Sean Murray (15 June 1898 – 26 May 1961) was an Irish Communist political activist, and organiser, born in 1898 the son of a small farmer in

Cushendall Cushendall (), formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland (of 153 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coas ...

, Co. Antrim. His grandfather was a

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

during the 1798 rebellion. In 1919 Murray joined the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

and was arrested and detained in the

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel ...

during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

. Following the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

of 1921 he sided with the Anti-Treaty side. In 1924 Murray moved to London and while there joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

. He was an attendee of the

International Lenin School The International Lenin School (ILS) was an official training school operated in Moscow, Soviet Union, by the Communist International from May 1926 to 1938. It was resumed after the Second World War and run by the Communist Party of the Soviet Uni ...

with Padraic Breslin and

James Larkin Jnr James Larkin Jnr (20 August 1904 – 18 February 1969) was an Irish Labour Party politician and trade union official. He was born in Liverpool, England, the eldest of four sons of James Larkin, trade union leader, and Elizabeth Larkin (née ...

. Murray was general secretary of the

Communist Party of Ireland The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; ga, Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist communist party, founded in 1933 and re-founded in 1970. It rarely contests elections and has never had electoral success. The part ...

(CPI) from 1933 to 1940 and the editor of its newspaper

The Irish Workers' Voice ''The Irish Worker's Voice'' is an official newspaper of the Communist Party of Ireland The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI; ga, Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann) is an all-Ireland Marxist–Leninist communist party, founded in 1933 and r ...

. Following the split in 1941 he was Secretary and chairman of

Communist Party of Northern Ireland The Communist Party of Northern Ireland was a small communist party operating in Northern Ireland. The party merged with the Irish Workers' Party in 1970 to form the reunited Communist Party of Ireland. Formation The party originated in the 1 ...

(CPNI) as well as National Organiser of the CPI. He represented the CPNI and the

Irish Worker League The Irish Worker League was an Irish communist party, established in September 1923 by Jim Larkin, following his return to Ireland. Larkin re-established the newspaper '' The Irish Worker''. The Irish Worker League (IWL) superseded the first ...

at the 1960 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties.

Publications

*
Revolt 1916 and After
by Sean Murray published by Communist Party of Ireland and Communist Party of Great Britain (1936)

References

Notes Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Sean 1898 births 1961 deaths Communist Party of Ireland politicians Irish communists People from County Antrim