Studies in Irish Radical Leadership : Lives on the Left

Studies in Irish radical leadership is a collection of biographies of labour leaders and radical activists. The book aims to discuss the lives of the less well-known men and women of the left; to explore alternative approaches to history; to put radicals in their social context; and to study the meaning of leadership.

Looking beyond a field dominated by Connolly and Larkin, the book takes second string personalities out from under the shadows of the giants. The subjects have been selected to be emblematic of phases and strands in labour history and representative of the variety of characters and mentalities on the left. Together they form a collection of windows on all aspects of the trade union and socialist movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and an exploration of many varieties of radical life, alternative thinking and progressive action in Ireland since c.1800. Each chapter provides a concise biography and assesses its subject as an example of his or her type, be it primitive rebel, early socialist, pioneering trade unionist, communist, child of the revolution, maverick, artist, parliamentarian or party leader. Some are household names, yet understudied, more are being considered in print for the first time.

This book will be of value to all those with an interest in Labour history, Irish studies, and biography and will appeal to academics, students, trade unionists and social activists.