"The national and racial characteristics of the English and Irish people are different, their political history and traditions are antagonistic, the economic development of the one is not on a par with the other, and, finally, although they have been in the closest contact for seven hundred years, yet the Celtic Irishman is to-day as much of an insoluble problem to even the most friendly English as on the day when the two countries were first joined in unholy wedlock."

#irishrace #celtic

These two quotes are taken from Erin's Hope (1897).

This is a very interesting article that I might revisit as it touches on many topics including Irish societal history, foreign competition and the Anglo Question.

"We gather from the American newspapers that our countrymen in the United States army and navy have been highly distinguishing themselves in the cause of the war with Spain.

This is as it should be and in consonance with all our Irish traditions. We are a fighting race, we are told, and every Irishman is always proud to hear our politicians and journalists tell of our exploits in the fighting line – in other countries, in other climes and in other times.

Yes, we are a fighting race. Whether it is under the Stars and Stripes or under the Union Jack; ... look then for the sons of our Emerald Isle..."

Yes, we are a fighting race. In Africa, India or America, wherever blood is to be spilt, there you will find Irishmen, eager and anxious for a fight, under any flag, in anybody's quarrel, in any cause – except their own."

#flag #irishrace #country

This is a slightly condensed section from The Fighting Race (1898) outlining how Connolly understood that no matter what flag he fought for, or country he lived in, that an Irishman is still Irish, that there is something more to being Irish than geography & citizenship. This is echoed In his own statement before his execution. In other words, he implicitly rejects the notion of civic nationalism and acknowledges ethnic bonds, what he refers to as "race".

List of # terms to use in the search bar for quick access to relevant quotes:

irishrace
irishpeople
country
nationalism
nation
flag
blood
martyrs
celtic
borders
immigration
alien
motherland
usury
norman
irishtraitor
foreign
natives
children
scab
unpatriotic
globalism
environmentalism
existence
gaelic
native
family
plantation
community
individual
collective
duty
veg
soul
famine
homeless
barbarians
oyvey
shutitdown
slander
slavery
Gael
capitalism
language
extinction
past
present
future
political
economic
creed
history
chemical
elements
soil
Ireland
materialistic
socialist
capitalists
flag
dublincastle
englisharmy
tears
socialism
parentage
duty
national
racial
tradition
invasion
exploiters
plunder
conquest
dispossession
character
hunger
future
capitalism
machinery
chauvinistic
protectionism
hereditary
lifeblood
demographics
climate
destiny
oldrace
europe
landlord
history

If the list gets too long I'll simplify it where possible, but it's a start.

To go straight to the top put # "top" into the search bar to bring you to the first post of the channel.

"Lord Lieutenants were unknown in Ireland before the Norman invasion. They have ever represented a foreign dominion, and the fight for Irish ‘rights’ does not date from the year 1800, but goes back a trifle of 600 years before that event.

As a matter of fact there never was such a thing as an Irish Parliament. The collection of exploiters who met in College Green were not Irish in any sense of the term. Their Parliament was no more than the council of a horde of foreign brigands deliberating as to the best and safest method of plundering the natives."

#norman #natives #foreign

Taken from Home Thrusts (27 Aug. 1898).

The last two lines are probably enough on their own, the rest is for context. The Norman's invaded. "foreign brigands" distinct from the "natives". Think about this next time identity deconstruction is used to justify mass immigration today.

"In the eyes of the farmers no wagging of green flags could make a landgrabber a patriot; let the workers apply the same test and brand as enemies of Ireland all who believe in the subjection of labour to capital – brand as traitors to his country all who live by skinning Irish labour"

#borders #immigration

Taken from Labour Representation (1898).

This is good example of Connolly's writings that can be applied to modern Ireland. We currently have our native working class being undercut by foreign labour and markets, and this practice is supported by the very people who claim to stand for the wellbeing of the workers.

Taken from The Re-Conquest of Ireland (1898).

The first sentence here is enough to show that Connolly believes that the Irish People are the rightful owners of Ireland. I included the rest because although it makes the Marxist argument of oppressor vs. oppressed it is a valid description of the situation at the time.

Taken from Home Thrusts (9 Sept. 1899).

Taken from Home Thrusts (23 Sept. 1899).

Taken from Dublin and the War - Diary of the Troubles (1899).

"We Irish are today the only working class in Europe who are not in revolt against the slavery of the capitalist system; we are the only people with whom the highest ambition in life is to get a good wage from their masters; we are the only people who have not risen intellectually to a conception of what life might be without masters; we are the only people, outside of England, who are trade unionists only in the shop, but become the veriest lackeys of our masters at the political ballot box; and we would all die for the freedom of our country, yet would continue that country in the hands of employers and landlords, who could at their will refuse us the right to live upon it."

#irishpeople #country

Taken from Home Thrusts (1900).

- Recognises class distinctions
- Recognises national/ethnic distinctions

It's not one or the other.