James Connolly
Edited by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh
p.57Wood Quay Ward
To the Electors December 1901
Fellow Workers,
Having been asked by the United Labourers of Dublin Trade Union to stand as Labour Candidate for this Ward, and as the majority of the members of that body live in this Ward, and their request has since been endorsed by a large number of other electors I have consented to allow my name to go forward for your suffrages.
As a member of the Irish Socialist Republican Party I endorse the national and municipal programme and policy of that body; that is to say I believe that in Ireland, as in the remainder of the world to-day, there are but two classes,
The Master Class and the Working Class,
and that the Master Class live upon the labour of the Working Class, and use all the powers of government, nationally and municipally, in their own interest and against those who labour.
It is therefore, I believe, the duty of the workers to organise as a distinct party to put an end to this oppression by electing p.58 men drawn from their own ranks, conscious of their own interests and determined to defend them, on all bodies having the power either to make or to administer laws; the power of such bodies to be used consistently towards putting an end to the capitalist system of society, and making the Irish people really and fully the owners of Ireland, which is what is meant by an
Irish Socialist Republic
The United Irish Leaguers have supported the Socialist candidate at North East Lanark in Scotland, and are supporting the Socialist candidate at Dewsbury, England; in opposing Socialist candidates in Dublin they are only acting in the inconsistent and treacherous manner that has marked their history from the beginning.
If elected I will consider it my duty to act in the interest of the class to which I belong - the Working Class; the interest of the other classes are too well looked after already. The Corporation of Dublin is at present ruled exclusively in the interest of the middle class, and it is the rule of the middle class in the towns, as of the aristocracy in the country, which has made life so miserable for the Irish worker. The landed aristocracy are the oppressors in the rural districts, and in the towns the Middle Class take advantage of our necessities to drive down wages and force up rents that they may profit whilst the people starve. Labour, first, last and always shall therefore be my especial care.
As a Republican in politics I consider that all bodies in the elective power of the democracy should be used for the organising of the sentiment of the Irish people against all forms of foreign rule – from the monarch to the capitalist.
I am a member of the Dublin Trades' and Labour Council, and my candidature has received the hearty endorsement of the most trusted representatives of Labour in the city.
I append herewith the programme of reforms for which I shall agitate if returned.
Trusting to receive your hearty support at the polls on January next,
I remain, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yours in the cause of Labour,
JAMES CONNOLLY.
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Title statement
Title (uniform): Wood Quay Ward
Author: James Connolly
Editor: Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh
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Electronic edition compiled by: Benjamin Hazard
proof corrections by: Aisling Byrne
Funded by: University College, Cork, via the Writers of Ireland Project
Edition statement
2. Second draft.
Extent: 1684 words
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Publisher: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College Cork
Address: College Road, Cork, Ireland—http://www.ucc.ie/celt
Date: 2006
Date: 2010
Distributor: CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
CELT document ID: E900002-019
Availability: Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.The text is here reproduced with kind permission of the editor.
Source description
Edition
- Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh (ed.), James Connolly: The Lost Writings (London 1997).
Selected further reading
- James Connolly and William Walker, The Connolly-Walker controversy on socialist unity in Ireland (Dublin 1911, repr. Cork 1986).
- Robert Lynd, James Connolly: an appreciation, to James Connolly, Collected works (2 vols, October 1916, repr. Dublin 1987) i, pp. 495-507.
- Lambert McKenna, The social teachings of James Connolly (Dublin 1920).
- Desmond Ryan, James Connolly: his life, work and writings (Dublin 1924).
- G. Schüller, James Connolly and Irish freedom: a marxist analysis (Chicago 1926, repr. Cork 1974).
- Noelle Davis, Connolly of Ireland: patriot and socialist (Carnarvon 1946).
- Richard Michael Fox, James Connolly: the forerunner (Tralee 1946).
- Desmond Ryan, Socialism and nationalism: a selection from the writings of James Connolly (Dublin 1948).
- Desmond Ryan, 'James Connolly', in J. W. Boyle (ed.), Leaders and workers (Cork 1960, repr. 1978).
- C. Desmond Greaves, The life and times of James Connolly (London 1961, repr. Berlin 1976).
- François Bédarida, Le socialisme et la nation: James Connolly et l'Irlande (Paris 1965).
- Joseph Deasy, James Connolly: his life and teachings (Dublin 1966).
- James Connolly, Press poisoners in Ireland and other articles (Belfast 1968).
- James Connolly, Yellow unions in Ireland and other articles (Belfast 1968).
- Peter McKevitt, James Connolly (Dublin 1969).
- Owen Dudley Edwards, The mind of an activist: James Connolly (Dublin 1981).
- Derry Kelleher, Quotations from James Connolly: an anthology in three parts (2 vols Drogheda 1972).
- Peter Berresford Ellis (ed.), James Connolly: selected writings edited with an introduction by P. Berresford Ellis (Harmondsworth 1973).
- Samuel Levenson, James Connolly: a biography (London 1973).
- James Connolly, Ireland upon the dissecting table: James Connolly on Ulster and Partition (Cork 1975).
- Nora Connolly O'Brien, James Connolly: portrait of a rebel father (Dublin 1975).
- E. Strauss, Irish nationalism and British democracy (Westport CT 1975).
- Bernard Ransom, Connolly's Marxism (London 1980).
- Communist Party of Ireland, Breaking the chains: selected writings of James Connolly on women (Belfast 1981).
- Ruth Dudley Edwards, James Connolly (Dublin 1981).
- Brian Kelly, James Connolly and the fight for an Irish Workers' Republic (Cleveland, OH 1982).
- John F. Murphy, Implications of the Irish past: the socialist ideology of James Connolly from an historical perspective (unpubl. MA thesis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte 1983).
- Anthony Lake, James Connolly: the development of his political ideology (unpubl. MA thesis, NUI Cork 1984).
- Frederick Ryan, Socialism, democracy and the Church (Dublin 1984). With reviews of Connolly's 'Labour in Irish History' and Jaures' 'Studies in socialism'.
- Connolly: the Polish aspects: a review of James Connolly's political and spiritual affinity with Józef Pilsudski, leader of the Polish Socialist Party, organiser of the Polish legions and founder of the Polish state (Belfast 1985).
- X. T. Zagladina, James Connolly (Moscow 1985).
- James Connolly and Daniel De Leon, The Connolly-De Leon Controversy: On wages, marriage and the Church (London 1986).
- David Howell, A Lost Left: three studies in socialism and nationalism (Chicago 1986).
- Priscilla Metscher, Republicanism and socialism in Ireland: a study of the relationship of politics and ideology from the United Irishmen to James Connolly, Bremer Beiträge zur Literatur- und Ideologiegeschichte 2 (Frankfurt-am-Main 1986).
- Michael O'Riordan, General introduction, to James Connolly, Collected works (2 vols Dublin 1987) i, pp. ix-xvii.
- Cathal O'Shannon, Introduction, to James Connolly, Collected works (2 vols Dublin 1987) i, 11-16
- Austen Morgan, James Connolly: a political biography (Manchester 1988).
- Helen Clark, Sing a rebel song: the story of James Connolly, born Edinburgh 1868, executed Dublin 1916 (Edinburgh 1989).
- Kieran Allen, The politics of James Connolly (London 1990).
- Andy Johnston, James Larraggy and Edward McWilliams, Connolly: a Marxist analysis (Dublin 1990).
- Lambert McKenna, The social teachings of James Connolly, by Lambert McKenna, ed. Thomas J. Morrissey (Dublin 1991).
- Donnacha Ní Gabhann, The reality of Connolly: 1868-1916 (Dublin 1993).
- William K. Anderson, James Connolly and the Irish left (Dublin 1994).
- Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, What Connolly said: James Connolly's writings (Dublin 1994).
- James L. Hyland, James Connolly: life and times (Dundalk 1997).
- William McMullen, With James Connolly in Belfast (Belfast 2001).
- Donal Nevin, James Connolly: a full life (Dublin 2005).
Connolly, James (1997). ‘Wood Quay Ward’. In: James Connolly: The Lost Writings. Ed. by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh. London: Pluto, pp. 57–58.
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@incollection{E900002-019, author = {James Connolly}, title = {Wood Quay Ward}, editor = {Aindrias Ó~Cathasaigh}, booktitle = {James Connolly: The Lost Writings}, publisher = {Pluto}, address = {London}, date = {1997}, pages = {57-58} }
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Profile description
Creation: by James Connolly
Date: 1901
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Keywords: political; essay; prose; 20c
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- 2010-04-23: Conversion script run; header updated; new wordcount made; file parsed. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
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