Leitrim’s Unrepentant Communist- Jim Gralton

On August 13, 1933 Jim Gralton was forced to board a Trans-Atlantic Liner in Cork which was to set sail for the USA. Jim had been arrested on August 10 at a friend’s house in Gorvagh, County Leitrim and brought to Ballinamore Barracks where he was detained before being brought to Cork for his deportation. He had been living on the run since February of that year following the issuing of a deportation order by the courts who ruled that he had to leave Ireland by March 5. His deportation 77 years ago makes him the only native Irishman to be deported from this state.

He was born in Effernagh close to Carrick on Shannon in County Leitrim on April 17 1886. His education, such as it was, was received in nearby Kiltoghert school. Like most young people at the time, he left school early, aged just 14. After working for a number of employers in the local area, fed up with the harsh treatment he and others suffered at their hands, Jim headed for Dublin where he enlisted in the British army.

His rebellious behaviour was not long coming through and he endured punishment of 84 days on “bread and water” for his refusal to shine the leggings and buttons of one of his officers. He was then posted to India, but refused to go in protest at British policies in Ireland. For his defiance and protest, Jim was jailed for a year and subsequently deserted the army, going to work for a time in the coal mines of Wales and in Liverpool docks.

He then got employment as a ship’s stoker and eventually settled in New York where he became a US citizen in 1909. In the midst of the great wealth in the USA, Jim was appalled at the harsh, slave-like conditions that workers endured, which led him to become a firm believer in supporting the rights of workers and in socialism.

From the time he arrived in the US, Jim was active in supporting and raising much needed funds for both the Irish republican struggle and for fellow workers in New York. He became a member of the US Communist Party and became heavily involved in trade union activity. In the wake of the 1916 Rising, and after studying of the writings of James Connolly, Jim became a founding member of the James Connolly Club in New York.

Almost a decade and a half after arriving in the US, Jim decided to return home to Ireland in June 1921, just a month before the truce in the Tan War commenced on the 11th of July. During the war, the notorious Black and Tans had burnt the local Temperance Hall beside Gowel Church to the ground. On his return, Jim promised local people he would replace it and set about, with his own money and with local support, building a new hall on his father’s land near Effernagh crossroads.

The new hall, named the Pearse-Connolly Hall, was eventually opened on December 31 1921 and became an integral part of the everyday lives of the local community. Amongst its many uses was the holding in classes of a wide range of subjects including Irish, English, music, dancing, civics and agricultural science. This was also a time of many land disputes and the Hall was also used to hold Land Courts to settle many of these disputes. Despite the good work Jim was doing for his community and despite the valuable educational service that was been provided, not everyone was happy.

The Catholic Church in particular were extremely unhappy. They denounced him at every opportunity, at the pulpit during mass and in letters, going as far as to describe him as an extremely dangerous socialist and even an “Anti-Christ”. They accused him of “leading a campaign of Land agitation”, of trying to take the youth of the area away from the Catholic Church and of teaching communism to them in his classes.

The Free State forces also were unhappy with his activities, and on May 24 1922, they raided the Hall in a failed attempt to arrest Jim. The following month, as Civil War loomed, he got out and returned to the US. He did not return to Ireland until 1932 following the death of his brother Charlie who looked after and ran the family farm and following the securing of power in the Twenty-Six Counties by Fianna Fáil. Like many other people at that time, Jim was of the mistaken belief that a Fianna Fáil government would allow for the development of progressive politics in his homeland.

Following his return to Ireland, Jim re-opened the Pearse-Connolly Hall which had been closed for many years while he was in the US. He also involved himself once again in left-wing agitation, joining the Revolutionary Workers’ Group [a forerunner of the Communist Party of Ireland]. As well as the hall being used for dances and other social activities, meetings were also held there highlighting issues such as unemployment and the rights of workers and tenants.

He spoke at many anti-eviction meetings and following the eviction of a worker from his home in Keadue, also in County Leitrim, Jim joined with a local IRA group in re-instating the worker and his family back into their family home. This radicalism and persistent campaigning on such issues was of major concern once again to conservatives in general and to the Catholic Church and Fianna Fáil in particular.

Once again, Jim was denounced as a massive campaign was launched by the clergy against him and the views he represented. Shamefully, many of his former comrades turned their backs on him, as the church demanded that the Hall, which they described as a “den of iniquity” be shut down.

The Hall came under physical attack on many occasions. Shots were fired into it during a dance and an attempt to blow it up with a bomb failed. Finally, on Christmas Eve 1932, the Hall was eventually destroyed when it was burned to the ground.

In February of 1933, at the behest of the Catholic Church, the Fianna Fáil government ordered the deportation of Jim from his homeland by March 5 on the spurious grounds of him being an “undesirable alien”. Instead of complying with the order, Jim went on the run, staying with friends and neighbours in the area. During his time on the run, the Revolutionary Workers’ Group organised a campaign in support of Jim. Public meetings were organised and addressed by Jim himself, and by other prominent republican socialists of the time such as George Gilmore and Peadar O’Donnell. Many of these meetings were attacked and broken up by reactionaries.

Finally on August 10 1933, the Free State caught up with Jim, capturing him at a friend’s house in Gorvagh. He was taken to Ballinamore Barracks where he was detained before being transported to Cork where he was put on board a Trans-Atlantic Liner and deported to the US against his will. He was never again allowed to return to Ireland.

Undeterred, upon his arrival back in the US, Jim once again got involved in trade unionism and left wing politics. Along with Gerald O’Reilly, a close colleague of George Gilmore, Jim set up the Irish Workers’ Group in New York. He became a trade union organiser, encouraging the involvement of women within the unions, and set about promoting, republishing and distributing the works of James Connolly. During the Spanish Civil War, he raised funds for the International Brigades who were going to Spain to fight against fascism and in defence of the Republic.

A committed and unrepentant communist up to his last breath, Jim Gralton died in exile in New York on December 29 1945 and is buried in Woodlawn cemetery in the Bronx area of the City.

To conclude fittingly, the final words go to a comrade of Jim’s, Charlie Byrne. Speaking at Jim’s Graveside in the Bronx in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his death, Charlie said:

“Let all of us who believe in the principles for which Gralton stood, pledge ourselves anew to the continuation of the fight for the complete political, cultural and economic rights of the working classes in all lands, no crying, no weeping over his grave at Woodlawn. There is work to be done, so let us carry on; Gralton would have it that way.”

Kevin Myers Gets the 'Downfall' Treatment

This posting will appeal mainly to those readers familiar with the subtleties of the politics associated with the Irish language here in Ireland... Kevin Myers is a columnist in the leading Irish daily paper 'The Independent' owned by 'Sir' Antony O'Reilly. Kevin Myers and his boss, O'Reilly, would roughly share the same politics, namely a right wing neo-liberal economic viewpoint amalgamated with a peculiar brand of right wing ideology found here in Ireland, namely an ideological antipathy to all things associated with Irish Republicanism, Irish national identity, and a sort of permanent apologia for Ireland severing the colonial link to the UK.

Kevin Myers' Downfall from Myles na gCapailín on Vimeo.

An interesting contradiction emerges here, since those who may in some ways regret the establishment of an Irish Republic, can not be overtly antagonistic to the state itself, since this would imply loyalty to another state. But there is nevertheless an hidden agenda in Myers columns continually attacking the teaching of the Irish language in our schools, as well as trusty old themes such as the heroic role of the Irish in the British Army, wearing a poppy on Remembrance day, welcoming a visit of the Queen of England to Ireland etc etc ad nauseam.
Despite the huge pressure placed upon it by globalisation, the Irish language stubbornly refuses to disappear,and in fact is gaining in strength and popularity as an accompaniment as well as an alternative to the hiberno-english spoken by most people here. The theme of the attached video is the likely reaction of Myers (a la Hitler) to the real news that Sir Antony O'Reilly's flagship newspaper the Irish Independent has picked up the Irish language newspaper Foinnse and incorporated it into it publishing output as a free sheet. A good deal for the readers, most of who can read Irish, a good deal for the language, but a move that somewhat undermines Kevin Myers oft stated opinion in the very same newspaper that the language is irrelevant...I know that altering the subtitles for this famousscene from the German film classic has been done before, but the humour in these ( completely erroneous) subtitles is particularly well targeted.

Sex and the City II....Brilliantly Demolished by Mark Kermode

I have despised 'Sex and the City' since I first had the misfortune of having seen parts of it when it was on the TV. I note that a second film has been made, and I know that not having seen it I should not participate in slagging it off...Yes I know that I am not part of the target market, but there is an authenticity to Mark Kermode's criticism that suggests to me that I would in all likelihood find myself in complete agreement with him..

That apart I just have to admit that this outpouring by Mark Kermode, is despite his promise NOT to indulge in a rant, is one of the highest class rants I have heard in recent times....and boy that film sounds like it thoroughly deserved it....Yet otherwise reasonably intelligent women will still go and see it....It is one of many aspects of human life that is a complete mystery to me, the older I become,  the more mysterious and puzzling certain aspects of human life and culture become....

Anti-Communism....Or How to Turn Heroes into Villains

Two hundred captive Nazi military banners and standards were chosen out of  thousands , and paraded in front of the people of the USSR during the Great Victory Parade in Red Square in  Moscow on the 24th June 1945...British YCL General Secretary George Waterhouse explains the background behind the decision of the Polish government to ban the dissemination of "communist symbolism" and charts the growing rise of anti-communism across Europe

 "Last month US, French and British troops marched across Moscow's Red Square in a Victory Day parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in EuropeYet elements within the European Union are currently embarking on an anti-communist crusade that seeks to equate communism with nazi fascism, as part of a much wider offensive against any opposition to the neoliberal agenda.

This gross distortion of history has at its heart a revisionism that attacks the role of communists and socialists while, at the same time, downplaying the crimes of fascism.

Revisionist historians, most notably Niall Ferguson, have claimed that the "blame" for the second world war should be equally shared by the Soviet Union and nazi Germany. Ferguson has stated that Stalin was "as much an aggressor as Hitler." However, attempts to equate communism and fascism hint that the former was worse than the latter.

In history lessons in schools across Britain children are taught a module on the "great dictators" where they study Hitler, Stalin and Fidel Castro. Communism, we are taught, is worse than nazism because, according to figures attained by dubious and ahistorical methodology, it is "responsible" for the deaths of more people.

This outrageous claim has been supported by "historian" Orlando Figes who described the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact as "the licence for the Holocaust." This view of the second world war is complete nonsense. It is a disgraceful insult to the great sacrifices made by the Soviet people, partisans and ordinary people across Europe in pursuit of the defeat of fascism.

How can a conscious genocide carried out along racial lines by death camps be compared to communism?

For all its faults the Soviet Union built an egalitarian society that provided top-quality health, education, cultural activities and employment for all its citizens. The Soviet Union sought to end the violent racism and anti-semitism that traditionally plagued Russian society as well as to bring about the emancipation of women by introducing unparalleled childcare provision and enforcing equ

The socialist camp provided crucial assistance to national liberation and anti-colonialist movements across the globe. The Soviet Union's contribution to this struggle has been recognised by Nelson Mandela among others.

On June 8 the Polish government will implement an amendment to the penal code criminalising the dissemination of "communist symbolism." Anyone who "produces, perpetuates, imports, stores, possesses, presents, carries or sends a printout, a recording or other object" carrying "communist or other totalitarian symbolism" would be punished with up to two years in prison.

Not only would this mean the banning of the international symbol of the communist movement - the hammer and sickle - but also the five-pointed red star, a symbol used by many socialists and social democrats across the world.

From the pronouncements made by government ministers and other right-wing politicians in Poland it is likely that the ban could also extend to other symbols and icons including pictures of Che Guevara and Lenin on T-shirts and posters.

This latest piece of anti-communist repression follows a wave of similar legislation across Europe. Bans on communist symbols have already been implemented in Hungary and Lithuania, while attempts and similar legislation have been pursued in Slovakia and many other countries in eastern Europe.

In 2006 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution that attempted to condemn communism as a "totalitarian" ideology. Speakers denounced the existence of "monuments, street names and other external symbols associated with the history of communism." The PACE resolution also called on all communist and post-communist parties of the Council of Europe member countries "to revise the history of communism and of their own history and unequivocally condemn them."

In 2007 the Czech government outlawed the Communist Youth Union because of its support for public ownership of the means of production. The Czech government has also attempted to outlaw its parent party the Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia - a party with mass popular support that finished second in the 2004 European Parliament elections and continues to be an influential party in the Czech parliament.

In 2009 Moldovan anti-communists organised riots across the country after the Moldovan Communist Party won the election. In the Baltic republics anti-communism is being used in order to rehabilitate nazism. Veterans of the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS now parade through the streets of Riga and Estonian parliamentarians have honoured those who served the Third Reich as "fighters for independence."

Most shamefully, Nato and EU member Lithuania opened a war crimes investigation into four Jewish veterans of the country's partisans. Efraim Zuroff, the famous nazi hunter, has stated: "People need to wake up to what is going on. This attempt to create a false symmetry between communism and the nazi genocide is aimed at covering up these countries' participation in mass murder."

There are two elements to this anti-communist offensive by the European Union.

The first and most predominant element is an attempt to whitewash the crimes of capitalism and to silence opposition to the commitment of the European Union to capitalism and imperialism.

It is no accident that this upswing in the rising tide of anti-communism comes at a time when millions of people across Europe are being mobilised in opposition to the swingeing cuts being pursued by the neoliberalist EU to fund the bailout of the banks and financial institutions.

Communists across Europe have assumed a prominent role in this struggle against an intensification of competition, the surge in privatisation, and the ripping up of trade unionist's rights. Those labour movement battles that have seen most success contain a cohort of communists at their heart.

The great anti-communist crusade is inseparable from the European Union's enforcement of austerity measures across the continent. The campaign to outlaw communism also runs hand in hand with the expansion of Nato into eastern Europe. Along with the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq imperialism is conducting repression on a massive scale in the name of "democracy" and "freedom."

This historical revisionism is being used by a rising tide of fascists to justify attacks on immigrants, socialists and communists. Ultimately, these measures act as a catalyst for the full rehabilitation of nazism.

This disgraceful censorship contradicts the "democratic ideals" professed by the European Union.

It is incumbent on all communists, socialists and progressives to oppose this latest move in the anti-communist offensive. "

Dan and Dan...The Daily Mail Song

I spent many years when working in the UK being totally astonished at the amount of people in the UK who seemed to think that the rabid right wing bile pumped out by the right wing middle-class tabloid the Daily Mail was in some sense a reflection of reality.
I was delighted and very tickled by this video that these comics have put together on the subject of the Daily Mail, the two who are apparently both called Dan, seem to have a developed a nice line in that understated humour that can be so devastatingly funny.

Good also to see a couple of new faces who are using Facebook and the internet to good purpose in promoting their humour...I wish them both the very best, one of the funniest things I have seen for a while...here's their sketch on taxation...


You can keep in touch with their video output by logging on to their Youtube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/dananddanfilms
Or their blogpage at http://www.dananddan.com/

Spread the word these guys could go far.....( ha ha) ( or this GUY ;) )

Ireland Requires Political Actions Such as These....

I have always been an admirer of the KKE (The Communist Party of Greece), I encountered the KKE and the KNE when at University in Britain in the early 1980's and was always impressed by their combination of militancy, imaginative political actions, and a sound theoretical grasp of complex political situations.

Far from being cowed by the enormous intimidation being applied to the people of Greece by the forces of international finance capital, they have reacted in a truly heroic and imaginative manner which points the finger of blame squarely at those responsible for the economic collapse since 2008.

In common with here in Ireland, in Greece strenuous attempts are being made to make the ordinary working people pay for the crisis created by the greed of the bankers and property developers. Now it is 'the markets' and 'bond investors' who must be heeded at all costs. Who are these if not the investing arms of the same financial structures which wrought this havoc in the first place.

Here in Ireland, I was depressed to see that Sinn Féin had mounted a nationwide campaign against mass unemployment, which consisted of Sinn Féin activists attending job centres and getting jobless workers to sign post cards of protest to the Government. That deluge of post cards is really going to have the gombeens leading Fianna Fáil and the Green party quaking in their boots...

We need militant and imaginative street based campaigns of the sort undertaken recently by the KKE and depicted in this video. There is no shortage of anger out there but the much commented upon passivity of the Irish public's response has been determined by a complete absence of any imaginative and colourful means to focus that anger. Instead the anger in Ireland is being internalised, with the repetition by the right wing media and the corporate media pundits of the mantra 'We are Where we Are' (WAWWA), which is a bit like the sort of thing yu might say to a toddler that has'nt quite made it in time to the potty...'never mind love ,we' ll clean it up, sure nothing can be done about it now', the subtext of which is that it IS in fact your fault. As psychologists tell us, internalised anger merely prompts depression. This is taking the form here in Ireland of sullen resentment and resignation. Which is precisely the response that our corporate masters would wish for.

Organisations such as Sinn Féin and the Labour Party should be devising ways to channel the anger that exists, or seem increasingly irrelevant as the 'WAWWA' brigade dominate the public discourse here in Ireland. Hats off to Dr Chris Sparks of Sligo IT in the 'Ghost Estates' RTE documentary last night for articulating the sort of sincere anger and exasperation that spokespeople of Sinn Féin and the Labour Party need to be expressing.

Though small this action recently by Eírigi is to be congratulated for its imaginativeness and its militancy, if anyone doubts that it was supported just listen to the car horns hooting as Dublin motorists voiced their approval..


What has happened here in Ireland is the biggest treason ever committed against the people of this country since the Civil War. It demands an adequate political response, Sinn Féin has the organisational capacity, why not mount a national three pronged cross country march of the unemployed from the South, North West and South East along the lines of the Unemployed marches of the 1930s and 1980's in the UK?

Collateral Murder in Iraq-Definitely NOT for the Faint Heated...

The following video was something that I watched with a growing sense of absolute bone chilling horror, I was an opponent of the US invasion of Iraq, but the political stance of opposition is a stance of the intellect. This footage is chilling, and evokes a horror of the heart and the soul, because it is clear that the perpetrators of the murders, clearly are deriving some warped satisfaction at the killings, and also have ceased to see their targets as real people. The process of dehumanization is a prerequisite of atrocity. I wonder if those who see war as a sort of video game should look at this footage, it is the ultimate sick video 'game'.
WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack.

The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. For further information please visit the special project website www.collateralmurder.com.