Pillar Connolly

In July 1936, at the start of the Civil War, the leader of the Irish Republicans, Peter O'Donnell, was went to Barcelona to prepare for the People's Olympic Games , which were planned to be held in protest against the holding of the Summer Olympics in Berlin . O'Donnell sympathized with the anarchists, workers and militias, who suppressed a military coup in the city and joined the militia that fought on the Aragon front.

Upon returning to Ireland, O'Donnell called for the creation of a group of Irish volunteer regiments that would support the Popular Front and its government. Volunteers began to record soldiers of the Irish Republican Army and the Republican Congress : among the leaders of the IRA there were quite a lot of “left” supporters, and Irish support for the Spanish communists and anti-fascists seemed commonplace.

The reason for the struggle was not only the support of the Second Spanish Republic, but also the fierce hatred of the Irish who had gone to fight on the side of the Francoists, mainly the blue shirt . Many Franco supporters fought on the side of the Irish Free State during the civil war in Ireland , and of these volunteers, the Franco created an 800-member Irish Brigade . In 1932-1933, the Irish left organized fights and shootings with blue shirts, but in 1933 the latter were outlawed. For many, the Spanish fronts were considered the continuation of personal "showdowns" and even the Irish Civil War itself.

None of the representatives of the IRA or the blue shirts were elected in the general election in Ireland, despite the fact that during the Great Depression sympathy for such groups increased. In 1934, the Republican Congress was formed by the “left” from the IRA, which broke up a year later. The IRA, however, was not the only group that put forward its volunteers: almost all socialists and “leftists” joined the Irish inter-brigade leaders, one of the most famous foremen was a boxer and former priest of the Church of Ireland Robert Hilliard . Bill Gannon was engaged in the recruitment of volunteers who participated in the assassination of Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins and later joined the Communist Party of Ireland.

In December 1936, 80 volunteers led by former IRA officer Frank Ryan arrived in Spain. Most of the volunteers came from the Irish Free State (quite a few members of the Communist Party of Ireland , the rest came from Northern Ireland (mainly from Belfast). Among the volunteers were people like Michael O'Riordan , Charlie Donnelly , Eddie O ' Flaherty, Paul Burns, Jackie Hunt, Bill Henry, Eamon McGrotti, Bill Beatty, Paddy Ro McLaughlin, Peter O'Connor ^[1] , Peter Power, Johnny Power, Liam Tamilson ^[2] , Jim Stranny, Willie O'Hanlon, Ben Murray ^[3] and Fred MacMahon.

Volunteers arrived by train in Perpignan ( Southern France ), then headed to Albacete with Andre Marty . A number of Irish volunteers refused to enlist in the British Inter-Brigade Battalion because of their political convictions, and Frank Ryan even tried to shoot one of the British when he discovered that he served in the ranks of the anti-Irish organization Black and Tans during the days of the Irish Revolutionary War. Because of this, some Irish decided not to join the 15th Inter-Brigade, to which Connolly's column was subordinate, and went to other brigades. The column fought at the Battle of Haram in February 1937 and suffered heavy losses: Charlie Donnelly, Imon McGrotti, Bill Henry, Liam Tamilson and Bill Beatty were killed. Frank Ryan was injured and returned to Ireland for treatment, after becoming Republican General Adjutant Jose Miahee . On April 1, 1938, he was captured during the Aragonese offensive and placed in the Miranda del Ebro prison camp. The death sentence was commuted to 30 years of hard labor after Eamon de Valera requested Ryan to be extradited to Ireland.

In July 1938, the Irish participated in the last Republican offensive - the battle of the Ebro . In September 1938, the government of the Spanish Republic disbanded the brigades, realizing that foreigners could no longer help the anti-fascists. The Irish were forced to return to their homeland. Michael O'Riordan became Secretary General of the Communist Party of Ireland in 1970.

The size of the column has not yet been determined: according to Irish and British sources, it is believed that 36 Irish were not returned alive from Spain ^[4] ; according to O'Riordan, there were 145 people in the convoy, and 61 people died in battle ^[5] .

• The song “ Viva la Quinta Brigada »Irish singer Christy Moore dedicated to Irish International Brigade volunteers, inspired by Michael O'Riordan 's Connolly Column.
• Spanish punk rock band Boikot a video was shot for the song "Jarama" dedicated to the participation of Irish volunteers in the Battle of Haram .

• Irish Brigade (Frankists)
• Irish volunteers in Spain
• Foreign volunteers in Spain
• The participation of Ireland in the Spanish Civil War

• Cronin, Séan. 1980. Frank Ryan: The search for The Republic . Dublin: Repsol. ISBN 0-86064-018-3 .
• Doyle, Bob. 2006. Brigadista: An Irishman's Fight Against Fascism . Dublin: Currach Press. ISBN 1-85607-937-6 .
• Hoar, Adrian. 2004. In Green and Red: The Lives of Frank Ryan . Kerry: Brandon. ISBN 0-86322-332-X .
• McGarry, Fearghal. 1999. Irish Politics and the Spanish Civil War . Cork: Cork University Press. ISBN 1-85918-239-9 .
• Ó Duinnín, Eoghan. 1986. La Niña Bonita agus an Róisín Dubh . Dublin: An Clóchomhar.
• O'Riordan, Michael Colonnay Connolly: The Story of the Irish who fought in the ranks of international brigades in the national revolutionary war of the Spanish people 1936-1939 = Connolly Column: The story of the Irishmen who fought for the Spanish Republic 1936-1939. - M.: Politizdat, 1987 .-- 253 p.

• Ireland and the Spanish Civil War