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1916: Ireland’s Revolutionary Tradition: Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition
A few minutes after noon on the 24th April, 1916, Patrick Pearse stepped outside the newly occupied GPO on Sackville Street with a copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Reading aloud, he declared a strike for Irish freedom against the world’s greatest imperial power.
The Easter Rising, as the six days of intense, bloody fighting that followed came to be known, set the course for the next 100 years of Irish history; the ‘Heroes of ‘16’ becoming a national cultural and political touchstone down the generations. But today, canonised and mummified, the radical visions of Pearse and the socialist James Connolly are an awkward encumbrance on an Irish state that has its roots in the counter-revolution of the civil war, and which has emerged as a haven of economic neoliberalism.
In this fascinating alternative history of modern Ireland, Kieran Allen follows the thread of 1916’s ‘revolutionary tradition’ - an uneasy marriage of Socialism and Republicanism - as it has unravelled across the century.
From the strikes, boycotts, occupations and land redistribution that accompanied the war of independence; to the ‘carnival of reaction’ that followed; all the way up to the current movement against water charges and austerity, Allen reveals the complexities, ruptures and continuities of a revolutionary tradition that continues to haunt the establishment today.
The Easter Rising, as the six days of intense, bloody fighting that followed came to be known, set the course for the next 100 years of Irish history; the ‘Heroes of ‘16’ becoming a national cultural and political touchstone down the generations. But today, canonised and mummified, the radical visions of Pearse and the socialist James Connolly are an awkward encumbrance on an Irish state that has its roots in the counter-revolution of the civil war, and which has emerged as a haven of economic neoliberalism.
In this fascinating alternative history of modern Ireland, Kieran Allen follows the thread of 1916’s ‘revolutionary tradition’ - an uneasy marriage of Socialism and Republicanism - as it has unravelled across the century.
From the strikes, boycotts, occupations and land redistribution that accompanied the war of independence; to the ‘carnival of reaction’ that followed; all the way up to the current movement against water charges and austerity, Allen reveals the complexities, ruptures and continuities of a revolutionary tradition that continues to haunt the establishment today.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 21, 2018
This would definitely be more insightful for someone with a relatively studied knowledge of Irish history, which, sadly, isn't me; so a fair bit of the book went over my head. The writing is really sharp, critical and even poetic in some parts... and the message, unapologetically clear that only a socialist revolution is Ireland's saving grace. I also deeply appreciate the author highlighting the fact that (understanding) history is necessarily and fundamentally a dialectical process... full of wrestling and surrender, chokeholds and deep breaths. The last chapter ends with a beautiful James Connolly quote, "Revolution is never practical... until the hour of revolution strikes".
July 23, 2024
Some quotes
The growth of the organised Catholic church led to a new morality of sexual repression and a downgrading of the status of women...
Buried beneath the grass are an unknown number of children, who were housed in the same workhouse which had been turned into an Mother and Baby Home after 1925. This was run by the Bon Secours sisters until 1961 and was part of a system where unmarried mothers were hidden away until their babies were either fostered out or adopted. However, a high proportion of the babies did not make it out: a staggering 23% of children born in the Tuam home died there. In absolute figures, 796 of children born in the Tuam home died there during the 36 years that the Bon Secours nuns were in charge – which is about one child every two or three weeks.
The Catholic Church had a deeper purpose to inculcate obedience to authority...control of the schools was the main mechanism for achieving this.
Up until the 1780s [the Catholic Church in Ireland} was officially subject to the Penal Laws which allowed for the deportation of Catholic Bishops and members of the religious orders. The same legislation also prohibited Catholics owning property. The oppression of the church therefore coincided with the experience of the wider population. The Irish identity that emerged through a conflict with the Empire became intertwined with Catholicism.
One of the great effects of Irish nationalism has been its power to rewrite the past, so that it appears as one long 700 year struggle. There is a historical narrative that the Irish all hailed from a common stock of dispossessed peasants who resisted a British landlord class that had stolen the land.
As Benedict Anderson has pointed out it is only in modern society where print capitalism has helped to create a common readership and more standardised histories of the past that people begin to imagine themselves part of a nation.
James Connolly- knew the carnage of the First World War was the outcome of a system driven by greed and profit... [and the Empire] a system that bred war....There was a three day strike when Britain tried to introduce conscription to Ireland. Through workers actions Ireland became one of the few countries that was free of conscription
Irish in the British Army fighting Germany in World War I –those who joined came predominantly from the urban poor, driven into the army to escape poverty.
The rebellion of 1916 - the horrors of the First World war and crucially the threat to conscript an unwilling population destroyed that mechanism [by which the British elite ruled in Ireland].
From 1918-1923, Ireland was in the throws of revolution and the British empire ... had tried to crush mass uprising by brutal measures – including assassinations and burnings of towns, even cutting fire hoses so fires could not be extinguished. - but its troops were forced to leave Ireland.
[Resistance in] Ireland was a combination of armed struggle, mass boycotts and strikes to defeat the British state.
In May 1920 dockers in London refused to load coal onto a munitions ship, The Jolly George, which was taking arms to the White armies which were trying to crush the Russian revolution. [This] inspired Irish ...workers...to boycott the unloading and movement of British arms in Ireland.
The Republican local government structures were shaky because they tried to replicate the institutions of the British state without having the military apparatus to back them up.
[Patrick] Pearse ...the Irish nation had to control ‘the soil and all its resources, all wealth and all wealth producing processes within the nation. In other word no private right to property is good as against the public right of the nation... the influence of Fintan Lawler –the land of Ireland must belong to the people of Ireland’.
97% of Irelands exports went to Britain and at least two thirds were agricultural products.
Patrick Pearse’s claim that the nation had to take full control of its natural resources has simply been ignored, as ownership of oil, gas and minerals is handed to major global corporations such as Shell and Statoil. Currently Ireland has one of the lowest government takes from its oil and gas reserves in the world.
James Connolly -’The democracy of parliament is in short the democracy of capitalism. Capitalism gives the worker the right to choose his master but insists that the fact of mastership shall remain unquestioned; parliamentary democracy gives the worker a voice in the selection of his rulers but insists that he shall bend as a subject to be ruled’.
The present state of Ireland, is an active collaborator in maintaining the domination of Anglo-American imperialism. Despite its proclaimed neutrality, Ireland has allowed Shannon airport to be used as a base for transporting US troops to war zones. Shannon has even been named as one of the hubs used for renditions of prisoners to torture centres. Ireland has also sent a small contingent of troops to support the occupation of Afghanistan and is preparing for future military interventions as part of the EU battle groups.
The growth of the organised Catholic church led to a new morality of sexual repression and a downgrading of the status of women...
Buried beneath the grass are an unknown number of children, who were housed in the same workhouse which had been turned into an Mother and Baby Home after 1925. This was run by the Bon Secours sisters until 1961 and was part of a system where unmarried mothers were hidden away until their babies were either fostered out or adopted. However, a high proportion of the babies did not make it out: a staggering 23% of children born in the Tuam home died there. In absolute figures, 796 of children born in the Tuam home died there during the 36 years that the Bon Secours nuns were in charge – which is about one child every two or three weeks.
The Catholic Church had a deeper purpose to inculcate obedience to authority...control of the schools was the main mechanism for achieving this.
Up until the 1780s [the Catholic Church in Ireland} was officially subject to the Penal Laws which allowed for the deportation of Catholic Bishops and members of the religious orders. The same legislation also prohibited Catholics owning property. The oppression of the church therefore coincided with the experience of the wider population. The Irish identity that emerged through a conflict with the Empire became intertwined with Catholicism.
One of the great effects of Irish nationalism has been its power to rewrite the past, so that it appears as one long 700 year struggle. There is a historical narrative that the Irish all hailed from a common stock of dispossessed peasants who resisted a British landlord class that had stolen the land.
As Benedict Anderson has pointed out it is only in modern society where print capitalism has helped to create a common readership and more standardised histories of the past that people begin to imagine themselves part of a nation.
James Connolly- knew the carnage of the First World War was the outcome of a system driven by greed and profit... [and the Empire] a system that bred war....There was a three day strike when Britain tried to introduce conscription to Ireland. Through workers actions Ireland became one of the few countries that was free of conscription
Irish in the British Army fighting Germany in World War I –those who joined came predominantly from the urban poor, driven into the army to escape poverty.
The rebellion of 1916 - the horrors of the First World war and crucially the threat to conscript an unwilling population destroyed that mechanism [by which the British elite ruled in Ireland].
From 1918-1923, Ireland was in the throws of revolution and the British empire ... had tried to crush mass uprising by brutal measures – including assassinations and burnings of towns, even cutting fire hoses so fires could not be extinguished. - but its troops were forced to leave Ireland.
[Resistance in] Ireland was a combination of armed struggle, mass boycotts and strikes to defeat the British state.
In May 1920 dockers in London refused to load coal onto a munitions ship, The Jolly George, which was taking arms to the White armies which were trying to crush the Russian revolution. [This] inspired Irish ...workers...to boycott the unloading and movement of British arms in Ireland.
The Republican local government structures were shaky because they tried to replicate the institutions of the British state without having the military apparatus to back them up.
[Patrick] Pearse ...the Irish nation had to control ‘the soil and all its resources, all wealth and all wealth producing processes within the nation. In other word no private right to property is good as against the public right of the nation... the influence of Fintan Lawler –the land of Ireland must belong to the people of Ireland’.
97% of Irelands exports went to Britain and at least two thirds were agricultural products.
Patrick Pearse’s claim that the nation had to take full control of its natural resources has simply been ignored, as ownership of oil, gas and minerals is handed to major global corporations such as Shell and Statoil. Currently Ireland has one of the lowest government takes from its oil and gas reserves in the world.
James Connolly -’The democracy of parliament is in short the democracy of capitalism. Capitalism gives the worker the right to choose his master but insists that the fact of mastership shall remain unquestioned; parliamentary democracy gives the worker a voice in the selection of his rulers but insists that he shall bend as a subject to be ruled’.
The present state of Ireland, is an active collaborator in maintaining the domination of Anglo-American imperialism. Despite its proclaimed neutrality, Ireland has allowed Shannon airport to be used as a base for transporting US troops to war zones. Shannon has even been named as one of the hubs used for renditions of prisoners to torture centres. Ireland has also sent a small contingent of troops to support the occupation of Afghanistan and is preparing for future military interventions as part of the EU battle groups.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2022
Republiken Irland är den enda västeuropeiska stat som fötts ur ett väpnat uppror och ett antikolonialt befrielsekrig. Många av Påskupprorets och befrielsekrigets ledare hade socialistiska eller radikalt demokratiska sympatier. Ändå blev det självständiga Irland en av Västeuropas mest högervridna och socialt reaktionära stater. Denna paradox försöker sociologen Keiran Allen reda ut i 1916: Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition.
Den nationella befrielsekampen har ofta skildrats som en rent militär affär. Allen lyfter istället fram den radikala kamp som bedrevs av småjordbrukare, jordlösa lantarbetare och industriarbetare.
I april 1920 utlyste fackföreningsfederationen ITUC en generalstrejk. Inspirerade av den så kallade Limericksovjeten 1919 och av de ryska arbetarnas exempel bildades arbetarråd i flera regioner som tog över styret från de brittiska myndigheterna. Hamnar, fabriker och gruvor togs över och drevs av sovjeter. Samtidigt började småbönder och jordlösa lantarbetare, ibland med stöd av mer vänsterinriktade enheter inom IRA, beslagta storgodsägarnas jord. Väpnade strider utkämpades mellan lantarbetarfacket ITGWU och godsägarnas Farmers Freedom Forces.
Som Ken Loach skildrat i The Wind That Shakes the Barley valde den republikanska rörelsens ledning att undertrycka dessa radikala rörelser till förmån för nationell enighet med den irländska borgarklassen och godsägarna. När fredsavtalet med Storbritannien följdes av inbördeskriget hade varken pro- eller anti-avtalssidan någon annan strategi. Roddy Connolly, James Connollys son, stred på anti-avtalssidan och det irländska kommunistparti han precis varit med och grundat försökte övertyga dess ledare om att anta ett socialt program men avfärdades.
Efter freden 1923 var de flesta radikala ledare inom den republikanska rörelsen döda. Ersättarna blev återhållsamma politiker som Éamon de Valera, William Cosgrave och Kevin O'Higgins. Pro-avtalssidans seger ledde till tio år av kontrarevolution där repressionen inte enbart riktade sig mot republikanska dissidenter utan mot hela vänstern och inte minst mot kvinnornas möjlighet att delta i det politiska livet. Politiken dominerades av Fine Gaels föregångare, Cumann na nGaedheal, som bildats av pro-avtalssidan och som företrädde de stora jordägarnas intressen. Dessa var nöjda med politisk frihet och ekonomisk underordning under Storbritannien. 97 procent av den unga statens export gick till britterna och bestod nästan uteslutande av jordbruksprodukter.
När de Valeras Fianna Fáil, som bildats av mer moderata element på anti-avtalssidan, tog makten 1932 lyckades de bilda en koalition mellan den svaga nationella kaptialistklassen, arbetarklassen, mindre jordägare och katolska kyrkan. Genom ekonomisk protektionism och aktiv industripolitik skulle den irländska ekonomin brytas loss från utländsk dominans samtidigt som levnadsstandarden höjdes. Välfärds- och utbildningsfrågor lämnade staten till katolska kyrkan, med allt vad det inneburit av religiöst förtryck och Magdalene Laundries. Genom att upprätthålla detta historiska block blev Fianna Fáil ett av Västeuropas mest framgångsrika partier, endast utmanade av de svenska socialdemokraterna. Partiet var en verklig folkrörelse med hundratusentals medlemmar som dominerade nästan alla sektorer av samhället.
Den historiska analysen är mycket intressant men när det kommer till frågan om vad som borde gjorts annorlunda blir jag inte lika imponerad. Det är svårt att komma runt det faktum att Kieran Allen är trotskist och medlem i brittiska SWP:s irländska systerorganisation SWN. Om bara den irländska arbetarklassen haft det perfekta trottepartiet med det perfekta trotteprogrammet så hade allt varit löst.
Lösningen på Nordirlandsfrågan är helt enkelt att katolska och protestantiska arbetare borde kämpat tillsammans på klassbasis - att ingen annan tänkt på det tidigare! Anledningen till att det inte blivit så beror helt enkelt på att den republikanska rörelsen varit sekteristisk och att de protestantiska arbetarna blivit lurade av sina Orange Lodges. Begreppet arbetararistokrati förekommer exakt en gång, inom citationstecken. Tyvärr präglas sista delen av boken av trotskismens svaga grepp om den nationella frågan.
I Allens analys finns ingen inneboende dynamik i den republikanska rörelsen. Alla steg i socialistisk riktning från Sinn Féin och PIRA avfärdar han som retoriska manövrar. Han nämner inte heller alls splittringen mellan OIRA och INLA 1974. Överhuvudtaget saknar jag en mer initierad diskussion kring den ideologiska utveckling inom den republikanska rörelsen efter inbördeskrigets slut som skulle kunna sätta in den i en internationell kontext av kontakter mellan befrielserörelser i olika delar av världen. För Allen är problemet att alla republikaner egentligen bara är nationalister och att allt annat bara är fernissa.
Den enda grupp i den nordirländska konflikten han har några sympatier för är People's Democracy som, oväntat nog, på 70-talet utvecklades i trotskistisk riktning. Skildringen av "the Troubles" verkar i hög grad vara baserad på journalisten Eamonn McCann som, oväntat nog, är medlem i samma trottegrupp som Allen.
Första halvan av boken rekommenderar jag helhjärtat, ju närmre vi kommer nutid desto svagare blir den.
Den nationella befrielsekampen har ofta skildrats som en rent militär affär. Allen lyfter istället fram den radikala kamp som bedrevs av småjordbrukare, jordlösa lantarbetare och industriarbetare.
I april 1920 utlyste fackföreningsfederationen ITUC en generalstrejk. Inspirerade av den så kallade Limericksovjeten 1919 och av de ryska arbetarnas exempel bildades arbetarråd i flera regioner som tog över styret från de brittiska myndigheterna. Hamnar, fabriker och gruvor togs över och drevs av sovjeter. Samtidigt började småbönder och jordlösa lantarbetare, ibland med stöd av mer vänsterinriktade enheter inom IRA, beslagta storgodsägarnas jord. Väpnade strider utkämpades mellan lantarbetarfacket ITGWU och godsägarnas Farmers Freedom Forces.
Som Ken Loach skildrat i The Wind That Shakes the Barley valde den republikanska rörelsens ledning att undertrycka dessa radikala rörelser till förmån för nationell enighet med den irländska borgarklassen och godsägarna. När fredsavtalet med Storbritannien följdes av inbördeskriget hade varken pro- eller anti-avtalssidan någon annan strategi. Roddy Connolly, James Connollys son, stred på anti-avtalssidan och det irländska kommunistparti han precis varit med och grundat försökte övertyga dess ledare om att anta ett socialt program men avfärdades.
Efter freden 1923 var de flesta radikala ledare inom den republikanska rörelsen döda. Ersättarna blev återhållsamma politiker som Éamon de Valera, William Cosgrave och Kevin O'Higgins. Pro-avtalssidans seger ledde till tio år av kontrarevolution där repressionen inte enbart riktade sig mot republikanska dissidenter utan mot hela vänstern och inte minst mot kvinnornas möjlighet att delta i det politiska livet. Politiken dominerades av Fine Gaels föregångare, Cumann na nGaedheal, som bildats av pro-avtalssidan och som företrädde de stora jordägarnas intressen. Dessa var nöjda med politisk frihet och ekonomisk underordning under Storbritannien. 97 procent av den unga statens export gick till britterna och bestod nästan uteslutande av jordbruksprodukter.
När de Valeras Fianna Fáil, som bildats av mer moderata element på anti-avtalssidan, tog makten 1932 lyckades de bilda en koalition mellan den svaga nationella kaptialistklassen, arbetarklassen, mindre jordägare och katolska kyrkan. Genom ekonomisk protektionism och aktiv industripolitik skulle den irländska ekonomin brytas loss från utländsk dominans samtidigt som levnadsstandarden höjdes. Välfärds- och utbildningsfrågor lämnade staten till katolska kyrkan, med allt vad det inneburit av religiöst förtryck och Magdalene Laundries. Genom att upprätthålla detta historiska block blev Fianna Fáil ett av Västeuropas mest framgångsrika partier, endast utmanade av de svenska socialdemokraterna. Partiet var en verklig folkrörelse med hundratusentals medlemmar som dominerade nästan alla sektorer av samhället.
Den historiska analysen är mycket intressant men när det kommer till frågan om vad som borde gjorts annorlunda blir jag inte lika imponerad. Det är svårt att komma runt det faktum att Kieran Allen är trotskist och medlem i brittiska SWP:s irländska systerorganisation SWN. Om bara den irländska arbetarklassen haft det perfekta trottepartiet med det perfekta trotteprogrammet så hade allt varit löst.
Lösningen på Nordirlandsfrågan är helt enkelt att katolska och protestantiska arbetare borde kämpat tillsammans på klassbasis - att ingen annan tänkt på det tidigare! Anledningen till att det inte blivit så beror helt enkelt på att den republikanska rörelsen varit sekteristisk och att de protestantiska arbetarna blivit lurade av sina Orange Lodges. Begreppet arbetararistokrati förekommer exakt en gång, inom citationstecken. Tyvärr präglas sista delen av boken av trotskismens svaga grepp om den nationella frågan.
I Allens analys finns ingen inneboende dynamik i den republikanska rörelsen. Alla steg i socialistisk riktning från Sinn Féin och PIRA avfärdar han som retoriska manövrar. Han nämner inte heller alls splittringen mellan OIRA och INLA 1974. Överhuvudtaget saknar jag en mer initierad diskussion kring den ideologiska utveckling inom den republikanska rörelsen efter inbördeskrigets slut som skulle kunna sätta in den i en internationell kontext av kontakter mellan befrielserörelser i olika delar av världen. För Allen är problemet att alla republikaner egentligen bara är nationalister och att allt annat bara är fernissa.
Den enda grupp i den nordirländska konflikten han har några sympatier för är People's Democracy som, oväntat nog, på 70-talet utvecklades i trotskistisk riktning. Skildringen av "the Troubles" verkar i hög grad vara baserad på journalisten Eamonn McCann som, oväntat nog, är medlem i samma trottegrupp som Allen.
Första halvan av boken rekommenderar jag helhjärtat, ju närmre vi kommer nutid desto svagare blir den.
November 29, 2025
Key read for anyone who knows Ireland’s deep transgressive power within its political legacy. Allen is a very level-headed guide through much of this history. I especially loved his chapter on radical republicanism and all the ways it was distorted and repackaged throughout the most explosive periods of Class conflict on the Emerald Isle. Definitely feel closer to my father’s homeland knowing about more of the daring revolts different workers brought out.
June 12, 2019
I wanted to learn about Ireland's left and i did.
July 11, 2024
This one’s gonna look crazy on my book wrapped but lol
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December 16, 2023A poetic investigation into the Revolutionary threads that continue through nearly all modern Irish history. Not an account of the Uprising per se, much more a deeply eloquent inspection of the socio-political impacts of the event. Definitely worth having some background knowledge of Irish history and politics however.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews