WEBVTT - The Limerick Soviet 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.040 Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:13.560 of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.599 to the podcast. I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy view Wilson. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.720 So I just got back from Ireland. It looks like 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.479 you had a great time. I did. I feel like 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.680 a very spoiled person for having gotten to go on 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.320 that trip. And we went all over the place while 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.640 we were there, but we ended up, through just kind 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:35.080 of some logistics, spending a really lovely afternoon in Limerick 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:36.920 while we were waiting on some friends to meet up 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.080 with us to move on to our next destination. And 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:41.839 while we were at a pub there, we met this 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.120 really lovely couple who were kind enough to chat with 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.120 us for a bit, and during our conversation, our new 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:50.000 friend Maria mentioned a historical event that took place in 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.120 Limerick that was utterly fascinating to me. She started out 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.600 by mentioning that in the nineteen teens the city had 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.520 very briefly printed its own currency, and of course I 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.440 was a metately intrigued um and she kind of gave 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.000 me a quick rundown of it. But of course, like 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.440 in a pub conversation of fifteen minutes where there's much 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.200 laughing and talking about other things. You don't get all 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.000 of the stuff. So I ended up looking into it 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.919 and it unveiled itself to be a pretty fascinating moment. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.319 It was probably also on her mind because they just 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:22.560 did like a hundred years thing in April, like a 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:24.479 festival around it. We'll talk about that at the end, 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:27.080 and it is. It's really fascinating. I feel like it's 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.240 one of those things that people in Limerick all knew about, 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.160 but I had not heard of it. So it seems 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.160 like a good thing to kind of maybe share with 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.840 the world outside of Ireland because it's a really fascinating 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.120 piece of Irish history. And uh so this episode isn't 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.800 thanks to Maria by any chance she's listening. Thank you 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.320 for both a lovely conversation and a great idea. And 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.200 also I just want to thank all of Ireland for 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:50.440 being incredibly friendly and welcoming. I had nothing but great 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.760 interactions and experiences with literally every single person we met, 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.040 so uh it was really quite delightful. So we were 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.400 talking today about this event, which was called the Limerick 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:02.240 Soviet and it has a number of moving parts in 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.720 some overlap in terms of different movements that get a 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.160 little tangled up in it that even to this day 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.840 get debated over over how much one or the other 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.880 was an influence. Um But in April and in March 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.640 eighteen as a Saturday Classic, we had an episode on 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.280 the Easter Rising of nineteen sixteen, and that episode will 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.280 give you a little bit of additional context for the 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.239 events that we're going to talk about today, because it 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.360 was a lot of the things that were happening leading 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.320 up to what happened here. It's not a necessary listen 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.080 before this one, but it just offers a little snapshot 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.560 of what was playing out in Ireland politically right before 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:41.920 the Limericks Soviet happened. So check it out if you 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.040 want to get a little more of an in depth 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.640 approach to this one. To talk about the events that 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.320 led to the Limericks Soviet, it'll help to first talk 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.800 about Robert Byrne, who went by Bobby Burne, was born 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.919 on November eighty nine in Dublin. His father died when 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.440 he was still a boy, and his mother moved herself 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:01.360 and her son to Limerick, and that was where she 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.080 was originally from. Bobby joined the Civil Service in nineteen 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.519 o seven at the age of eighteen to work in 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:11.160 the Limerick General Post Office and after working at the Kinsale, 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.359 County Cork Post Office as a sorter and then in Bandon, 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.239 also County Cork, he returned to the g p O 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.320 in Limerick in October of nineteen eleven. When he was 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.360 posted in Limerick, he started working as a telegraph operator 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.600 and it was in that position that he started sharing 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.240 information he gathered on the job with intelligence officers of 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.800 the Irish Volunteers that was the precursor to the Irish 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:36.720 Republican Army, who wanted Ireland to be free of British rule. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.960 The Volunteers formed as a paramilitary group that was intended 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:45.040 to destabilize the power of the British government in Ireland. Obviously, 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.640 that is a super quick version. Yeah, And if you 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.280 are ever looking at documents that outline kind of what 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:56.760 this happened, sometimes it's real fluid when they start calling, um, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.760 the Volunteers the Irish Republican Army even though they hadn't 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:05.120 actually formed in that under that name yet. Um So 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:06.880 if you're looking in those don't quite match up. That's 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.840 what's going on there. But Over the next several years, 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.560 Bobby became more and more involved with the Irish Volunteer movement, 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.200 so much so that the Royal Irish Constabulary you often 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.520 see that abbreviated as r I C, became interested in 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.320 his activities. In nineteen seventeen, he was placed on a 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:27.360 list of Post office employees that the police believed were 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.480 disloyal to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.640 Byrne was kept under surveillance by the authorities, and in 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.719 the fall of nineteen eighteen Post office management met with 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.560 him to discuss a number of allegations of seditious activities 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.040 that were on record in the years since nineteen sixteen. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.760 He denied all these charges, but was fired from his position. Yeah, 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.120 they suddenly unfurled a list of things, and they were 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.480 not things he did at the post office in his job. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.719 They were things that, uh, he had been spied on 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.680 and recorded as doing in his his normal life. And 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.919 in addition to his association with the Republican militia, Burne 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.000 was also a very active member of the Trades Council. 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.760 He was a trade unionist and he was vocal in 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.719 Ireland's labor movement. His work organizing his fellow post office 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.160 workers in a union was undoubtedly also a factor in 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:22.600 his dismissal. On January thirteenth, nineteen nineteen, burn was at 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.599 home in his mother's house when the home was raided 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.120 by the r i C. Police searched the premises, They 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.599 found a firearm and ammunition, and Bobby was arrested. He 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.160 made no answer to these charges because he thought the 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.400 authorities involved were part of an occupation of Ireland and 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.400 that he wouldn't be given a fair judgment. Bobby Burne 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.560 was kept in custody without sentencing, and while in prison, 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:49.240 he campaigned to be given political prisoner status. On February fourth, 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:52.280 after several weeks in custody, burn was finally sentenced to 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.919 twelve months hard labor. Burn led a rebellion in the 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.120 prison the day after his sentence was handed down. He 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.320 and fifteen other prisoners, all of whom they believed that 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.080 they should be held as political prisoners rather than as 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:09.440 criminal convicts, barricaded their cells and they smashed the furniture within, 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.919 and they sang Republican songs loudly enough to draw a 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.680 crown in the street outside. It took several hours for 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.159 the police to settle things down, and as a result 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.320 of the protests, the men involved were punished with strict measures. 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.120 They were shackled to their beds, some had their boots 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.640 taken away, and visitors were no longer allowed to bring 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.080 them food or clothing. Some were put in solitary confinement, 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.640 and they went on a hunger strike in protest. As 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.440 news of what was going on in the prison circulated, 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:42.000 it catalyzed a number of discussions among Limericks leaders. The 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.920 city Council meant and discussed the treatment of the prisoners. 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.240 The incarcerated men had told visitors that they had no 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:50.719 issue with the mayor or the prison guards, but that 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.440 they wanted to be categorized as political prisoners, and that fact, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.679 plus pamphlets that were circulating about the men's poor treatment, 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:02.960 including being four fed, gained support for them. There was 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.960 also a meeting of the Irish Post Office Clerks Association 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:10.400 to discuss secret reporting on staff. Burne had, as you recall, 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.800 Ben fired based entirely on accusations that he had denied, 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:17.200 with no formal process for him to defend himself, and 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.880 a resolution was written up and sent to Lloyd George 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.760 UK's Prime Minister at the time, as well as leaders 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:25.520 of the Postal Service calling for Bobby burn to be 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.560 reinstated in his position. They also called for an end 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:34.239 to this idea of secret reporting. Burne eventually became so 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.200 ill that he was moved to the Limerick Union Workhouse 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.280 Hospital and kept under armed guard. This move was performed 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:45.080 under the Criminal Administration Act of nineteen fourteen, meaning that 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.640 though he was no longer in a PRISM facility, he 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.880 was still in legal custody. The hospital didn't want to 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:52.880 take him though, they were concerned that if he died 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:55.800 in their facility, they would be held responsible instead of 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.360 the police. Ultimately, they had no legal power to prevent 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:03.800 this move. As the hospital administration was fretting over having 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.640 Burned in their care, plans were being made to break 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.600 him out at a club on Gerald Griffin Street. Petter Dunne, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:15.160 commandant of the IRIS Limerick Battalion, brought together battalion officers 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.120 from the organization to put together a rescue for burn 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.160 and that was scheduled for April six. The guards stationed 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:24.679 at the hospital would be tied up, they would grab 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.560 Bobby burn and then they would take him to a 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.920 safe house. No battalion officers were to participate in this mission. 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.600 Starting at about two pm on April six, the volunteers, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.640 led by Michael Stack, started arriving at the hospital in 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:41.400 small groups. They pretended that they were visiting various patients. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.520 Several dozen assembled and some were out on the hospital 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.560 grounds and others on the ward where burns being held. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.400 A funeral carriage was waiting for Burn and his liberators 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.120 at the hospital's morgue doors around the back. Yeah, that 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:58.480 was to be their getaway car. And we're gonna talk 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:00.560 about how this rescue effort play it out in just 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:02.360 a moment, but first we are going to pause for 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:12.640 a little sponsor break. It is not entirely clear how 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.480 Bobby Burn was notified of what was happening. Different members 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.440 of the volunteer team that went to rescue him gave 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.160 different accounts, but the plan was that there would be 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.600 a signal whistle blown after a number of the group 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.160 had made their way to the areas near Burn's bed, 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.320 again all pretending that they were checking in on other patients, 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:34.000 and once that whistle blew, the plan would jump into action. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.600 Stack and his men had planned and prepared, but even 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.960 so when he blew the whistle, the hospital just really 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.720 erupted into a pandemonium. For one thing, they were bystanders 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.600 who were actual visitors to the patients in the ward, 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.000 and they all started running when they heard this whistle. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.120 For another thing, the guards on either side of Burn's 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.400 bed were armed and they had their weapons drawn. Stack 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.000 later said that one of the constables, named Spileane, turned 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.320 and shot Burned as he lay in bed, and that 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:06.000 Stack fired at Spillane in response. Stack also fatally shot 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:09.480 another constable, Martin O'Brien, as the policeman drew his weapon. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.600 While the volunteers were carrying Burn out of the hospital, 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.480 a prison warden named John Mahoney, who was also assigned 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.520 to the hospital, told that story differently. He said that 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.040 while the constables did have their guns drawn, neither of 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.760 them fired, and in his version, the two policemen grappled 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.160 with the crowd that rushed at them as Burn got 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:32.000 out of bed. Mahoney was trampled and he lost consciousness, 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:35.240 So his account kind of drops off there. He came 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:37.840 too long enough to once again make a lunge and 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.520 try to capture Burn. He had not left the hospital yet, 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:42.360 but He then received a blow to the head that 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.120 left him dazed, and by the time he regained his 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:49.240 senses from that, Burn was gone. Burns supporters were able 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.360 to get him out of the prison, but the funeral 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.400 carriage was gone. Instead, they commandeered a small carriage being 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.280 driven by a local name John Ryan, who took burn 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:02.280 and his rescuers to his homing County Claire. Burnett died 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.000 from the gunshot that night. The bullet that killed him 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.760 may have actually been from one of his rescuers guns. 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.280 The story about that has shifted over the years, but 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.240 at the time it was believed that he was shot 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:16.960 and killed by police, so the public was outraged. On 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:20.560 April ninth, three days after Burns death, the protests in 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.040 the city led to the declaration of martial law in Limerick. 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.920 The city was barricaded with checkpoints that required a special 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.400 permit from the military to pass through, and to get 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.040 a permit, each person had to report to a military 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.720 office at seventy eight O'Connell Street and have their address, job, 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:42.959 and personal appearance recorded. The whole city was cordened, excluding 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:46.240 the area north of the River Shannon, and that created 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:50.200 a unique problem. Many of the city's laborers worked in 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.160 the Thombing Gate area north of the river, and two 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.679 major factories, which were Walker's Distillery in the Cleves Dairy 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.640 were also north of this barricade. That meant more than 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.480 five five thousand workers from both sides of the river. 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.600 We're going to have to get military issued passes just 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.320 to get to their jobs, and in some cases they 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.400 were going to have to pass through checkpoints like four 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.200 times a day. The day after the declaration of martial law, 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.160 on April tenth, Robert Burne was late to rest and 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.040 his funeral took place at St. John's Cathedral and he 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.360 was buried in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery. The entire city 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.840 shut down and thousands of people came out into the 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.320 streets to pay their respects to burn. The Limerick Trades 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.160 and Labor Council, led by President John Cronin and with 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.600 delegates from the city's trade unions, met on Sunday, April 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.720 to discuss the problem. This meeting went on for twelve 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.440 hours and the end result was a plan for a strike. 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.640 The strike Committee issued the following statement quote The Workers 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.200 of Limerick assembled in Council hereby declare cessation of all 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:53.199 work from five am on Monday, April fourteenth, nineteen nineteen, 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.079 as a protest against the decision of the British government 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.160 and compelling them to procure permits in order to earn 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:03.240 their daily bread by order of the Strike Committee Mechanics Institute. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.600 An estimated fifteen thousand workers participated in this strike. You'll 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:12.240 sometimes also see that number listed as fourteen thousand or 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.160 somewhere in between, and at this point the population of 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.440 Limerick was around thirty eight thousands, so that was a 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:22.000 very significant number. Essentially, the entire city went on strike. 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.920 Even the pubs closed down and initially some work, for 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.520 example in dairy and bacon factories was allowed to continue, 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.040 but only for the first day of the strike, and 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.960 that was so that the existing supplies there didn't simply 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.480 spoil and go to waste or I would presume, stink 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.960 up the entire town. The Trade Council's strike plan was 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.280 detailed and carefully thought out. Committees were established to ensure 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.400 that Limerick had some kind of infrastructure during the strike 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.200 and isolation. Within the barricades. There were people managing food 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.520 distribution and other daily needs. Food depots were set up 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.560 with fixed price groceries. Profiteering during the was strictly outlawed, 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.040 and to ensure that no one tried to jack up 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.880 prices to take advantage of this situation, agreed upon prices 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.920 for all goods were posted on flyers around the town 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.680 so that the population was kept informed about what they 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.640 should be paying for any given uh staple item of groceries. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.960 And additionally, the council, which convened every morning, made allowances 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.400 for people to work in bakeries and for stores to 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.720 open for limited afternoon hours to sell necessities, all in 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.040 the interest of keeping the city going without regular supplies 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:36.320 coming in. They also made deals with local farmers to 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.840 provide produce directly to the city and circumvent the usual 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:45.040 distribution channels. Volunteers did smuggling some supplies from the countryside, 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.760 and in some cases they faked funeral processions with food 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.080 and other supplies being carried in the coffins instead of bodies, 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.960 but these weren't regular or dependable and the Trades Council 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.840 was not involved in them. A police force was set 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.880 up by the Trades Council, as well as a finances subcommittee, 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.080 and it was decided in the second week of the 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.120 strike that Limerick would print its own money, so, under 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.960 the leadership of Trade Council Treasurer James Casey, currency was 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:16.400 printed in one, five and ten shilling denominations and Casey 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.320 signed each note. The Trade Union Congress had sent their 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.920 treasurer who said that the TUC backed the Limerick currency, 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.280 so basically they were gonna make good on payments on 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.320 all of these notes, and this way strikers could be 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.560 issued currency, and shopkeepers of businesses approved to open agreed 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.880 to accept that currency. Businesses that were permitted to open 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.760 did so with signage that stated that they were operating 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:43.280 under the approval of the Strike Committee. Vehicles were not 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:45.440 allowed to drive on the roads without a permit from 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.480 the council. There was also a regular daily paper that 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.160 was run to keep everyone informed about the strike and 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.240 the Labor Council's doings, which was called the Workers Bulletin. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:57.400 And coming up, we're going to talk about how this 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.800 strike became international news. But before that, we're going to 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.640 take a little break and hear from one of the 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.360 sponsors that keep stuff you missed in history class going. 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.680 The Limerick Soviet, as it came to be known in 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:19.000 the press, gained international following when press arrived in the 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.560 area to cover a transatlantic flight, because Limerick had been 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.000 planned as a fueling stop for pilot J. C. P. 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.120 Wood as he made this journey, but Wood had ditched 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.520 his plate in the ocean off the Welsh coast, so 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.440 the journalists that had assembled in Limerick essentially had no story. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.320 So they turned instead to covering the strike, and it 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.080 was something of a feel good story. This strike was 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.160 nonviolent and it had been carefully thought out, so it 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.720 was pretty easy to write about it in a supportive light. 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.520 One journalist from the United States named Ruth Russell had 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.600 been touring Ireland and writing about its political situation when 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.920 she arrived in Limerick in n twenties. She published a 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.560 book about Ireland, and she recounted me with the head 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.360 of the strike committee, John Cronan, to get his explanation 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.320 of what the strike was about. Per his talk with Russell, 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.600 Cronan either felt that they were on track for a 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.880 long term governance by the workers, or he was making 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.520 it sound that way for the international press. So here's 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.960 a portion of Ruth Russell's account, starting with a quote 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.680 from Cronin he says, quote why did we form it? 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:26.119 Why do we pit people's rule against military rule. Of course, 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.560 as workers we are against all military but our particular 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.200 grievance against the British military is this. When the town 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.400 was unjustly proclaimed, the cordon was drawn to leave out 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.920 a factory part of town that lies beyond the bridges. 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.000 We had to ask the soldiers for permits to earn 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.200 our daily bread. You have seen how we have thrown 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.200 the crank into production, but some activities are permitted to continue. 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.200 Bakers are working under our orders. The kept press is killed, 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.359 but we have substituted our own paper. He held up 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.760 a small sheet which said, in large letters the workers 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:03.280 Bulletin issued by a Limerick proletariat quote. We have distributed 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.720 food and slashed prices. The farmers send us their produce. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.280 The Food Committee has been able to cut down prices. Eggs, 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.880 for instance, are down from a dollar to sixty six 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.280 cents a dozen, and milk from fourteen to six cents 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.919 a court. In a few days we will engrave our 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.840 own money. Beside, there will be an influx of money 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.399 from England. About half the workers are affiliated to English 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:29.080 unions and entitled to strike pay. We have by the 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.600 way felt the sympathy of the union men in the 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.840 army sent to guard us. A whole Scotch regiment had 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.800 to be sent home because it was letting workers go 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.439 back and forth without passes. And we have told no 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.080 one else the National Executive Council of the Irish Labor 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.280 Party and Trade Union Congress will change its headquarters from 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.080 Dublin to Limerick. Then if military rule is an abrogated, 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.160 a general strike of the entire country will be called. 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.439 Of course, the Workers bulletin also about to strike at 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.880 a positive light, and commented as issues like food depots 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.480 and currency were worked out that the strike would quote 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.560 show the world what Irish workers are capable of doing 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.359 when left on their own resources. We should mention also 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.680 that the Soviet as it was being called, was not 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.080 exactly tied to the Russian Revolution, though that name was 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.840 borrowed again by the press from the events that had 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:21.800 been playing out in Russia as Zarist rule was overthrown. 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.200 The idea of a Soviet as a council formed from 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.359 workers was being applied to the Limerick strike and its 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:31.399 governance by the Trade Council, and as labor strikes had 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.800 also been a significant part of the Russian Revolution. The 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.120 name really stuck after journalists used it. Thomas Johnson, who 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:41.720 was the leader of Ireland's Labor Party, rolled into town 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.120 hoping to represent the trade organizations and negotiate a solution, 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.520 and he had to get a permit from the military 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.639 authorities to pass through the barricade to do so. When 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.280 the local trade council told him they wanted a national 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.760 strike for workers rights, Johnson explained that to formally mount 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.240 such a strike, a national convention would have to be 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.399 held to decide side, and while there was support in 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:06.800 other municipalities, that support was not universal. Though most unions 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:10.160 agreed that the situation in Limerick was untenable and unfair 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.080 to laborers and that they had every reason to strike 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:15.719 and even you know, every valid reason to call for 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:19.080 a national effort, there was also some very real concern 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.840 that the strike was harming the laborers and barely even 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.080 in convenience the British military that had put the barricade 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.639 in place. Additionally, there was a real concern that a 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:33.160 national strike would lead to violence. To make things even trickier, 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:35.840 shin Fayn didn't offer support for the strike and for 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.320 the Soviet the Labor Party was acting on its own 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.399 and that wasn't something they were interested in. Up to 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.520 that point, the leaders of the Labor Party and trade 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.760 unions were working to develop relationships with the leadership of 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.600 sin Fayn and they were hoping for the party's support 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.800 in the strike, but shin Fayton wanted to lead campaigns 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.160 and for labor to mobilize to support them. They were 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.880 much less enthusiastic at the thought of workers actually having control, 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:04.960 and since there was also a lot of overlap of 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.960 the nationalist volunteers, which as I said, would eventually evolve 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:11.600 into the Irish Republican Army and labor rights advocates of 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:15.000 the time, there was also some murkiness about motivations and 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:19.080 leadership related to the strike. The history of shin Fayn 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.560 and the i ra A as its paramilitary arm is 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:26.280 long and complicated and controversial, with internal disagreements and splits. 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.000 It's like once you start looking at it, if you 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.720 diagram it out, I mean, it becomes a tree pretty quickly, 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.320 because different factions will separate off because of disagreements, and 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:37.919 then within that faction they will separate into two or 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.159 more branches, and it continues like that, but at the 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.320 time of the Limerick Soviet the volunteers and chin Fain 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:48.359 were closely aligned. And as a reminder, Bobby Byrne, whose 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.880 death had been the catalyst for this whole event, had 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.080 been a member of shin Fain and a member of 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.719