James Connolly

Forgotten In Life, Remembered In Death

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2013-12-14 QuinnStone+

Trade unionist John Quinn, who helped found the ITGWU, died in 1935 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Milltown. Last weekend (December 14th, 2013) a new headstone was unveiled. As can be seen in the image above, Quinn was fortunate to escape the sinking of the Titanic – he boarded as a fireman in the Belfast crew, but a team of firemen had already been hired in Southampton.

There is a detailed account of Quinn’s life and the process that brought about the new headstone  at the Belfast Telegraph.

Previously: ITGWU mural – Till Labour Knows No Master | Larkin – We Only Want The Earth | Winifred Carney & Nora Connolly | Lockout

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01480 1876-1935 beloved husband of margaret pollard native of sailortown seaman docker  a participant in the 1907 dockers and carters strike and one of the founder members friend and colleague of james larkin, winifred carney, james connolly, 4 april 1912 Forgotten in life, remembered in death daughter bridget son robert nephew gerard

On The Brink Of Sectarian Disaster

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A selection of Republican iconography above the James and Nora Connolly mural in Clondara Street: a tarp to Joe McCann – ‘Soldier of the people, Joe McCann 1947-1972 Official IRA’ (WP) – a board with a Liam McMillen quote – ‘”We stand not on the brink of victory but on the brink of sectarian disaster”, Liam McMillen, Bodenstown June 28th 1973’ (see the entry on McMillen in the Peter Moloney Collection) – and two circular pieces, one showing the Starry Plough (created in 1914 as the flag of the Irish Citizen Army) and one to co-founder of the ICA ‘James Connolly 1868-1916’ (WP).

Clondara Street, west Belfast

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X01479 Official Republican Movement

We Defy You!

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“If you leave us at liberty we will kill your recruiting, save our poor boys from your slaughter-house, and blast your hopes of Empire. If you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves we will still evoke a spirit that will thwart you, and, mayhap, raise a force that will destroy you. We defy you! Do your worst!” – James Connolly, Courtsmartial And Revolution, 1914.

CNR west Belfast, possibly St James’s. Please get in touch if you know the precise location.

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The Birth Of The Irish Republic

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Walter Paget’s Birth Of The Irish Republic shows James Connolly lying injured on a stretcher, being tended to by Elizabeth O’Farrell (? WP), while Pearse, Clarke, and Plunkett (and Ceannt?) stand by. Detail (taken in 2004) just below …

The Birth Of The Irish Republic has its own Visual History page.

See previously: Easter Rising – Whiterock Road mural depicting Countess Markievicz outside the GPO during the Rising.

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g.p.o. dublin 1916 easter rising

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A new mural was launched on Sunday (Oct 7th, 2012) on the international wall, presenting five local (lower Falls) volunteers who died at this time forty years ago (during 1972): Daniel McAreavey, Joseph McKinney, Jimmy Quigley, John Donaghy, Patrick Maguire (real name Patrick Pendleton). Maguire, McKinney and Donaghy died together in an explosion (Oct 10); Quigley (Sept 29) and McAreavey (Oct 6) were shot. For further details of the how these five met their deaths, see among others Lost Lives by McKittrick et al. (Archive.org | Amazon UK | US). Biographies of the five begin at 7m46s in this history of D Company. Quigley holds a copy of James Connolly’s 1910 pamphlet Labour in Irish History.

Image of the mural in development.

Video of the parade and unveiling on youtube.

Takes the place of the Raıdıó Fáılte mural on the International Wall.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00671 danny, joe, jimmy, JD, paddy, “They shall be spoken of among their people and the generations shall remember them and call them blessed” – PH Pearse from ‘The Mother‘

No Right In Ireland

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“The British government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland.” (Last Statement, 1916)

“James Connolly 1868-1916 James Connolly was born in June 5th 1868. In 1810 he became organiser for the Irish Transport And General Workers Union in Belfast. In 1913 he co-founded the Irish Citizen Army. He was one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and commanded HQ in the GPO during the 1916 Rising. He was executed by the British on May 12th 1916.”

“Nora Connolly O’Brien 1893-1981 Nora Connolly was the 2nd daughter of James Connolly. Nora was a member of Cumann Na mBan and the Gaelic League in Belfast. She played an organisational role in the ICA in the run up to the 1916 Rising. She was a trade unionist and remained so throughout her life.”

The mural was launched on May 3rd.

For the gallery above the mural, see On The Brink Of Sectarian Disaster.

Clondara Street, west Belfast

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Our Demands Most Moderate Are

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The sixteen-year old Sınn Féın Trade Union Dept mural has been replaced (though the plaque remains in the top right-hand corner) with another mural featuring James Connolly but with a new quote, from his 1907 poem: “Our demands most moderate are/We only want the earth.” The Irish Worker headline reads “Belfast ITGWU organiser Connolly gets 905 votes municipal elections” referring to the municipal elections of 1913 – Connolly stood in the Dock Ward (SIPTU).

For the board above, see Women in Struggle.

Rockmount Street, west Belfast

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