PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins led the national commemoration of the 1913 Lockout in Dublin city centre.
The President laid a wreath at the statue of labour leader Jim Larkin on O’Connell Street yesterday afternoon, followed by one minute’s silence. The commemoration was followed by a re-enactment of the events of Bloody Sunday, which saw police baton-charging a large crowd which had gathered to hear Larkin speak from the balcony of the Imperial Hotel. ICTU event organisers asked people to dress up in the style of the time to take part in the re-enactment.
Saturday marked the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday when three people died and more than 500 people were injured at a mass meeting in what was one of the key events of the Lockout, which saw Dublin workers fight a sustained battle for rights and pay.
Tens of thousands of workers – and an estimated 300 employers – were involved in the struggle which lasted from August 1913 and January 1914, and which was the most severe industrial dispute in Irish history.
The commemorative programme for The Lockout will continue in coming months with exhibitions at the National Library and National Museum and further community events including a celebration of the food ships and other support sent by British workers in solidarity with the Dublin strikers.
Chronology of the Strike and Lockout
26 August 1913. The strike began. Tram workers deserted their vehicles in protest when William Martin Murphy forbade employees of his Tramways Company to be members of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.
28 August. Larkin and other labour leaders were arrested on the following charges: seditious speaking and seditious intent to break the public peace, and to spread hatred towards the Government. They were released later that day.
29 August. Official proclamation issued prohibiting the proposed meeting in Sackville St (now O’Connell St) on 31 August. Great meeting in Beresford Place. Before 10,000 people, Larkin burned the Government proclamation prohibiting the gathering.
30 August. Police issued a warrant for Larkin’s arrest for using seditious language inciting people to riot and to pillage shops. Riots in Ringsend, Beresford Place, and Eden Quay, during which the police baton-charged the crowds and injured many protestors. James Nolan, caught in the riots, died from injuries received from police.
31 August. Although warned by the police not to attend the planned mass meeting, Larkin appeared in the window of the Imperial Hotel, in disguise, to address the huge crowd assembled. He was immediately arrested, and a riot followed. There were riots throughout the city that night.
1 September. Dublin Corporation demanded a public inquiry into police conduct and allegations of police brutality. The inquest into the death of James Nolan began. Jacobs shut down part of its factory because of a strike by members of the ITGWU. Rioting broke out in Redmond’s Hill, in surrounding areas, and in other parts of the city.
2 September. The Dublin Coal Merchants’ Association locked out members of the ITGWU. Two tenement houses collapsed in Church Street, causing the immediate death of seven persons and serious injury to others.
3 September. William Martin Murphy addressed a meeting of about 400 employers, and persuaded them to act against the ITGWU. The employers drew up an agreement that pledged not to employ members of the ITGWU, and to sack those who refused to accept this decision. Thousands attended the funeral of James Nolan.
4 September. A labourer named John Byrne died from injuries received during rioting on Saturday night, 30 August.
5 September. A conference was held between employers, workers, and English trade unionists to try to resolve the dispute, without success. The jury at the inquest into the death of James Nolan decided that he died from fracture of the skull caused by a blow from a police baton, but that the evidence was not sufficient to say who dealt it.
7 September. The jury at the inquest into the death of John Byrne ruled that the cause of death was a fracture of the skull although they could not determine how the injury was caused.
9 September. The Dublin Building Trades Employers’ Federation adopted unanimously a resolution not to employ members of the ITGWU, and dismissed workers who did not accept this decision.
12 September. Farmers in Co. Dublin gave notice to labourers who belonged to the ITGWU. Members of the Dublin Carriers’ Association fired workers who refused to handle ‘tainted’ goods, i.e., materials provided by or for employers who supported Murphy’s lockout.
15 September. Another conference took place between employers, workers, and English trade unionists, but ended in failure.
16 September. Serious rioting broke out in Finglas village, and the police opened fire to disperse rioters.
21 September. Strikers marched through the city centre and clashed with police.
22 September. Staff employed by Timber Merchants refused to work with ‘tainted’ goods, and joined the strike.
25 September. Troops were drafted in to protect property, and to deliver coal to Government bodies that were not involved in the dispute.
26 September. The Government Board of Trade appointed George Askwith, Thomas R. Rathliffe–Ellis, and J. R. Clynes MP to oversee a Court of Inquiry to investigate the causes of the dispute, and to try to end it.
27 September. The first food ship arrives from England with 60,000 ‘family boxes’ for striking workers.
29 September. The Askwith Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the Lockout began.
2 & 3 October. Employers gave evidence to the Commission, defended their actions against the ITGWU, emphasised that they were not against Unions in principle, but were resolutely opposed to the ITGWU because it threatened their very existence by forcing workers into sympathetic strikes.
4 October. Representatives of the workers presented their case to the Commission, and stated that they would return to work only if Employers lifted their ban on the ITGWU, and reinstated all workers.
6 October. The Court of Inquiry concluded. Askwith recommended that a Conciliation Committee be set up, to hear the case of workers and employers, and to attempt to resolve disputes before a strike or lockout was declared. Employers rejected Askwith’s proposals.
8 October. Serious riots occurred in Swords, Co. Dublin when striking workers tried to prevent farmers bringing cattle to market. Police and civilians were injured.
14 October. In response to the Commissioners’ Report, the Employers’ Federation announced that they would end the Lockout only if the ITGWU were completely reorganised, under new leadership, and that they would not promise to reinstate every worker because they would not fire workers who replaced those on strike.
16 October. A crowd of about 4000 striking workers marched through the city to protest at the employers’ statement.
20 October. Archbishop William Walsh condemned the plan to send children of strikers to England for the duration of the strike.
21 October. The first group of children set sail for England, amidst loud protests from angry crowds at the ports.
12 November. Labourers in Dublin port stopped work.
18 December. Representatives of workers and employers met again to try to reach agreement but discussions ended two days later because of disagreement about the reinstatement of workers who had been on strike.
December 1913 & January 1914. Striking workers gradually began to return to work and the Lockout ended by degrees.