EDINBURGH’S radical bookshop, Lighthouse, was the fitting venue recently for the first of two book launches held in Scotland about James Connolly’s early writings (above).
At the event, hosted by Jim Slaven of the James Connolly Society, Conor McCabe, the editor of the new book—The Lost and Early Writings of James Connolly, 1889-1898—spoke to an enthralled audience at length about the Easter Rising leader and socialist icon, before taking a number of questions related to Connolly.
The book itself unveils the formative years of Connolly, one of the 20th century's most influential socialist thinkers and revolutionary leaders. In it, Conor McCabe brings together Connolly's earliest articles, letters, and speeches, many of which have remained unpublished or inaccessible for more than a century. These writings offer a rare glimpse into Connolly's evolving political thought as he navigated the fight for workers’ rights, socialism, and Irish independence. Through his sharp critiques of capitalism and imperialism, Connolly laid the intellectual groundwork for the radical movements that would later define his legacy. The book not only captures Connolly’s intellectual rigour, but also his deep personal commitment to the working class and the oppressed.
In introducing the event, Jim Slaven, welcomed the editor to Connolly’s home city and described the new book as one that was ‘about Edinburgh as much as it was Connolly,’ while adding that ‘the story of history is often told from the top down’ and that this book offers the opposite of that narrative.
During the event, Conor McCabe spoke about Connolly’s publishing history, including the fact that only around 45 per cent of his writings had been published, with many of those edited and changed, distorting his original message.
“It’s really a book about a vibrant young socialist in Edinburgh analysing the world around him in order to change it,” he said.
The editor also sought to give an insight into the accurate views of Connolly with regards to socialism, while also stressing how well-read he was, the fact that he had published short stories and his perhaps lesser-known sharp sense of humour.
“It was a really wonderful launch event in Edinburgh,” the editor said. “It really meant a lot to me to bring Connolly home, a stone’s throw from where he was born.”
Meanwhile, in Glasgow, its radical bookshop, Calton Books hosted a very successful launch of the book too, in the Old Burnt Barns pub in the Calton (above).
The editor addressed the assembled capacity crowd in similar fashion to the event in Edinburgh, touching upon many of the same topics related to Connolly, before historian Stephen Coyle gave a talk on Connolly’s links with Glasgow.
He revealed that Connolly spoke in Glasgow from at least 1895 on numerous socialist platforms as a representative of the Irish Socialist Republican Party and its successor organisation, the Socialist Party of Ireland. He addressed the May Day demonstration in Glasgow in 1915, which was attended by 170 organisations and a dense mass of many thousands who gathered in Glasgow Green. In his speech Connolly attacked World War I as being fought in the interests of ‘royal freebooters and cosmopolitan thieves.’
"War waged by the oppressed nationalities against the oppressors and the class war of the proletariat against capital is par excellence... the swiftest, safest and most peaceful form of constructive work the socialist can engage in," Connolly said.
Stephen Coyle also pointed out that Connolly also attacked the Irish Parliamentary Party for its chauvinism and for recruiting Irishmen into the British army in defence of empire. This was the last speech Connolly gave outside of Ireland before he was executed by the British state in May 1916, for playing a leading role in the Easter Rising.
The speeches were followed with questions and contributions from the audience and book signings.
The Lost & Early Writings of James Connolly (1889-1898) can be purchased from both Lighthouse and Calton Books, via their website links listed below.
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