The playwrite Sean O'Casey was the first secretary of the Irish Citizen Army and in 1914 had drafted its constitution . He wrote this history of the Citizen Army in the period after the 1916 rising. By the time of the rising he had resigned from the ICA in protest at its decision to allow joint membership with the Irish Volunteers. O'Casey played no part in the rising although with other civilian men he was interned in the course of the rising.

THE STORY OF THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY (Sean O'Casey, 1919)

 

PREFACE Sec. Citizen : Answer every man directly.
First Cit. Ay and briefly.
Fourth Cit.: Ay, and wisely.
Third Cit. : Ay, and truly, you were best.
- Julius Caesar.

The author ventures to hope that this humble attempt to reveal some of the hidden things correlative with the origin and development of the Irish Citizen Army will prove interesting to all who participated actually or sympathetically in the motives which inspired its creation, and, indeed, even to those who viewed its activities with suspicion and mistrust.

By many the budding Citizen Army, that struggled for expression and expansion in Dublin's streets, was a subject for amusing jokes and quiet laughter, and its actions were almost entirely ignored till the bud flowered redly on the second morning of Easter Week. Incidents are generally recorded as they occur, and few attempts are made critically to consider the circumstances that evolve them. The author hopes that the materials, carefully gathered together from original manuscripts in his possession, from notes recorded during the organising period of the Army, and from the contemplation of events in which the author participated, will be of use for incorporation in whatever history may be subsequently written around the events which culminated in the dramatic rising of Easter Week.

The author wishes, gratefully, to acknowledge the assistance he has received in the writing of the last chapter of this unpretentious work by Captains McCormack and McGowan, of the Irish Citizen Army.

It is impossible yet to say whether the events of Easter Week will achieve a Democratisation of Irish Nationalism, or whether the latter influence will deflect itself towards the broader issues of the Irish Labour movement.

Present events point to the probability that Jim Connolly's earlier ideals will be covered by the ever-rising tide of a militant Nationalism, though it also seems certain that the younger and more progressive elements of National thought will endeavour to associate with National advancement the upliftment of the Irish working class.

It appears certain that Nationalism has gained a great deal and lost a little by its union with Labour in the Insurrection of Easter Week, and that Labour has lost much and achieved something by its avowal of the National aspirations of the Irish Nation.

We can only hope that Nationalism, in its new-found strength, will not remain deaf to the claims of Irish Labour for a foremost place in the National Being, and that the sacrifices of Irish Labour through the Citizen Army may not be forgotten by those who are working towards the regeneration of our common country.
 

-------------------- CHAPTER 1 FOUNDING OF THE CITIZEN ARMY "The people were waitin' in thousands there,
An' you couldn't hear stir nor breath."
- The Man from God Knows Where.

Discontent had lighted a blazing camp-fire in Dublin. The ruddy light of the flame was reflected by an earnest and ominous glow in the face of every Dublin worker. Men, full of the fire of battle, thronged in dense masses the wide, expansive area facing Liberty Hall. The city was surging with a passion full, daring, and fiercely expectant; a passion strange, enjoyable, which it had never felt before with such intensity and emotion. It was felt, unconsciously, that this struggle would be the Irish Armageddon between Capital and Labour. The workers were exuberantly confident that the unparalleled spread of the sympathetic strike would overthrow the moneyed hosts of Midiam. Did you not hear it? It was true, many great scholars had declared in their favour, and even now Captain White, the aristocrat and gentleman, was with their beloved Leader, and had signified his intention to throw in his lot with his socially humbler brothers, abandoning the privileges of position, ignoring the remonstrances of friends, choosing freely and bravely to stand by the people now in their hour of need.

And the eager, toil-worn, care-lined faces of the workers now turned with concentrated uneasy patience towards the window on the left-hand side of Liberty Hall, waiting for it to be raised, that they might listen to this nightly message of hope, progress and encouragement from those Leaders, whom they were convinced would guide them safely through the heavy ordeal that each man must share that there might be preserved to all the elemental right of the workers to choose their Union, and to follow the Leaders in whom alone they placed their whole confidence and trust.

The disappearing Artist Sun had boldly brushed the skies with bold hues of orange and crimson, and delicate shades of yellow and green, bordered with dusky shadows of darkening blue, which seemed to symbolise the glow of determination, the delicate hues of hope, and the bordering shades of restless anxiety that coloured the hearts and thoughts of the waiting, watching masses of men that stood silently beneath the oriental-coloured panoply of the sky.

Suddenly the window is raised, and the tense, anxious feelings of the men crowded together burst out into an enthusiastic and full-throated cheer that shatters the surrounding air, and sends up into the skies a screaming flock of gulls that had been peacefully drifting along the sombre surface of the River Liffey. Louder still swells the resonant shout as Jim Larkin appears at the window, with an animated flush of human pride on his strong and rugged face, as he brushes back from his broad forehead the waving tufts of dark hair that are here and there silvered by the mellowing influence of time and the inexorable force of issuing energy from the human structure.Again the cheers ring out, and Larkin quietly waits till the effort to demonstrate their confidence and affection will give place to the lustful desire to hear what he has to say to them, while hidden under the heavy shadows of the towering Custom House a darker column of massive constables instinctively finger their belts, and silently caress the ever-ready club that swings jauntily over each man's broad, expansive hip.

Rumours had been circulated that Jim Larkin had forged a new weapon for the workers, some plan which, when developed, would make their resisting power irresistable, a power that would quickly change their disorganised, clumsy, incohesive units into a huge, immovable, unbreakable Roman phalanx.

Hope's ruddy flame was leaping in their hearts: this day would be an historic one in the unhappy annals of the Irish Labour Movement.

Perhaps this lovely autumn sunset would be followed by the dawn of their social emancipation.

And the lusty cheers died away to a droning echo, which was followed for a few moments by a silence that was so strangely sincere that the mass of people resembled the upright figures of an assembly in the shady and silent regions of the dead.

And then, with a sweeping gesture of his arm, that seemed to pass around that tremendous gathering and make them one with himself in thought and hope and action, Jim Larkin began to speak.

In rugged, passionate, vitalising phrases he told them "that they were engaged in the fight of their lives; that everv conceivable combination had united its forces against the workers; that it would be a long and bitter fight between the Titans of Capital and the Titans of Labour.

"Therefore the workers must become disciplined, organised, made of the one stuff in thought and action,so that in all that they would essay to do for themselves there would be a spontaneous unity of pressure and a hardened and impenetrable unity of resistance. The men must get to know each other. They must no longer be content to assemble in hopeless, haphazard crowds, in which a man does not know and cannot trust the man that stands next to him, but in all their future assemblies they must be so organised that there will be a special place for every man, and a particular duty for each man to do.

"They knew to their cost that a few determined men,determined because they were imbued with the force of discipline, led by men whom they looked upon as their leaders, could scatter, like spray before the wind, the largest gatherings of men, who, untaught and loosely strung together, would always be dominated by the possibility of fear and panic.

"If they would not agree to bring themselves under the influence of an ordered and systematic discipline, then they could never hope to resist the efforts that were being made to prevent them assembling peaceably to, discuss affairs of their Union. By order and discipline only could they hope to secure for themselves the recognition of the sacred heritage bestowed by Nature upon every man born into the world - the right to live. All this must be changed, and he, with the help of Captain White, who would soon address them, was determined to begin the work now that would bring about this much desired improvement in the strength and mutual combination of the various sections of the workers.

"Labour in its own defence must begin to train itself to act with disciplined courage and with organised and concentrated force. How could they accomplish this? By taking a leaf out of the book of Carson. If Carson had permission to train his braves of the North to fight against the aspirations of the Irish people, then it was legitimate and fair for Labour to organise in the same militant way to preserve their rights and to ensure that if they were attacked they would be able to give a very satisfactory account of themselves.

"They were going to give the members of their Union a military training. Captain White would speak to them now and tell them the plans he had to create from among the members of the Labour Unions a great Citizen Army. Captain White would take charge of the movement, and hr trusted that the various Trades Unions would see to it that all their members joined this new army of the people, so that Labour might no longer be defenceless, but might be able to utilise that great physical power which it possessed to prevent their elemental rights from being taken from them, and to evolve such a system of unified action, self-control and ordered discipline that Labour in Ireland might march at the forefront of all movements for the betterment of the whole people of Ireland."

Like he loud rolling of a multitude of drums the cheers broke out again. This was what was long wanted - a Citizen Army! What could not Labour accomplish with an army trained and disciplined by officers who held the affection and confidence of the workers! Now they would get some of their own back; and vivid visions of "Red-coats and Black-coats flying before them" floated before the imaginative eyes of the Dublin workers filled with and almost intoxicated by the wine of enthusiasm.

And once again the cheers rang out as the tall, athletic figure of Captain White appeared, and his boyish face was aglow with gratification as he listened to the cheers that seemed to proclaim to him a ready realisation of the schemes he contemplated towards the disciplined consolidation of the lower orders in the battalionised ranks of an Irish Citizen Army.

Captain White told them that the work would commence immediately. He told them to attend the verv next day at Croydon Park, Fairview, where they would be marshalled, divided into battalions, sub-divided into companies, and put through the elementary stages of military training. "This was a day of Hope for the workers," continued Captain White, "the definite result of their plans depended now on the efforts and sincerity of the workers themselves. The Irish Citizen Army would fight for Labour and for Ireland. He asked all those who intended to second their efforts by joining the army, and training themselves for the fight for Social liberty, to hold up their hands."

Almost every hand was silhouetted out against the darkening sky, and a last long deafening cheer proclaimed the birth of the Irish Citizen Army.
 

---------------------- CHAPTER II RENAISSANCE “Everything indicates - the smallest does,and the largest does;
A necessary film envelops all, and envelops the Soul for a proper time."
- Walt Whitman.

For some time the enthusiasm engendered at the great meeting held in Beresford Place, "the old spot by the river," flamed hotly in the hearts of the workers, tens thousands of whom were then on strike in Dublin. Imposing drills were held in Croydon Park, the picturesque suburban headquarters of the Transport Union, and thousands of working-men zealously endeavoured to learn "the soldier's glorious trade." It was certainly inspiring to watch the stalwart workers marching in column of company formation from Croydon Park back to Liberty Hall under the command of the indefatigable Captain White. Everything looked promising; the rank and file were representative of every shade of thought
and every degree of national feeling. Here was the clerk,the artisan, the labourer, the United Irish Leaguer,Republican, Sinn Feiner and Gaelic student. These were the fat days of the Irish Citizen Army, but, alas,lean days were soon to follow. The people of Ireland were not ripe enough to be shaken from the green tree of Nationalism into the wide basket of an Irish Labour Army.A Citizen Army can only be formed from a class conscious community of workers, and the Irish workers still slumbered on in the dark shade of unawakened thought. And the Irish Labour Leaders were forced to devote all their attention and thoughts to the difficulties which the mighty labour upheaval were hourly creating, and they could not surrender to the Citizen Army that regard which was essential if the movement was to be made a permanent and ever-growing success. Nightly meetings in Beresford Place; rallies in all the districts in which the men had declared war on their employers; midnight meetings in Liberty Hall, meant that energy and force, which would have preserved the initial imposing proportions of the Citizen Army, were employed for other purposes, more pressing, and calculated to overcome the terrible pressure that the employers were using to crush forever the effort the exasperated workers were making to assert the elemental liberties and rights of their class. Entertainments were organised in the Dublin Theatres to provide food and clothing for the wives and children of the locked-out workers; the food distribution entailed an enormous amount of organised attention; the municipal elections, in which Labour endeavoured to exert its influence on Civic affairs, exacted a further contribution of time and energy, and all these activities, which were urgent and necessary, robbed from the organisation of the Citizen Army that application and support which alone would have made it the success that many believed, from first appearances, it had already achieved.

But the principal events which most injured the progress and shook the stability of the Irish Citizen Army at this time were the frequent arrests of the Labour Leaders; the gradual and humiliating weakening of the workers' resistance to the pressure of the employers; the malignant penalising of the Irish Transport Union by the hierarchy of commerce;and the establishment in the Rotunda Rink on the 25th October, 1914, of the Irish National Volunteers. Hundreds of men began to dribble back to work, and this meant that they had very little time to spend in the training that Captain White still carried out,in spite of all difficulties, in Croydon Park, in Liberty Hall, and in the Fianna Hall, Camden Street, which was placed at the disposal of the Citizen Army by the Countess Markievicz.

The penalty of dismissal which the united employers of Dublin held over the heads of the workers if they continued to remain members of the Transport Union caused, naturally, hundreds of men to abandon their connection with the Citizen Army, though comparatively few, happily, evinced the slavish weakness to respond to this threat by severing their connection with the Union itself.

The creation of the National Volunteers was one of the most effective blows which the Irish Citizen Army received. Thousands that had originally attached themselves to the Citizen Army passed over into the more attractive and better organised camp of the Volunteers.

Many, no doubt, preferred Caithlin Ni Houlihan in a respectable dress than a Caithlin in the garb of a working woman. Many also realised that the governing body of the Volunteers was eminently influential, and that the ban which was over the Citizen Army, like a dark loud, because of its arterial connection with the Transport Union, was not to be chosen as a shelter, when they could radiantly enjoy the National halo that glittered around the whole structure of the National Volunteers. The old lingering tradition of the social inferiority of what were called the unskilled workers, prompted the socially superior tradesmen to shy at an organisation which was entirely officered by men whom they thought to be socially inferior to themselves.

And in spite of the fact that the most prominent members of the Executive of the Volunteers were those who had done all they could to snatch from the workers the right to join the Trades Union of their choice; in spite of the fact that many of those who controlled the local requirements or occupied a position on the local Executive had locked out their employes because they had ventured to assert the first principle's of Trades Unionism.

It is difficult to understand why the workers chose to join an organisation which was largely Sontrolled by their enemies rather than one which was guided and governed by the men who were their elected leaders in the social war against economic tyranny and oppression.

Looking back on this surprising anomaly,it becomes obvious that because of the undeveloped comprehension by the workers of the deeper meaning of the Labour movement, the call of the National Tribe appealed to them more strongly than the call of the Tribe of Labour. Years of National propaganda overcame the influence that had been exercised upon their minds by the fierce teachings of Jim Larkin and the quiet but equally effective reasoning of Jim Connolly. But the Volunteer movement enjoyed other less attractive, but equally real and tangible, advantages. They had, comparatively, unlimited funds with which to equip their members, while the money that Labour collected had to be devoted to the work of providing food for the workers, that these might live and not die.

The National movement, too, had, practically, the monopoly of all the available halls in Dublin and elsewhere in which systematic drilling could be carried on. An effort was made by the Citizen Army Council to induce the Volunteer movement to allow them the use of these rooms on a few nights each week, but the Volunteers were, evidently, determined to maintain their advantage in this respect, for every request was answered by a polite but very emphatic refusal to help the Citizen Army to overcome this important and embarrassing difficulty.

The leaders of the Volunteers were also in the enviable position of being able to devote all their energies and their whole time to the one work of organisation, an advantage that told forcibly in favour of their efforts, while the Labour leaders could only now and then snatch a hasty moment or two in which to pay a little attention to the fast vanishing companies of the Labour Army.

For some months Captain White worked gallantly, trying to do the work of ten men, and making superhuman efforts to organise, drill and equip an army singlehanded, furnished with no help, and receiving very little encouragement. But the inevitable happened ; the drills became irregular, the numbers continued to decrease, and, finally, the Captain found himself reduced to the command of one Company of faithful stalwarts, who, in spite of all obstacles, had remained as a sure and trusttworthy nucleus of the Irish Citizen Army.

Then Captain White began to lose hope. He seemed to be building on foundations of sand. He had no outlet for his energies. If Labour failed to rise to the opportunity that presented itself, what good purpose could it serve for him to be eternally trying to accomplish the impossible?

About this time the Labour organisation began to retire to their trenches. The strike had waned, and, finally ended, and Labour engaged again in the work of re-organisation, making strenuous efforts to recover lost ground and rehabilitate the forces that had been scattered in the great social offensive of 1913.

It was then that the writer of this little work, in an Interview with Captain White, suggested that definite steps should be taken to form the Citizen Army into a systematic unit of Labour ; that a Constitution should be drafted and submitted for approval to a general meeting of workers; that a Council should be elected to see after the revival of systematic drills, to open a fund for equipment purposes, to arrange for public meetings, to form companies of the army wherever Labour was strongest, and to generally take steps to improve and strengthen the condition and widen the scope of the Irish Citizen Army. Captain White enthusiastically welcomed the suggestions, and promised that he would recommence the work with redoubled ardour if a strong committee could be got together to second his efforts. A preliminary meeting of sympathisers and members was then arranged for a following night, and Sean 0 Cathasaigh was deputed to make out an agenda and draft a Constitution, so that the meeting could decide definitely upon a determined and regular course of action.

The meeting was duly held in Liberty Hall, and amongst those present were:- Jim Connolly, Countess Markievicz, W. Partridge, P. T. Daly. Captain White presided, and Sean 0 Cathasaigh acted as secretary to the meeting. The proposed Constitution was the item principally discussed, and its formulas were generally approved of and tentatively accepted. On the motion of Jim Connolly, seconded by P. T. Daly, it was unanimously decided to hold a public meeting in the Concert Room, Liberty Hall, on March 22nd, 1914, to invite the workers of Dublin to attend, and to ask Jim Larkin to preside over the meeting, as it was felt by all that the Chief of the Labour movement should know all that was recommended before it was finally approved of.

The general meeting of Dublin workers assembled and filled the Convert Iiall, and at 12.30 Jim Larkin commenced the proceedings. Before calling upon the secretary to the meeting to read the proposed Constitution,he expressed the hope that all members of the Transport Union would immediately become members of the Irish Army. He told those present that steps would be taken to provide a standard uniform for the army, as this feature would tend towards keeping the men together and infuse them with a sense of dignity that would be lacking if they were dressed in the nondescript garments of civilian life. A member would be sent to England to secure accoutrements, and he asked those present to co-operate in every possible way to make the Army of Labour an effective and lasting success. Tents would be procured, and during the summer months night camps would be held in Croydon Park, which would be a source of pleasure and healthful recreation for their members. He counselled them to be careful as to whom they would elect to the Council of the Citizen Army. He was certain that attempts would be made to influence or capture their organisation, or to wean it from its first attachment to Labour Ideals, and, therefore, it was necessary for them to take every precaution so that the army might always continue to work for the principles which it had originally adopted, and not be set aside loom its path by any outside or subsidiary considerations.

He then called upon the secretary to read the proposed Constitution, which would be considered and discussed,clause by clause, each of which would be approved of,amended or rejected as the meeting cared to decide.

The Secretary to the meeting explained that this was the initial effort to lift the affairs of the army from the unsatisfactory condition in which they at present were, and to begin work in a systematic manner to consolidate and improve the conditions of the army so that it might become an influential fighting force in the ranks of Labour.

The proposed Constitution was then read, discussed clause by clause, and unanimously accepted by the vote Of the members present.

The principles were as follows:-

1. That the first and last principle of the Irish Citizen Army is the avowal that the ownership of Ireland,moral and material, is vested of right in the people of Ireland.

2. That the Irish Citizen Army shall stand for the absolute unity of Irish nationhood, and shall support the rights and liberties of all nations.

3. That one of its objects shall be to sink all differences of birth, property and creed under the common name of the Irish People.

4. That the Citizen Army shall be open to all who accept the principle of equal rights and opportunities for the Irish People.

Jim Larkin then asked one of the members present to propose the following clause for inclusion in the Army Constitution: -

“Before being enrolled, every applicant must, if eligible, be a member of his Trades Union, such Union to be recognised by the Irish Trades Union Congress.”

This clause was then proposed the Countess Markievicz, seconded by Thomas Healy, put to the meeting, and carried unanimously.

The election of a Provisional Committee, to hold office for six months, was then proceeded with, and the following were elected to positions on the first Army Council of the Irish Citizen Army : -
Chairman : CAPTAIN WHITE, D.S.O.
Vice-Chairmen : Jim Larkin, P.T. Daly, Councillor W. Partridge, Thomas Foran, F. Sheehy-Skeffington.
Hon. Treasurers : Richard Brannigan, Countess Markievicz.
Committee : Thomas Healy, Michael Mullin, John Bohan,T.C.; P. Morgan, T. Burke, T. Blair, C. Poole, J. MacGowan, T. Kennedy, P. O'Brien, F. Moss, P. J. Fox, John Shelly, P. Coady, P. Fogarty.

Relative to the meeting appeared in the following issue of the Irish Worker : -

“On Sunday, March 22nd, the first steps were taken to fortify and extend the claims of the Irish Citizen Army upon the Irish workers by the framing of a Constitution and the election of an Army Council.

“Steps will be taken immediately to form companies and provide drill-halls.

“District meetings will be held to select officers and elect suitable district committees. All Irish workers should join the Citizen Army, which is prepared to explain and define its Constitution upon any platform in Ireland. Let the workers keep clear of Girondin politicians, who will simply use the workers as the means towards their own security and comfort. Let others who may prate about 'the rights and liberties common to all Irishmen.' We are out for the right to work and eat and live. As John Mitchel says : -

“' Let the canting, well-fed classes shout and rave as they may. Where you see a respectable, fair-spoken lie sitting in high places, feeding itself fat on human sacrifices, down with it, strip it naked, 'and pitch it to the devil.'

"We have a few of these things to pitch to the devil, so we ask the workers everywhere in which these few words are needed to prepare for the advent of the Irish Citizen Army; to take the names of all who would be willing to join; to secure the advice and services of ex-army men, and to write for all particulars to the Honorary Secretary, Citizen Army Council, Liberty Hall, Dublin.”

And so the Irish Citizen Army was changed from airy nothing, and made solid, and given a local habitation and a name, and it immediately began to forge its way into the stormy centre of Irish politics, giving no mercy and receiving none from those organisations whose operations were similar, but between which there was fixed, apparently, an impassable gulf of Ideal and Principle.
 

------------------------------------ CHAPTER III REORGANISATION "What we believe in invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive and composed, knows no discouragement, waiting patiently, waiting its time." - W. Whitman.

The reorganisation of the Citizen Army began immediately, and though zeal at times outran discretion, good and permanent work was done.

Two splendid companies of picked men were formed as the nucleus of the City Battalion. Captain White gave an order to Messrs. Arnott for fifty uniforms of dark green serge, and the men eagerly awaited their arrival. For the time being the rank and file wore on their left arms broad bands of Irish linen of a light blue colour, and the officers a band of crimson on the right arm.

In a short time a consignment of haversacks, belts and bayonets arrived, and for a few nights following there was a terrible scene of polishing, oiling and cleaning, in which work Jim Larkin showed an enthusiasm worthy of a young boy with a new toy.

The army was divided into units of half-companies; the Dublin Regiment was divided into three sections, the 1st City Battalion, the second North County Battalion, and the third South County Battalion.

Drills were held twice weekly in Croydon Park, which were conducted by Sergeant-Major Fogarty and Captain MacDowell,under the supervision of Captain White. These officers were ably assisted by lieutenants C. Poole, Fitzpatrick and O'Byrne.

Finally he uniforms arrived, and then there was a scene that certainly rivalled some of the tragic episodes depicted in Dante's Inferno.

The Council decided that no man could be allowed to bring his uniform home till lie had fully paid the cost, but the confusion of undressing and redressing whenever a parade took place finally convinced the Council that there was no other alternative possible but to permit the men to whom uniforms had been allocated to bring them home and to come to all assemblies and parades in full marching order to save time and ensure military punctuality.

The two first companies certainly looked picturesque and imposing in their dark green uniforms and broad slouched hats of the same hue, most of which were jauntily turned up at one side, the leaf being fastened to the side with the ever-popular badge of the Red Hand.

The Citizen Army made great progress in drilling during the summer months, for splendid facilities were provided for extensive manoeuvring in the capacious grounds of Croydon Park, Fairview, then rented by the Irish Transport Union. But when the winter arrived, the accommodation in Liberty Hall was limited, and an effort was made to secure the use of the rooms used by the National Volunteers for a similar purpose. But it was evident that the Executive of this organisation were unwilling to give any encouragement to the Citizen Army. Several applications were completely ignored, and a written request to the Secretary of the House Committee of the Gaelic League premises, 25 Parnell Square, elicited an answer in Gaedhilge,the translation of which was as follows :-

"The House Committee,
"25 Parnell Square, Dublin.
"April 12th, 1914.

"I received your letter concerning our hall last night. It is engaged now every night, except Saturday, and on this night it is occasionally wanted for a social. The Volunteers use the ball on Tuesday and Sunday nights, and I don't think the Committee would give it to any other organisation for drill.

"The caretaker has now a good deal of work to do, and the women, also, who are engaged to keep the hall clean. However, I will put your letter before my Committee at their next meeting, which will not be held till the beginning of next month. -Yours,

" G. IRVINE, Secretary."

In fact,it was plain that, as far as encouragement and support were concerned, the workers would have to rely upon themselves, but it is certain that the lack of suitable places in which to carry on systematic drill materially interfered with the progress and growth of the Citizen Army.

A manifesto to be sent to the various trades bodies in Ireland was drafted, and, having been submitted to the Army Council, and approved of by them, it was despatched to labour organisations in Cork, Belfast, Derry, Sligo, Limerick, Kilkenny, Waterford, Dundalk, Galway and Wexford. This manifesto declared the principles and the Citizen Army stood for, and asked the secretaries of the Trades Union to make preparations for public meetings in their several districts, which would be addressed by the Labour Leaders when an opportunity presented itself. The manifesto pointed out that all political organisations were preparing for serious eventualities; the Ulster Volunteers in the North; the National Volunteers were establishing companies everywhere in Ireland, while the lazy Hercules of Labour was content to lean on his club, indifferent to the stirring of all around him. "Would it not be a shame," declared the manifesto, “if the forces of Labour alone were content to believe all things; endure all things; to starve rather than to take; to be stricken and not to strike back?"

The manifesto was partially successful in arousing an interest in the work and objects of the Citizen Army. Efforts were made to respond to the appeal in various places, but, on the whole, the battle went with the strong, and the National Volunteers effectively held their advantages almost everywhere outside of those places in which the Irish Transport Union still carried on the fight for human emancipation.

The first definite meetings held to establish a company of the Irish Citizen Army, outside of Dublin, were held in Lucan and Clondalkin, on Sunday, April 12th, I914. Announcements had been made that meetings would be held in these districts, and early on the Sunday morning the Countess Markievicz, Captain White, P. T. Daly, and Sean O Cathasaigh proceeded to Lucan in the Captain's motor-car to commence the shaping of the definite destinies of the Irish Citizen Army.

It was a happy spring day, and everything in nature seemed to laugh quietly at the querulous efforts of man to solve the complex human problems with which he was surrounded. We had no thoughts to spare on the loveliness, that peeped at us out of every corner as the car swung towards Lucan, and our eyes were closed to the bursting buds, and our ears stopped to the singing of the birds, for in our hearts were commingling thoughts that painted pictures of the hope of success and the fear of defeat.

When we reached Lucan things looked far from promising, for we were silently and curiously received by a few stragglers, that stood here and there about the village, and seemed to be in no way desirous of helping in the promotion of anything that Labour stood for. After a very pleasant tea in a local restaurant, the Captain motored to a suitable place in the vicinity of the village, and, standing on the car seat, waited a few moments, while a shy and obviously timorous crowd of about five hundred people slowly gathered around the car, and displayed a demeanour of such ominous quietude that plainly revealed to us that the Irish Citizen Army had a long and energy exhausting struggle in front of it before the rural morkers would become sufficient1y class-conscious to understand the elementary principles of LabouT thought and aspirations.

Captain White opened the meeting, and told them that necessity itself should force them to make an effort to safeguard their interests. P. T. Daly and the secretary followed,but much more interest was evinced in the passionate and nervous eloquence of the Countess Markievicz. During the progress of the meeting twenty names were taken by the secretary, and these were autharised to hold a subsequent meeting to elect officers and arrange for drills, and, in the centre of a rousing and sincere cheer, the motor-car sped out of the village of Lucan on its way to the more distant village of Clonclalkin. The residents in and around Clondalkin evinced the same diffidence in coming together, and stood afar off for quite a long time, gazing fixedly towards the Captain's motor-car as if it were some dangerous machine calculated, if approached too closely, to upset for ever the quiet rhythm of the pastoral life of Clondalkin's inhabitants.

Alter some hours of waiting our patience was rewarded,and a fairly successful meeting was held, over which Michael Costello, the Transport Union delegate for the district, presided, and after its conclusion the car was turned head homewards, and we arrived shortly afterwards at Liberty Hall, by no means satisfied at what we had achieved, but fully conscious that we had bravely faced enormous difficulties and thoroughly convinced that the work of building up the Irish Citizen Army would be a long, arduous and painful task.

On Sunday, April the 19th, 1914, meetings were held in Coolock and Kinsealy, at which Jim Larkin, Daly and O Cathasaigh spoke, and in Swords, on the same day, a further meeting was addressed by these speakers, ably seconded by Captain White, who had proceeded to Swords after a parade in Croydon Park. A poster had been previously issued which called upon the " Men of Fingal ! to join the Irish Citizen Army, that stands to defend the fair and just claims of the workers for opportunities to live honest, upright and cleanly lives."

On Friday, April the 24th, an enthusiastic meeting was held in Finglas, over which Frank Moss presided, and the speakers were, M. 0 Maolain, J. Magowan and S. O Cathasaigh. So in spite of many difficulties the Irish Citizen Army was making steady progress, and companies now had been formed and were actively drilling in Clondalkin, Lucan, Swords, Finglas, Coolock,Kinsealy and Baldoyle. The Irish Citizen. Army had been officially recognised and approved of by the Trades Council on the 6th of April, 1914, and the delegates present gave a very warm welcome to the earnest appeal for their support and co-operation made by the Countess Markievicz and Richard Brannigan on behalf of the objects and aims of the Citizen Army.

Difficulty followed difficulty, but still the Army Council refused to realise that anything could permanently withstand the onward march of the army. The Council had to fight the vindictive hostility of the puffed-up employers who had succeeded in plucking many useful feathers from the growing wing of Labour; they had to regard the silent but relentless antipathy of the officials of the National Volunteers; they had to consider the shattered courage of the Dublin workers that created a condition of secret determination never to be openly identified with Liberty Hall; and, last of all, they had to passively submit to the irritating indifference of the Transport Union officials to the work that needed the help of every available man. P. T. Daly spoke at many meetings, but, with the one exception of Councillor Partridge, no other official of the Transport Union or of the Labour movement in Dublin, stirred a hand in the development of an organisation which they all sincerely, we fee1 sure, hoped to see the pioneer guard of the militant Irish Labour movement.

Many a time members were prompted by the feelings of hopeless endeavour to take their hands away from a heavy plough that seemed to be ever ploughing the sand.
 

------------------------------- CHAPTER IV THE QUARREL WITH THE NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS. "Plantagenet.: The truth appears so naked on my side
That any purblind eye may find it out.
Somerset : And on my side it is so well apparell'd,
So clear, so shining and so evident
That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye.".
-Shakespeare.

A sharp, definite and lasting antagonism was born during the night on which the National Volunteers were established between the official controlling power of that body And the Labour movement in general.

Some of the most prominent speakers at the initial meeting, held in the Rotunda Rink, Dublin, on Tuesday, November the 25th, had been, and indeed were then, intimately associated with the effort to smash the Labour movement, and violent opposition was manifested by a large section of the audience towards these as they were advocating the reasons for Irishmen to unite in the Volunteers for the maintenance of the "Liberties and Rights common to all Irishmen."

It was generally concluded at the time that this disturbance was deliberately organised by the Irish Citizen Army, but the facts are that the army or its officials had nothing whatever to do with the occurrence, nor did any of its officers ever suggest that such an action would meet with their tacit consent or definite approval.

Efforts were made frequently by Captain White and by the Secretary to promote co-operation in the use of halls for drilling purposes, but no concession whatever In this respect would be granted by the Volunteers to the Citizen Army. Their original manifesto had been signed hy members of the Hibernian organisation and by a member of the United Irish League, two movements that were bitterly and implacably opposed to the interests of Labour. Every political movement had received an invitatiom to attend the preliminary meeting, while Labour was silently ignored. In Irish Freedom every political body was welcomed into the National Volunteers, but no mention was made of the workers' organisations.

At a meeting held in Navan Mr. John MacNeill had announced that the National Volunteers would be under the control of the Irish Parliament, which Mr. Redmond had declared would be subservient to the English Imperial Parliament, and these incidents and declarations filled the mind of Irish Labour with so much mistrust and suspicion that definite and organised hostility began to be displayed by the Irish Citizen Army towards the efforts of the National Volunteers to induce the Irish workerrs to join its ranks. A vigorous discussion was carried on in the Worker by Seumas Mac Gabhan, a well-known Sligo Volunteer, and the Secretary of the Citizen Army. An effort was made by the Volunteers to form a company in Swords, a stronghold of the Irish Transport Union, but the meeting, which was kept secret till the last moment, was attended by officers of the Irish Citizen Army, who proceeded to Swords by car, and a strong company of the latter organisation was formed from those workers who had gathered together to hear the speakers sent to Swords by the Executive of the National Volunteers.

The Volunteers were asked if John MacNeill's statement was true; to declare if they stood for Home Rule, the principles of Grattan's Parliament, or an Irish Republic; to give in their Constitution a declaration in favour of the Rights of Man as well as the Rights of Ireland, as the United Irishmen did; and to refuse a welcome to those who attempted to prevent the workers from asserting their elemental right to join the Union of their choice.

At the suggestion of Jim Larkin, the Secretary of the Citizen Army sent to the Secretary of the Irish National Volunteers the following challenge:-

"To the Provisional Executive of the Irish National Volunteers:-

"Whereas, the Provisional Executive of the Irish National Volunteers have claimed from public platforms and in the Press the support of the Irish workers; and, whereas, the rank and file of the movement are almost wholly composed of members of the working class ; and
"Whereas, the conviction is growing stronger in Labour circles, owing to the ambiguous principles of the Volunteers' Constitution, and the class basis of the Provisional Executive, and the Ladies' Auxiliary Committee, and the strong elements co-operating with the movement, which have been consistently antagonistic to the lawful claims of Labour:
"We the members of the Council of the Irish Citizen Army, representative of Organised Labour, now challenge the Executive of the Irish National Volunteers to public debate in which to justify their appeal for the sympathy and support of the Irish working class.
"Details of debate to be arranged by three members of the Volunteers' Executive and three members of the Council of the Irish Citizen Army.
"(Signed) SEAN O CATHASAIGH,
"Hon. Sec., Irish Citizen Army."

The following reply, written in Irish, was received from Mr. John MacNeill:-

"19 Herbert Park, Dublin.
"DEAR SIR,- I received your letter last night at the Volunteers' Headquarters, and I gather from its contents that you think that there is a distinction being made by the Volunteer Executive between the noble and the obscure, the rich and the poor, and that you wish to discuss the matter in public debate.
"I am ignorant of the existence of such a distinction. I never heard much or little of it till I read your letter. It is impossible for me to enter into a discussion upon a matter about which I know nothing.
"Sincerely yours,
"EOIN MACNEILL.
" The Secretary, Irish Citizen Army."

This letter was succeeded by a reply subsequently received from Mr. Gogan, Assistant Secretary to the Irish National Volunteers, which ran as follows:-
"The Irish Volunteers,
"2o6 Great Brunswick Street,
"Dublin, May, 1914.
"DEAR SIR,-With reference to your challenge to public debate, the Provisional Committee regret to say that they cannot see their way to participate.
"Fraternally yours,
"THE HON. SECRETARIES.
"(Per L. G. Gogan, Assist. Sec.)
"The Secretary, Irish Citizen Army"

The following comment on these letters appeared in an issue of the Irish Worker dated June 13th, 1914:

" We venture to draw the attention of the readers of the Worker to the fact that the challenge was first answered by Mr. MacNeill himself without consulting his Executive - a singular action - and also that the subsequent letter from the Assistant Secretary includes the rejection of the suggestion of a conference between three members of each committee to discuss the whole question. Is it any wonder that Labour looks dubiously upon a movement which is afraid or unwilling to give an answer for the hope that is in it? These replies are eloquent testimonies to the workers that the National Volunteers' attachment to Democracy is built upon foundations of hay and straw and stubble."

It is singular to relate that notwithstanding the acute feelings of antipathy that existed between the official elements in the Volunteers and Labour, the cordial relations between the rank and file of both organisations remained warm and apparent. It was a pleasure, when the Citizen Army accidentally encountered a body of Volunteers on the march, to see how eager both were to do honour to each other in an earnest and brotherly salute.

It was also strange that the Labour Leaders were always enthusiastically received everywhere, though their speeches were usually punctuated with sharp and penetrating criticisms of the Volunteer movement.

At a meeting held in Bray, on April the 15th, 1914, outside of the Town Hall, which had been let to the Volunteers to hold an organising meeting, but which was refused to the Citizen Army, though its use had been sought for the same purpose, the greater part of the audience consisted of members of the Volunteer movement. Yet Jim Larkin and Captain White got a rousing reception, and Larkin's impassioned appeal to all to follow the principles of Wolfe Tone and John Mitchel, in spite of the back-boneless Volunteer Executive, was received with a loud and an earnest cheer. Jim advised all the workers to identify themselves with the Citizen Army, and reminded them that to suffer for Ireland and for humanity was to enter into a brighter and a fuller heritage.

The antagonism of the official element in the National Volunteers was painfully demonstrated by the following announcement which appeared in the Irish Worker from the Labour Day Committee, May, 1914:-
"Judging by the number of delegates present at last meeting, the celebration of Labour Day this year promises to eclipse anything held in recent years,
notwithstanding the fact that the National Volunteers have organised an opposition demonstration for the same day."

One day while the Secretary was preparing an agenda for a Council meeting, a messenger arrived who told him Captain White was very eager to speak with him on the telephone. The Secretary answered the call and was astonished to hear Captain White say that he had received an astonishing letter from Mr. MacNeill; he went on to tell the Secretary to summon a Council meeting at once, "for," said he, "the Lord has delivered John MacNeill into our hands." It was explained to the Council meeting held that night that Captain White offered the Volunteer Executive two companies of fully uniformed and equipped men, if the Executive would allow them to remain an independent though affiliated body. This offer, with which the Citizen Army Council had nothing to do, and about which they knew nothing at the time, was made subsequent to the celebrated encounter which Captain White had with the police while leading a few hungry men to the Mansion House with a view of protesting against the organised attempt to intensify unemployment in Dublin, that the men might continue to suffer for their temerity in resisting the tyranny of the employers. The letter which was sent by Mr. MacNeill, and which was read to the Council, rejected the Captain's offer, and explained that the National Volunteers could have no association with an organisation that had recently been in conflict with the police. Several members urged that this letter should be immediately published, but it was finally decided that, as the Citizen Army had no intention of amalgamating with the Volunteers, the wiser course to adopt was to pass the incident over.

Looking over past events now in the calm of new thought, it is painful to reflect upon a division that perhaps could not have been avoided but might indeed have been less bitter. The men in the National movement who understood and sympathised with Labour might have been more tolerant, and probably would have been so, had those in the Labour movement who understood National Ideals been more forbearing.

During the whole controversy Captain White and Countess Markievicz separated themselves from and frequently opposed the antagonism displayed towards the National Volunteers. And it is most probable had any indication been given by the Executive of the Irish National Volunteers to promote an amicable understanding between two bodies who had so much natural affinity with each other, that the influence of these two Leaders of the Citizen Army Council would have evolved a working basis of genuine and useful unity between the two organisations, with results that would have materially benefited and strengthened the objects for which both were ostensibly and actually working.

But there was one man whose voice was seldom heard, whose personality was little known in the Labour movement, but who was almost worshipped in the National camp, that silently but effectually opposed any corporate union between militant Nationalism and Labour. It was only when the star of this genius began to fade, which happened after his attempt to hand over the National Volunteers to the guidance of the Parliamentary Party, That a definite spirit of evident comradeship began to manifest itself between the Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. This man's persistent attitude towards Labour was the attitude of the witches towards the intrusion Of Faust and Mephistopheles:-
" Who are ye? What would ye here? Who hath come slinking in? The plague of fire into your bones!"

This man was Bulmer Hobson, whose warmest appreciation of all things appertaining to Labour was a sneer, and whose influence, which was powerful and potent, even with those whose sympathies were undoubtedly %vith the working-class, was always directed towards the prevention of an understanding between the forces of Labour and the militant power of young-hearted Nationalism.

But during all this unfortunate strife the Citizen Army was painfully developing its strength, adding to its members slowly, but surely, till, at a meeting of the Army Council, it was at last announced that the roll-book showed that the Citizen Army in the City and County of Dublin numbered a thousand men.
 

------------------------------ CHAPTER V PILGRIMAGE TO BODENSTOWN, 1914 "Oh! sweet 'tis to think that such faith can remain
To the Cause and the Man so long vanquished and slain."
-Davis.

On June, the 26th, 1914, a pilgrimage was made to Bodenstown under the auspices of the Wolfe Tone Memorial Committee, and the Citizen Army Council decided to participate. Vigorous preparations were accordingly made for a full muster of members, for we all knew that Jim Larkin had expressed his determination to visit the grave of Theobold Wolfe Tone. The Secretary visited the Wolfe Tone Committee to procure tickets; and though some of the Wolfe Tone Executive doubted the wisdom of encouraging the Citizen Army to participate, because of the differences between them and the Volunteers, who were to attend in full strength, the Chairman, Mr. T. Clarke, warmly welcomed the suggestion, and personally undertook to be responsible to the Wolfe Tone Executive for the good and earnest intentions of the Irish Citizen Army.

On the Saturday previous to the day on which the pilgrimage was to be held, the President of No.1 Branch of the Transport Union came to the room where the members of the army were assembled, and appealed to them to abandon the enterprise, as it was essential that every available man should be present at the general meeting which was to be held the following day in Croydon Park to consider the resignation of Jim Larkin from the position of General Secretary to the Transport Union.

A messenger was hastily despatched to discover if Jim was determined to carry out his intention of accompanying the pilgrimage to Bodenstown, and upon an answer in the affirmative being brought back by the messenger, upwards of two hundred men declared that they would accompany their chief. The first and second companies, headed by the Fintan Lalor Pipers' band, marched from Liberty Hall to Kingsbridge, and were met there by Jim and his eldest son, Seumas. The members were at first somewhat diffident as to the reception that would be extended to them, but their doubts in this respect were shortly set at rest by the kind and cordial welcome given to them by Tom Clarke, who appointed a special orderly to look after the Citizen Army, secure particular carriages for the members, and provide a special apartment for Jim and the members of the Army Council. The march to Bodenstown was a memorable one; large crowds lined the narrow streets of Sallins, and Jim Larkin, "the great Labour leader," was the observed of all. The march past, in a field contiguous to BodenStown graveyard, was an impressive spectacle, and certainly, without expressing any undue partiality, the members of the Irish Citizen Army, in appearance and in technical movements, left little to be desired.

At a subsequent meeting, held around the grave, it was gratifying to see that the committee in charge made every possible effort to give equal honour to all. The Finnna formed an inner ring around the grave, and the outer ring was formed by alternate members of the Volunteers and units of the Irish Citizen Army.
On the return journey a desperate attempt was made in Sallins by a great crowd of villagers who had assembled together to induce Jim to deliver a speech, but this he refused to do, because, as he said, he was the guest of the Wolfe Tone Memorial Committee, and all arrangements were in their hands, and he could not possibly allow himself to interfere with the arrangements that had probably been made before the date fixed for the Pilgrimage.

It was a journey never to be forgotten, for it heralded the possibility of a closer unity and a fuller understanding between the Irish Citizen Army and the National Volunteers. It was the first time they had stood side by side, the first time they had received and taken orders from a common commander, and this drawing together was possibly a symbol of a union that would be finally cemented together with the blood of both organisations.

From the issue of the Irish Worker succeeding the Pilgrimage, the following extract from an article that appeared in that journal is taken:-
"At the meeting, held in a field contiguous to the graveyard of Bodenstown, we were advised to regard the points of agreement between different sections of Irishmen rather than the points of difference between them.

" We venture to suggest that the Republicans should act upon their own counsel and take into consideration the points of agreement between themselves and the workers' organisations. If they took time to consider this over, they would discover that all workers are, through the force of necessity, potential rebels. Wolfe Tone held no foolish hopes of the union of all classes. He hated the aristocracy and thoroughly despised the propertied class and the merchants. He saw that these served only their own interests, and looked with affection, not upon Ireland, but on the stake they had in the country and the business they carried on in Ireland. He passed by the members of the Ascendancy Church, and linked up the oppressed Catholics with the equally oppressed Presbyterians. This union created the Society of United Irishmen.

“To-day the only possible union that Republicans can hope for is a union between themselves and the Workers, whose principles are practically identical with their own."

It seemed that the fraternal association of Citizen Army soldiers and Volunteers around the grave at Bodenstown had started in the breasts of both organisations a desire for closer communion in thought, principle and action.