Connolly and Citizen Army increasingly provocative

CONNOLLY AND CITIZEN ARMY INCREASINGLY PROVOCATIVE

With Connolly becoming more stringent in his criticism of the War the authorities began to censor The Irish Worker. In December 1914 the authorities closed down The Irish Worker along with Sinn Fein and Irish Freedom. Connolly tried to have The Irish Worker printed in Glasgow and smuggled into Ireland but the February issue was seized by the authorities as it came off ship. Connolly decided to set up his own printing press in Liberty Hall and so produce his own propaganda. It was the end of May 1915 before a new paper was produced, which he called Workers Republic. From the very beginning this newspaper preached insurrection. A page under the title " ICA notes" was given over in each issue to the subject of military tactics and examples were given from other countries around the world where uprisings had occurred. In these articles Connolly concentrated on issues such as street fighting, building barricades etc.

In complete contrast to the conspiratorial methods and elitist tactics of the I. R. B. Connolly and the Citizen Army were very public in their intentions. Openly carrying arms and printing seditious material in Workers Republic they were pushing the authorities as far as they could. Without a doubt the authorities would have closed down Liberty Hall and the printing press had they not to worry about the resistance expected from the Citizen Army. In the inquiry into the Rising, evidence was given that while most government officials wanted to close Liberty Hall their military advisers estimated that up to a thousand soldiers would be needed, with the inevitable resulting bloodshed. With the armed protection of the Citizen Army, Connolly was able to make his campaign for an uprising more direct and longer sustained than in any other insurrectionist period in Irish history.

Throughout 1915, as well as goading the authorities, Connolly began using Workers Republic to attack the Volunteers and their lack of activity. As he wasn't privy to the I. R. B. 's military council plans he felt that the moderates were gaining control of the Volunteers and a rising was becoming more remote as time went on. In issue after issue of Workers Republic Connolly appealed to the rank and file of the Volunteers over the heads of the leadership, arguing that were the War to end before a rising could take place, Ireland would have lost a great opportunity to further its aim of independence.

It wasn't only the authorities and the Volunteers who felt unhappy at the direction Connolly was taking. Within the I. T. G. W. U. there were elements who disapproved of the attention Connolly and the Citizen Army were attracting from Dublin Castle. As far back as the plan to disrupt the Asquith meeting, murmurs of discontent had begun. The installation of the printing press in Liberty Hall and the increasing public display of the Citizen Army added to the fears of a section of the I. T. G. W. U. that Liberty Hall would be closed down and the I. T. G. W. U. smashed as a result of the activities of the Citizen Army. As most of the Citizen Army were members of the I. T. G. W. U., Connolly, with the support of key people like O'Brien, Foran and Partridge, had been able to persuade the union to support his actions. Incidents such as the time in November 1915 when Connolly sent armed pickets to deal with police harassment during the strike at the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, made it hard for those who disapproved of the Citizen Army in Liberty Hall to do anything about it.

Towards the end of 1915 the Citizen Army manoeuvres had been increasingly provocative. Numerous public displays and marches were held. One particular incident was a mock attack on Dublin Castle on a foggy night in October. Due to the short notice of mobilisation and the chosen target, even members of the Citizen Army themselves didn't know if this was the real thing or a practice. This was an indication of the state of readiness of the Citizen Army for any eventuality.

THE BUILD UP BEGINS

Connolly's increasingly belligerent writings and the Citizen Army's actions began to worry the military council of the I. R. B. who had decided on a rising in principle and were afraid that the Citizen Army would proceed unilaterally and destroy whatever chance of success their own plans had. What the I. R. B. did not know was this was exactly what was going through Connolly's mind at the time. He was convinced that a rising must be attempted before the authorities struck first and suppressed the Citizen Army and the Volunteers. He had decided that, if necessary, the Citizen Army should go it alone in the hope that this would be the spark which would set the more militant wing of the Volunteers on the road to revolt. In late 1915 Connolly had asked each of the Citizen Army members individually whether they would be willing to go ahead with a rising without the support of the Volunteers.

At different times most of the Military Council of the I. R. B. Clarke, Mc Dermott, Tom Ashe, Pearse and Mc Donagh, individually came to see Connolly to try and dissuade him from attempting a rising as the time was not right. None of them had any luck in convincing him to bide his time, so in what has become known as the 'kidnapping' of James Connolly, the I. R. B. Military Council met with him and informed him of their plans for a rising. This incident has never been fully explained but the end result was that during his disappearance from Sunday January 19th 1916, to the following Wednesday, Connolly agreed to hold off on any plans to go it alone. He also became a member of the I. R. B. and its Military Council. At last Connolly was to achieve his aim of a rising and the date was set for Easter Sunday April 23rd 1916, to coincide with the arrival of a shipload of arms from Germany brought over by Roger Casement.

Around this time it is estimated that there were approximately three hundred and fifty members of the Citizen Army. Unlike the Volunteers, women were given equal rights in the Citizen Army and some of the women soldiers carried arms and were in positions of authority within the army. Constance Markievicz, Dr. Kathleen Lynn and Helena Moloney were all officers in the army. A Citizen Army Scout Corps had been formed around July 1914 and its members drilled and trained with guns like their seniors. James Connolly's son Roddy was a member of the Scout Corps and fought alongside his father in the G. P. O. during the Rising. The situation began to hot up in the run up to the Rising.

On March 24th 1916 a squad of police raided the paper shop beside Liberty Hall searching for The Gael, a nationalist newspaper. Connolly was called from Liberty Hall and arrived as the police were searching the shop. When informed that the police had no search warrant he pulled a gun and ordered them out. Connolly, fearing that the police would return to raid Liberty Hall, sent out a mobilisation order to all Citizen Army members. Before the Citizen Army had returned another squad of police arrived at the paper shop with a warrant. As the shop was connected to Liberty Hall, Connolly was afraid the police would use the same warrant to raid Liberty Hall. He told the Inspector in charge that as the warrant only related to the shop, they would be stopped from entering Liberty Hall, by force of arms if necessary. Rather than provoke trouble the police retreated. The mobilisation itself was a complete success. Nearly one hundred and fifty men arrived at Liberty Hall from all over the city. From that day on Liberty Hall was guarded night and day by the Citizen Army.

The Tuesday before the rising was due to start the plans were thrown into disarray by Eoin Mac Neill's famous order to call off the rising. Further problems arose when " The Aud" the ship bringing arms and ammunitions from Germany, was discovered and it's captain scuttled the vessel rather than let it fall into British hands. Of all the I. R. B. Military Council members, Connolly was least affected by the discovery of " The Aud" and Mac Neills countermand. He looked on outside help as a bonus but in the event of this not materialising he was determined to go ahead. Throughout that Easter weekend, with the decision to call off or go ahead with the Rising being debated, Connolly was one of the strongest voices in favour of carrying on with the Rising.

With Mac Neills countermand, Liberty Hall became the centre of operations for the Rising. The Military Council of the I. R. B. met in Liberty Hall under the armed guard provided by the Citizen Army on Easter Sunday morning. They decided to postpone the Rising until noon the following day. Also in Liberty Hall that day, 'The Proclamation of The Irish Republic' was printed on the Workers Republic printing press by members of the I. T. G. W. U. who were guarded by a group of armed Citizen Army men. Connolly's foresight had put the Labour Movement to the forefront of the fight for Irish independence.