Delia Larkin (27 February 1878 – 26 October 1949) was a trade union organiser, journalist and actress, born to Irish parents in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was influenced by the activities of her brother,

James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...

, to move to Ireland, and was prominent during the 1913

Dublin Lockout The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often vie ...

. She was active in Irish trade union activities and was a founding secretary of the

Irish Women Workers' Union The Irish Women Workers' Union was a trade union which was set up at a meeting on 5 September 1911 in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting had been organized by Delia Larkin. The union was created because other trade unions of the time excluded women work ...

Background

Delia Larkin was born in the

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area w ...

park district of Liverpool, of Irish immigrants James Larkin and Mary Ann McNulty, both natives of

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. Father James died in 1887 when she was nine years old.

Career

Delia Larkin first became involved with the Irish trade union movement in the summer of 1911. With her help James Larkin founded the Women Workers' Union and Delia became its first general secretary. Her brother James established a newspaper, '' The Irish Worker and People's Advocate'', as a pro-labour alternative to the capitalist-owned press. This organ was characterised by a campaigning approach and the harsh denunciation of unfair employers and of Larkin's political enemies. She wrote a weekly column for the paper until its suppression by the authorities in 1914. Workers on the steps of Liberty Hall

In early 1913, James Larkin achieved some notable successes in industrial disputes in Dublin; these involved frequent recourse to sympathetic strikes and blacking (boycotting) of goods. Two major employers,

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

and the Dublin United Tramway Company, were the main targets of Larkins' organising ambitions. Both had craft unions for skilled workers, but the main aim was to unionise the unskilled workers as well. The resulting industrial dispute was the most severe in Ireland's history. When James Larkin went to England to seek support Delia Larkin took effective charge in

Liberty Hall Liberty Hall ( ga, Halla na Saoirse), in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest b ...

. She formed and ran the entire undertaking to feed the union members and their dependents throughout what became known as the

lock-out A lockout is a work stoppage or denial of employment initiated by the management of a company during a labour dispute. In contrast to a strike, in which employees refuse to work, a lockout is initiated by employers or industry owners. Lockouts ...

. She founded the Irish Workers' Choir in 1912 and set up dance, drama and Irish-language course in Liberty Hall. She also set up the Irish Workers' Dramatic Society in this year. However, in 1914 Delia Larkin was threatened with legal action by

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...

for using her play, ''The Workhouse Ward'', without permission. Delia had hoped to raise money with the play to help victims of the Lockout. She left Ireland to work as a nurse in England before the 1916 Rising. She returned in 1918. After conflicts with the

ITGWU The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin in January 1909 as a general union. Initially drawing its memb ...

she helped James and another brother Peter found the Workers' Union of Ireland. She was a committed suffragist and spoke out repeatedly to demand inclusion of female suffrage in the proposed

Home Rule Bill The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

Personal life and death

In 1921, she married Patrick Colgan, a member of the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin M ...

. When they moved to

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

, James Larkin joined them and lived out his last years in their flat. She died at home and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasne ...

References

Bibliography

*''James Larkin'', Emmet O'Connor, Cork University Press, Cork, 2002. *''Lockout: Dublin 1913'', Pádraig Yeates, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2000. *''The Rise of the Irish Trade Unions'', Andrew Boyd, Anvil Books, Dublin, 1985. *
Dublin Lockout 1913
. Patrick Yeates

History Ireland ''History Ireland'' is a magazine with a focus on the history of Ireland. The first issue of the magazine appeared in Spring 1993. It went full-colour in 2004 and since 2005 it is published bi-monthly. It features articles by a range of writers ...

Magazine, Vol. 9 No. 2 Summer 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Delia 1878 births 1949 deaths Irish trade unionists Irish women in politics People from Toxteth Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Trade unionists from Liverpool