Working Class Action
The Irish Citizen Army
Labour clenches its fist! - Part 2
CONNOLLY TAKES CHARGE
James Connolly now became Commandant of the Citizen Army (in place of Larkin) and Acting General Secretary of the I.T.G.W.U. The era of Connolly's leadership of the Citizen Army ushered in a period of much closer co-operation between the Irish Volunteers and the Citizen Army.
Even before Larkin went to the U.S.A. Connolly's influence on the Citizen Army could be seen. The attitude to military training became a lot more serious and attaining arms became a priority.
In September 1914 an incident which shows the seriousness of their militarism was the proposed disruption of a recruitment meeting for the British Army in the Mansion House which was to be addressed by British Prime Minister Asquith and John Redmond. It was decided that a mixed party of Volunteers and Citizen Army men would take over the Mansion House the day before and would hold it for twenty-four hours to prevent the meeting from taking place. The plan was dropped when it was learnt that a strong force of British soldiers were already in occupation of the Mansion House.
Instead, on the night of the meeting, the Citizen Army turned out for an opposition demonstration in Stephens Green. They marched from Liberty Hall openly carrying their rifles and bayonets. The sight of a disciplined troop of Irishmen marching through the streets of Dublin openly displaying their weapons, created a great impression on the thousands of people attending the rally. What the crowd didn't realise was that apart from some revolver bullets none of the Citizen Army had any ammunition.
The procurement of arms and ammunition was always a problem for the Citizen Army. Up until the Howth gun running incident the Citizen Army had the grand total of one Lee Enfield rifle and a few revolvers. As the Citizen Army were not informed or involved in the landing of the arms at Howth they were fortunate to be able to add to their arsenal at all. The whole operation had been planned and carried out by the Irish Volunteers but while attempting to transport the arms into Dublin a force of police and British soldiers tried to stop them. While a stand off situation occurred between the two sides the Volunteers began to slip away across the fields with the guns. As there wasn't enough Volunteers to carry all the guns some had to be abandoned or hidden for further collection. Word reached the Citizen Army at Croydon Park of the days happenings and some members went to see if they could be of assistance. On arriving in the area they were delighted to find abandoned and hidden arms, which they brought back to Croydon Park for use by the Citizen Army. Rifles were also smuggled into Dublin through Liverpool, sent by supportive trade unionists in Britain. Another avenue for the procurement of arms was through British soldiers, either stolen by supportive soldiers or sold by entrepreneurial members of her Majesty's Armed Services.
Connolly had been using the pages of the ITGWU's 'Irish Worker' to argue against working class participation in the imperialist war. He urged people to join the Volunteers or the Citizen Army rather than the British Army. He was a great believer in the old maxim that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity and with England involved in a war, now was the time for Ireland to assert itself. With Connolly in charge at Liberty Hall nobody was left in any doubt as to where he stood. Soon after Larkin's departure Connolly draped the now famous, "We Serve Neither King Nor Kaiser But Ireland" banner from Liberty Hall. He choose as his second in command in the Citizen Army another ex British army man, Michael Mallin, who was head of the Inchicore branch of the I.T.G.W.U.
CONNOLLY AND CITIZEN ARMY INCREASINGLY PROVOCATIVE
With Connolly becoming more strident in his criticism of the War the authorities began to censor The Irish Worker. In December 1914 the authorities closed down The Irish Worker, along with Sinn Fein and Irish Freedom. Connolly tried to have The Irish Worker printed in Glasgow and smuggled into Ireland but the February issue was seized by the authorities as it came off ship. Connolly decided to set up his own printing press in Liberty Hall and so produce his own propaganda. It was the end of May 1915 before a new paper was produced, which he called Workers Republic. From the very beginning this newspaper preached insurrection. A page under the title "ICA notes" was given over in each issue to the subject of military tactics and examples were given from other countries around the world where uprisings had occurred. In these articles Connolly concentrated on issues such as street fighting, building barricades etc.
In complete contrast to the conspiratorial methods and elitist tactics of the I.R.B. Connolly and the Citizen Army were very public in their intentions. Openly carrying arms and printing seditious material in Workers Republic they were pushing the authorities as far as they could. Without a doubt the authorities would have closed down Liberty Hall and the printing press had they not to worry about the resistance expected from the Citizen Army. In the inquiry into the Rising, evidence was given that while most government officials wanted to close Liberty Hall their military advisers estimated that up to a thousand soldiers would be needed, with the inevitable resulting bloodshed. With the armed protection of the Citizen Army, Connolly was able to make his campaign for an uprising more direct and longer sustained than in any other insurrectionist period in Irish history.
Throughout 1915, as well as goading the authorities, Connolly began using Workers Republic to attack the Volunteers and their lack of activity. As he wasn't privy to the I.R.B.'s military council plans he felt that the moderates were gaining control of the Volunteers and a rising was becoming more remote as time went on. In issue after issue of Workers Republic Connolly appealed to the rank and file of the Volunteers over the heads of the leadership, arguing that were the War to end before a rising could take place, Ireland would have lost a great opportunity to further its aim of independence.
It wasn't only the authorities and the Volunteers who felt unhappy at the direction Connolly was taking. Within the I.T.G.W.U. there were elements who disapproved of the attention Connolly and the Citizen Army were attracting from Dublin Castle. As far back as the plan to disrupt the Asquith meeting, murmurs of discontent had begun. The installation of the printing press in Liberty Hall and the increasing public display of the Citizen Army added to the fears of a section of the I.T.G.W.U. that Liberty Hall would be closed down and the I.T.G.W.U. smashed as a result of the activities of the Citizen Army. As most of the Citizen Army were members of the I.T.G.W.U., Connolly, with the support of key people like O'Brien, Foran and Partridge, had been able to persuade the union to support his actions. Incidents such as the time in November 1915 when Connolly sent armed pickets to deal with police harassment during the strike at the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, made it hard for those who disapproved of the Citizen Army in Liberty Hall to do anything about it.
Towards the end of 1915 the Citizen Army manoeuvres had been increasingly provocative. Numerous public displays and marches were held. One particular incident was a mock attack on Dublin Castle on a foggy night in October. Due to the short notice of mobilisation and the chosen target, even members of the Citizen Army themselves didn't know if this was the real thing or a practice. This was an indication of the state of readiness of the Citizen Army for any eventuality.
THE BUILD UP BEGINS
Connolly's increasingly belligerent writings and the Citizen Army's actions began to worry the military council of the I.R.B. who had decided on a rising in principle and were afraid that the Citizen Army would proceed unilaterally and destroy whatever chance of success their own plans had. What the I.R.B. did not know was this was exactly what was going through Connolly's mind at the time. He was convinced that a rising must be attempted before the authorities struck first and suppressed the Citizen Army and the Volunteers. He had decided that, if necessary, the Citizen Army should go it alone in the hope that this would be the spark which would set the more militant wing of the Volunteers on the road to revolt. In late 1915 Connolly had asked each of the Citizen Army members individually whether they would be willing to go ahead with a rising without the support of the Volunteers.
At different times most of the Military Council of the I.R.B. Clarke, Mc Dermott, Tom Ashe, Pearse and Mc Donagh, individually came to see Connolly to try and dissuade him from attempting a rising as the time was not right. None of them had any luck in convincing him to bide his time, so in what has become known as the 'kidnapping' of James Connolly, the I.R.B. Military Council met with him and informed him of their plans for a rising. This incident has never been fully explained but the end result was that during his disappearance from Sunday January 19th 1916, to the following Wednesday, Connolly agreed to hold off on any plans to go it alone. He also became a member of the I.R.B. and its Military Council. At last Connolly was to achieve his aim of a rising and the date was set for Easter Sunday April 23rd 1916, to coincide with the arrival of a shipload of arms from Germany brought over by Roger Casement.
Around this time it is estimated that there were approximately three hundred and fifty members of the Citizen Army. Unlike the Volunteers, women were given equal rights in the Citizen Army and some of the women soldiers carried arms and were in positions of authority within the army. Constance Markievicz, Dr. Kathleen Lynn and Helena Moloney were all officers in the army. A Citizen Army Scout Corps had been formed around July 1914 and its members drilled and trained with guns like their seniors. James Connolly's son Roddy was a member of the Scout Corps and fought alongside his father in the G.P.O. during the Rising. The situation began to hot up in the run up to the Rising.
On March 24th 1916 a squad of police raided the paper shop beside Liberty Hall searching for The Gael, a nationalist newspaper. Connolly was called from Liberty Hall and arrived as the police were searching the shop. When informed that the police had no search warrant he pulled a gun and ordered them out. Connolly, fearing that the police would return to raid Liberty Hall, sent out a mobilisation order to all Citizen Army members. Before the Citizen Army had returned another squad of police arrived at the paper shop with a warrant. As the shop was connected to Liberty Hall, Connolly was afraid the police would use the same warrant to raid Liberty Hall. He told the Inspector in charge that as the warrant only related to the shop, they would be stopped from entering Liberty Hall, by force of arms if necessary. Rather than provoke trouble the police retreated. The mobilisation itself was a complete success. Nearly one hundred and fifty men arrived at Liberty Hall from all over the city. From that day on Liberty Hall was guarded night and day by the Citizen Army.
The Tuesday before the rising was due to start the plans were thrown into disarray by Eoin Mac Neill's famous order to call off the rising. Further problems arose when "The Aud" the ship bringing arms and ammunitions from Germany, was discovered and it's captain scuttled the vessel rather than let it fall into British hands. Of all the I.R.B. Military Council members, Connolly was least affected by the discovery of "The Aud" and Mac Neill's countermand. He looked on outside help as a bonus but in the event of this not materialising he was determined to go ahead. Throughout that Easter weekend, with the decision to call off or go ahead with the Rising being debated, Connolly was one of the strongest voices in favour of carrying on with the Rising.
With Mac Neill's countermand, Liberty Hall became the centre of operations for the Rising. The Military Council of the I.R.B. met in Liberty Hall under the armed guard provided by the Citizen Army on Easter Sunday morning. They decided to postpone the Rising until noon the following day. Also in Liberty Hall that day, 'The Proclamation of The Irish Republic' was printed on the Workers Republic printing press by members of the I.T.G.W.U. who were guarded by a group of armed Citizen Army men. Connolly's foresight had put the Labour Movement to the forefront of the fight for Irish independence.
THE RISING
Mac Neill's action dictated that the Rising would fail, in military terms anyway. On leaving Liberty Hall on the morning of the Rising, Connolly remarked to William O'Brien that they were going out to be slaughtered.
Of approximately five thousand people expected to take part in the Rising, Mac Neill's orders reduced the numbers to around one thousand two hundred. As the Citizen Army was a much smaller force and Dublin based, most of the expected numbers turned out. It is estimated that about two hundred and twenty Citizen Army members took part in the Rising. At the head of this force was James Connolly who had been given the position of Commandant General Dublin Division, Army of The Irish Republic. Facing the rebels was a force of around twelve thousand British soldiers.
Apart from James Connolly's contingent of Citizen Army men in the G.P.O. the Citizen Army were also represented in most of the other battlegrounds, such as The Four Courts, Bolands Mill, etc. One of the first actions of Connolly was to have the Starry Plough flag of the Citizen Army hoisted over the Imperial Hotel, a defiant signal to the arch enemy William Martin Murphy. The majority of the Citizen Army were involved in the fighting around St. Stephens Green under Commandant Michael Mallin and his second in command Constance Markievicz. It was a force of Citizen Army people under Captain Sean Connolly who attacked Dublin Castle.
The Rising lasted less than a week and all those who took part in or were suspected to have taken part in the Rising were interned in English jails. Sixteen of those considered to be leaders of the Rising were executed, included among them were James Connolly and Michael Mallin. Constance Markievicz had been sentenced to death but had her sentence commuted to life in prison. Eleven members of the Citizen Army, including Captain Sean Connolly, were killed in action during Easter week. Twenty seven women members of the Citizen Army had taken part in the Rising with one woman, Margaret Skinnider, wounded in action.
AFTERMATH OF THE RISING
In the aftermath of the Rising sections of Labour and the trade union movement were already trying to distance themselves from the events of Easter week and the actions of the Citizen Army. Aware that the British had already tried to destroy Liberty Hall during the Rising they were concerned that the authorities must not be provoked again.
At the Irish Trade Union Congress in August 1916 a motion was passed paying respects to all Irishmen and women who had died in the Rising and in the 'European' war. The executive's report was at pains to emphasise the Citizen Army were merely tenants at Liberty Hall. It also quoted a British Army intelligence report claiming that 'not more than half the Citizen Army were members of the ITGWU'.
The Labour Movement, in the absence of a leader of the calibre of James Connolly, had begun to withdraw from the struggle for Irish Independence. None of the remaining trade union leaders had the foresight of Connolly in seeing the link between the right to self determination industrially, politically and nationally. Even the union leaders who supported Connolly, such as William O'Brien and Thomas Foran, confined themselves to sorting out the mess of the affairs of the I.T.G.W.U. Labour had lost its chance to be a major influence in the building of an independent Ireland.
Into this atmosphere came those Citizen Army members who had been released from British prisons in late 1916. By December 1916 the Citizen Army were back in Liberty Hall but under the name 'Connolly/Mallin Social and Athletic Club' with none of their previous freedoms. By February 1917 the Citizen Army were back drilling in Liberty Hall, to the dismay of some of the union officials. The uneasiness about the Citizen Army and its presence in Liberty Hall which had been building up during Connolly's time, began to affect relations between the Citizen Army and the I.T.G.W.U. A number of incidents took place which caused a major rift between the Union and the Army, the first was the nailing of a Tricolour to the front of Liberty Hall by a member of the Citizen Army, against the wishes of the union. Another was the caretaker being threatened by a member of the Citizen Army who he had refused entry to.
The major incident which saw the Citizen Army themselves barred temporarily and an end to their drilling in Liberty Hall for good occurred on the anniversary of James Connolly's death. The union had put up a banner on the front of Liberty Hall which read "James Connolly - murdered May 12th 1916". The police demanded that it be taken down and the union obliged. But women members of the Citizen Army made another banner with the same message, put it up again and refused to take it down. It took a party of police to force their way onto the roof to remove it. After this the authorities closed Liberty Hall until they were given an assurance that the Citizen Army would be barred from the hall. A few weeks later it was agreed that the Citizen Army could use the hall as individual members of the union. The Citizen Army had lost its headquarters.
The Citizen Army was in a very difficult position in the aftermath of the Rising. The situation which had required the formation of the Citizen Army didn't exist any more. It's labour tradition made it wary of the Nationalist movement but its union base had made it clear that they saw no future for the army. While not sure where its future lay the Citizen Army reorganised itself into two companies, one south of the city and the other north of the city. On June 18th 1917 Constance Markievicz had been released from prison and a troop of the Citizen Army, headed by the new Commandant, James O'Neill, marched to Westland Row station to meet her. They then proceeded to march through the city, their first victory parade since the Rising. A rousing welcome was given to Constance from the thousands who gathered to see her. On September 25th 1917 she led a contingent of the Citizen Army during the funeral of Thomas Ashe who had died while on hunger strike.
On July 15th 1927 the Citizen Army once again marched after Constance Markievicz, this time at her funeral.
In the intervening years they had never solved the dilemma which faced them when they first reorganised after the Rising. What direction were they to travel in? Without the clear vision of a Connolly, they were lost. There are reports of Citizen Army involvement in the fight against the Black and Tans and even unconfirmed reports that the Citizen Army were involved in the burning of the Custom House. In this period details of the Citizen Army are very sketchy and almost impossible to find.
In relation to the Civil War it is reported that Constance Markievicz proposed that the Citizen Army support De Valera in his rejection of the Treaty. The majority of the Citizen Army, over one hundred and forty, are reported to have taken the side of the anti-treaty forces during the fighting. As with all organisations in Ireland at the time there was dissent among the ranks over its attitude to the Civil War. Some members became involved in the peace negotiations along with officials of the Labour movement, who were trying to broker a Peace.
For all intents and purposes the Civil War signalled the end of the Irish Citizen Army.
"However it may be for others, for us of the Citizen Army there is but one ideal - an Ireland ruled, and owned, by Irish men and women, sovereign and independent from the centre of the sea, and flying its own flag outwards over all oceans"
(James Connolly, Workers' Republic 30 October 1915)
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