The Irish Citizen Army: A Workers’ Army is Born

The Irish Citizen Army was founded amidst the greatest labour dispute in the history of Ireland and it went on to play a central role in the 1916 Rising. Stewart Reddin looks at the circumstances in which this workers’ army was born. At 10.00am on Tuesday 26th August 1913 tram drivers, members of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) employed by the Dublin United Tramway Company, pulled up suddenly at Nelson’s Pillar on Sackville Street (O’Connell Street). They removed the driver’s handles and dismounted. Pinning the red hand badge of their trade union to their lapels they joined their fellow workers on the street. <a href="https://medium.com/@stewreddin/the-irish-citizen-army-a-workers-army-is-born-86d82096e85e">Learn More</a>