James Connolly
Labour and the nation
Industrial unionism meets liberation.
Reformist SyndicalistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Syndicalist hall →- Role
- Union leader & revolutionary
- Era
- 1868–1916
- Region
- Ireland
- Social band
- Reformist
- Placement
- −80 · −22 · +45
§ Where James Connolly stands
3 axesConnolly was a Marxist who wanted the means of production owned in common and run by the workers. Labour in Irish History (1910) argued that Gaelic Ireland had held land in common before the conquest and that Irish freedom required ending capitalist as well as English rule, while Socialism Made Easy (1909) presented industrial unionism as the road to a workers' republic.
Connolly saw industrial unions, not a centralised party-state, as the framework of socialist society, imagining a workers' republic in which each industry would be administered through its workers' representatives. Yet he accepted armed revolution: the Irish Citizen Army, founded in 1913 to defend strikers, became under his command one of the two main forces in the 1916 Rising.
Connolly was an internationalist and anti-imperialist who opposed the First World War as a capitalist conflict. He backed women's suffrage, devoting a chapter of The Re-Conquest of Ireland (1915) to women's emancipation, and the Proclamation he signed addressed Irishwomen as well as Irishmen and promised equal rights to all citizens. Raised a Catholic, he argued in Labour, Nationality and Religion (1910) that socialism did not conflict with his faith.
How close are you to James Connolly?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
HistoricalJames Connolly (1868–1916) was an Irish socialist, trade unionist and revolutionary. Born in Edinburgh to poor Irish immigrants, he served in the British Army as a youth, became a socialist organiser in Scotland and in 1896 moved to Dublin, where he founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party. From 1903 to 1910 he worked in the United States as a socialist writer and an organiser for the Industrial Workers of the World, then returned to Ireland as an organiser for the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in Belfast.
With Jim Larkin, Connolly led workers through the 1913 Dublin Lockout and helped found the Irish Citizen Army to protect strikers. After Larkin left for America in 1914 he led both the union and the army, opposed the First World War and joined the plan for the 1916 Easter Rising, commanding the rebel forces in Dublin and signing the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Badly wounded, he was court-martialled and shot by firing squad while seated in a chair. His writings, above all Labour in Irish History (1910), remain foundational texts of Irish socialism.
Notable for
- 01Founded the Irish Citizen Army
- 02'Labour in Irish History'
- 03Leader of the 1916 Rising
Key works & moments
- 1896Founds the Irish Socialist Republican Party in Dublin.
- 1910Publishes Labour in Irish History and returns to Ireland from the United States.
- 1913Leads Dublin workers with Jim Larkin in the Lockout; the Irish Citizen Army is founded.
- 1914Takes charge of the Transport Union and the Citizen Army and opposes the First World War.
- April 1916Commands rebel forces in Dublin during the Easter Rising and signs the Proclamation.
- May 1916Executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol on 12 May, unable to stand from his wounds.
In their own words
“If you remove the English army to-morrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you.”
§ Minds closest to James Connolly
All minds →
§ Also in the Syndicalist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat was James Connolly's political ideology?
James Connolly was a revolutionary socialist and Irish republican: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Reformist Syndicalist. Economically he sat far to the left (−80), wanting common ownership of the means of production in a workers' republic. On governance he leaned libertarian (−22), seeing industrial unions rather than a bureaucratic state as the basis of socialist administration, though he led an armed rising. Socially he was progressive (+45), an anti-imperialist and internationalist who championed women's suffrage.
Was James Connolly left-wing or right-wing?
Left-wing. Connolly was a Marxist and industrial unionist who wanted to replace capitalism with a workers' republic. His fusion of socialism with Irish nationalism has led some to remember him mainly as a nationalist martyr, but he insisted that independence without socialism would be hollow: his 1897 essay Socialism and Nationalism warned that hoisting the green flag over Dublin Castle would change little if England still ruled through capitalists, landlords and financiers.
Why was James Connolly executed in a chair?
Because he was too badly wounded to stand. Connolly's ankle was shattered by a bullet during the fighting around the General Post Office in Easter week 1916. After the surrender a British court martial sentenced him to death, and on 12 May 1916 he was taken by ambulance to Kilmainham Gaol and shot while seated in a chair. He and Seán Mac Diarmada were the last of the Rising's leaders executed in Dublin, and the manner of his death deepened public revulsion at the executions.
Which minds are closest to James Connolly?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to James Connolly are Big Bill Haywood (99% alike), Tom Mann (98% alike) and Victor Griffuelhes (98% alike). The furthest is Adam Sutler (2% alike).