Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty (
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
: ''Tomás Ó Flaithearta'', 1889-1936) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Communist politician in the early 20th century, a supporter of the
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
James P. Cannon, and writer in English and Irish. In 1919, he, along with
John Reed,
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 ...
and others, helped to create the
Communist Labor Party, a precursor to the
Communist Party USA.
Background
Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty was born at Gort na gCapall in 1889,
Inishmore
Inishmore ( ga, Árainn , or ) is the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. With an area of and a population of 762 (as of 2016), it is the second-largest island off the Irish coast (after Achill) a ...
, an island off the west coast of Ireland. His parents were
Maidhc Ó Flaithearta, a well-known Irish nationalist, and Maggie Ganley. His brother was
Liam O'Flaherty. His family, descendants of the
Ó Flaithbertaigh
Ó, ó ( o-acute) is a letter in the Czech, Emilian-Romagnol, Faroese, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kashubian, Polish, Slovak, and Sorbian languages. This letter also appears in the Afrikaans, Catalan, Dutch, Irish, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Occitan, Po ...
family of
Connemara
Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
, were not well off. The
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
was widely spoken in the area, and the O'Flahertys spoke both English and Irish from the
Gaeltacht
( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.
The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially reco ...
. His sister was Bríd Ní Fhlatharta.
[
]
Career
O’Flatherty was a founder member of the
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...
, a militia formed to further Ireland's independence, and later migrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where he became a member of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
(IWW). He was among those who first joined the
American Communist Party
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
, where he was an associate of
John Reed,
James P. Cannon, and
William F. Dunne
William Francis Dunne (October 15, 1887September 23, 1953) was an American Marxist political activist, newspaper editor and trade unionist. He is best remembered as the editor of the radical ''Butte Bulletin'' around the turn of the 1920s and a ...
.
He was a columnist for the ''Daily Worker'' and was the first editor of the ''Labour Defender''. O'Flaherty was active in the defence of imprisoned Irish labour leader
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 ...
and was editor of the left-wing Irish American paper ''The Irish People''. He left the Communist Party and returned to Ireland in 1934 because of ill-health. There he became editor of the Irish-language left-wing paper ''An tÉireannach''.
Personal life
O'Flaherty's brother, Liam (1896–1984), was an Irish novelist and short-story writer who played an important role in the
Irish literary renaissance
The Irish Literary Revival (also called the Irish Literary Renaissance, nicknamed the Celtic Twilight) was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes works of poetry, music, art, and literature.
O ...
as well as helping to found the
Communist Party of Ireland. His nephew (by his sister, Bríd's Ní Fhlatharta) was
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
commentator and writer,
Breandán Ó hEithir.
[
]
Death
Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty died of heart failure on the Aran Islands in December 1936, aged 47.
Works
Like his brother Liam, O'Flaherty retained a deep interest in the Irish language. Like Liam, he wrote fiction in English and in Irish. His works include two books of short stories: ''Aranmen All'' and ''Cliffmen of the West'', and a collection of his short stories in Irish under the title ''An Bhrachlainn Mhór'', published posthumously.
Legacy
O’Flaherty figures in the memoir of Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938) ...
, who worked with him at the ''Daily Worker'' in New York City.
See also
* Maidhc Ó Flaithearta
* Liam O'Flaherty
* Breandán Ó hEithir
* Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938) ...
References
External sources
* Ó hEithir, Breandán (1991). 'Liam Ó Flaithearta agus a Dhúchas' in ''An Chaint sa tSráidbhaile''. Comhar Teoranta.
* O'Flaherty, Tom (1991 - reprint). ''Aranmen All''. Brandon Book Publishers.
* Robinson, Tim (1995). ''Stones of Aran: Labyrinth''. Lilliput Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oflaherty, Tom Maidhc
Politicians from County Galway
1889 births
1936 deaths
Irish communists
American communists
American Trotskyists
Industrial Workers of the World members
Irish emigrants to the United States
Irish writers
People from the Aran Islands