East Wall community remembers Irish Citizen Army
On Saturday there is a major seminar at Collins Barracks, Dublin, to mark the foundation of the Irish Citizen Army from 11 am to 4pm. (Admission Free)
Below is excerpt from ‘East Wall For All’ blog which celebrates the special relationship between the ICA and this old working class community
Sean O’Casey, East Wall and the Irish Citizen Army in 1913
East Wall, Easter Week Rising 1916, History, history week 2013,Writing/Arts/Poetry/Theatre
by EWALL4ALL
This month marks the centenary of the founding of the Irish Citizen Army during the 1913 Lockout. Since August the Dublin workers had been at war with the Dublin Employers Federation which had set out to destroy the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU). They had locked out thousands of men and were trying to starve them and their families into submission. The employers had the full use of the military and the police against the workers, and violence and brutality were common place – two men had already been battened to death and many more injured. Also, many strike breakers, including ‘free labourers’ brought in from England, were permitted to carry revolvers. In response, the Irish Citizen Army was founded as a defence force for the workers. James Larkin, James Connolly, Francis Sheehy Skeffington (the well known pacifist) and Captain Jack White (who abandoned his staunch Unionist family background) were amongst the well known figures that would play leading roles.
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