The Irish Bookbinders' and Allied Trades Union ({{langx, ga, Cumann Ceirde Cluduigte Leabar Agus a Com-Ceard i n-Eirinn) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing print workers in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The union was founded in 1920 as the Irish Bookbinders' and Paper Rulers' Trade Union, by

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-based members of the UK-based National Union of Bookbinders and Machine Rulers. It became the "Irish Bookbinders' and Allied Trades Union" in 1938. From 1941, the Irish government required unions to obtain a license, and the National Union thereafter withdrew from Ireland, the Irish Bookbinders thereafter recruiting throughout the country; by the 1950, it had around 1,000 members.Arthur Marsh and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, p.85 Originally part 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 i ...

, the union was a founding member of the rival Congress of Irish Unions. The two confederations later merged to form the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

, of which the union maintained membership.Fergus A. D'Arcy and Ken Hannigan, ''Workers in Union'', p.212 In 1983, the union merged with the Irish Graphical Society and the Electrotypers' and Stereotypers' Society of Dublin and District to form the Irish Print Union.

General Secretaries

:1920: Michael Colgan :1953: Terence Farrell :1960s: J. Cullen

References

Defunct trade unions of Ireland Trade unions established in 1920 Trade unions disestablished in 1983 1920 establishments in Ireland 1983 disestablishments in Ireland Bookbinders' trade unions