February 1919, that parts of the Programme were implemented, and that it is very likely that the Labour Party did not write it to be implemented.
Introduction Hail Russia: Labour and Bolshevism, 1917-19 The race for Moscow, 1919-21 Civil War c... more Introduction Hail Russia: Labour and Bolshevism, 1917-19 The race for Moscow, 1919-21 Civil War communism. 1921-2 A fistful of Marxists: the demise of the CPI, 1922-4 An infernal triangle: Larkin, London and Moscow, 1924-6 The search for a counterbalance, 1926-9 Bolshevising Irish communism, 1929-31 Between the hammer and the anvil, 1931-3 Back to the fronts, 1933-6 Spain, decline and dissolution, 1936-43 Conclusion Bibliography Index
Andrew Boyd was one of the great working-class autodidacts of twentieth century Ireland, and offe... more Andrew Boyd was one of the great working-class autodidacts of twentieth century Ireland, and offered a unique perspective on Irish politics, one that was socialist republican in essence, but qualified by the knowledge of his own Protestant working class stock and peppered with his acerbic views on fellow Labour personalities.
A biographical essay on Young Jim Larkin from his days as a communist to his leadership of the Wo... more A biographical essay on Young Jim Larkin from his days as a communist to his leadership of the Workers' union of Ireland
Ireland between the wars was one of the European countries in which communism never established a... more Ireland between the wars was one of the European countries in which communism never established a substantial presence. Nevertheless, Ireland acquired some importance in Communist International (Comintern) thinking from the potential of its national question to foment revolution at home, embarrass Britain and encourage unrest in the empire.1 It would be a troublesome outpost for Moscow, in which ideological issues were frequently overshadowed by problems of organization. Relations with the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) revolved around three themes: logistical support, policy application and control, and tactics towards republicans and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). There were several, sequential communist organizations during these years. After ineffectual Bolshevization of the first Communist Party of Ireland (CPI, 1921–24), the ECCI conferred its imprimatur on Jim Larkin’s Irish Worker League (IWL, 1924–29), but suffered acute difficulty in collaborating with Big Jim. The IWL’s successor, the Revolutionary Workers’ Groups (RWG, 1930–33), was Bolshevized from the outset, and prepared the ground for the second CPI (1933–41). Throughout this period, the ECCI tried to give the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) a ‘fostering’ role in Ireland. The role was rejected by the CPI up to 1923, and by Larkin, but accepted by the Irish in 1934.
... Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: O'Connor, Emmet. PUBLISHER: Gill andMacmillan ... more ... Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: O'Connor, Emmet. PUBLISHER: Gill andMacmillan (Dublin and New York). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1992. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0717120163 [pbk]). VOLUME/EDITION: PAGES (INTRO/BODY): 270 p. ...
On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which... more On 21 January 1919, the first Dáil adopted four constitutional documents, the best known of which is the Democratic Programme, a statement of social values, based on proposals from the Labour Party. The Programme is usually regarded as a cynical reward to Labour for its abstention from the 1918 general election, and nationalist elites have frequently been criticised for reneging on it. This paper will argue that the Programme was written to advance the Irish cause at the International Socialist Conference at Berne in February 1919, that parts of the Programme were implemented, and that it is very likely that the Labour Party did not write it to be implemented.
Introduction Hail Russia: Labour and Bolshevism, 1917-19 The race for Moscow, 1919-21 Civil War c... more Introduction Hail Russia: Labour and Bolshevism, 1917-19 The race for Moscow, 1919-21 Civil War communism. 1921-2 A fistful of Marxists: the demise of the CPI, 1922-4 An infernal triangle: Larkin, London and Moscow, 1924-6 The search for a counterbalance, 1926-9 Bolshevising Irish communism, 1929-31 Between the hammer and the anvil, 1931-3 Back to the fronts, 1933-6 Spain, decline and dissolution, 1936-43 Conclusion Bibliography Index
review by Emmet O'Connor of Guy Beiner, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular H... more review by Emmet O'Connor of Guy Beiner, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster (Oxford University Press)
"This is by far the most thorough, comprehensive, wide-ranging and imaginative treatment of memory and 1798 to date, and one of the very best studies of mentality in Irish history. … Underpinning the analysis is a prodigious amount of research into a staggering variety of obscure sources to unearth a ‘vernacular historiography’. The outcome is the most substantial reconstruction of ‘history from below’ yet undertaken on Ireland. … It will be influential, and its significance will go far beyond 1798 or the Irish experience."
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Papers by Emmet O'Connor
"This is by far the most thorough, comprehensive, wide-ranging and imaginative treatment of memory and 1798 to date, and one of the very best studies of mentality in Irish history. … Underpinning the analysis is a prodigious amount of research into a staggering variety of obscure sources to unearth a ‘vernacular historiography’. The outcome is the most substantial reconstruction of ‘history from below’ yet undertaken on Ireland. … It will be influential, and its significance will go far beyond 1798 or the Irish experience."