British labour movement solidarity in the 1913-14 Dublin Lockout

Darlington, RR

Abstract

While most accounts of the Dublin Lockout of 1913-14 consider it primarily as an event in Irish history, it was also one of the most important struggles in twentieth century British history. It was influenced by, and was an integral part of the great ‘labour unrest’ that swept over Britain in the years 1911 to 1914 and had tremendous repercussions in Britain as well as Ireland. This article provide much neglected analysis of the nature, extent and dynamics of the solidarity campaign that was generated on the British mainland for the Lockout (probably the only other comparable event was the national miners’ strike of 1984-5), the reasons why such widespread support was forthcoming, and its broader implications for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of militant trade unionism in Britain during this period. It provides a comprehensive re-examination of the historical record and offers a critical analysis of existing predominant historiographical interpretations of the dispute. In the process, the article provides new insights on the potential and limits of Jim Larkin’s campaign to secure sympathetic industrial action inside the British labour movement and the refusal of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to support such an initiative.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 8, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 21, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 21, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2018
• Journal: Labor History
• Print ISSN: 0023-656X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-9702
• Publisher: Routledge
• Volume: 57
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 504-525
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2016.1239872
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2016.1239872
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/0023656X.asp