Tomas O’Flaherta

from Jim Monaghan, Open University
jbm7@tutor.open.ac.uk
26 Royal Terrace West,
Dun Laoire,
Co. Dublin,
Ireland.

Tel. Dublin 2843850

Dear Comrade,

I have recently published a history of early Irish Trotskyism in Revolutionary History (Publisher Socialist Platform, BCM 7646, London WC1N 3XX). It was a joint effort with Ciaran Crossey. It is meant to be an objective approach Ciaran supports Militant and I the United Secretariat. Please could you bring it to the internet discussion group, alt.politics.socialism.trotsky. I can browse it, my e-mail is through an university comm. system. We are interested in feedback and I am interested especially in Tom (T.J.) O’Flaherty.

Tomas O’Flaherta

Born Aran islands, west coast of Ireland.1889
Older brother of novelist Liam O’Flaherty (Author of The Informer, later filmed by John Ford )
Education subsidised by Roger Casement, who exposed slavery in the Belgian Congo and the Putomayo in Bolivia as a member of the British Diplomatic Corps, executed in 1916 for his part in the 1916 Rising.
Founder member Irish Volunteers, militia formed to defend Independence struggle.
Emigrated to U.S.A.
Member I.W.W.
Active Lawrence Strike (Bread and Roses) 1913 (family tradition)
Founder American Communist Party of Reed, Cannon et al.
Defendant in trial of C.P. leaders resulting from Bridgeman raids.
Columnist Daily Worker.
First editor of Labor Defender.
Friend and ally of Cannon, William F. Dunne (Dunne was a leader of workers in Butte, Montana, where Frank Little was lynched)
Active in defence campaign of imprisoned James Larkin.
Editor of left wing Irish-American paper The Irish People (I have copies of the cover pages of this paper from the Tamiment Library but they will not give copies to a friend of mine who asked through a University Library)
Left C.P. with Cannon
Some disagreements with Cannon
Co-editor Producers News, Plentywood, Indiana
Returned to Ireland 1934 due to ill health.
Editor of Irish language left republican paper An t-Eireannacht (a book in Irish on this book was recently reviewed by Gerry Foley in Socialist Action)
Supporter of non Stalinist wing Irish Republican Congress lead by Nora Connolly-O’Brien, who corresponded with Trotsky.
Published two books of short stories, Aranmen All and Cliffmen of the West
Died, Aran of Heart Failure, 1936

As you can see he was a fairly interesting person, even with his drink problem. He was a friend of the sports writer Ring Lardner. There is a good chance he was in the same milieu as John Reed, Eugene O’Neill.

Yours Fraternally,
Jim Monaghan