Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Those who could get work tenaciously clung to their precious jobs. The terrible
working conditions prompted many to join trade unions. A 1913 strike and employ-
er lockout, known as the “Dublin Lockout,” lasted for seven months. The picket
lines were brutally put down by police in the pocket of rich businessmen, led by
newspaper owner and hotel magnate William Murphy. In response, James Larkin
and James Connolly formed the Irish Citizen Army, a socialist militia to protect the
poor trade unionists.
Murphyeventuallybroketheunions.LarkinheadedfortheUStoorganizework-
ers there. During World War I, he praised the rise of the Soviet Union and later was
persecutedduringthepostwar“RedScare”(evendoingtimeinSingSingforadvoc-
ating “unlawful means” to overthrow the US government). Meanwhile, Connolly
stayed in Ireland and brought the Irish Citizen Army into the 1916 Easter Uprising
as an integral part of the rebel forces. During the uprising, he slyly had a rebel flag
flown over Murphy's prized hotel on O'Connell Street. The uninformed British ar-
tillery battalions took the bait and pulverized it.
Connolly was the last of the rebel leaders executed in 1916. Unable to stand in
front of the firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol (his ankle was shattered by a bullet
while he was defending the General Post Office), Connolly was tied to a chair and
shot sitting down. Of the 16 rebel executions, his was the one most credited with
turning Irish public opinion in favor of the rebel martyrs.
Today you'll find heroic Dublin statues to honor them both. James Larkin, arms
outstretched, is in front of the post office on O'Connell Street. James Connolly is on
Beresford Place, behind the Customs House.
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Opened in1796asDublin'scounty jail andadebtors' prison,Kilmainham wasconsidered
a model in its day. In reality, this jail was frequently used by the British as a political pris-
on. Many of those who fought for Irish independence were held or executed here, includ-
ing leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867, and 1916. National heroes Robert
Emmett and Charles Stewart Parnell each did time here. The last prisoner to be held in the
jail was Eamon de Valera, who later became president of Ireland. He was released on July
16, 1924, the day Kilmainham was finally shut down. The buildings, virtually in ruins,
were restored in the 1960s. Today, it's a shrine to the Nathan Hales of Ireland.
