Reflections on republican socialism in Ireland: Marxian roots and Irish historical dynamics

History of Political Thought

Volumn 17, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 555-570

  English, Richard ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0030328598     PISSN: 0143781X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (96)

1. B. Devlin, The Price of My Soul (London, 1969), pp. 13, 55, 88.
2. Ibid., p. 9.
3. On the failure of twentieth-century republican socialists to make socialism a central feature of the republican project, see R. English, Radicals and the Republic: Socialist Republicanism in the Irish Free State, 1925-1937 (Oxford, 1994); for a serious account of nineteenth-century Irish experience, see D.G. Boyce, Nineteenth Century Ireland: The Search for Stability (Dublin, 1990).
4. On the failure of twentieth-century republican socialists to make socialism a central feature of the republican project, see R. English, Radicals and the Republic: Socialist Republicanism in the Irish Free State, 1925-1937 (Oxford, 1994); for a serious account of nineteenth-century Irish experience, see D.G. Boyce, Nineteenth Century Ireland: The Search for Stability (Dublin, 1990).
5. For other significant examples of those influenced by socialist republican thinking, see G. Adams, The Politics of Irish Freedom (Dingle, 1986), pp. 6-8, 37-8, 90, 93; and E. McCann, War and an Irish Town (London, 1993), pp. 59, 62.
6. For other significant examples of those influenced by socialist republican thinking, see G. Adams, The Politics of Irish Freedom (Dingle, 1986), pp. 6-8, 37-8, 90, 93; and E. McCann, War and an Irish Town (London, 1993), pp. 59, 62.
7. B. Purdie, Politics in the Streets: The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland (Belfast, 1990), pp. 130-2.
8. P. Bishop and E. Mallie, The Provisional IRA (London, 1988), p. 52.
9. A. Coughlan, C. Desmond Greaves, 1913-1988: An Obituary Essay (Dublin, 1991), p. 8.
10. C.D. Greaves, 'Epilogue' in T.A. Jackson, Ireland Her Own: An Outline History of the Irish Struggle for National Freedom and Independence (London, 1971), pp. 446-7.
11. Purdie, Politics in the Streets, p. 230.
12. Bishop and Mallie, Provisional IRA, p. 52.
13. S. Bruce, The Red Hand: Protestant Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland (Oxford, 1992), p. 26.
14. See, for example, An Phoblacht/Republican News, 1 July, 19 August, 26 August 1993.
15. On the exciting possibilities of drawing on a wide range of different sources, see Political Thought in Ireland Since the Seventeenth Century, ed. D.G. Boyce, R. Eccleshall and V. Geoghegan (London, 1993), p. 1. More specifically, the current article is based on the assumption that in studying the history of political thought one should recognize the importance both of historical sensitivity and of the contemporary relevance of the texts under scrutiny; see D. Boucher, 'Histories of Political Thought in the Post-Methodological age', History of Political Thought, XIV (1993), p. 316.
16. On the exciting possibilities of drawing on a wide range of different sources, see Political Thought in Ireland Since the Seventeenth Century, ed. D.G. Boyce, R. Eccleshall and V. Geoghegan (London, 1993), p. 1. More specifically, the current article is based on the assumption that in studying the history of political thought one should recognize the importance both of historical sensitivity and of the contemporary relevance of the texts under scrutiny; see D. Boucher, 'Histories of Political Thought in the Post-Methodological age', History of Political Thought, XIV (1993), p. 316.
17. J. Connolly, Collected Works (Dublin, Vol. I, 1987; Vol. II, 1988) (hereafter JCCW), Vol. I, p. 183.
18. J. Connolly, Collected Works (Dublin, Vol. I, 1987; Vol. II, 1988) (hereafter JCCW), Vol. I, p. 183.
19. J. Connolly, Collected Works (Dublin, Vol. I, 1987; Vol. II, 1988) (hereafter JCCW), Vol. I, p. 183.
20. Ibid., p. 36; cf. F. Engels, Preface to the English Edition of 1888, in K. Marx and F. Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (Moscow, 1977), p. 20.
21. Ibid., p. 36; cf. F. Engels, Preface to the English Edition of 1888, in K. Marx and F. Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (Moscow, 1977), p. 20.
22. JCCW, Vol. I, pp. 24-6.
23. An Phoblacht, 24 December 1927.
24. Saor Eire, Constitution and Rules (1931), National Archives, Dublin, S 5864 A.
25. Republican Congress, 5 May 1934.
26. Nora Harkin, interview with the author, Dublin, 4 February 1988.
27. P. O'Donnell, Monkeys in the Superstructure: Reminiscences of Peadar O'Donnell (Galway, 1986), p. 10.
28. P. O'Donnell, Salud! An Irishman in Spain (London, 1937), p. 225.
29. Patrick Byrne to the author, 12 April 1988.
30. W. McMullen, untitled lecture, McMullen Papers (in the private possession of Joyce and Terry McMullen, Belfast).
31. M. McInerney, Peadar O'Donnell: Irish Social Rebel (Dublin, 1974), pp. 219-20; Anthony Coughlan, interview with the author, Dublin, 5 February 1988.
32. M. McInerney, Peadar O'Donnell: Irish Social Rebel (Dublin, 1974), pp. 219-20; Anthony Coughlan, interview with the author, Dublin, 5 February 1988.
33. P. O'Donnell, The Gates Flew Open (London, 1932), p. 73.
34. G. Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress (Cork, 1978), p. 23.
35. O'Donnell, Gates, p. 168.
36. See, for example, his description of leading IRA figure Sean Russell as having 'no brains' (O'Doherty to McGarrity, 22 March 1939, McGarrity Papers, National Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ms 17472).
37. O'Donnell, quoted in McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 219.
38. An Phoblacht, 21 January 1928.
39. Marx to Engels, 14 December 1867; Engels to Marx, 19 December 1867 (K. Marx and F. Engels, Ireland and the Irish Question (London, 1971), p. 159).
40. D. McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx (London, 1980), pp. 228-9; R.N. Hunt, The Political Ideas of Marx and Engels: I - Marxism and Totalitarian Democracy, 1818-1850 (London, 1975), pp. 340-1.
41. D. McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx (London, 1980), pp. 228-9; R.N. Hunt, The Political Ideas of Marx and Engels: I - Marxism and Totalitarian Democracy, 1818-1850 (London, 1975), pp. 340-1.
42. A. Schaff, 'Marxist Theory on Revolution and Violence', Journal of the History of Ideas, XXXIV (1973), p. 266.
43. S. Hook, 'Myth and Fact in the Marxist Theory of Revolution and Violence', Journal of the History of Ideas, XXXIV (1973), p. 271.
44. E. Nimni, Marxism and Nationalism: Theoretical Origins of a Political Crisis (London, 1991), p. 33.
45. Manifesto of the Irish Communist Party (1933), in Cork Workers' Club (hereafter CWC), The Irish Case for Communism (Cork, n.d.), pp. 38-9.
46. Manifesto of the Irish Communist Party (1933), in Cork Workers' Club (hereafter CWC), The Irish Case for Communism (Cork, n.d.), pp. 38-9.
47. For an expansion of this point, see English, Radicals, esp. Ch. 1.
48. Peadar O'Donnell, speech given in the Conway Street Mill, Belfast, 7 April 1984.
49. R. Davis, The Young Ireland Movement (Dublin, 1987), p. 189.
50. D.N. Buckley, James Fintan Lalor: Radical (Cork, 1990), p. 67.
51. JCCW, Vol. II, pp. 213-14.
52. For an expansion of this point, see English, Radicals, Ch. 2.
53. For conflicting opinions, see M. Elliott, Wolfe Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence (New Haven, 1989), p. 84; and T. Bartlett, 'The Burden of the Present: Theobald Wolfe Tone, Republican and Separatist', in The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism, and Rebellion, ed. D. Dickson, D. Keogh and K. Whelan (Dublin, 1993), pp. 1-2.
54. For conflicting opinions, see M. Elliott, Wolfe Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence (New Haven, 1989), p. 84; and T. Bartlett, 'The Burden of the Present: Theobald Wolfe Tone, Republican and Separatist', in The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism, and Rebellion, ed. D. Dickson, D. Keogh and K. Whelan (Dublin, 1993), pp. 1-2.
55. J. Smyth, in Saothar, XVIII (1993), p. 75.
56. JCCW, Vol. I, p. 92; 'the United Irishmen - that's the one organization in all our history that I very very much approve of' (George Gilmore, interview with Jennifer FitzGerald, 27 May 1985); Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress, pp. iii-iv; extracts from Tone's autobiography, untitled notes, McMullen Papers;
57. JCCW, Vol. I, p. 92; 'the United Irishmen - that's the one organization in all our history that I very very much approve of' (George Gilmore, interview with Jennifer FitzGerald, 27 May 1985); Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress, pp. iii-iv; extracts from Tone's autobiography, untitled notes, McMullen Papers;
58. JCCW, Vol. I, p. 92; 'the United Irishmen - that's the one organization in all our history that I very very much approve of' (George Gilmore, interview with Jennifer FitzGerald, 27 May 1985); Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress, pp. iii-iv; extracts from Tone's autobiography, untitled notes, McMullen Papers;
59. JCCW, Vol. I, p. 92; 'the United Irishmen - that's the one organization in all our history that I very very much approve of' (George Gilmore, interview with Jennifer FitzGerald, 27 May 1985); Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress, pp. iii-iv; extracts from Tone's autobiography, untitled notes, McMullen Papers;
60. McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 32.
61. O'Donnell, Gates, pp. 62, 168.
62. Irish Independent, 22 September 1922. For Tone's use of this phrase, see J. Smyth, The Men of No Property: Irish Radicals and Popular Politics in the Late Eighteenth Century (Dublin, 1992), p. ix.
63. Irish Independent, 22 September 1922. For Tone's use of this phrase, see J. Smyth, The Men of No Property: Irish Radicals and Popular Politics in the Late Eighteenth Century (Dublin, 1992), p. ix.
64. Republican Congress, 5 May 1934.
65. P. O'Donnell, There Will Be Another Day (Dublin, 1963), p. 11.
66. McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 237.
67. O'Donnell, There Will Be Another Day, pp. 105, 132.
68. An Phoblacht, 28 February 1931; T. Garvin, Nationalist Revolutionaries in Ireland, 1858-1928 (Oxford, 1987), pp. 33-40; J. Newsinger, 'Revolution and Catholicism in Ireland, 1848-1923', European Studies Review, IX (1979), p. 469.
69. An Phoblacht, 28 February 1931; T. Garvin, Nationalist Revolutionaries in Ireland, 1858-1928 (Oxford, 1987), pp. 33-40; J. Newsinger, 'Revolution and Catholicism in Ireland, 1848-1923', European Studies Review, IX (1979), p. 469.
70. An Phoblacht, 28 February 1931; T. Garvin, Nationalist Revolutionaries in Ireland, 1858-1928 (Oxford, 1987), pp. 33-40; J. Newsinger, 'Revolution and Catholicism in Ireland, 1848-1923', European Studies Review, IX (1979), p. 469.
71. O'Donnell, quoted in McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 32; O'Donnell, There Will Be Another Day, pp. 11-12.
72. O'Donnell, quoted in McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 32; O'Donnell, There Will Be Another Day, pp. 11-12.
73. Elliott, Tone, p. 418.
74. R.F. Foster, Paddy and Mr Punch: Connections in Irish and English History (London, 1993), p. 2.
75. See English, Radicals, for sustained discussion of this point.
76. Smyth, The Men of No Property, pp. x, 83.
77. O'Donnell, speech in Belfast, 7 April 1984.
78. CWC, Irish Case, p. 9; McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 24.
79. CWC, Irish Case, p. 9; McInerney, O'Donnell, p. 24.
80. Workers' Republic, 5 February 1916.
81. See R. English, 'Socialism and Republican Schism in Ireland: The Emergence of the Republican Congress in 1934', Irish Historical Studies, XXVII (1990).
82. O'Donnell, in Workers' Republic, 26 August 1922.
83. English, Radicals, Ch. 1.
84. JCCW, Vol. I, pp. 337-8.
85. Gilmore, The Irish Republican Congress, p. 3.
86. O'Donnell, Gates, p. 167.
87. O'Donnell to Cape, 24 February 1933, Jonathan Cape Archives, University of Reading.
88. W. McMullen, untitled ms. (n.d.), McMullen Papers.
89. CWC, Irish Case, p. 39.
90. J. Whyte, Interpreting Northern Ireland (Oxford, 1990), pp. 182-7.
91. English, Radicals.
92. L. Greenfeld, Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Cambridge, 1992), p. 15.
93. See, for example, the comments of leading IRA man Ernie O'Malley regarding his having had 'the inborn hate of things English', regarding 'the superiority of the English', and regarding English-British influences (Prisoners: The Civil War Letters of Ernie O'Malley, ed. R. English and C. O'Malley (Dublin, 1991), pp. 36, 69; R. English, 'Green on Red: Two Case Studies in Early Twentieth Century Irish Republican Thought', in Political Thought, ed. Boyce et al.). Indeed, O'Malley was absorbed, during his Irish revolutionary career, with authors whom Greenfeld holds to have been central to the emergence of English nationalism itself. Compare, for example, O'Malley's declaration of 1923 - 'I have a decent library now and have ample time to browse deep in Chaucer, Shakesp[eare], Dante and Milton' - with Greenfeld's own treatment of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton (English, 'Green on Red', p. 173; Greenfeld, Nationalism, pp. 68-9, 76).
94. See, for example, the comments of leading IRA man Ernie O'Malley regarding his having had 'the inborn hate of things English', regarding 'the superiority of the English', and regarding English-British influences (Prisoners: The Civil War Letters of Ernie O'Malley, ed. R. English and C. O'Malley (Dublin, 1991), pp. 36, 69; R. English, 'Green on Red: Two Case Studies in Early Twentieth Century Irish Republican Thought', in Political Thought, ed. Boyce et al.). Indeed, O'Malley was absorbed, during his Irish revolutionary career, with authors whom Greenfeld holds to have been central to the emergence of English nationalism itself. Compare, for example, O'Malley's declaration of 1923 - 'I have a decent library now and have ample time to browse deep in Chaucer, Shakesp[eare], Dante and Milton' - with Greenfeld's own treatment of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton (English, 'Green on Red', p. 173; Greenfeld, Nationalism, pp. 68-9, 76).
95. See, for example, the comments of leading IRA man Ernie O'Malley regarding his having had 'the inborn hate of things English', regarding 'the superiority of the English', and regarding English-British influences (Prisoners: The Civil War Letters of Ernie O'Malley, ed. R. English and C. O'Malley (Dublin, 1991), pp. 36, 69; R. English, 'Green on Red: Two Case Studies in Early Twentieth Century Irish Republican Thought', in Political Thought, ed. Boyce et al.). Indeed, O'Malley was absorbed, during his Irish revolutionary career, with authors whom Greenfeld holds to have been central to the emergence of English nationalism itself. Compare, for example, O'Malley's declaration of 1923 - 'I have a decent library now and have ample time to browse deep in Chaucer, Shakesp[eare], Dante and Milton' - with Greenfeld's own treatment of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton (English, 'Green on Red', p. 173; Greenfeld, Nationalism, pp. 68-9, 76).
96. See, for example, the comments of leading IRA man Ernie O'Malley regarding his having had 'the inborn hate of things English', regarding 'the superiority of the English', and regarding English-British influences (Prisoners: The Civil War Letters of Ernie O'Malley, ed. R. English and C. O'Malley (Dublin, 1991), pp. 36, 69; R. English, 'Green on Red: Two Case Studies in Early Twentieth Century Irish Republican Thought', in Political Thought, ed. Boyce et al.). Indeed, O'Malley was absorbed, during his Irish revolutionary career, with authors whom Greenfeld holds to have been central to the emergence of English nationalism itself. Compare, for example, O'Malley's declaration of 1923 - 'I have a decent library now and have ample time to browse deep in Chaucer, Shakesp[eare], Dante and Milton' - with Greenfeld's own treatment of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton (English, 'Green on Red', p. 173; Greenfeld, Nationalism, pp. 68-9, 76).