James Connolly

James Connolly (1868-1916): Born in Edinburgh, the son of Irish immigrants, Connolly moved to Dublin in 1896 and founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party. He spent
seven years in America where he lectured and organised for the Wobblies (the Industrial Workers of the World). Connolly returned to Ireland in 1910 and Jim Larkin appointed him as Ulster organiser for the ITGWU in Belfast. In 1913, he returned to Dublin to support the Lockout. Connolly was one of the founders of the Irish Citizen Army.
During the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin brigade, directing the Army of the Irish Republic in the GPO. Badly wounded in two separate
incidents, Connolly was executed in a chair on 12 May 1916.