Connolly Column facts for kids
The Connolly Column was a group of Irish volunteers who believed in a fairer society. They fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. They were named after James Connolly, an important Irish leader.
This group was part of the XV International Brigade, which also included volunteers from the United States, Britain, and Latin American countries. Today, the name "Connolly Column" is used for all Irish volunteers who fought for the Spanish Republic.
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Why They Went to Spain
When the Spanish Civil War started in July 1936, many people around the world supported the Spanish Republic. In September 1936, a decision was made to form an International Brigade of volunteers. These volunteers would help the Republican government fight against the Nationalist rebels.
In Ireland, several groups also wanted to help. The main people who organized this effort were Sean Murray, Peadar O'Donnell, and Frank Ryan.
Sean Murray was a leader of the Communist Party of Ireland. He shared news from Spain in his party's newspaper, The Worker.
Peadar O'Donnell was a socialist and an Irish republican. He was in Barcelona for the "People's Olympics" – a sports event held to protest the Olympic Games in Berlin under the Nazi government. O'Donnell supported the workers' groups who fought against a military takeover in Barcelona. When he returned to Ireland, he encouraged Irish people to volunteer and support the elected government in Spain.
Frank Ryan had fought in the Irish Civil War. He was part of the Republican Congress, a group that believed in both Irish independence and socialist ideas. He was very keen to form a group of volunteers to join the International Brigades and fight in Spain.
Most of the Irish volunteers came from the Republican Congress. This group had formed because some members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had different political ideas in the early 1930s.
Their Reasons for Fighting
Besides supporting the Spanish Republic, many Irish volunteers also strongly disagreed with another Irish group called the Irish Brigade. This other group, made up of about 800 men, volunteered to fight on the Nationalist side in Spain.
This disagreement between the two Irish groups went back to the Irish Civil War in Ireland (1922–23). At that time, some of the groups that later formed the Connolly Column and the Irish Brigade had fought against each other. In the 1930s, there were even street fights between some IRA members and another group called the Blueshirts.
Some of these men saw the conflict in Spain as a continuation of Ireland's own past struggles. Not all the volunteers were Irish Republicans. The Irish International Brigaders included many different kinds of socialists and people with left-wing ideas. For example, there was even a former clergyman who was a communist, Robert Hilliard.
Bill Gannon, a former IRA member, played a big role in finding and organizing volunteers.
Fighting in Spain
In December 1936, about eighty volunteers, led by Frank Ryan, arrived in Spain. Most of them came from the Irish Free State, but some were from Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland. Many were members of the Communist Party of Ireland.
They traveled through France to Perpignan and then gathered in Madrigueras. In December 1936, they officially became the "James Connolly Centuria" of the International Brigade. People often called them the "Connolly Column."
Their first fight was near Cordova in Andalusia. They were part of a French battalion and helped push back a Nationalist attack. Later that month, they fought in the battle of Madrid, where they lost some men.
In January 1937, the unit was reorganized with new recruits. They joined the English-speaking XV (Abraham Lincoln) Brigade. The Connolly Column formed a company within the 16th (British) Saklatvala Battalion. However, some Irish volunteers did not want to serve in a British battalion because of their Irish Republican beliefs. Frank Ryan tried to explain that working together was more important than national feelings. As a result, some Irish volunteers moved to the 17th (American) Lincoln Battalion, which was also part of the XV Brigade. Other Irish volunteers also fought in different units of the Brigades.
The Connolly Column suffered heavy losses at the battle of Jarama, near Madrid, in February 1937. Many men, including Charles Donnelly and Liam Tumilson, were killed during this battle.
Frank Ryan was badly wounded at Jarama in February 1937 and went back to Ireland to get better. When he returned to Spain, he became an assistant to a Republican General.
In June 1937, the Connolly Column went into reserve. In July, the XV Brigade took part in the Battle of Brunete. The Connolly Column, fighting near Villanueva de Canada, lost 7 men killed and many wounded.
In August, the XV Brigade fought in the battle of Belchite. During this battle, Paddy O'Daire from the Connolly Column took command of the British battalion after its leader was wounded.
In October, they moved to a quieter area on the Aragon front. But in January 1938, they took part in the attack on Teruel. In March, during the battle of Gandesa, they had to retreat when the front line collapsed, and Ryan was captured.
The Connolly Column fought its last battle in July 1938. The Spanish Republican government had agreed to send all foreign soldiers home. But on their way back, the Connolly Column returned to the front to fight in the Battle of Ebro. This was the last big attack by the Republicans in the war.
The Irish volunteers who survived were sent back to Ireland after September 1938. The Republican government hoped that by sending foreign soldiers home, they would get help from other countries and convince German and Italian soldiers to leave Spain.
Frank Ryan was captured on April 1, 1938. He was sentenced to death, but after the Irish leader Éamon de Valera spoke up for him, his sentence was changed to thirty years of hard labor.
Michael O'Riordan, one of the volunteers, later became a leader of the Communist Party of Ireland in 1970.
Even though it was a small group, sources have different numbers for how many Irish people were involved. A list of those killed mentions 36 Irishmen. Michael O'Riordan said there were 145 men, and that "61 never came back." When they returned to Dublin, the Connolly Column was met by a priest who held up a banner in their honor.
Related Material
Christy Moore's song "Viva la Quince Brigada" is about the Irish volunteers who fought in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. The song was inspired by Michael O'Riordan's book, Connolly Column.
See also
- Irish Brigade (Spanish Civil War)
- Irish Socialist Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
- Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War
- Irish involvement in the Spanish Civil War
- Ireland–Spain relations
