Revolutionary, unionist and socialist James Connolly is best known for his part in organizing the bloody Easter Rising of 1916. Yet the Rising was just one defining event in a career devoted to peaceful activism for Irish independence, social justice for the working class, and the rights of women. This biography traces the political life of an unassuming advocate for nonviolent social change at the ballot box, who later helped lead a violent insurrection to establish an Irish Republic and was executed by a British firing squad.

The late Seán Cronin was the first Irish Times Washington correspondent and a veteran Irish republican. In addition to his journalism he was the author of a significant body of work on Irish history including a definitive work on Irish Nationalism, a biography of republican Frank Ryan, and a number of works on guerrilla strategy. He also taught courses in international relations in New York and Maryland.

Seán Cronin

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 208
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8222-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3997-0
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
1. The Scavenger’s Son 3
2. A Fenian Marxist 12
3. The Irish Socialist Republican Party 22
4. A Socialist in America 41
5. Organizer for the Wobblies and the Socialist Party 66
6. Preaching Socialism in Belfast, 1910–11 94
7. The Irish Labor Wars, 1911–14 109
8. Labor and the Partition of Ireland, 1913–14 139
9. The ­Lead-Up to Rebellion 160
10. The Easter Rebellion of 1916 and the Irish Republic 164
Chapter Notes 185
Bibliography 195
Index 199