Songs of Freedom: The James Connolly Songbook by Connolly James

Author:Connolly, James [Connolly, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781604868951
Publisher: PM Press
Published: 2013-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Cork Workers Club first published The James Connolly Songbook in 1972. The back cover of that edition announced the publication of Ireland Upon the Dissecting Table: A Collection of James Connolly’s Writings on Ulster and Partition, collected and edited by the Cork Workers Club. Both the 1972 songbook and the collection of Connolly’s writings about Ulster and Partition, are out of print. But those interested should search libraries and archives in Ireland, the UK, the United States, and other countries where copies were originally sent and are still likely to be found.

In 1980 the Cork Workers Club republished The James Connolly Songbook, as Number 5 in a series of twenty Historical Reprints. This edition comprised the same selection of songs and the same introduction as the 1972 version—and it was, incidentally, the 1980 version that I first discovered and used for Connolly’s lyrics. However, one important difference between the two versions was that the back cover to the 1980 edition listed all twenty of the Historical Reprints, “of pamphlets, booklets and newspaper articles of historical value to the study of the Socialist Movement in Ireland.” Two are of special interest in that they were collections of Connolly’s writings organized by the Cork Workers Club to address conflicts raging in the 1970s and 1980s. The first of these was the aforementioned Ireland Upon the Dissecting Table, the second was The Connolly–DeLeon Controversy: On Wages, Marriage and the Church. Now, the 1980 version of The James Connolly Songbook can still be found in some bookstores or by internet search, as I was able to do in 2010. It is furthermore likely that diligent research will lead to finding, either online or in print form, all those publications in the Historical Reprints series. Certainly, it is worth the effort if one wishes to gain a better understanding of history and the crucial role James Connolly played in making it.

One further point needs to be added: the reproduction of the original Songs of Freedom and the 1919 program are exact facsimiles, necessary in order to make these crucial historical documents available to all. The reproduction of The James Connolly Songbook contains only those songs that did not appear in either of the other two songbooks since such repetition was unnecessary and it is still possible to find copies of the 1980 edition. It should nonetheless be kept in mind that the Cork Workers Club did in fact assemble, through painstaking effort, all the lyrics Connolly is known to have published, making The James Connolly Songbook the most comprehensive collection of Connolly’s poetic writings yet available.

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