The first fifty years of the state saw Ireland change dramatically, and the Irish Labour Party changed with it. Using a wealth of new material, Niamh Puirseil traces the party's fortunes through its first fifty years in the Dail, from its perceived role as the 'political wing of the St Vincent de Paul' to its promise that the 1970s would be socialist. As well as examining the competing currents in the party itself, she also looks at Labour's relationship with different organisations and movements, including trade unions, republicans, the far left, the Catholic Church, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, as well as with other Social Democratic parties in Britain and Northern Ireland. "The Irish Labour Party, 1922-1973" is an outstanding contribution to the political history of twentieth-century Ireland. Over the course of the book, Niamh Puirseil charts the ever-depressing fortunes of the Labour party. Her exhaustive research provides a penetrating analysis of the myriad personalities and structures of the Labour Party, and shows a new picture of a party that seemed throughout the period to be hell bent on pressing the self-destruct button.This book offers a fresh and insightful look at a party riven by factions throughout its existence, and one that never reached its potential for a variety of reasons all outlined here. This book marks a major contribution to our understanding, not simply of the Labour Party, but of twentieth-century Ireland itself.

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Essays in Irish Labour History is a tribute to the late Professor John W Boyle, University of Guelph, Canada and a leading practitioner of Irish labour history, and his late wife Elizabeth. Boyle's specialism was in nineteenth century labour history, with a particular emphasis on Dublin and Belfast, cities to which he had academic and personal attachments, and these interests are well reflected in this book. The history of labour in Ulster is especially well covered, as is that of Protestant workers throughout the island. The collection also includes substantial scholarly articles that reflect ongoing research and areas that have thus far been neglected, such as the place for casual labour in nineteenth century Ireland and the impact of religion on the Irish Labour Party, 1922-73. The range of topics is broad and includes an obituary essay on the Boyles and an interrogation of Irish historiography and the working class.

The Irish Citizen Army (ICA) was born from the Dublin Lockout of 1913, when industrialist William Martin Murphy ‘locked out’ workers who refused to resign from the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, sparking one of the most dramatic industrial disputes in Irish history. Faced with threats of police brutality in response to the strike, James Connolly, James Larkin and Jack White established the ICA in the winter of 1913. By the end of March 1914, the ICA espoused republican ideology and that the ownership of Ireland was ‘vested of right in the people of Ireland’. The ICA was in the process of being totally transformed, going on to provide significant support to the IRA during the 1916 Rising. Despite Connolly’s execution and the internment of many ICA members, the ICA reorganised in 1917, subsequently developing networks for arms importation and ‘intelligence’, and later providing operative support for the War of Independence in Dublin. The most extensive survey of the movement to date, The ‘Labour Hercules’ explores the ICA’s evolution into a republican army and its legacy to the present day.

Examines why Young Ireland attached such importance to the writing of history, how it went about writing that history, and what impact their historical writings had.

Knights Across the Atlantic tells the story of the Knights of Labor, one of the great social movements of American history, in Britain and Ireland.

"Drawing on police intelligence reports, contemporary accounts and government publications, the author produces a comprehensive and compelling narrative on the condition of labour in the counties of Connacht [Connaught] in the decades before World War I. He examines the working conditions of herdsmen, dressmakers, dock labourers, shop assistants and other groups of workers in the province, before describing their attempts to organize themselves, their strikes and other struggles ... " --Back cover.

In a year which celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Irish War of Independence this book is entirely relevant. This comprehensive, meticulously-researched book offers readers (both familiar and unfamiliar with Irish history) an opportunity to review and re-examine their knowledge - from the Celts of the first century through to the foundation of Unionism and Republicanism in the latter part of the 18th and early 19th centuries. It seeks to explore the narrative that readers are generally exposed to in the revisionist version of Irish history. As its title suggests, Ireland a Social History presents from a social perspective and invites the reader to reconsider the mostly accepted narratives which often represent the dominant class understanding of Irish History or as Gramsci observed; social constructs that benefit only the ruling classes - their view becoming the accepted view. Jerry Shanahan spent the past seven years as a Worker Member of the Irish Labour Court which resolves industrial relations disputes and adjudicates on employment law. Prior to that he was National Officer with the trade union Unite, on the Executive Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and a former President of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions. He has had a lifetime interest in politics including the Connolly Youth Movement, Irish Communist Party, the Irish Labour Party, and was Chair of Labour Party trade unions. He also served on the Board of the National Economic and Social Council and the European Foundation on Living and Working Conditions. He holds a professional diploma in employment law from UCD and an MA from Keele University.