James Connolly
Edited by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh
The Returned Emigrants
The Returned Emigrants
p.18213 November 1915
The pages of Irish literature are covered with references to the returned Irish Emigrants. Especially do our poets revel in describing the emotions of the Irish Emigrant returned to the home of his or her ancestors. But the past week has added to our knowledge another kind of returned emigrant. The daily papers tell us with glee that a large number of Irish emigrants, or would-be emigrants, have been refused permission to board Atlantic liners at Liverpool and Londonderry, and forcibly compelled to return to their homes in Ireland.
These emigrants we are further informed were all of military age, and were suspected of a desire to leave the country in order to avoid conscription. The Daily Mail gave on Monday a first class picture showing these poor Irish lads standing in line at the steamship company's office, surrounded by a jeering mob of Englishmen. It is significant that every face shown on the picture as belonging to the jeering mob is the face of a young man of military age. Why did they not show the example of enlisting, instead of loafing around the docks of Liverpool in the middle of the day?
We learn also that all the British Steamship Companies plying to the United States have issued notices declining to book passages thither to any men of military age.
This is good!
Surely the issue could be made no clearer. These young Irishmen have just brought in the harvest that is to feed England and her armies, and now, their work done, they seek to escape from the country, but are told that Irishmen can only escape from Ireland by fighting for England as well as feeding her.
In other words it is made plain to them (and to us all) that to the Imperial mind an Irishman's destiny is to serve England.
For that and for that alone did an All Wise Providence create us.
But every day there is still pouring out of Ireland the good food, in the shape of cereals and livestock, that is necessary for the maintenance of these emigrants that England sent back, that is necessary for them and for us all.
p.183Some serious questions arise upon this.
We are told these emigrants are shirkers. Suppose they were. And then ask the question: What would happen if, as England has refused to let away the shirkers from Ireland, the Irish people were to refuse to let away the Irish food to feed the shirkers in England?
Or, why should Irish people allow their cattle and harvests to leave Ireland if the men who sowed and reaped the harvests, and tended the cattle, cannot go also? If the men are turned back shall we also turn back the cattle and foodstuffs?
The stokers of the Saxonia came out on strike rather than take Irish men from England. Should Dublin dockers go on strike rather than ship Irish cattle to England?
But the stokers in Liverpool had their nation behind them, with its armed forces if necessary.
Would the armed forces that recognise the Irish nation be behind the Irish docker should he take such action?
Would they?
Ah! That makes the difference!
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Title statement
Title (uniform): The Returned Emigrants
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: 1610 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: 2011
Distributor: CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.
CELT document ID: E900002-055
Availability: Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.
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). ‘The Returned Emigrants’. In: James Connolly: The Lost Writings. Ed. by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh. London: Pluto, pp. 182–183.
You can add this reference to your bibliographic database by copying or downloading the following:
@incollection{E900002-055,
author = {James Connolly},
title = {The Returned Emigrants},
editor = {Aindrias Ó~Cathasaigh},
booktitle = {James Connolly: The Lost Writings},
publisher = {Pluto},
address = {London},
date = {1997},
pages = {182–183}
}
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Profile description
Creation: by James Connolly
Date: 1915
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Keywords: political; essay; prose; 20c
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- 2011-02-05: Conversion script run; header updated; new wordcount made; file parsed. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
- 2008-08-29: File validated. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
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- 2006-01-25: File proofed (2), structural and content markup applied to text; header inserted and file parsed. (ed. Benjamin Hazard)
- 2005-12-01: File proofed (1). (ed. Aisling Byrne, Dublin)
- 2005-09-10: Text scanned. (data capture Benjamin Hazard)