In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the Easter Rising, the Irish Labour movement found itself in a new state of ferment. How did Irish Labour fare after James Connolly’s death in 1916? How did the trade union movement rebuild itself? What was its role in the independence movement? This lecture explores these questions. Brian Hanley is an historian and author of many books on Irish Republican history. The lecture was delivered in the Teachers’ Club in Dublin on the 22nd of February 2017 as part of the People’s College lecture series ‘Ireland in a World of Revolutions’ organised by John Dorney.
On the 7th of December 1922, Pro – Treaty TDs, Sean Hales of Cork and Pádraig Ó Máille of Mayo, emerged from their lunch at a hotel on Ormonde Quay, along Dublin’s river Liffey, for the short drive to the Dáil in Leinster House.
Both had been active in Sinn Féin and the IRA in the struggle against the British, but had supported the Treaty. Hales had a brother, Tom, in hills of west Cork fighting with the Anti-Treaty IRA. As they were getting into the car that would drive them to the Dáil, two gunmen opened fire on them, killing Hales and severely wounding Ó Máille, before disappearing into the backstreets behind the Quays.
Liam Lynch, Anti-Treaty IRA Chief of Staff, had ordered the killing of any TD who had voted for the “Murder Bill” and also threatened hostile judges and newspaper editors. Frank Henderson, head of the IRA Dublin Brigade had, apparently, ordered the killing only of Ó Máille, the Leas Cean Comhairle, or Deputy Speaker of the Dail, and was dismayed that Hales had been killed. For 16 years afterwards he had his son, a priest, say a Mass for Hales.
The Cabinet met in an emergency session and decided, after an all-night debate, on retaliatory executions of four Republican leaders captured in the Four Courts back in July – Liam Mellows, Rory O’Connor, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey. The executions were no more and no less than a reprisal killing for the death of Seán Hales. The four had been captured months before the Government had even proposed its emergency legislation in September 1922.
On Episode 29 of the Irish History Show we look at the Anglo – Irish Treaty. The Anglo – Irish Treaty was signed on the 6th of December 1921 in London. The Treaty led to the establishment of the Irish Free State. It’s narrow approval by Dáil Éireann on the 7th of January 1922 would lead to a civil war. In this episode we will look at the negotiations leading up to the signing. We will also look at the content and some of the misconceptions that still surround it.
Episode 28 of the Irish History Show. In this episode, we look at the Bridges Job when the Anti – Treaty IRA attempted to destroy the infrastructure around Dublin during the Civil War. We also discuss the state’s plans for the Decade of Centenaries.
On this episode, we are joined by Professor David Fitzpatrick of Trinity College Dublin. Professor Fitzpatrick has just edited a collection of essays called Terror in Ireland – 1916 to 1923 by the Trinity History Workshop.
In the second half of the show we are joined by Dr. Micheál Ó Siochrú of Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Ó Siochrú is a lecturer in Early Modern Irish history.In the interview, Dr. Ó Siochrú talks about the causes of the 1641 rebellion in Ireland.
In this episode, Dr. Aoife MacCormac of the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute talks about the Spanish Flu and the Bubonic Plague and their effect on Ireland. Dr. MacCormac is working on a research project about the history of infectious diseases in Ireland.
Kildare historian James Durney talks about how Aungier Street became known as the Dardenelles based on an article he wrote for the Military History Society of Ireland journal The Irish Sword.
John Dorney talks to Professor Eunan Ó Halpin about the project, ‘The Dead of the Irish Revolution’ – which seeks to determine, for the first time, how many people were killed in the Irish revolution of 1916-1923. The Dead of the Irish Revolution by Eunan Ó Halpin and Daithí Ó Corráin will be published in 2012.
In the second half of the show, Cathal Brennan talks to Eve Morrisson about her research with the Bureau of Military History.
