Patrick Thomas Daly (1870 – 20 November 1943), known as P. T. Daly was an Irish

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and politician.

Early life

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Daly completed an apprenticeship as a printer, and in 1892 he joined the Dublin Typographical Provident Society."Mr. P. T. Daly", ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'', 22 November 1943 A supporter of

James Connolly James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...

, he helped print Connolly's ''Workers Republic'' newspaper,P T Daly
", Lockout 1913 and was a founder member of the

Irish Socialist Republican Party The Irish Socialist Republican Party was a small, but pivotal Ireland, Irish political party founded in 1896 by James Connolly. Its aim was to establish an Irish workers' republic. The party split in 1904 following months of internal political ...

(ISRP).

Irish nationalism

Frustrated by the lack of progress of the ISRP, he left and joined the Young Ireland Society and the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

(IRB), soon becoming a member of its three-person executive. He was elected to the Dublin Corporation for the IRB in 1903,M. J. Kelly, ''The Fenian Ideal and Irish Nationalism, 1882–1916'', p.141 holding the seat until 1910. In 1905, he became manager of the Gaelic printer An Cló Cumann. Daly was also active in

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; "Society of the Gaels") was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form the Fine Gael party. Origins In 1922 the pro-Treaty G ...

, and when it merged with the

Dungannon Clubs The Dungannon Clubs were founded in Ireland in 1905 by Bulmer Hobson and Dennis McCullough, whose goal was the eventual creation of an Irish Republic. Seán McDermott became the organizer for the clubs in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, London, and ...

to form the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

League in 1907, he was elected as its president. The following year, he moved that it merge with

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...

's Sinn Féin, and served on the new party's first executive, also organising the Dublin Cumann. By 1910, he was part of a young clique which published ''Irish Freedom'' and sought to take control of the IRB, but he was expelled on charges of embezzling funds donated from the United States.

Labour movement

Heavily involved in the labour movement, Daly was elected to Parliamentary Committee of the

Irish Trades Union Congress The Irish Trades Union Congress (ITUC) was a union federation covering the island of Ireland. History Until 1894, representatives of Irish trade unions attended the British Trades Union Congress (TUC). However, many felt that they had little imp ...

(ITUC) in 1905.Donal Nevin, ''Trade Union Century'', p.193 Long known as a leading supporter of

Jim 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 ...

in the

Irish Transport and General Workers' Union 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 ...

(ITGWU), he ran the union in 1910 while Larkin was in prison. However, in 1909, he was appointed as editor of the Dublin Trades Council newspaper, a post which Connolly had hoped to win. In 1910, Daly was elected Secretary of the Irish Trades Union Congress, serving until 1918, and in 1911 he was appointed as organiser of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, although that year he was jailed during a major strike for union recognition in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. In 1910, Daly left Sinn Féin to join Connolly's Socialist Party of Ireland, a merger of the ISRP and parts of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. He subsequently joined Connolly in founding the

Irish Labour Party The Labour Party ( ga, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, literally "Party of the Working People") is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, ...

. During the

Dublin Lock-out 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 ...

of 1913, he was one of several leading figures in the Labour movement who were arrested, and the following year, he was a founding vice-chairman 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 ...

. After

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 ...

suggested appointing Daly to lead the ITGWU in 1914, a long-standing disagreement with

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

became public, O'Brien claiming that Daly was incompetent. Daly had also split with Connolly, who wrote that "Daly is as little trusted by the Labour men as he is by the Nationalists", and was able to instead become acting secretary himself. Connolly also ensured that Daly was not selected as a candidate for the 1915 Dublin Harbour by-election. In 1916, Daly was placed in

Frongoch internment camp Frongoch internment camp at Frongoch in Merionethshire, Wales was a makeshift place of imprisonment during the First World War and the 1916 Easter Rising. History 1916 the camp housed German prisoners of war in a yellow distillery and cru ...

as the British Government considered him a threat during the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

; he was later moved to

Reading Gaol HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service until its closure at the start of 2014. It is a Grade II listed building and ...

. He worked with

Delia Larkin Delia Larkin (27 February 1878 – 26 October 1949) was a trade union organiser, journalist and actress, born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England. She was influenced by the activities of her brother, James Larkin, to move to Ireland, and w ...

in an attempt to resurrect the Irish Citizen Army, but this was unsuccessful, and led to further isolation in the ITGWU. In 1919, Daly was elected as Secretary of the Dublin Trades Council, and he remained in the post until his death. Under his leadership, and due to his dispute with O'Brien, the council withdrew from the Labour Party.Peter Barberis et al, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', p.734 At the 1923 general election, Daly stood in

Dublin North Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...

as one of four independent labour candidates sponsored by the trades council. Although he was not elected, Daly took 2,075 votes, beating the official Labour Party candidate.Arthur Mitchell, ''Labour in Irish politics, 1890–1930'', p.189 Following disappointing results, the trades council reaffiliated with the Labour Party, and Daly focused his efforts on establishing the

Workers' Union of Ireland The Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), later the Federated Workers' Union of Ireland, was an Irish trade union formed in 1924. In 1990, it merged with the Irish Transport and General Workers Union to form the Services, Industrial, Professional and ...

. He served on the executive of the ITUC again from 1936 to 1939, and was elected as its president for 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Patrick Thomas 1870 births 1943 deaths Early Sinn Féin politicians Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Members of Dublin City Council Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood Trade unionists from Dublin (city)