Latest / The History of Ireland: Rebellion, Empire, and Independence — Fexingo History / The Dublin Lockout 1913: Ireland's Labour War
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about the political struggle for Irish independence, the rebellions, the constitutional campaigns. But there's another kind of war that was fought on the streets of Dublin, and it's one that really set the stage for everything that came after. Luna: You mean the labour conflicts? Lucas: Exactly. I'm talking about the Dublin Lockout of 1913. It was a brutal, bitter class war that pitted the city's workers against the most powerful employer in Ireland. And it changed the shape of Irish politics forever. Lucas: The key figure on the workers' side was James Larkin, a firebrand trade unionist who had founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, or ITGWU, in 1909. On the other side was William Martin Murphy, a ruthless businessman who controlled the Dublin United Tramways Company, along with a dozen other major enterprises. Luna: So it was essentially Larkin versus Murphy. Lucas: Exactly right. And the flashpoint came when Murphy demanded that his tram workers sign an oath promising not to join the ITGWU. The workers refused. Murphy locked them out. But then he didn't stop there. He sent a circular to all the major employers in Dublin, urging them to do the same. Within weeks, over 20,000 workers were locked out, their families thrown into destitution. Lucas: The lockout began in late August 1913. Dublin was a city of horrific poverty at the time. Tenement housing, widespread tuberculosis, malnutrition. And now, with no wages coming in, families were facing starvation. Luna: What did the workers do to survive? Lucas: They relied on the union's funds, but those dried up quickly. Then the British Trades Union Congress sent aid, but it wasn't nearly enough. Soup kitchens were set up. Larkin organised the shipment of food from sympathetic English unions. But Murphy was determined to break the union. He brought in strikebreakers, and he had the Dublin Metropolitan Police on his side. Lucas: The police were brutal. On Sunday, 31 August 1913, Larkin had been banned from speaking in O'Connell Street. He defied the ban, disguised as a priest, and climbed onto a balcony at the Imperial Hotel — which was owned by Murphy. The police charged the crowd, batons swinging. That day became known as Bloody Sunday. Two workers were killed, hundreds were injured. Luna: I thought Bloody Sunday usually refers to 1920 in Croke Park. Lucas: Good point, and we covered that in episode 16. But 1913 had its own Bloody Sunday. It's less remembered now, but at the time it was a massive shock. The violence galvanised support for the workers. James Connolly, who was then based in Belfast, came to Dublin to support Larkin. And together, they formed the Irish Citizen Army — a workers' militia to protect pickets from police brutality. Luna: So the Irish Citizen Army came out of the Lockout? Lucas: It did. And that's a direct link to the Easter Rising in 1916. The ICA fought alongside the Irish Volunteers in the Rising. So the Lockout was really a rehearsal for the rebellion. But back in 1913, the lockout dragged on through the winter. Conditions in Dublin were appalling. There were reports of children dying of starvation. The union tried to send some children to foster families in England, but the Church and nationalists opposed it, accusing the union of trying to 'protestantise' the children. Luna: That seems like a strange thing to focus on when children are starving. Lucas: It was a distraction, but it was also a sign of how deep the divisions ran. In January 1914, after nearly five months, the workers were forced back on Murphy's terms. They had to renounce the union. Larkin and Connolly had failed. But the lockout had created a lasting sense of class consciousness. And it pushed many workers towards the revolutionary nationalism that would erupt in 1916. Luna: So the Lockout was a defeat, but it sowed the seeds of the Rising. Lucas: Exactly. And it also gave us one of the most famous speeches in Irish labour history. Larkin said, 'The great appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise.' That spirit didn't die when the workers went back to work. The Irish Citizen Army remained, and when the time came, they were ready. Luna: And what about Murphy? Did he come out of it looking good? Lucas: He won the lockout, but his reputation was permanently tarnished. He was seen as a symbol of capitalist oppression. And in the long run, the lockout helped to create a political environment where the labour movement became a major force. The Labour Party grew out of the ITGWU. So in a way, the defeat of 1913 laid the groundwork for future victories. Lucas: And there's a personal story I want to mention. A young man named Sean O'Casey was involved in the lockout. He was a labour activist, but he later became a playwright. His play 'The Plough and the Stars' is set during the Easter Rising, and it reflects the bitterness of the lockout years. Luna: So the lockout echoes through Irish culture as well. Lucas: It does. And it's a story that's often overshadowed by the political struggle for independence. But if you want to understand modern Ireland — the tensions between labour and capital, the role of the Church, the roots of the Rising — the Dublin Lockout is essential.