James Connolly

James Connollybelieved in a day when socialism and nationalism would rise together andIreland would be free.

Born in Edinburgh in 1868, James Connolly moved to Dublin in 1896 and founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party and the Workers' Republic newspaper. He lectured and campaigned for socialism in the US, where he also organised for the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1913 he stood with Jim Larkin in the fight for workers' rights during the Lockout in Dublin.

A founder of the Irish Citizen Army, he conspired to overthrow British rule in Ireland. He was appointed commandant-general of the Dublin Division of the Army of the Irish Republic during the Easter Rising 1916. Despite being severely wounded, Connolly was executed in Kilmainham Gaol on 12 May 1916.