The Workers' Republic (ed. James Connolly). Issue of Saturday 18 December 1915, Vol. 1 no. 30, 8 pp (single large folded sheet, top margins unopened). Laid into the printed document are about 68...

The Workers' Republic (ed. James Connolly). Issue of Saturday 18 December 1915, Vol. 1 no. 30, 8 pp (single large folded sheet, top margins unopened). Laid into the printed document are about 68 pages of original material (mostly manuscript) of the items appearing in the paper, including 22 pages in James Connolly's hand, representing over 90% of the editorial contents (21 of 23 items). Most pages are neatly pierced in centre, probably by the printer's spike. A most remarkable survival, and a very valuable resource for scholars. Connolly was an organised and disciplined person in everything he did. Evidently it was his habit on publication of an issue to put the manuscript originals aside with a copy of the published issue. Connolly's office in Liberty Hall was sacked by British soldiers during and after the Rising. Various items are known to have been removed as trophies, and these papers must have been rescued by an enterprising individual who recognised their value. The collection includes a stamped purchase receipt issued by the Dublin antique dealer Henry Naylor on 26 August 1916 (some three months after Connolly was shot). The material entirely in Connolly's hand includes - a single folio sheet listing some of the contents of the issue. - Notes on the Front: Economic Conscription [printed on pages 1-2]. Thirteen half-sheets, numbered 1-4 & 6-14 but complete (matching the printed text), with some corrections and alterations. - All Ireland Rally Against Conscription. 3 pp folio [printed p. 2]. - Forgive and Forget. Editorial [printed p. 4]. 5 pp, on back of ITGWU headed notepaper. The material not (or mainly not) in Connolly's hand includes - Isaac Butt upon Prussia (title in Connolly's hand). Quarter-sheet [printed on p. 2]. - City of Dublin Strike. Xmas Fund for the Men. [Letter] To the Editor, Workers' Republic, from Wm. O'Brien, Acting Secretary, Dublin Trades Council, December 15th 1915 [printed p. 2]. 3 pp, on back of a Dublin United Trades Council circulars. - Dublin Trades Council, minutes for the fortnightly meeting held on Monday evening. 9 pp pencil probably in William O'Brien's hand, with 2 pp typescript (resolutions), and the original printed delegates' attendance sheet with about 35 signatures of those present. - Ceilidh. Pencilled notice [printed p. 3], 1 pp, on ITGWU headed notepaper with sketch of an aeroplane. - Department of Recruiting for Ireland. Printed circular letter to employers from R.W. Needham [printed p. 4 with heading 'Is this Conscription?']. - Passionist Fathers. Printed extract from their publication The Cross, December 1915 issue, with some lines of introduction in Connolly's hand [printed p. 5]. - Aonach na Nodlag 1915. Advertisement with covering note from Alderman T. Kelly, 1 pp, cyclostyled [printed p. 5]. - Cork Notes. 3 pp [printed p. 6]. - Northern Notes. 4 pp, signed Crobh-Dearg [said to be Cathal O'Shannon] [printed p. 6]. - Wexford Notes. One large and one part page, blue pencil, on back of cyclostyled accounts of Nat. Sailors' & Firemen's Union [printed p. 6]. - Tralee Notes, by Robal. 4 pp in blue pencil on lined paper [printed p. 6-7]. - Swiss Views on War Happenings. 2 pp of newspaper cuttings laid down on plain paper, with heading in Connolly's hand [printed p. 7]. - Arbitration in Denmark. 2 pp of newspaper cuttings laid down on plain paper, with heading in Connolly's hand [printed p. 7]. - Conscription and Women Workers. 5 pp on lined paper [printed p. 8]. - The Aonach. 1 pp cyclostyled, in T. Kelly's hand [printed p. 8]. The items in Connolly's hand include his important article on 'Economic Conscription', a fine and passionate statement of his views on employers and the war. 'The great Lock-out of 1913-14 was an apprenticeship in brutality - a hardening of the heart of the Irish employing class - whose full effects we are only reaping today in the persistent use of the weapon of hunger to compel men to fight for a power they hate, and to abandon a land that they love.' It includes the very well-known passage justifying his alliance with nationalists, later used as a slogan by his successors: 'We cannot conceive of a Free Ireland with a subject Working Class; we cannot conceive of a Subject Ireland with a Free Working Class. But we can conceive of a Free Ireland with a Working Class guaranteed the power of freely and peacefully working out its salvation.' His report on the Anti-Conscription meeting (including his own speech) is full of colour and enthusiasm, and the editorial entitled 'Forgive and Forget' (arguing precisely the contrary) is a powerful and sardonic piece. The quality of the writing in these pages is remarkable, bearing in mind that they were written as weekly journalism, with the printer waiting and little or no opportunity for revision. A collection of similar material was sold by Mealy's of Castlecomer in 1996; otherwise we are aware of no other similar collection, whether in libraries or in private hands.

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