Socialism With Irish Characteristics: Part 2

In the first article we witnessed that a primitive socialism existed in ancient celtic society, the social thinking of the united Irishmen, Young Irelanders and the Fenians was also discussed. Now we will move on to the early 20th century, revolutionary period from 1916-1923. This period saw republican ideology be expanded by various republican thinkers from James Connolly to Countess Markievicz to Padraig Pearse and Liam Mellows. Documents like the proclamation and democratic along with other social programmes furthered the agenda of developing an Irish form of socialism.   

Early 20th century 

When we think of socialism in the 20th century we think of James Connolly’s Marxism, but it’s even interesting that although he was a Marxist theorist he still viewed socialism as something deeply bedded in the tradition of Celtic society and republicanism in general. His book Labour in Irish history promotes that narrative. When the clergy and parliamentary party tried to accuse Connolly of introducing a German philosophy (Marxism), he pointed to the Celtic communal methods of organising society. There is no doubt Connolly is one of the greatest writers of the social and economic aspect of republicanism but too often the ideas of the other leaders get overlooked. 

They are a revisionist trend that’s promoted outside republicanism that Connolly was in amongst reactionaries and bourgeois elements. This is completely untrue; all seven leaders of the proclamation were supportive of the workers in 1913 as were the IRB overall. The IRB’s newspaper Irish Freedom stated during the lockout “The cause of Irish liberty is more the cause of the people than the plutocrats, and the new Ireland we work for will not be governed by money bags.” Those like Clarke would have continued the idealism of the fenian tradition but others created their own ideas. 

Padraig Pearse, who was promoted as a conservative extremist by revisionists was quite the opposite. Pearse’s writings reflected that of Lalors, Davis and of course the Fenians but at other times it’s clear he added his own christian elements (similar to liberation theology) to his political thinking. In 1913 pearse wrote on the 1913 lockout “My instinct is with the landless man against the lord of lands, and with the breadless man against the master of millions.” Pearse believed that the “cooperative commonwealth” (cooperative commonwealth is another term that is used to describe socialism) was how a Gaelic society should be organised. So in other words the land and industries should be owned by the Irish people in terms of cooperatives. It was Pearse’s sovereign people where he famously formulated his socialist ideas, he wrote: 

“So that the nation’s sovereignty extends not only to all the material possessions of the nation, the nation’s soil and all its resources, all wealth and all wealth-producing processes within the nation. In other words, no private right to property is good as against the public right of the nation.”

He’s advocating for public ownership of natural resources and even key wealth creating industries. If you read the essay further you’ll see him openly talking about Tone, Lalor and Davis and how they believed in ownership by the Irish people. Also he talks about how the nation is the people and that’s what even today we need to consider because when we talk about a free nation it should mean our people are free from exploitation. Also just to show you how Pearse incorporates a sort of progressive christian narrative this quote I think is relevant “The nation is the family in large; an empire is a commercial corporation in large. The nation is of God; the empire is of man – if it be not of the devil.” Pearse was also getting members of the Irish Volunteers to read Connolly’s books particularly “The reconquest of Ireland”. Although it can’t be denied that people like MacDonagh, Clarke or the others were firmly holding the radical ideology of their predecessors but it was Pearse and Connolly who made the impacts in their writings.

1916 proclamation, Democratic Programme and the revolutionary period. 

The 1916 proclamation is probably the most famous republican document probably due to the reason the 7 signatories were executed. But that document was a blueprint for the creation of a new Irish republic. It was the first document in the world to view women as equals. But it contained the idea of creating an   Ireland where “the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies” which is evidently paraphrasing Lalor. It also contained that the republic “declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally”. The children meaning the Irish people and how they shall be equal and live in prosperity. The document clearly sets out socialist principles and reflects on what the Irish Republic stands for. Although it’s more a blueprint rather than a social programme they are no doubt it has now become one of most important pillars of what we as republicans stand for. 

After the rising and executions, Irish Republicans infiltrated Sinn Féin and turned it into the political wing of the republican movement. The Irish volunteers had become the Irish Republican Army. But after the election of 1918, Sinn Féin set up the first Dáil in January 1919. One thing that came out of that first sitting was the Democratic Programme. It was written by Thomas Johnson of the Labour Party and given to Sinn Féin. It starts off by quoting the republican proclamation but interestingly it goes on to quote Pearse’s sovereign people and then claims “all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare.” It carries on explaining how the Irish people must work for the well-being of all the people in the nation and then goes on to say:

“It shall be the first duty of the Government of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training as Citizens of a Free and Gaelic Ireland.”

It clearly demonstrates throughout that the state must provide services for the people as we can see above. But look how it talks about “a free and Gaelic Ireland” which is clearly bringing back the notion that they are restoring an ancient tradition based on people’s well-being and social ownership. Along with the promise of nationalisation of resources and industries, they are also a promise of developing cooperative industries. The republican government never had the opportunity to implement the programme fully but Countess Markievicz as the minister for Labour did push for the development of cooperatives around the country but they were usually targeted by the Tans. Alongside the proclamation the Democratic Programme became another document that republicans point to as their inspiration of a more egalitarian Ireland. 

Markievicz wrote a pamphlet after the free state counter revolution was fully implemented. The pamphlet was called “what Republicans stand for” it challenged the pro-capitalist/imperialist establishment of the free state and made clear that the Irish Republic was to be on socialist lines. Anyone who is aware of Markavicz’s politics is well aware that she was a follower of Connolly and called for the establishment of a workers republic, but if we read her pamphlet she keeps pointing to the fact “the cooperative commonwealth” is the Gaelic society Pearse and Lalor promoted. She speaks about the ancient clan society throughout and cooperative ownership of the means of production. The final part of her pamphlet states how the free state would rather follow British capitalism rather than “to work and strive for the establishment of what the people desire—a Commonwealth based on Gaelic ideals.” 

The most famous social thinker during the civil war was Liam Mellows. Mellows was well known to have studied Brehon laws and Celtic society to develop socialist thinking. Mellows analysis of the free state and capitalism is probably his biggest contribution to republican ideology. His analysis is still relevant to us to this day. Mellows developed a social programme in prison based on public ownership and used Tones phrase when realising that the republic would get the support of the “the men of no property”. In this period the IRA redistributed land towards small farmers and burned down large estate houses. Although republicans viewed socialism as something based in both our own revolutionary and ancient traditions, that didn’t mean it was inward looking. Irish Republicans since 1798 have been involved in international solidarity, we witnessed that when looking at the Fenians. In this period the republican movement stood in solidarity with anti colonial movements and the new Soviet Union.

le Adrian Gallagher