James Connolly

My attempt at a song honoring one of the great heroes of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin, James Connolly. James led the Citizen Army (in a coalition with The Irish Republican Brotherhood) in the fight for the GPO (General Post Office) and was wounded in the ankle during the battle. The British left the wound untreated, and it became gangrenous causing him great pain. The day of his execution, he was carried out to the jail yard on a stretcher and tied to a chair and shot. The British press tried to denigrate James by calling him a socialist, which although true had little to do with his fight for the rights of ALL working men and women. James was a socialist for all the right reasons..... He was also a union organizer .. and was seen as a hero to the people of Ireland because he fought for the rights of all regardless of their religion. His execution shocked the Irish people because he was seen as a hero to the working man and stopped the executions because the Irish people demanded an end to it, and 4 years later the Irish people rose up in the memory of those great men and fought the British, forcing them to recognize the right of the Irish to control their own destinies.
I post my version of this song in James' memory, he is one of my heroes after my Father... and I hope that his death still encourages people to fight for the rights of all people on the face of this planet.

"Following the establishment of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, whose purpose was to resist Home Rule, by force if necessary, the IRB were behind the initiative which eventually led to the inauguration of the Irish Volunteers in November, 1913. Though the Volunteers' stated purpose was not the establishment of a republic, the IRB intended to use the organisation to do just that, recruiting high ranking members into the IRB, notably Joseph Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, and Patrick Pearse, who was co-opted to the Supreme Council in 1915. These men, together with Clarke, MacDermott, Eamonn Ceannt and eventually James Connolly of the Irish Citizen Army, constituted the Military Committee, the sole planners of the Rising."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• James Connolly
• Kevin Tyler
• traditional
• Irish
• folk
• acoustic
• guitar
• 1916 Uprising
• freedom

[savageminstrel]

So sorry, I accidentally removed this comment:

from Donniedaf~

To the best of my knowledge he was not in the IRB.

To be fair it's not a particularly important point in either event.

It's a great song. many great songs about this great man and rightfullyy so.

[savageminstrel]

"Though the Volunteers' stated purpose was not the establishment of a republic, the IRB intended to use the organisation to do just that, recruiting high ranking members into the IRB, notably Joseph Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, and Patrick Pearse, who was co-opted to the Supreme Council in 1915. These men, together with Clarke, MacDermott, Eamonn Ceannt and eventually James Connolly of the Irish Citizen Army, constituted the Military Committee, the sole planners of the Rising." -from Wilkepedia

[unclebanana]

James Connolly will live on in the memory of socialists everywhere.

[busklusker]

oh yes Where oh where is our James Connolly ? indeed

[QRS666]

Back again to listen to this song. Still amazed about your voice. And it is still the best version I have ever heard.

[QRS666]

My god, what a beautiful version!! You have a fantastic voice! I got tears in my eyes when hearing this. Love this song!

[TomBarry192I]

great version, he did not die in vain!

Tiocfaidh ár lá

[1pcdoc]

nice bud