Statue of James Larkin on O'Connell Street, Dublin (Oisín Kelly 1977)

James (Big Jim) Larkin (Irish: Séamas Ó Lorcáin)(1874-1947), an Irish trade union leader and socialist activist, was born in Liverpool, England on 28 January 1874, of Irish parents. Growing up in poverty, he had little formal education and began working in a variety of jobs while still a child before becoming a full-time trade union organiser in 1905. He moved to Ireland in 1907, where he founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, the Irish Labour Party, and later the Workers' Union of Ireland. Perhaps best known for his role in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, "Big Jim" continues to occupy a significant place in the collective memory of Dublin. Statue of the Irish Labour leader James Big Jim Larkin, located on OConnell Street in Dublin, Ireland. ... Statue of the Irish Labour leader James Big Jim Larkin, located on OConnell Street in Dublin, Ireland. ... Statue of James Larkin on OConnell Street (Oisín Kelly 1977) Oisín Kelly, born Austin Kelly, (1915 - 1981) was an Irish sculptor. ... 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... This article is about the city in England. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Irish Transport and General Workers Union was founded by James Larkin as a general trade union (in line with the policy of the Industrial Workers of the World). ... Logo of the Irish Labour Party The Irish Labour Party (Irish: Páirti an Lucht Oibre) is the third largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Statue of James Larkin on OConnell Street (Oisín Kelly 1977) The Dublin Lockout of 1913 was the most severe industrial dispute in the history of Ireland, a general lockout of workers in Dublin meant to contain the expansion of trade unions. ...

Beginnings

Larkin's family lived in the slums in Liverpool during the early years of his life, and from the age of seven he attended school in the mornings and worked in the afternoons to supplement the family income - a common arrangement in working-class families at the time. At the age of fourteen, after the death of his father, he was apprenticed to the firm his father had worked for, but was dismissed after two years. He was unemployed for a while and then worked as a seaman and docker. By 1903 he was a dock foreman, and on 8 September that year he married Elizabeth Brown. 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ...

From 1893 Larkin had developed an interest in socialism, and he became a member of the Independent Labour Party. In 1905 he was one of the few foremen to take part in a strike on the Liverpool docks. He was elected to the strike committee, and although he lost his foreman's job as a result, his performance had so impressed the National Dock Labourers' Union (NDLU) that it appointed him a temporary organiser. He later gained a permanent position with the union, and in 1906 it sent him to Scotland, where he successfully organised workers in Preston and Glasgow. 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Preston is a city and local government district in North West England. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...

Organising the Irish labour movement, 1907 - 1914

James Larkin

In January 1907 Larkin undertook his first task on behalf of the trade union movement in Ireland, when he arrived in Belfast to organise the city's dock workers for the NDLU. He succeeded in unionising the workforce and, as employers refused to meet their wage demands, he called the dockers out on strike in June. Carters and coal men soon joined in, the latter settling their dispute after a month. Larkin succeeded in uniting Protestant and Catholic workers, and even persuading the police to strike at one point, but the strike ended without significant success by November. Tensions over the leadership of the strike arose between Larkin and NDLU general secretary James Sexton. The role of the latter in taking over negotiations and agreeing a disastrous settlement for the last strikers ensured a lasting rift between him and Larkin. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (885x1155, 837 KB)Irish Stamp, James Larkin This image of a postage stamp may be copyrighted and/or have other restrictions on its reproduction imposed by the issuing authority. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (885x1155, 837 KB)Irish Stamp, James Larkin This image of a postage stamp may be copyrighted and/or have other restrictions on its reproduction imposed by the issuing authority. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

In 1908 Larkin moved south and organised workers in Dublin, Cork and Waterford with considerable success. His involvement, against union instructions, in a dispute in Dublin resulted in his expulsion from the NDLU. The union later prosecuted him for diverting union funds to give strike pay to Cork workers engaged in an unofficial dispute. After trial and conviction in 1910 he would serve three months in prison for this, a sentence widely regarded as unjust. 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 51. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

After his expulsion from the NDLU, Larkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) at the end of December 1908. The organisation still exists today as the Services Industrial Professional & Technical Union (SIPTU). It quickly gained the affiliation of the NDLU branches in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk and Waterford, while the Derry and Drogheda branches stayed with the British union and Belfast split along sectarian lines. Early in the new year, Larkin moved to Dublin, which became the main base of the ITGWU and the focus of all his future union activity in Ireland. The Irish Transport and General Workers Union was founded by James Larkin as a general trade union (in line with the policy of the Industrial Workers of the World). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union) is Irelands largest trade union, with over 200,000 members according to its website. ...

In June 1911 Larkin established a newspaper, The Irish Worker, to provide a pro-labour alternative to the capitalist-owned press. This organ was characterised by a campaigning approach and the harsh denunciation of unfair employers and of Larkin's political enemies. Its columns also included pieces by intellectuals. The paper was produced until its suppression by the authorities in 1915. 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

In partnership with James Connolly, Larkin helped form the Irish Labour Party in 1912. Later that year he was elected to the Dublin Corporation. However, he did not hold his seat long, as a month later he was removed on account of his fraud conviction. For the Olympic athlete, see James Connolly (athlete) James Connolly James Connolly (June 5, 1868 - May 12, 1916) was an Irish nationalist and socialist leader. ... Logo of the Irish Labour Party The Irish Labour Party (Irish: Páirti an Lucht Oibre) is the third largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The Dublin Lockout, 1913

In early 1913 Larkin achieved some notable successes in industrial disputes in Dublin, making frequent recourse to sympathetic strikes and blacking (boycotting) of goods. Two major employers remained non-union firms and a target of Larkin's organising ambitions: Guinness and the Dublin United Tramway Company. 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... A sympathy strike is a labour strike that is initiated by workers in one industry and supported by workers in a separate but related industry. ... World War II era advert. ...

Guinness staff were not well-paid and union bans were imposed from a paternalistic management, and as a result they showed little interest in trade unions. This was far from the case on the tramways. The chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company, industrialist and newspaper proprietor William Martin Murphy, was determined not to allow the ITGWU to unionise his workforce. On 15 August he dismissed forty workers he suspected of ITGWU membership, followed by another 300 over the next week. On 26 August the tramway workers officially went on strike. Led by Murphy, over four hundred of the city's employers retaliated by requiring their workers to sign a pledge not to be a member of the ITGWU and not to engage in sympathetic strikes.

The resulting industrial dispute was the most severe in Ireland's history. Employers in Dublin engaged in a lockout of their workers when the latter refused to sign the pledge, employing blackleg labour from Britain and elsewhere in Ireland. Dublin's workers, amongst the poorest in the then United Kingdom, were forced to survive on generous but inadequate donations from the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other sources in Ireland, distributed by the ITGWU. A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. ... Image:TradeUnionsCongress20050108 CopyrightKaihsuTai. ...

For seven months the lockout affected tens of thousands of Dublin's workers and employers, with Larkin portrayed as the villain by Murphy's three main newspapers, the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and the Evening Herald. Other leaders in the ITGWU at the time were James Connolly and William X. O'Brien, while influential figures such as Pádraig Pearse, Countess Markievicz and William Butler Yeats supported the workers in the generally anti-Larkin media. The Irish Independents header consists of its name and a green harp The Irish Independent is Irelands best-selling broadsheet newspaper. ... The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in the Republic of Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. ... The Evening Herald is a tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. ... For the Olympic athlete, see James Connolly (athlete) James Connolly James Connolly (June 5, 1868 - May 12, 1916) was an Irish nationalist and socialist leader. ... William X. OBrien (1881-1968) was an influential Teachta Dála and trade unionist in Ireland. ... Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (known as Pádraig Pearse or by his Irish name Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais) (November 10, 1879 – May 3, 1916) was a teacher, poet, writer and political activist who led the Irish Easter Rising in 1916. ... Constance Georgine Markiewicz (1868?1927), was an Irish politician and nationalist. ... W.B. Yeats in Dublin on 24 January 1908. ...

The lockout eventually concluded in early (1914) when the calls for a sympathetic strike in Britain from Larkin and Connolly were rejected by the British TUC. Although the actions of the ITGWU and the smaller UBLU were unsuccessful in achieving substantially better pay and conditions for the workers, they marked a watershed in Irish labour history. The principle of union action and workers' solidarity had been firmly established. Perhaps even more importantly, Larkin's rhetoric, condemning poverty and injustice and calling for the oppressed to stand up for themselves, made a lasting impression. 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Larkin in America, 1914 - 1923

Some months after the lockout ended, Larkin left for the United States. He intended to recuperate from the strain of the lockout and raise funds for the union. His decision to leave dismayed many union activists. Once there he became a member of the Socialist Party of America, and was involved in the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World union. He became an enthusiatic supporter of the Soviet Union and was expelled from the Socialist Party of America in 1919 along with numerous other sympathisers of the Bolsheviks. Election poster for Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party of America candidate for President, 1904 The Socialist Party of America was a socialist political party in the United States, the historic American member party of the Socialist International. ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is an international union headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Larkin's speeches in support of the Soviet Union, his association with founding members of the American Communist Party, and his radical publications made him a target of the "Red Scare" that was sweeping the nation, and he was jailed in 1920 for 'criminal anarchy'. He was sentenced to five to ten years in Sing Sing prison. In 1923 he was pardoned and later deported by Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York. The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is one of several Marxist-Leninist groups in the United States. ... Political cartoon of the era depicting an anarchist attempting to destroy the Statue of Liberty. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... Alternative meaning: Sing Sing (band) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a prison in Ossining, New York. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq. ...

Return to Ireland and communist activism

Upon his arrival in Ireland in April 1923, Larkin received a hero's welcome, and immediately set about touring the country meeting trade union members and appealing for an end to the Civil War. However, he soon found himself at variance with William O'Brien, who in his absence had become the leading figure in the ITGWU and the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress. Larkin was still officially general secretary of the ITGWU, and a bitter struggle between the two men ensued which would last over twenty years. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Irish Republican Army (1922-1969) Irish Army of the Irish Free State Commanders Liam Lynch Michael Collins Richard Mulcahy Strength c. ...

In September 1923 Larkin formed the Irish Worker League (IWL), which was soon afterwards recognised by the Communist International (the Comintern) as the Irish section of the world communist movement. In 1924 Larkin attended the Comintern congress and was elected to its executive committee. However, the League was not organised as a political party, never held a general congress and never succeeded in being politically effective. Its most prominent activity in its first year was to raise funds for republican civil war prisoners. 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Comintern (from Russian Коммунистический Интернационал (Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional) – Communist International), also known as the Third International, was an independent international Communist organization founded in March 1919 by Vladmir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and the Russian Communist Party (bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ...

During Larkin's absence at the 1924 Comintern congress (and apparently against his instructions), his brother Peter took his supporters out of the ITGWU, forming the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI). The new union quickly grew, gaining the allegiance of about two thirds of the Dublin membership of the ITGWU and of a smaller number of rural members. It affiliated to the pro-Soviet Red International of Labour Unions. However, like the IWL, the WUI would be hampered in its growth by Larkin's chaotic and dictatorial approach. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Profintern, or the Red International of Labour Unions, was an international body established with the aim of co-ordinating Communist activities within trade unions. ...

In January 1925, the Comintern sent British communist activist Bob Stewart to Ireland to establish a communist party in cooperation with Larkin. A formal founding conference of the Irish Worker League, which was to take up this role, was set for May 1925. A fiasco ensued when the organisers discovered at the last minute that Larkin did not intend to attend. Feeling that the proposed party could not succeed without him, they called the conference off as it was due to start in a packed room in the Mansion House in Dublin. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in the United Kingdom. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin and has been since 1715. ...

In the September 1927 general election, Larkin ran in North Dublin and was elected. This was to be the only time that a self-proclaimed communist was elected to Dáil Éireann. However, as a result of a libel award against him won by William O'Brien, which he had refused to pay, he was an undischarged bankrupt and could not take up his seat. 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Dáil Chamber Dáil Éireann[1] is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Larkin was unsuccessful in his attempts in the following years to gain a position as a commercial agent in Ireland for the Soviet Union, and this may have contributed to his disenchantment with the communist cause. The Soviets, for their part, were increasingly impatient with his ineffective leadership. From the early 1930s Larkin drew away from the Soviet Union. While in the 1932 general election he stood without success as a communist, in 1933 and subsequently he ran as "Independent Labour". During this period he also engaged in a rapprochement with the Catholic Church. In 1936 he regained his seat on Dublin Corporation. He then regained his Dáil seat in the 1937 general election but lost it again the following year. In this period the Workers' Union of Ireland also entered the mainstream of the trade union movement, being admitted to the Dublin Trades Council in 1936, although the ITUC would not accept its membership application until 1945. This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dublin Corporation is the former name given to the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin between the twelfth century and 1 January 2002. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Return to the Labour Party

In 1941 a new trade union bill was published by the Government. Inspired by an internal trade union restructuring proposal by William O'Brien, it was viewed as a threat by the smaller general unions and the Irish branches of British unions (known as the 'amalgamated unions'). Larkin and the WUI played a leading role in the unsuccessful campaign against the bill. After its passage into law he and his supporters successully applied for admission to the Labour Party, where they were now regarded with more sympathy by many members. O'Brien in response disaffiliated the ITGWU from the party, forming the rival National Labour Party and denouncing what he claimed was communist influence in Labour. Larkin later served as a Labour Party deputy in Dáil Éireann (1943-44). For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... The National Labour Party was an Irish political party which was founded in 1944 as a split-off from the Irish Labour Party. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...

James Larkin died in his sleep on 30 January 1947. His funeral mass was celebrated by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, and thousands lined the streets of the city as the hearse passed to Glasnevin Cemetery. January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... John Charles McQuaid (July 28, 1895-April 7, 1973) was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland between 1940 and 1971. ... Glasnevin Cemetery is the main Catholic cemetery in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. ...

Commemoration

Literature

Larkin has been the subject of poems by Patrick Kavanagh, Frank O'Connor and Lola Ridge; his character has been central in plays by Daniel Corkery, George Russell (Æ), and Sean O'Casey; and he is a heroic figure in the background of James Plunkett's novel Strumpet City. Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 - 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet. ... Frank O’Connor (born Michael Francis OConnor ODonovan) (September 17, 1903 - March 10, 1966) was an Irish author of over 150 works, who was best known for his short stories and books of memoirs. ... Lola Ridge (December 12, 1873- May 19, 1941) was an anarchist poet and an influential editor of avant-garde, feminist, and Marxist publications best remembered for her long poems and poetic sequences. ... George William Russell (pseud. ... Sean OCasey Sean OCasey (March 30, 1880 - September 18, 1964) was a major Irish dramatist and memorist. ... James Plunkett was the pen-name adopted by James Plunkett Kelly, an Irish writer born in Dublin on May 21 1920 and died on Wednesday 28th May 2003. ... Strumpet City (1969) is an historical novel by James Plunkett set in Dublin city at the time of the Dublin Lockout. ...

Monument

Today a statue of "Big Jim" stands on O'Connell Street in Dublin. The inscription on the front of the monument is an extract in French, Irish and English from one of his famous speeches: Daniel OConnell, 19th century nationalist leader, whose statue by John Henry Foley, stands on the street named after him. ...

Le grands ne sont grands que parce que nous sommes à genoux: Levons-nous.

Ní uasal aon uasal ach sinne bheith íseal: Éirímis.

The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise.

The slogan appeared on the masthead of the Workers' Republic, the organ of the Irish Socialist Republican Party, published in Dublin between 1896 and 1903. The original slogan is usually attributed to Camille Desmoulins (1760-1794), the French revolutionary. The Irish Socialist Republican Party was an Irish political party founded in 1896 by James Connolly. ... Portrait of Camille Desmoulins Lucie Simplice Camille Benoist Desmoulins (March 2, 1760 – April 5, 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important part in the French Revolution. ...

On the west side of the base of the Larkin monument there is a quotation from the poem Jim Larkin by Patrick Kavanagh: Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 - 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet. ...

And Tyranny trampled them in Dublin's gutter
Until Jim Larkin came along and cried
The call of Freedom and the call of Pride
And Slavery crept to its hands and knees
And Nineteen Thirteen cheered from out the utter
Degradation of their miseries.

On the east side of the monument there is a quotation from Drums under the Windows by Sean O'Casey: Sean OCasey Sean OCasey (March 30, 1880 - September 18, 1964) was a major Irish dramatist and memorist. ...

...He talked to the workers, spoke as only Jim Larkin could speak, not for an assignation with peace, dark obedience, or placid resignation, but trumpet-tongued of resistance to wrong, discontent with leering poverty, and defiance of any power strutting out to stand in the way of their march onward.

A road in Clontarf, North Dublin, is named after him. Clontarf is a place name used in several English speaking countries. ...

Sources

• James Larkin, Emmet O'Connor, Cork University Press, Cork, 2002 ISBN 1-85918-339-5
• Lockout: Dublin 1913, Pádraig Yeates, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2000 ISBN 0-7171-2899-7
• Communism in Modern Ireland: The Pursuit of the Workers' Republic since 1916, Mike Milotte, Dublin, 1984
• Thomas Johnson, 1872 - 1963, John Anthony Gaughan, Kingdom Books, Dublin, 1980, ISBN 0-9506015-3-5
• The Rise of the Irish Trade Unions, Andrew Boyd, Anvil Books, Dublin, 1985 ISBN 0-900068-21-3
• History of Monuments O'Connell Street Area, Dublin City Council, 2003, [1]

Further reading

• James Larkin, Irish labour leader 1876 - 1947, E. Larkin, London, 1977
• James Larkin: Lion of the Fold, ed. Dónal Nevin, Dublin, 1998