Frank Edwards (communist) facts for kids

Frank Edwards (born in 1907, died on June 7, 1983) was an important Irish teacher and a strong believer in communism, which is a political idea about how society should be organized.

Edwards's parents were from Belfast and moved to Waterford. His father served in the British Army during the First World War and sadly passed away during the war. His older brother, Jack Edwards, was a leader in Waterford. He helped organize a big strike against forcing people to join the army in Ireland. Jack was also active in the Irish War of Independence and later joined the side that was against the peace treaty during the Irish Civil War. Sadly, Jack was killed while in prison in Kilkenny. Frank Edwards said his brother's death was "known to be a reprisal" (meaning revenge) for a Free State officer who was killed in Waterford.

Early Life and Becoming a Teacher

Frank Edwards trained to be a national school teacher at De La Salle College in Waterford. This prepared him to teach young students.

Standing Up for What's Right

While teaching at Mount Sion Christian Brothers School in Waterford, Frank Edwards became a leader of a group called the Republican Congress in 1934. This group wanted to help workers and farmers. The Catholic Church did not support the Congress and told people not to join its first meeting.

Edwards spoke out against landlords who owned poor quality housing in the city. He didn't realize that some of these properties belonged to the Catholic Church. This brought him to the attention of a Church leader named Archdeacon William Byrne. The Church looked into Edwards's actions, and Bishop Jeremiah Kinane told him he had to leave his teaching job. At first, his teachers' union, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, supported him. This became a big public discussion, but the Church insisted that the Congress was going against their beliefs and trying to bring in a "Russian model" of society.

Fighting in the Spanish Civil War

In late 1936, Edwards traveled to Spain. He joined a group of Irish volunteers called the Connolly Column. They went to Spain to fight against fascism, a type of government that is very controlling and doesn't allow much freedom. Edwards fought in a battle at Lopera, where many soldiers were hurt. He was also wounded in another battle at Las Rozas, near Madrid.

Life After the War

When Frank Edwards returned to Ireland, it was hard for him to find work because he was put on a "blacklist" (meaning employers were told not to hire him). He lost a job at Pye Radio because he tried to organize a union for the workers. He then worked as a laborer, laying pipes.

When the Second World War began, he found a teaching job at Zion School, a Jewish school on the South Circular Road in Dublin. He stayed at this "temporary" job for thirty years before he retired.

In 1966, Frank Edwards, along with his wife Bobbie, Nora Harkin, John Swift, and others, helped start the Ireland-USSR Society. This group aimed to build friendly connections between Ireland and the Soviet Union.

Frank Edwards passed away in 1983 after being ill for a long time.