THE WORKERS' PARTY OF IRELAND
Jim Connell remembered

Hero of the working class and author of the Red Flag remembered

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Jim Connell memorial, Crossakiel, Co. Meath

Jim Connell (1852-1929), the man who wrote the lyrics to The Red Flag was honoured in his native Crossakiel, County Meath this weekend with the 10th annual Jim Connell memorial weekend organised by a local committee.
 
Jim Connell was born near Kilskyre, a few miles outside the small village of Crossakiel, Kells, Co. Meath in 1852. From an early age he knew poverty and as a teenager he was forced to leave his native area to find work as a casual docker in Dublin and later in London doing a variety of jobs.  From his earliest work he began trade union agitation which led to him being blacklisted by many employers.
 

He worked at a variety of jobs.  He was a staff journalist on Keir Hardie's newspaper "The Labour Leader" and was secretary of the Workingmen's Legal Aid Society during the last 20 years of his life. 

He wrote "The Red Flag" in 1889 on the train from Charing Cross to New Cross after attending a lecture on socialism.

The song quickly became an anthem of the international labour movement.  Although he wrote it to the tune of  "The White Cockade", it has come more often to be sung to the tune of "Tannenbaum." 

(for more about Jim Connell visit http://webpages.dcu.ie/~sheehanh/jc-bio.htm)

The Workers' Party participated in this year's ceremonies at Crossakiel, proudly carrying the party banner and we also had a small bookstall there for the Sunday afternoon which attracted a lot of attention with sales of party pamphlets and souvenirs.   More photos are online - see the "Photos" section.

Peace, Work, Democracy & Class Politics