Ireland: Monuments to the Connolly Column

Richard Bermack writing in THE VOLUNTER

Fall 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 4. Newsletter of ALBA, the US veterans group

Eleven miles outside of Killarney on the road to Cork there is a turnoff to Kilgarven. About five miles down that windy country road is Morley's Bridge. Before you cross the bridge, on the side of the mountain, is a small plaque honoring the International Brigade veteran Michael Lehane. Profound in its modesty, the stone plaque, next to two road signs, is integrated into the landscape symbolic of the way history is integrated into Irish culture.

"We have to do some repairs on the letters," the young man working on his cottage across the way tells me.

"People come from all around to see it." He comments about the pride his community feels in Lehane's contribution to history, pride that someone from Morley's Bridge, a rural community of perhaps 50 houses, traveled to Spain to participate in an international struggle. The young man points out the house where Lehane lived, about two houses down from the monument. He then suggests I visit the community historian:"Take the right turn in the road and then 1/4 mile to the house with the hedge."

We were directed to the monument by Manus O'Riordan, the son of IB vet Michael O'Riordan. Michael's book on the Irish International Brigadiers, The Connolly Column (New Books, Dublin, 1979) [It is now available again after being reprinted in 2006 by Warren and Pell, CC], is credited by Eamonn Furey with inspiring Christy Moores's song "Vive La Quinte Brigada."

Manus took us on a tour of the historical sites of Dublin, beginning with a plaque on the wall of the building where Manus works, Liberty Hall, the central labor council building in Dublin.

The plaque is dedicated to those "Irshman who died in defense of the Spanish Republic in the Service of the International Brigades." Then we crossed the street to where a prominent statue of James Connolly looks over the boulevard. Listed on a plaque as a contributor to the monument is the Connolly Column of the International Brigades. Next we drove across town, making note of statues to the various labor leaders and heros of the Irish freedom struggle. At the Glasnevin Cemetery we visited the graves of Spanish Civil war vets buried in close proximity to the graves of Michael Collins and James Ryan.

Finally Manus dropped us off at the historic Kilmainham Gaol, which has been converted to a museum of the Irish revolution. The jail/museum, where many political prisoners were held and executed, now includes a multi-media presentation against capital punishment. There is a plaque next to the spot where the British brutally executed James Connolly, the leader of the Easter Rising. Connolly's execution galvanized public support for the IRA and the rebellion that would end British rule in the south.

The tour guide points out the graffiti above the exit of one of the cell blocks, "Beware of the risen people that have harried and held. Ye that have bullied and bribed."

We left Dublin realizing that history and struggle runs as deep in Irish culture as Guinness .

photos have to be put in, CC

Poet Martín Espada was also struck by how much history is part of Irish culture. While staying at a writers' cottage on the Achill Island of County Mayo, in the west of Ireland, he was walking through the tiny rural village of Doogea, where he encountered a memorial to veteran Thomas Patten. Intrigued, Espada found the following account of Patten by historian Robert Stradling: "Patten was born in Dooega in 1910, one of fourteen children. Patten left Ireland as a teenager to work at a Guinness plant in London, where he got involved with the IRA. In October 1936, completely on his own, Patten went to Spain to fight for the Republican cause, enlisting in the Madrid militia. He was killed at Boadilla del Monte, during the siege of Madrid, in December 1936. The words he said to his brother before leaving for Spain were prophetic: 'The bullet that will get me won't get a Spanish worker.'"

Martín Espada's poem, "The Carpenter Swam to Spain," about Abe Osheroff, was published in the Fall 1998 issue of The Volunteer.

Manus O'Riordan by the plaque to the International Brigade at Dublin's Liberty Hall

The plaque to Michael Lehane, in Gaelic and in English: "Erected to the Memory of Michael Lehane a member of the International Spanish Brigade who gave his young life at sea that the underprivileged of all nations would enjoy a happy and prosperous existence."

After returning from Spain, Lehane was killed on a ship during World War II. [Manus has written several articles about Lehane, available here.]