What do you think?
The James Connolly Reader
2016 will mark the one-hundreth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. James Connolly was executed by a British Army firing squad for his participation in the rebellion. The uprising had a profound impact on the future trajectory of Irish society and its message had a global meaning in the midst of the barbarism of World War I. Connolly's actions and writing are inspired by a vision of an Ireland and world free from empire, war, and exploitation.
James Connolly (1868–1916) was an Irish republican and socialist leader.
Shaun Harkin is an activist and writer presently based in Derry City, Ireland.
Mike Davis is the author of many books, including In Praise of Barbarians: Essays Against Empire.
James Connolly (1868–1916) was an Irish republican and socialist leader.
Shaun Harkin is an activist and writer presently based in Derry City, Ireland.
Mike Davis is the author of many books, including In Praise of Barbarians: Essays Against Empire.
460 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2016
About the author
James Connolly
164 books74 followersJames Connolly (Irish: Séamas Ó Conghaile) was an Irish socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of his day. Though proud of his Irish background, he also took a role in Scottish and American politics. He was executed by a British firing squad because of his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 8, 2019
This volume includes the entire text of "Labour in Irish History," which is otherwise out of print and is a fascinating take on the cultural roots of the Irish labor struggle and its connection to Irish nationalism.
November 19, 2023
Some men, faint-hearted, ever seek
Our programme to retouch,
And will insist, whene’er they speak
That we demand too much.
’Tis passing strange, yet I declare
Such statements give me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the earth.
“Be moderate,” the trimmers cry,
Who dread the tyrants’ thunder.
“ You ask too much and people fly
From you aghast in wonder.”
’Tis passing strange, for I declare
Such statements give me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the earth.
Our masters all a godly crew,
Whose hearts throb for the poor,
Their sympathies assure us, too,
If our demands were fewer.
Most generous souls! But please observe,
What they enjoy from birth
Is all we ever had the nerve
To ask, that is, the earth.
The “labour fakir” full of guile,
Base doctrine ever preaches,
And whilst he bleeds the rank and file
Tame moderation teaches.
Yet, in despite, we’ll see the day
When, with sword in its girth,
Labour shall march in war array
To realize its own, the earth.
For labour long, with sighs and tears,
To its oppressors knelt.
But never yet, to aught save fears,
Did the heart of tyrant melt.
We need not kneel, our cause is high
Of true men there's no dearth
And our victorious rallying cry
Shall be we want the earth!
26+6=1
Free Palestine!
Our programme to retouch,
And will insist, whene’er they speak
That we demand too much.
’Tis passing strange, yet I declare
Such statements give me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the earth.
“Be moderate,” the trimmers cry,
Who dread the tyrants’ thunder.
“ You ask too much and people fly
From you aghast in wonder.”
’Tis passing strange, for I declare
Such statements give me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the earth.
Our masters all a godly crew,
Whose hearts throb for the poor,
Their sympathies assure us, too,
If our demands were fewer.
Most generous souls! But please observe,
What they enjoy from birth
Is all we ever had the nerve
To ask, that is, the earth.
The “labour fakir” full of guile,
Base doctrine ever preaches,
And whilst he bleeds the rank and file
Tame moderation teaches.
Yet, in despite, we’ll see the day
When, with sword in its girth,
Labour shall march in war array
To realize its own, the earth.
For labour long, with sighs and tears,
To its oppressors knelt.
But never yet, to aught save fears,
Did the heart of tyrant melt.
We need not kneel, our cause is high
Of true men there's no dearth
And our victorious rallying cry
Shall be we want the earth!
26+6=1
Free Palestine!
October 7, 2026
"The day will come, and perhaps like a bolt from the blue, when the frontiers and lines of circumvallation drawn around the countries of the world will not be sufficient to prevent the handclasp of friendship between the peoples. But that day will only come when the kings and kaisers, queens and czars, financiers and capitalists who now oppress humanity will be hurled from their place and power, and the emancipated workers of the earth, no longer blind instruments of rich men's greed, will found a new society, a new civilization, whose corner stone will be labor, whose inspiring principle will be justice, whose limits humanity can alone bound.
Connolly is one of the more well known leaders of the Easter Uprising - the chief force behind the Irish Volunteers - but his political activity before the uprising is less often stated. Connolly spent years and years as a socialist leader across Scotland, the US, and Ireland, and provided immense support to labor units throughout his time as the leader of the ITGWU. He was also one of the more fervent supporters of a rebellion during the war - brought in by the IRB partially to ensure he did not act alone.
Connolly was executed just after the uprising, and with his death the labor movement lost a lot of its luster - it is easy to imagine how different Irish politics and working class movements could have been if Connolly and his leadership survived.
The short biography is thorough and well-documented timeline of his life, actions, and writings.
Connolly is one of the more well known leaders of the Easter Uprising - the chief force behind the Irish Volunteers - but his political activity before the uprising is less often stated. Connolly spent years and years as a socialist leader across Scotland, the US, and Ireland, and provided immense support to labor units throughout his time as the leader of the ITGWU. He was also one of the more fervent supporters of a rebellion during the war - brought in by the IRB partially to ensure he did not act alone.
Connolly was executed just after the uprising, and with his death the labor movement lost a lot of its luster - it is easy to imagine how different Irish politics and working class movements could have been if Connolly and his leadership survived.
The short biography is thorough and well-documented timeline of his life, actions, and writings.
December 11, 2018
A broad gamut of Connolly's writing. Some of the subjects feel tied to a particular time and place (ah, the Ulster question, got it), but some of it - particularly "Socialism Made Easy" - rings just as potent a hundred years later. Required for Irish patriots and historians.
March 25, 2026
Ok but if he'd gotten his way there wouldn't be any Pizzamax
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews