Anarchism in Ireland
Encyclopedia
Irish anarchism has little historical tradition before the 1970s, and as a movement it only really developed from the late 1990s – although one organisation, the Workers Solidarity Movement
has had a continuous existence since 1984. Anarchist
s have been active in Ireland
as far back as 1886, but these were short-lived groups or isolated individuals with large gaps between activity.
was the Boston
-based Irish nationalist W. G. H. Smart, who wrote articles for The Anarchist in 1880 and 1881. In 1886, Michael Gabriel, an English anarchist, arrived in Dublin and moved to Bayview Avenue in the North Strand
. He was a member of the Socialist League
, an organisation whose members included libertarian Marxist William Morris
and anarchist Joseph Lane. A branch of the League was formed and it is known that anarchist publications were among those distributed by them. Around the same time, George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) wrote the article "What's in a name (how an anarchist might put it)" at the request of Charlotte Wilson
for issue no. 1 of The Anarchist in 1885. Shaw had been taught French
by the Communard
Richard Deck, who introduced him to Proudhon. Later he was embarrassed by unauthorised reprints, as he was a Fabian socialist, not an anarchist. Irish writer Oscar Wilde
notably expressed anarchist sympathies, especially in his essay "The Soul of Man under Socialism
."
Around 1890 John Creaghe
, an Irish doctor who was joint founder (with Fred Charles), of The Sheffield Anarchist, took part in the "no rent" agitation
before leaving Sheffield
in 1891. He went on to become the founding editor in Argentina
of the anarchist paper, El Oprimido, which was one of the first to support the "organisers" current (as opposed to refusal to organise large scale organisations). In 1892 English anarchists visited Fred Allen
at the Dublin independent offices to see if his Fair Trial Fund could be used for anarchist as well as Irish Republican Brotherhood
prisoners. In 1894 at Trinity College Dublin's Fabian Society "over 200 students listened sympathetically" to a lecture on "Anarchism and Darwinism
"
In the 20th century Captain Jack White, was active as an anarchist in the 1930s after returning from the Spanish Revolution
.
, before it became a small Trotskyist group, included some self-described anarchists such as John McGuffin and Jackie Crawford. The latter was one of the group who sold Freedom in Belfast
's Castle Street in the late 1960s. There was an anarchist banner on the Belfast-Derry civil rights
march. PD members, including John Grey, contributed to a special issue of the British Anarchy Magazine
about Northern Ireland
in 1971.
In the early 1970s some ex-members of the Official IRA
became interested in anarchism and developed contact with Black Flag
magazine in London
. Among names used were Dublin Anarchist Group and New Earth. Their existence was brief and not widely known. A number of jailings for "armed actions" saw the group disappear. Two members, Noel and Marie Murray, were later sentenced to death for the killing of an off-duty Garda
during a bank raid as part of a group called the Anarchist Black Cross. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment after an international protest campaign. In 1970 there existed a hippy commune in a squatted house on Dublin's exclusive Merrion Road
known as the Island Commune, which ended when one mentally disturbed participant tried to poison others. Some inhabitants, including Ubi Dwyer
of Windsor Free Festival
fame, sold Freedom outside the GPO
on Saturdays.
, Dublin, Limerick
and Dundalk
. Over the next decade anarchist papers appeared, some for just one or two editions, others with a much longer life. Titles included Outta Control (Belfast), Anarchist Worker (Dublin), Antrim Alternative (Ballymena
), Black Star (Ballymena), Resistance (Dublin) and Organise! (Ballymena). Bookshops were opened in Belfast (Just Books in Winetavern Street) and Dublin (ABC in Marlborough Street). All of these groups attracted people who identified themselves as anarchists but had little in the way of agreed politics or activities, and no organised discussions or education about anarchism. This imposed limits to what they could achieve and even to their continued existence - all groups were short-lived, had little impact and left no lasting legacy.
In 1978, ex-members of the Belfast Anarchist Collective and the Dublin Anarchist Group decided that a more politically united, class-based, and public organisation was necessary. Their discussions led to the Anarchist Workers Alliance, which existed from 1978-81, although only to any substantial extent in Dublin. It produced Anarchist Worker nos. 1-7; documents on the national question
, women's liberation, trade union
s, and a constitution
.
Some anarchist-inspired material can also be seen on Indymedia.ie
.
Workers Solidarity Movement
The Workers Solidarity Movement is an anarchist organisation in Ireland broadly in the platformist tradition of Nestor Makhno. It was set up in 1984 and publishes the paper Workers Solidarity and the magazine Red and Black Revolution....
has had a continuous existence since 1984. Anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
s have been active in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as far back as 1886, but these were short-lived groups or isolated individuals with large gaps between activity.
Origins
The first mention of an Irish connection to anarchismAnarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
was the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
-based Irish nationalist W. G. H. Smart, who wrote articles for The Anarchist in 1880 and 1881. In 1886, Michael Gabriel, an English anarchist, arrived in Dublin and moved to Bayview Avenue in the North Strand
North Strand
North Strand is an area of the inner city on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. The area is bounded roughly by East Wall to the east, Ballybough to the northwest, and Fairview to the north...
. He was a member of the Socialist League
Socialist League (UK, 1885)
The Socialist League was an early revolutionary socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. The organisation began as a dissident offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation of Henry Hyndman at the end of 1884. Never an ideologically harmonious group, by the 1890s the group had turned from...
, an organisation whose members included libertarian Marxist William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and anarchist Joseph Lane. A branch of the League was formed and it is known that anarchist publications were among those distributed by them. Around the same time, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
(1856-1950) wrote the article "What's in a name (how an anarchist might put it)" at the request of Charlotte Wilson
Charlotte Wilson
Charlotte M. Wilson was an English anarchist who co-founded Freedom newspaper in 1886 with Peter Kropotkin, and edited, published, and largely financed it during its first decade...
for issue no. 1 of The Anarchist in 1885. Shaw had been taught French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
by the Communard
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
Richard Deck, who introduced him to Proudhon. Later he was embarrassed by unauthorised reprints, as he was a Fabian socialist, not an anarchist. Irish writer Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
notably expressed anarchist sympathies, especially in his essay "The Soul of Man under Socialism
The Soul of Man under Socialism
"The Soul of Man under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde in which he expounds an anarchist worldview. The creation of "The Soul of Man" followed Wilde's conversion to anarchist philosophy, following his reading of the works of Peter Kropotkin....
."
Around 1890 John Creaghe
John Creaghe
Dr. John O’Dwyer Creaghe , also known as Juan Creaghe, was an Irish-born anarchist revolutionary.Creaghe was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1841, and in 1865 he graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, becoming a doctor. He opened up a practice in Mitchelstown, in the County Cork...
, an Irish doctor who was joint founder (with Fred Charles), of The Sheffield Anarchist, took part in the "no rent" agitation
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
before leaving Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in 1891. He went on to become the founding editor in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
of the anarchist paper, El Oprimido, which was one of the first to support the "organisers" current (as opposed to refusal to organise large scale organisations). In 1892 English anarchists visited Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
at the Dublin independent offices to see if his Fair Trial Fund could be used for anarchist as well as Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
prisoners. In 1894 at Trinity College Dublin's Fabian Society "over 200 students listened sympathetically" to a lecture on "Anarchism and Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
"
In the 20th century Captain Jack White, was active as an anarchist in the 1930s after returning from the Spanish Revolution
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
.
Modern development
In the late 1960s, as the civil rights campaign took off, People's DemocracyPeople's Democracy
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic for all of Ireland...
, before it became a small Trotskyist group, included some self-described anarchists such as John McGuffin and Jackie Crawford. The latter was one of the group who sold Freedom in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
's Castle Street in the late 1960s. There was an anarchist banner on the Belfast-Derry civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
march. PD members, including John Grey, contributed to a special issue of the British Anarchy Magazine
Anarchy Magazine
Anarchy was an anarchist monthly magazine produced in London from the early 1960s until the early 1970s. It was published by Freedom Press and edited by its founder, Colin Ward.- External links :...
about Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in 1971.
In the early 1970s some ex-members of the Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
became interested in anarchism and developed contact with Black Flag
Black Flag (newspaper)
Black Flag is the name of a number of anarchist periodicals, most notably the British anarchist bi-annual magazine Black Flag, mainly known for its coverage of international anarchist politics as well as supporting "class war" prisoners....
magazine in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Among names used were Dublin Anarchist Group and New Earth. Their existence was brief and not widely known. A number of jailings for "armed actions" saw the group disappear. Two members, Noel and Marie Murray, were later sentenced to death for the killing of an off-duty Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
during a bank raid as part of a group called the Anarchist Black Cross. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment after an international protest campaign. In 1970 there existed a hippy commune in a squatted house on Dublin's exclusive Merrion Road
Merrion Road
Merrion Road in Dublin 4 is a road which runs from the RDS at Anglesea Road in Ballsbridge to Merrion, where it meets the Rock Road, Booterstown. It is home to the RDS, some well known hotels and is part of the Embassy Belt....
known as the Island Commune, which ended when one mentally disturbed participant tried to poison others. Some inhabitants, including Ubi Dwyer
Ubi Dwyer
Bill 'Ubi' Dwyer or William Ubique Dwyer was an anarchist activist in New Zealand, Australia, England and his native Ireland best known as the originator and principal organiser of the Windsor Free Festival....
of Windsor Free Festival
Windsor Free Festival
The Windsor Free Festival was a British Free Festival held in Windsor Great Park from 1972 to 1974. Organised by some London commune dwellers, notably Ubi Dwyer and Sid Rawle, it was in many ways the forerunner of the Stonehenge Free Festival, particularly in the brutality of its final suppression...
fame, sold Freedom outside the GPO
General Post Office (Dublin)
The General Post Office ' in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish postal service, An Post, and Dublin's principal post office...
on Saturdays.
Origins of the movement
The first steps towards building a movement came in the late 1970s when a number of young Irish people who had been living and working in Britain returned home, bringing their new-found anarchist politics with them. Local groups were set up in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Dublin, Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
and Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
. Over the next decade anarchist papers appeared, some for just one or two editions, others with a much longer life. Titles included Outta Control (Belfast), Anarchist Worker (Dublin), Antrim Alternative (Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
), Black Star (Ballymena), Resistance (Dublin) and Organise! (Ballymena). Bookshops were opened in Belfast (Just Books in Winetavern Street) and Dublin (ABC in Marlborough Street). All of these groups attracted people who identified themselves as anarchists but had little in the way of agreed politics or activities, and no organised discussions or education about anarchism. This imposed limits to what they could achieve and even to their continued existence - all groups were short-lived, had little impact and left no lasting legacy.
In 1978, ex-members of the Belfast Anarchist Collective and the Dublin Anarchist Group decided that a more politically united, class-based, and public organisation was necessary. Their discussions led to the Anarchist Workers Alliance, which existed from 1978-81, although only to any substantial extent in Dublin. It produced Anarchist Worker nos. 1-7; documents on the national question
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
, women's liberation, trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, and a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
.
Some anarchist-inspired material can also be seen on Indymedia.ie
Indymedia.ie
Indymedia.ie is an Irish alternative media website affiliated with the global Indymedia network. It operates on the principles of open publishing and the Creative Commons. Contributions that adhere to the publishing guidelines are made by anyone that has pictures, audio, or text to contribute and...
.
Active organisations
There are several anarchist organisations operating in Ireland:- The Workers Solidarity MovementWorkers Solidarity MovementThe Workers Solidarity Movement is an anarchist organisation in Ireland broadly in the platformist tradition of Nestor Makhno. It was set up in 1984 and publishes the paper Workers Solidarity and the magazine Red and Black Revolution....
is a platformist anarchist group with members in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Derry, and Galway formed in 1984.
- Organise!Organise!There have been several anarchist groups in Ireland that have used the name Organise since 1984.- Organise! :Formed from the Antrim anarchist group.- Organise!-IWA :...
, a small class struggle anarchist organisation based in Northern Ireland was formed in 2003 from a merger of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation, Anarchist Federation, Anarchist Prisoner Support and a number of individuals.
- The Dublin-based Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group (RAG), a group for female anarchists was formed in 2005 and has published four issues of a magazine, The Rag.
- There are also a number of organisations which, while not explicitly anarchist, share much in common with the anarchist movement. These include the Grassroots Gatherings (2001-present), the Dublin Grassroots Network (2003-2004), Grassroots Dissent (2004-), Galway Social Space (2008-2010), Rossport Solidarity Camp (2005-present), and Seomra SpraoiSeomra SpraoiSeomra Spraoi is an autonomous social space in Dublin, Ireland. The space is run by an open collective along libertarian principles. The project attracts people from diverse social and political backgrounds...
(2004-present).
- Freedom Ireland, a group of individuals that support the principles of voluntaryismVoluntaryismVoluntarism, or voluntaryism, is a philosophy according to which all forms of human association should be voluntary. This moral principle is called the non-aggression principle, which prohibits the initiation of aggressive force or coercion...
, who view the initiation of aggression as immoral and see it as an illegitimate way to organise society. Formed in 2010.
Further reading
- Fintan Lane, The Emergence Of Modern Irish Socialism 1885-87
- Fintan Lane, "Practical anarchists, we": social revolutionaries in Dublin, 1885-87, History Ireland, March/April 2008.