CONNOLLY, James. Labour in Ireland. Labour in Irish History. The Re-Conquest of Ireland [Signed presentation copy from William O’Brien (Trade Unionist and close friend of James Connolly) to F.J. Kelly, dated August 1937. A very good copy]

CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION COPY

With an introduction by Robert Lynd. Dublin: Maunsel, 1922. Crown octavo. pp. xxxviii, 346. Original blue cloth, titled in gilt.  “James Connolly is Ireland’s first Socialist martyr … Of all the leaders in the Insurrection of Easter Monday, 1916, he was most in the tradition of Wolfe Tone … One does not need to accept the point- of-view of the insurgent leaders in order to realise the value of Connolly’s work as a Socialist historian and propagandist. Syndicalist, incendiary, agitator - call him what you will: it still remains true that his was the most vital democratic mind in the Ireland of his day” - Robert Lynd. During the action in the G.P.O. he was badly wounded. Captured and court-martialled, he was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham, while tied to a chair as he could not stand. His writings are an invaluable source on the labour movement in Ireland.
William O’Brien, trade union pioneer and politician, was a close friend of James Connolly and Jim Larkin. He helped to establish the Irish Transport and General Workers Union in 1909. A full-time official, he was General Secretary for twenty-two years, until his retirement, and President, Irish Trade Union Congress 1913, 1914, 1925 and 1941.

[L4 10D]