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Big Jim Larkin 1878—1947 . Founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, and co-ordinator of the infamous Dublin Lock-out 1913
James Connolly said of Larkin, his colleague in the labour movement: "We have amongst us a man of genius, of splendid vitality, great in his conceptions, magnificent in his courage". GB Shaw described him as ‘the greatest Irishman since Parnell’.In 1913 Constance Markievize said of Larkin --- "Sitting there, listening to Larkin, I realised that I was in the presence of something that I had never come across before, some great primeval force rather than a man. A tornado, a storm-driven wave, the rush into life of spring, and the blasting breath of autumn, all seemed to emanate from the power that spoke. It seemed as if his personality caught up, assimilated, and threw back to the vast crowd that surrounded him every emotion that swayed them, every pain and joy that they had ever felt made articulate and sanctified. Only the great elemental force that is in all crowds had passed into his nature for ever."Bertram D Wolfe, who worked with Larkin, went on to write called “ Strange Communists I Have Known“, wrote ; “ James Robert Larkin was a big boned , large framed man , broad shoulders , held not to high not too proudly , giving him the air of stooping over ordinary men when he was speaking to them. Bright blues eyes from dark heavy brows, a long fleashy nose, hollowed out cheeks , prominent cheeks bones, a long thick neck , the cords of which stood out when he was angry , a powerful , stubborn chin , a head longer and a forehead higher than in most men, suggesting pliantly of room for the brain pan. Big Jim was well over six feet tall , so that I, at six foot , felt small when I looked up into his eyes. With long arms and long legs , great hands like shovels , big , rounded shoes , shaped in front like the rear of a canel boat, completed this picture “.. His brother Peter and his sister Delia Larkin were heavily influence by their big brother and they too became Trade Union member organiser- Delia also became a journalist and an actress, and they all followed him to Ireland and were very prominent during the 1913 ‘Dublin Lockout” James Larkin was born in Liverpool UK to Irish parents [1846-1915 ] , the eldest son of James and Mary Ann [nee McNulty from County Armagh] Larkin … All the majority of other Irish emigrants in this era, the Larkin family lived in impoverished conditions in the slum of Liverpool.. He had relatively little formal schooling during the early years of his life.. From the age of seven years he went to school in the mornings and worked at all kinds of jobs in the afternoon, to supplement the family income. A common arrangement in all Irish families’ of poor and working-class people in this era. His father died when Larkin as fourteen years of age, and as it was common practice in this ere, as the eldest son he was apprenticed to the firm his father worked for. He remained there for approximately two years, but was then dismissed. He then acquired work at a variety of jobs working butcher's assistant, paper-hanger, French polisher, engineering apprentice, and then as a seaman./ docker, knowing full well that his family now depended on him to provide the much needed money to keep them,. A brash, temperamental, and restless adolescent, from his early teens Larkin took his duty to his family very seriously Some sources would suggest that on one of his travels to the Americas, he holed up in one of the cargo ships ,and when found was imprisoned, studied socialism while imprisoned , and was then transported back to Liverpool. He was renound for his moral compass on life, he never pilfered for the ship’s cargo , did not gamble, drink or smoke, although in later life he enjoyed smoking a cigar or a pipe. Any free time he had was given to charitable works in the slums of Liverpool and the Independent Labour Party, and later in Ireland he joined The Temperance Societyt was from his own personal experience of deprivation and poverty that he acquired his life –long commitment to revolutionary socialism and the destruction of capitalism and his hatred of exploitation of the working class and of his own poverty stricken background. He identified very strongly with the underprivileged.By 1903, he had earned promotion to dock foreman. In the September of 1903 he had married Elizabeth Brown of a Baptist lay – preacher family . The couple went to live with Larkins widowed mother as 37 Roche St, Toxteth Park Livepool . They went on to have four son’s : James (1904–69), Denis 1908–87), Fintan (1909–81), and Barney (1914–78).. Some sources would suggest that he also had a daughter ”it was a marriage of chalk and cheese”, as Elisabeth was given to be a home maker and doing good works. His whole family later moved back to live in a small cottage in Burren South Armagh.He initially rose to prominence during a dock strike in Liverpool in 1905, and in 1906 he was invited to become the full time organiser of the National Union of Dock Labourers [NUDL] .. In late 1906 he was sent him to Scotland, where he successfully organised workers in Preston {Scottish Boarders ] and Glasgow. His name became synonymous with leadership and having the ability to recruit and organize mass demonstrations of people, so much so , that he was sent to Belfast in 1907 to its unskilled workforce .He established a Union Branch and succeeded in uniting both Protestant and Catholic workers in his quest for better pay and conditions , which the local employers were up in arms and sought to break his hold on the workers hearts and minds. He called a lockout strike and a bitter dispute followed [May –November 1907], however the Leaders of the NUDL went over his head and reached a settlement with the employers. Such was his force of presence and charisma he succeeded in recruiting members of the local Royal Irish Constabulary and encouraged them to strike at one point. By this time, Larkin was feeling betrayed/ undermined and frustrated by this ‘sell out’ as he called it, because ‘Sexton’ General Secretary of the NUDL , handling of the negotiations with the employers , had led to a disastrous settlement for the workers . Tensions arose between Larkin and the Sexton and resulted in a lasting rift between them. At that point, Larkin was sent to Dublin to organize the workers in Dublin, Cork and Waterford, which he undertook with considerable success. However in in a dispute with employers in Dublin/ Cork , against union instructions, this resulted in his expulsion from the NUDL 1908 The NUDL then prosecuted him for diverting union funds to give to strike pay to workers in Cork engaged in what they called and unofficial dispute. After a trial; where he was charged with embellishment, he was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.. This was widely regarded as unjust, with the media reporting on this injustice daily , and the then Lord Lieutenant , Lord Aberdeen , pardoned him three months into his term of imprisonment.. Described as an Englishman by the Arthur Griffiths [ see TWG}, who was importing foreign political disruption into Ireland and putting Native Industry at risk., he took not notice of Griffiths !. By the 28th December 1908 he had founded the Irish Transport and General Workers Unions, his argument was that Irish workers needed Irish Unions. As General Secretary he went on to run this Union in a dictatorial manner.. He faced real opposition from Sextons NULD and other conservative Trade Unions . He was then elected to the Parliamentary committee of the Irish Tarde Unions 1908 , and in 1909 he failed to get the Irish Transport and General Workers Union [ITGWU} recognized at the 1909 Congress. Undeterred, he presented again at the 1910 where he won admittance to Congress. By 1911 he had been re-elected to the ITGWU parliamentary committee …. Larkin became pre-occupied with trade –union politics and journalism, and concentrated on this element of trade unionism, rather than on the mundane tasks of union organisation. He also had a penchant for personal attacks on his enemies. Despite the fact that James Connelly now worked for the ITGWU , Larkins production of James Connelly’s paper ‘The Harp’, which Connelly had issued in the USA when he was living there ; resulted in repeated threats of libel action… which Larkin ignored. Larkin also established a left –wing newspaper ‘The Irish Worker’ 1911, which was very successful and which named bad employers and corrupt government officials; this did not endear him to the employers, or the government officials. Unrepentant, and eager to get into Politics, he joined James Connolly [ when Connolly was executed ,[ Larkin living the USA at this time grieved for his friend and sparring partner] in founding ‘The Irish Labour Party ’,despite their differences, they shared the same Goals, the intention being that this said party would become the political wing of The Irish Transport and General Workers Union, which they hoped would get them into the seats of Dublin Corporation/Parliament and they had modest success. Later in 1912 Larking was jubilant when he won a seat in the Dublin Corporation,. His jubilation however, was short lived, , as within a month of him being elected into office, he was removed on the grounds that as a convicted felon [despite him being pardoned] he had no right to be a member of Dublin Corporation !!! After James Connolly was executed, Thomas Johnson became the leader of the Irish Labour Party; a decision was made to stand aside for the 1918 and 1921 election.. Not letting sight of the Goal that Larkin and Connolly had envisioned , that the Irish Labour Party came back with a force in the 1922 elections, and would later form a coalitions with other Party’s and became main opposition party in Dáil Éireann [Parliament of the Free State 1922.] By 1913 , The Irish Transport and General Workers Union had 10.000 and had secured wage increases for most of its members…Dublin workers were amongst the poorest in the United Kingdom, and lived in squalor, tenements were filthy, with hundreds sharing rooms and were overcrowded to the point, where people were sleeping in hallways and doorways; and were dying by the hundreds daily from Tuberculous and starvation . At this point, attempts by employers to stop their workers in joining the TGTWU, resulted in what has become famously known as the “Dublin Lockout 1913”… Notably, Guinness the largest employer and biggest exporter in Dublin refused to lock out its workforce, as their workforce were relatively well paid, with bonus such as housing and medical benefits , their workers were reluctant to go on strike…. The Guinness Brewery Company however, did contribute a considerable amount of money approximately £400 to the Dublin United Tramway, operated and ran by Chairman William Martin Murphy, the industrial and newspaper proprietor , who was determined not to allow the Irish Transport and General Workers Union to unionise his workers , sacking forty of the men 26th Aug 1913, who were suspected of joining the said union , following that up with the sacking of approximately 300 workers over the next two weeks. The resulting industrial dispute called by Larkin, was the most severe in Irish History.. Connolly and Larkin . Dublin Lockout 1913 ........... right By this time, Larkin was a wanted man,, and hid out if people homes , but he wanted to address his followers, but knew that he would be arrested on the spot if he conveyed a meeting. So Countess Markievize, her husband Casimer; and Nellie Gifford [who was unknown to the Police] arranged for Larkin to address the crowds from the balcony of the Imperial Hotel Sackville St [now O’Connell Bridge}, the crowds flocked onto Sackville Street,. Unbeknown to Martin Murphy {Larkin’s nemesis; of the Business world / Industrial newspaper proprietor ]; Larkin was smuggled into Murphy’s Imperial Hotel , disguised as a stooped /feeble , hard of hearing clergyman.. Once inside, he threw off his disguise and raced to the Balcony, as Markievize ,her husband, and Gifford , locked them all onto the balcony, so that Larkin could conduct his speech. .. Not unsurprisingly, the Police were soon alerted, but not before Larkin had conducted his speech.. an MP Handel Booth, who was present said that afterwards the Police, “behaved like fleeing men possessed “ , they brutalised the crowds with their baton’s, injuring many, with many hundreds [400-600] crawling away bleeding. Larkin was not caught despite there being some 300 Royal Constabularies present; he had fled in the confusion. Connolly was arrested and with incitement to breach the peace. He refused to recognize the Court.---Left/ Larkin being hoisted above the crowds to stop police arresting him 1913 ---- It was during the famous 1913 “lock-out” in Dublin, that James Connolly, Larkin; Jack White . Séan O’Casey : Countess Markievize ; Francis Sheehu-Skiffington and P.T Daly, founded, “The Irish Citizens Army”- to help the workers defend themselves from of the brutality of the Police Batons . Not only that however, the Irish Citizens Army combined with Cuman na mBan, opened soup kitchens, and took meals into the school’s to feed the starving children. It has been estimated that there were 20.000 workers on strike, plus their dependants. America / England, and other countries sent ships filled with food for the striking workers and their families’, while the Unions of Great Britain Congress sent approximately £1500 pounds .. James Connolly et.al, refused to allow any Merchant Ships or other Ships in Dublin Docks, extending this Barr along the Eastern Seaboard...By this time in early 1914 however, it had become evident that the General Transport and General Workers Union had lost the dispute. . The lock-out eventually ended in early 1914 when Larkin /Connolly called on the a sympathetic vote in England , only for it to be rejected by the British TUC . Larkins attacks on the TUC Leadership, resulted in the cessation of financial aid to the ITGWU…They were by now desperately lacking in resources, with no money left and the vital support of the Unions in England had stalled to a trickle.. Plus the fact that some of the workers had started trickling back to work as they could not sustain their family’s any longer. Larkin himself,had to concede that they had been beaten. They may have lost the battle; they had not however lost the war, as the employers did not dare treat their workers with the same casual brutality as they had previously, it marked a watershed in Irish Labourers working conditions, with the principle of union action and workers solidarity firmly established. What became more important was that Larkins rhetoric, condemning poverty and calling for all of the oppressed people of Ireland to stand up for themselves, made a lasting impression. Later in 1914 when World War 1 broke out, Irishmen were being encouraged / recruited to join the British Army ; Larkin called on Irishmen not to become involved in the conflict. In the Irish Worker he wrote: "Stop at home. Arm for Ireland. Fight for Ireland and no other land." He also organized large anti-war demonstrations in Dublin, which did not of course endear him to the British or Irish Parliament. By the Autumn of 1914 , Larkin exhausted from the trials and tribulations of the “Lock out “, the many arguments with Employers , Royal Irish Constabulary , not least the British and Irish Parliaments, he made the decision to go to the USA , ostensibly , this visit was allow him to recuperate and raise funds for the now depleted funds in the Irish Transport and General Workers Union of Ireland.. He left the Union in the able hands of James Connolly … n America , he took up the baton once again for the workers. He joined the Socialist Party of America, and became highly involved in the Industrial Workers of America Union [known as the Wobblies] .. Then he went that one step too far in public opinion, he became an enthusiastic supporter of the Soviet Union, like numerous other sympathises in the USA in this era. In the USA however, there was a nationwide fear of the communists, anarchists and Bolsheviks and other dissents, that had entered the Psyche of the USA citizens ,and made him a target and he became synonymous , for what became known as the Red Scare 1919 … Larkin , had aligned himself to these groups, and this would get dismissed from the Socialist Party that year 1919 .. In 1920 He was arrested for ‘criminal anarchy’ , and was sentenced to Sing Sins prison from between five to ten years … Despite the fact that he was unable to return to Ireland, he was re-elected annually as the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. He served three years before being pardoned by Al Smith Governor of New York , and deported back to Ireland. Larkin.. Prison Photo USA He returned home to a triumphant welcome, and despite the fact that he had the popularity to get re-elected annually, while in the USA.. his triumphant welcome lasted but a very short time, as the new leader of the Transport and General Workers Union was unwilling to step aside, and somehow managed to get Larkin expelled from the Party… The very Party that Larkin had founded. However, this was not the only issue that concerned him, as the leading figures in the Transport and General Workers Union William O’Brien, et.al. were now suing him for malicious attacks on their characters , and the misapplication of funds of funds to the tune £1,746.69 [a lot of money in that era] that they alleged had been in the Hibernian Bank in December 1913, but O’Brian et,al had found it empty when Larkin had went to the USA.. Since all relevant account books had mysteriously been destroyed, no explanation for the missing money was possible.. The court found against Larkin, and ordered him to pay the costs for both sides … The bitterness of this court case between the former organisers of the now infamous “1913 Dublin Lock-out” would last for twenty years. In 1923 Larkin formed the Irish Workers League , and soon afterwards it was recognized by Comintern as the Irish section of the world communist movement . He also became head of the Comintern [ the communist international abbreviated as Comintern]- and while he was head of this organisation, he was invited to the Soviet Union in 1924 .. He was not impressed with the communist system, he said he found nothing there to attract him , and to the Soviets disappointment, they did not see in him, the same man [as they had in the USA] in this wild –hearted rebel.. He continued to cause mayhem in Russia, he complained about the food, and the waiters who could not understand an Irishman with a thick Irish brogue…. The Russians were said to be very happy when Larkin returned to Ireland. Interestingly, when Larkin returned to Ireland , he boasted that he had been appointed the Chief Of Battalion of The Red Army, addressing twenty million Russians and had been elected as “ one of twenty five men” to govern the world, who had pledged to come to the assistance of the Irish workers. ". However, the Irish Workers League were not impressed with these tall tales and made it clear that they were not organised as a political party, never held a general congress and never succeeded in being politically effective. Its most prominent activity in its first year was to raise funds for imprisoned members of the Anti-Treaty IRA Undaunted, he again founded a new Union called Workers Union of Ireland; some sources would suggest that it was while Larkin was out of the country in 1924 that it was his brother Peter, who helped found this union. Whatever the truth of its foundation, this new union however thrived, and within in a very short period had gained approximately two thirds of the Dublin membership of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union , with a smaller number coming from the rural members. It affiliated itself with the pro- Soviet International of Labour Unions ….. Not content with being at the top of the Union’s once again, he launched an attack on a Labour’s Tom Johnson, accusing him of being a English traitor, and threatened him , saying - "It's time that Labour dealt with this English traitor. If they don't get rid of this scoundrel, they'll get the bullet and the bayonet in reward. There's nothing for it, but a dose of the lead, which Johnson promises to those who look for work". That incitement to murder Johnston, in a still-violent post-Civil War country cost Larkin £1000 in libel damages. In January 1925 , the Comintern sent one of the activist to Ireland to establish a communists party , in co- operation with Larkin… However, Larkin had no intention of attending this formal conference with Bob Stewart, which was to be held at the Mansion House, when Stewart heard this , he cancelled the conference as the proposed party could not succeed without Larkin. At the general elections September 1927, he ran for election for Dublin North , which against all the odds and everyone’s expectations {even Peter his brother did not expected to win ], he did win the seat. Once again his triumph in attaining high office was short lived, as he had been declared an undischarged bankrupt, and as such could not take his seat. In the following years, his attempts to gain a position as a commercial agent for the Soviet Union, were unsuccessful, which some sources would suggest that this may have contributed to his disenchantment with Stalinism and the Soviet Union. For their part, the Soviets had become impatient with what they saw as Larkins ineffective leadership…By the 1930s, he drew away from communism, yet he once again tried, to gain seat in the 1932 general elections, standing on a communist’s ticket, he failed miserably. For the 1933 elections and thereafter he stood as an “Independent Labour” .In 1934, he was requested by the USA Government, headed by John J. McCloy a Lawyer and a Banker -- to give evidence on the 1916 Black Tom explosion enquiry that was based in New Jersey. It was a munitions factory and was heavily involved in making ammunitions for World War one… Larkins was suspected of having some involvement in this explosion, as he was affiliated to the Soviet Union, and was also a member of Clan na Gael at this time and they too, were also suspected of being a part of the explosion. However, Larkins testimony allowed a case for damages against Germany to be reopened, he always remained adamant that he had nothing to do with the explosion During this period in his life, raising a family, having helped to care for his elderly mother, and after all the trauma of libel suites, acrimonious relationships with former colleagues, and distancing himself from Communism, , and after many years of being separated from the Catholic Church,-he had re- engaged with his spiritual need for the resumptions of harmonious relationship with his childhood faith ‘Catholism ‘. This remained a very momentous time in his life, and took his faith very seriously thereafter. Larkin admiration for De Valera, notwithstanding his distancing himself from Communism, was rewarded with an appointment to the commission of vocational organisation . An enthusiastic and enigmatic nominee, his role was thwarted by the fact that , he expressed reservations about the commissions fascist potential, and did not attend many sessions, and refues to sign the final report 1943 . By 1936 he had regained his seat on Dublin Corporation, following this triumph up with regaining his Dáil seal at the general election 1937 but lost it again the following year. . During this period The Workers Union of Ireland entered the mainstream of the trade union movement, and in 1936 they had been admitted to the Dublin Trades Union Council 1936, however the Irish Trade Union Congress did not accept the said Unions membership until 1945….1941, brought more turmoil to his life, when a new trade union bill was published by the government, inspired by an internal union restructuring proposed by William O’Brien { Larkins nemesis]. He led an unsuccessful campaign against the bill. After its passage into law, Larkin and his supporters successfully applied for admission into the Labour Party. They were fortunate to be regarded with sympathy by some members of the rank and file… However, his nemesis, William O’ Brien, in response to this amalgamated structure of unions, disaffiliated the Irish Transport and General Workers of Ireland, from the Labour Party. O’Brian was so frustrated by Larkns involvement in the Labour Party, that he then went on to found the National Labour Party, claiming that there was a communist influence in the Labour Party that he regretted, and thereby distancing himself from Larkin altogether. Larkin went on to serve as a Labour Party deputy from 1943 to 1944…Larkin's hopes of crowning his municipal career with a term as lord mayor of Dublin were frustrated, he was not elected. He did however enjoy the vicarious honour, in March 1946, of initiating the conferment of the freedom of the city on George Bernard Shaw . Larkin had always taken a lively interest in literature and drama, and was the subject of plays, poems, and songs in his lifetime. From 1939 he renewed acquaintance with Sean O'Casey , arguably his greatest admirer, who took him as the model for ‘Red Jim’ in his play ‘The star turns red’ (1940).Although Larkin and his wife had been estranged for many years , when she died December 1945, he grieved for her in a manner that effected his own health[ she was the love of his life]. In 1946 he told colleagues in the Irish Transport Union {ITUC] that he was heading rapidly to the grave.. In late 1946 , while supervising repairs at the Union Offices Thomas Ash Hall , he fell through the floors and suffered internal injuries , he was taken to the Meath Hospital where he died in his sleep January 1947 . Archbishop John Charles McQuoid attended him during his period in Hospital and his formal reconciliation with the Catholic Church. His funeral was celebrated by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. Along with many dignitaries of the political world who attended his funeral, there were many, many thousands of Irish people, who lined the streets leading to Glasnevin Cemetery, where he is buried.His material wealth amounted to £16 .26 pence His son know as -- Young Jim , succeeded him as general secretary of the WUI.. …His Legacy *Larkin has been the subject of poems by Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, Frank O'Connor and Lola Ridge; his character has been central in plays by Daniel Corkery, George Russell (Æ), and Sean O'Casey; and he is a heroic figure in the background of James Plunkett's novel Strumpet City.*James Larkin was memorialized by the New York Irish rock band Black 47, in their song The Day They Set Jim Larkin Free and The Ballad of James Larkinwas recorded by Christy Moore and also The Dubliners . Paddy Reilly sings a song simply entitled Jim Larkin that describes the lot of the worker and their appreciation of the changes made by Larkin and Connolly .*Today a statue of "Big Jim" stands on O'Connell Street in Dublin. The inscription on the front of the monument is an extract in French, Irish and English from one of his famous speeches:Les grands ne sont grands que parce que nous sommes à genoux: Levons-nous.Ní uasal aon uasal ach sinne bheith íseal: Éirímis.The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise. * There are many archives and images of Larkin who left no private papers or major writings, though he published an as yet unknown number of ephemeral articles, unsigned contributions,and editorials in various newspapers, notably the Irish Worker. The substantial material on Larkin in Russian state archives is cited in detail in IHS, xxxi (1998– and many more but too numerous to mention here * The numerous images of Larkin include a life-size bronze statue by Oisín Kelly in O'Connell St., Dublin; a bust by Mina Carney in the Hug Lane Gallery, Dublin; drawings by Sir William Orpen , done in Liberty Hall, Dublin, and yet again , there are too many to mention here. See More