1913 Dublin Strike and Lockout Quiz

Answer: Irish Transport and General Workers' Union

The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union was set up by James Larkin on 4 January 1909 after he was expelled from the National Union of Dock Labourers in Belfast. By 1912 the ITGWU had 18,000 members and it continued to grow. Many of its members were influenced by syndicalism and used the tactic of the "sympathetic strike" to put pressure on the employers. Very often employers gave in to the demands of the Trade Union to increase wages and improve working conditions.

However in 1913 when the Dublin Tramway Company workers went on strike, William Martin Murphy (a very influential businessman who owned the Tramway Company as well as several newspapers, hotels and department stores) persuaded other employers to respond to the strike by locking out the workers involved in it.

This marked the beginning of the 1913 Dublin Strike and Lockout.

Answer: Dublin Employers' Federation

In 1911 after a series of successful strikes led by Larkin, employers seemed powerless. William Martin Murphy proposed to set up the Employers' Federation which would resist the ITGWU. When the strike began in 1913 the employers drew up the declaration which had to be signed by every employee. By signing it the worker agreed to leave the ITGWU and never join the Union again. If the employee refused to do so he/she was locked out. Murphy was also willing to starve the locked out workers so that they would have no choice but to return to work.

Answer: Dublin Horse Show

The strike began on Tuesday 26 August 1913, when the Dublin Horse Show was about to start. Larkin chose the Horse Show because it was the busiest time for the Tramway Company. In this way he hoped that William Martin Murphy would give in and make concessions to workers.

However, only 200 out of 650 workers went on strike, so there were enough men to ensure that the Tramway service ran properly.

Answer: Constance Markievicz's

After the strike on 26 August 1913, the Dublin Castle authorities decided to arrest James Larkin and other union members. They also banned the ITGWU meeting organised for 31 August in Sackville Street. When Larkin was released on bail he assured the public that the meeting would go ahead.

However he feared that he might be arrested again and for that reason he had to hide in Constance Markievicz's house. Markievicz was a revolutionary nationalist who supported the workers' cause in 1913. Later, in 1916, she took part in the Easter Rising.

Answer: Tuesday 2 September 1913

The two houses collapsed on Tuesday 2 September 1913. Seven people were killed, including two children. Church Street had 189 slum dwellings. About five people lived in every room. Not long before the houses collapsed the Dublin housing inspectors had passed them as fit for living in.

The incident brought to the attention of the public the appalling living conditions of the workers. The authorities were forced to set up an inquiry into the housing conditions in Dublin because of the public pressure.

Answer: The Hare

The British trade unionists were appalled by the low wages and poor living conditions of the Dublin workers. Keir Hardie, the British socialist, went to Dublin to support the strikers. He promised to send an aid to Dublin to help the workers on strike and their families. On 28 September 1913 the TUC sent a ship, The Hare, which delivered 9,000 parcels of goods: bread, potatoes, sugar and other products.

In total between September 1913 and April 1914 the TUC donated £100,000 in the form of clothing, food and cash to help strikers who had been locked out.

Answer: Irish Citizen Army

After the "Bloody Sunday" of 31 August 1913 when the Dublin Metropolitan Police had invaded the flats and beaten up the wrokers, the ITGWU leaders started to think about an organisation which would protect them from police brutality. The Irish Citizen Army was set up in November 1913.

It was armed with only bats and hurling sticks. After James Larkin left Ireland, James Connolly became the leader of ICA. In 1914 it was completely reorganised and in 1916 its 220 members fought in the GPO during the Easter Rising.

Answer: John Dillon

It was John Dillon who wrote these words. At the time he was the deputy leader of the Home Rule party in Ireland. The Home Rulers hated both Murphy and Larkin. They had an old quarrel with Murphy dating back to early 1890 (Parnell divorce case) when Murphy attacked them in his newspapers.

However, the Home Rulers did not support Larkin either. Dillon's and Redmond's main concern at that time was the Home Rule Bill, therefore they adopted the "labour must wait" stance, concentrating more on getting an Irish parliament rather than helping workers with their struggle.

Answer: both of these

The British TUC did not believe that the sympathetic strikes could solve the industrial dispute. They preferred to negotiate and used the strikes only as the last resort. As soon as the strike began they sent the commission which held the Askwith Enquiry into the dispute.

Another reason why the TUC did not pass Larkin's proposal was because during his tour in Britain Larking abused the TUC leaders calling them "scabs", "renegades" and "scoundrels". It proved to be a serious mistake. On 9 December 1913, 600 delegates at the TUC meeting rejected the proposal by ten to one.

Answer: William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats condemned the employers in his "September 1913" poem. The poem is highly critical of the Irish middle class. In it Yeats draws a contrast between the revolutionary heroes like Wolfe Tone and John O'Leary, and the greedy Dublin middle classes who counted every penny.

The poem is also partly an attack on William Martin Murphy himself, who interfered with Yeats' plans to find a permanent place for Hugh Lane's Art Gallery.