The Ballad of Larkin and Connolly

A Tribute to James Larkin and James Connolly *James (Big Jim) Larkin (Irish: Séamas Ó Lorcáin; 21 January 1876 30 January 1947), an Irish trade union leader and socialist activist, was born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England in 1875. He and his family later moved to a small cottage in Burren, southern County Down. Growing up in poverty, he received little formal education and began working in a variety of jobs while still a child. He became a full-time trade union organiser in 1905. Larkin moved to Belfast in 1907 and founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, the Irish Labour Party, and later the Workers' Union of Ireland. Perhaps best known for his role in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, "Big Jim" continues to occupy a significant place in Dublin's collective memory. *James Connolly (Irish: Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 12 May 1916) was an Irish socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but despite this he would become one of the leading Marxist theorists of his day. Though proud of his Irish background he also took a role in Scottish and American politics. He was shot by a British firing squad following his involvement in the Easter Rising of 1916.