"A new and perfect system of organisation has been worked out by a clever and gifted mind, and ere long we shall show the world what Irish workers are capable of doing when left to their own resources."

-The Worker’s Bulletin, April 1919



An often overlooked aspect of the Irish Revolutionary War were the several Soviets set up across Ireland by Irish Workers.

At the height of a period of left-wing revolutions across Europe in the run up to 1920, the ripple of this particular sort of revolution hit Ireland whilst it was engaged in the War of Independence against the British Empire.



Irish Workers had organised into militias beforehand in the form of the Irish Citizen Army, however by this point the militant aspect of their groups had diminished somewhat in favour of the much larger Irish Volunteers-later to be known as the IRA.

However, this doesn’t mean that workers played no part in the War Effort nor the Revolution itself.



Enter Peadar O’Donnell.

O’Donnell had been at the frontlines of Irish Socialism and Republicanism from around late 1917, and was a key organiser of manpower in the Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union.

He spent time in the city of Derry attempting to create a unit of the Irish Citizen Army there, but instead later joined the Irish Volunteers.

By 1919, O’Donnell was a well established figure amongst most revolutionary circles.



Meanwhile, in Monaghan, staff of a local Asylum had been complaining of cruel conditions, unfair hours and rules preventing them from leaving the Asylum between shifts.

O’Donnell organised the workers of the Asylum and under his command they seized control of the Asylum itself.

They barricaded themselves inside to prevent the police from removing them, and a Red Flag was flown from the roof.

This was the first Irish Soviet, declared on February 19th 1919.

Those in charge of the Asylum soon conceded to the demands of the workers-for both men and women-and this was to be one of several incidents of a similar nature.



One of the better known Soviets however happened some time afterward, in April of the same year.

Limerick City had been named as a “Special Military Area” by the British Army, giving the Army and Royal Irish Constabulary sweeping powers over civilians in the area.

The British Army were deployed throughout the city with heavy weaponry and armoured cars.

The Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union (ITGWU) made their voice heard during a meeting of the United Trades and Labour Council.



Initially, the Trade Unions planned to simply take control of the Town Hall and hold their operations there, but this plan was shelved in favour of a general strike.

Command of the strike was given to a committee which from that point on described itself as the Limerick Soviet.

Upon this declaration, the situation escalated.

Local English and American journalists who had been in the area decided to interview those in charge and soon the soviet gathered a lot of attention.

With the strike underway the workers than expanded on their position to boycott the British Troops in the area; shops and businesses refused currency other than that which was printed by the Limerick Soviet, and everything from food to newspapers to fuel came under control of the Committee in charge.

Shops and businesses were not commandeered provided they complied willingly with the Soviet, and an overwhelming majority did so.

The Limerick Soviet ended after two weeks, but had drawn a great deal of international attention.



However there existed a great number of other soviets across Ireland.

Most infamous was the fate of the Cleeve Family Business; the Cleeves were an Anglo-Canadian family with close ties to the British Empire.

They paid some of the lowest wages in Ireland and employed thousands of people, and had also pressured many people in the area to enlist in the British Army-mostly due to the fact that they were profiting by supplying the Army with their food.

In cooperation with the ITGWU, workers seized control of many Cleeves factories for themselves and red flags were flown from most of their buildings.

One particularly famous banner read;

"KNOCKLONG SOVIET CREAMERY: WE MAKE BUTTER NOT PROFITS"



This was a resounding success at first, as Cleeves began to make heavy concessions to the Workers.

However, the Cleeve Family then had their creamery insured against a fire.

A couple of days after this, the Black and Tans arrived and burned it to the ground.



There were other short but influential soviets in various locations.

In Waterford a Soviet was declared and their demands were quickly met by the British Government, at which point thousands of people gathered at Waterford City Hall to sing Amhrán na bhFiann and The Red Flag.

In Bruree there was continued action against the Cleeve Family as their mills and bakeries were seized, and they too successfully gained the demands.

Cork, Tipperary, Rathmines, Killarny and many other locations saw the rise of Soviets all in pursuit of better conditions for workers at the pleasure of the workers; there was little in the way of debate or compromise, and many exploitative employers were simply forced to either concede or leave their businesses, factories and other industry in the hands of the Irish Workers.



Most of the Soviets came to an end alongside the end of the Civil War, when hostilities began to fizzle out.

However, the hold of many traditionally powerful and exploitative families/companies had been shattered; the infamous Cleeves had taken almost £300,000 in losses in a single year due to the Soviets, and were deeply in debt.

The Irish Soviets came under fire from both pro-treaty and anti-treaty IRA soldiers during the Civil War, often caught in the crossfire of the conflict.

Unlike some of the continental left-wing revolutionary movements, the Irish Soviets lacked an overall command structure or political organisation which left many of them somewhat weak on their own.

When the newly formed National Army of Ireland arrived to restore order, most of the Soviets folded and were dismantled.



Despite this, the often short-lived Soviets of Ireland in the 20th Century had a profound affect on the Revolution and played a large part in the Irish Revolution itself.

The extent to which some of the Soviets truly supported Socialism or the ideas behind Soviets has been debated; some were clearly in support not only of their rights as workers but of the wider Socialist movement itself, and others were moreso products of the conflict rather than a true reflection of a Socialist uprising.



