Roderick James Connolly (11 February 1901 – 16 December 1980) was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. He was also known as "Roddy Connolly" and "Rory Connolly".

Biography

The son of Irish socialist

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 ...

and

Lillie Connolly Lillie Connolly ( Reynolds; 1867 or 1868 – 22 January 1938) was an Irish socialist and trade union organiser. She is best-known as the wife of James Connolly, the Irish revolutionary who was involved in the 1916 Easter Rising. Early life ...

. A lieutenant in 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 ...

(ICA) boys' corps, he was involved in the 1916

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 t ...

. At the age of 15, he served in the GPO under his father. He joined the Socialist Party of Ireland in 1917. Connolly traveled to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

on several occasions in 1920 and 1921 and formed a close association with

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

and was hugely influenced by the Soviet leader. He was a delegate to the Second Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

(Comintern) as a delegate 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 ...

. He helped form and became President of the first Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) in October 1921. He was editor of CPI newspaper, ''The Workers' Republic''. He opposed the 1921

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 ...

between the representatives of the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

and the British state, and fought in the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

on the anti-treaty side. The CPI was the first Irish political party to oppose the Treaty and urged the IRA to adopt socialist policies to defeat the new

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

government. The CPI was dissolved in 1924 by the Comintern but in 1926, Connolly helped set up a second

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

party, the

Irish Workers' Party The Irish Workers' League (1948–1962) and Irish Workers' Party (1962–1970) were names used by the communist party in the Republic of Ireland. Background The Southern section of the Communist Party of Ireland had suspended its activities from ...

. Connolly was the party leader and editor of its journal, ''The Hammer and Plough''. This party too was dissolved in 1927. Connolly joined the Irish Labour Party in 1928 and in 1934 participated in the last socialist initiative of Inter-War Ireland, the Irish

Republican Congress The Republican Congress ( ga, An Chomhdháil Phoblachtach) was an Irish republican and Marxist-Leninist political organisation founded in 1934, when pro-communist republicans left the Anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by ...

. He was imprisoned twice in 1935. At the 1943 general election, Connolly was elected to the Dáil as a Labour Party

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parl ...

(TD) for Louth. He lost his seat at the 1944 general election, but was re-elected at the 1948 general election, before losing once more at the 1951 general election. Connolly was also financial secretary of the party from 1941 to 1949. Connolly entered a semi-retirement between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s, but in the late 1960s, he began a comeback. He was elected as party chairman in 1971 and held this position until 1978. During his time as chairman Connolly oversaw the expulsion of the Socialist Labour Alliance in 1971, whose members would go on to form the

Socialist Workers Network The Socialist Workers Network (SWN) is an Irish Trotskyist organisation. It was founded in 1971 as the Socialist Workers Movement (SWM), before becoming the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in 1995. The SWP was a founding member of People Before ...

, which in turn eventually established

People before Profit People Before Profit ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús, PBP) is a left-wing to far-left Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History PBP was established in 2005 as the ...

. Connolly also sat in

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

from 1975 to 1977 on the

Cultural and Educational Panel The Cultural and Educational Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Cultural and Educational Panel elects five ...

. He was a supporter of the Labour Party–

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...

coalition government that was in power from 1973 to 1977, and defended the coalition from left-wing critics by reminding them his father James Connolly had allied with the likes of Patrick Pearse in 1916. Connolly died in St Michael's hospital,

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

, in December 1980. He had both pneumonia and stomach cancer. Connolly 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 ...

, Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Roddy 1901 births 1980 deaths People of the Irish Civil War (Anti-Treaty side) Labour Party (Ireland) TDs Irish socialists Irish communists Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Members of the 11th Dáil Members of the 13th Dáil Members of the 13th Seanad Irish Comintern people Irish schoolteachers Deaths from stomach cancer Industrial Workers of the World members Labour Party (Ireland) senators Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members