Lynda Walker of the Belfast-based International Brigade Commemoration Committee reports on a memorable evening of spoken word and song on 29 May.

The Sunflower pub in Belfast was alive with people who came to commemorate this year’s 90th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War. The room was full to capacity to hear two great singers and two guest speakers.

Dr Brian Hanley launched the book ‘A Time for Heroes: International Brigade Commemoration Committee – 21 years of action’. He emphasised the need to continue the work of the International Brigaders and how the book was an example of that work.

Emmet O’Connor spoke about his International Brigader father, Peter O’Connor, who was born in Waterford and who went to fight in Spain. His father wrote a booklet, ‘A Soldier of Liberty’, which portrayed some of the problems the Brigaders faced. 

Dr Brian Hanley.

He welcomed the increase in interest in the Spanish Civil War thanks to this year’s anniversary of its start. He said it was an honour to speak at this Belfast event and to see a large and enthusiastic turnout. 

He went on to say:

In February I was interviewed by BBC Northern Ireland archives as part of what they called their ‘90th anniversary package’ which is to be rolled out throughout the year. 

In April I was delighted to mark the launch of Eoin Ronayne’s photographic exhibition on the journey of the 11 Waterford Brigadistas in Spain. 

Emmet O'Connor.

Unfortunately, I was unable to be present at the annual May Day event in Waterford that remembers them, organised each year by Councillor Séamus Ryan, the current Mayor of Waterford.

TG4 will begin interviews for a programme on Northern Protestant Brigadistas in August, and on 11 September the departments of history and journalism at Ulster University will sponsor a conference on the Irish media and the Spanish Civil War.

The singer-musicians captured the spirit of wanting to change the world for the better – for the many not the few. 

Fergus O'Hare.

Fergus O’Hare sang the more traditional songs like ‘Connolly Column’ by Joe Mulheron, and ‘Victor Jara’, whereas Joe Solo sang numbers like ‘Punk Rock Prepared Us For This’ as well  as stalwarts such as ‘Solidarity Forever’ and ‘No Pasarán’ – cheered on by some of his local fans.

With Dooley Harte of Craigavon Trades Council doing all the introductions, it was a night to remember. Joe Solo sent a message from the airport on his way home the next day saying: 

Belfast I love you. That was a proper special night in one of my favourite cities, and the Sunflower is such an ace venue. Massive Thank you to Lynda and Ernest Walker for their incredible hospitality and to all at the International Brigade Commemoration Committee for keeping the flame alive and for running nights like that, and to Dooley Harte erstwhile real tour guide and latterly emergency taxi service!

Joe Solo.

Lynda Walker reports…

On 25 April the IBMT-affiliated International Brigade Commemoration Committee (IBCC) held its annual general meeting in the Falls Road Library in Belfast. 

This year being the 90th anniversary of the start of the anti-fascist war in Spain, attention was drawn to forthcoming events. People were encouraged to attend the launch of the IBCC booklet ‘A Time for Heroes’, with music to follow by Joe Solo in the Sunflower bar on the evening of 29 May, and other IB happenings, including the IBMT’s AGM in Glasgow in October.

From left: IBCC activists Geraldine Kelly, Mark Roberts, Ernest Walker, Frank Cammock, Lynda Walker, Paul Kelly, and Ciaran Crossey.

Following the business of the IBCC meeting, the two highlights of the morning were the launching of a booklet based on the presentations that Dr Brian Hanley made at the IBCC’s Féile an Phobail 2025 lecture in the Shankill Road Library. 

IBCC secretary Ernest Walker, presenting the booklet on Brian’s behalf, drew attention to the rise and defeat of fascism in Europe and Ireland in the 1920s to the 1940s, but with a note of caution in that the action and ideology of fascism has not gone away. 

Reflections on the new plaque in the Falls Road Library.

He also drew attention to the speech that Bob Doyle made in Belfast in 2009 at the rededication of the International Brigade statue in Writers Square, a speech that emphasised that the work of the Brigaders is not finished until the liberation of the entire human race. The speech is reproduced on the back of the booklet. 

Following this, a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the 10 Brigaders from the Falls Road area of Belfast who went to fight fascism in Spain. Ciaran Crossey, chair of the IBCC, introduced James Moyna a relative of Jim Stranney, and also the deputy Lord Mayor, Paul Doherty. Both said how proud they were to be at the unveiling.

Back row, from left: Deputy Lord Mayor Paul Doherty and James Moyna (relative of Jim Stranney); front: Tom Donnelly, Dolores Bigger and Moya Elliot (nieces and nephew of Francis Tierney).

Last year’s IBCC lecture at Belfast’s Féile an Phobail (People’s Festival).

Lynda Walker reports… 

The IBMT-affiliated International Brigade Commemoration Committee held its annual general meeting in the Falls Road Library on Saturday 24 February, the anniversary of the Battle of Jarama.

In addition to the secretary’s report, financial report and election of the committee, two guest speakers were invited to the event. 

As chair of the meeting, Adam Murray welcomed the audience and introduced Gerry Grainger, a member of the central executive committee of the Workers Party with responsibility for international relations. Gerry spoke in depth about Paddy McAllister, who was born in 1909 and came from Lincoln Street on the Falls Road. 

Like many young Irish men and women, he joined the IRA in 1927. Unemployment at home forced him to emigrate to Canada in 1928. 

In 1937 Paddy left Canada and went to Spain to support the democratic Republic. He was in the number No. 4 Company, Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion and was present at a number of offensives. He was wounded at the Ebro and returned to Belfast in 1938. 

Gerry Grainger.

Gerry spoke about his contribution to progressive politics in later life, when he joined the Workers Party. Gerry also read out the names of the other Brigaders from the Falls Road area.

They were:
James Domegan, Leeson Street
Hugh (Pat) Dooley, Balkan Street
Pat Hall, Malcolmson Street
Paddy McAllister, Lincoln Street
James J McKeefrey, Alexander Street West
Matthew McLaughlin, Leeson Street: killed in action, March 1938
Dick O'Neill, Cullingtree Road: KIA February 1937
James Shortall, Springfield Road
Jim Stranney, McDonald Street, KIA, July 1938
FJ Tierney, Institution Place.

Adam Murray then introduced Neil Micheal O’Riordan, son of the late Manus and Annette O’Riordan, who had three children: Jess, Neil and Luke, who is currently the representative for Ireland in the IBMT. 

Their grandfather Micheal fought in Spain and wrote the book ‘Connolly Column’, where Christy Moore got the words for ‘Viva la Quince Brigada’. Micheal was also a founder member of the IBCC in 2006, in the Linen Hall Library in Belfast. 

Neil O'Riordan is the chief sports writer for The Irish Sun, with a focus on local sports news and features in Dublin. He was named Popular Sports Writer of the Year in 2020 and again in 2023.

Addressing the Belfast-based group’s AGM, Neil paid tribute to Manus O’Riordan, which was both personal and political, presenting an interesting insight into his life. He recalled how his father worked in Dublin with the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, where he met Annette. He remained as a researcher working with the ITGWU, which merged with the Federated Workers’ Union of Ireland to become SIPTU – the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union. He noted that as a researcher Manus was thorough and that if you were in Manus’s company he would very quickly pick you up on details that were incorrect. 

Neil O'Riordan lays a wreath at the International Brigade memorial in Belfast's Writers Square.

Manus played a leading role in the activities of the International Brigade organisations at home and abroad. He was the representative for Ireland on the International Brigade Memorial Trust’s executive committee, and was involved with the Friends of the International Brigade in Ireland (FIBI). He was also a supporter of the IBCC, attending and speaking at a number of meetings in Belfast. His last contribution before the pandemic in 2019, was to the Shankill Winter Festival, where he spoke alongside Nancy Wallach, his partner in later life, about the role of the Irish Brigaders, in particular his father. Manus died on 27 September in 2021, the day after he attended a FIBI event in O’Meath.

The audience participated in discussion about both men and the International Brigades, and it was not lost on the audience that there was a parallel between what happened in Spain and what is happening in Palestine today.

Both contributions will be reproduced in full and will be published in a booklet. This will also include the August Féile talk by Ewald P Schulz about the Thälmann Battalion.