Belfast Dock Strike
In 1906 John Maclean first met the prominent Irish trade unionist James Larkin and the two men became friends and mutual supporters. The following summer Maclean was invited by him to go to Belfast at the culmination of three months of the Dock strike, where he spoke to the workers. The unrest in Belfast that summer was one of Irish trade unionism’s first great battles with the forces of capital and labour in direct an open conflict. The strike saw unprecedented solidarity between the city’s Protestant and Catholic communities and in July more than 100,000 workers marched down the Shankhill Road. However, with martial law enforced, warships in Belfast Lough and the trade unions crippled by strike payments the strike ended in defeat, with no concessions won. But, for both Larkin and Maclean, it was a taste of the potential power of organized labour.
The 1913 Dublin Lockout
From September 1913 to January 1914 the Glasgow labour movement devoted its energy to organising the largest collection for the lockout outside of Dublin. Maclean’s daughter, Nan, was in no doubt that her father was involved in the sending of co-operative foodstuffs to Dublin as this was the time of his greatest influence in the co-operative movement.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Maclean regarded it as an imperialist war and actively opposed it. His principled stand cost him his liberty and his teaching job. He was arrested in February 1916 and charged with sedition. He was found guilty and in April was sentenced at Edinburgh High Court to three years’ imprisonment. Massive agitation on his behalf forced his release in June 1917, whereupon he resumed his anti-war work.
The Easter Rising
John Maclean played a significant role in the Scottish preparations for the Easter Rising. Seamus Reader who was a member of both the Scottish Divisional Board of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and the Scottish nationalist body Fianna na hAlba, records that in July 1915 he brought a large quantity of ammunition over from Glasgow to Dublin for the Irish Citizen Army. Captain Robert De Coeur told Reader that the ICA officers, were thankful for the help they received from Scotland. Reader informed him that thanks to the support of John Maclean, Scottish miners would supply all the detonators that would be required. Maclean was in contact with the Scottish Divisional Board of the IRB throughout 1915. Seamus Reader recalls visiting MacLean’s house in Pollokshaws with messages in connection with anti-conscription and Irish affairs, some of which were for James Connolly.
In the months preceding the Rising, Glasgow’s IRB circles and Fianna boy scouts constantly raided for explosives at collieries in Lanarkshire, the anarchists initially being blamed. Scottish miners who supported John Maclean freely gave significant supplies of heavy explosives. These were smuggled into Ireland by members of the Fianna and Cumann na mBan, much of it going to the ICA.
In a letter to Nan Milton in the 1960s, Seamus Reader stated that:
In 1906 John Maclean first met the prominent Irish trade unionist James Larkin and the two men became friends and mutual supporters. The following summer Maclean was invited by him to go to Belfast at the culmination of three months of the Dock strike, where he spoke to the workers. The unrest in Belfast that summer was one of Irish trade unionism’s first great battles with the forces of capital and labour in direct an open conflict. The strike saw unprecedented solidarity between the city’s Protestant and Catholic communities and in July more than 100,000 workers marched down the Shankhill Road. However, with martial law enforced, warships in Belfast Lough and the trade unions crippled by strike payments the strike ended in defeat, with no concessions won. But, for both Larkin and Maclean, it was a taste of the potential power of organized labour.
The 1913 Dublin Lockout
From September 1913 to January 1914 the Glasgow labour movement devoted its energy to organising the largest collection for the lockout outside of Dublin. Maclean’s daughter, Nan, was in no doubt that her father was involved in the sending of co-operative foodstuffs to Dublin as this was the time of his greatest influence in the co-operative movement.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Maclean regarded it as an imperialist war and actively opposed it. His principled stand cost him his liberty and his teaching job. He was arrested in February 1916 and charged with sedition. He was found guilty and in April was sentenced at Edinburgh High Court to three years’ imprisonment. Massive agitation on his behalf forced his release in June 1917, whereupon he resumed his anti-war work.
The Easter Rising
John Maclean played a significant role in the Scottish preparations for the Easter Rising. Seamus Reader who was a member of both the Scottish Divisional Board of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and the Scottish nationalist body Fianna na hAlba, records that in July 1915 he brought a large quantity of ammunition over from Glasgow to Dublin for the Irish Citizen Army. Captain Robert De Coeur told Reader that the ICA officers, were thankful for the help they received from Scotland. Reader informed him that thanks to the support of John Maclean, Scottish miners would supply all the detonators that would be required. Maclean was in contact with the Scottish Divisional Board of the IRB throughout 1915. Seamus Reader recalls visiting MacLean’s house in Pollokshaws with messages in connection with anti-conscription and Irish affairs, some of which were for James Connolly.
In the months preceding the Rising, Glasgow’s IRB circles and Fianna boy scouts constantly raided for explosives at collieries in Lanarkshire, the anarchists initially being blamed. Scottish miners who supported John Maclean freely gave significant supplies of heavy explosives. These were smuggled into Ireland by members of the Fianna and Cumann na mBan, much of it going to the ICA.
In a letter to Nan Milton in the 1960s, Seamus Reader stated that:
For John Maclean, myself and others in Glasgow and Dublin, the months of January and February 1916 were a most exciting and exhausting period … anti Conscription and the revolt on the Clyde did influence Countess Markievicz, James Connolly and Seán McDermott. They were determined that at least the Liffey would assert itself …
Maclean was already a convict in Peterhead Prison when the 1916 Easter Rising took place, and could therefore not comment, but from subsequent statements he supported the revolt.
Twenty members of Glasgow’s ‘A’ Company of the Irish Volunteers fought in the Easter Rising. The Coatbridge born schoolteacher and sharpshooter Margaret Skinnider was seriously wounded while fighting with the ICA garrison in the College of Surgeons, while the socialist republican Charles Carrigan was the only member of the Glasgow contingent to be killed in action.
Seán MacDermott told Seamus Reader that the Rising could not have happened without the heavy explosives procured from the Lanarkshire coalfields. This lends weight to the assertion by Reader, in a letter in the 1960s: ‘If one thinks deeply on this issue, one will get a picture of the important part played by Scots at the period 1916’.
The Scottish Brigade of the IRA
The Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 convinced John Maclean that capitalism was set to collapse, and he was greatly encouraged by it. The Bolsheviks recognized Maclean’s achievements and in 1918 appointed him Bolshevik Consul of Scotland. His work as Consul was short lived, however. Maclean was arrested in April and charged once again with sedition. At his trial on 9 May he made a seventy-five-minute speech in which he condemned his accusers. This time he went down for five years with hard labour in Peterhead Prison.
Twenty members of Glasgow’s ‘A’ Company of the Irish Volunteers fought in the Easter Rising. The Coatbridge born schoolteacher and sharpshooter Margaret Skinnider was seriously wounded while fighting with the ICA garrison in the College of Surgeons, while the socialist republican Charles Carrigan was the only member of the Glasgow contingent to be killed in action.
Seán MacDermott told Seamus Reader that the Rising could not have happened without the heavy explosives procured from the Lanarkshire coalfields. This lends weight to the assertion by Reader, in a letter in the 1960s: ‘If one thinks deeply on this issue, one will get a picture of the important part played by Scots at the period 1916’.
The Scottish Brigade of the IRA
The Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 convinced John Maclean that capitalism was set to collapse, and he was greatly encouraged by it. The Bolsheviks recognized Maclean’s achievements and in 1918 appointed him Bolshevik Consul of Scotland. His work as Consul was short lived, however. Maclean was arrested in April and charged once again with sedition. At his trial on 9 May he made a seventy-five-minute speech in which he condemned his accusers. This time he went down for five years with hard labour in Peterhead Prison.
Soon after his release, John Maclean met with leading members of ‘A’ Company in their hall in Risk Street, Calton, Glasgow, in January 1919. The meeting took place at the suggestion of Constance Markievicz, who became Minister for Labour in the new revolutionary government. Maclean was the means of getting new sources of munitions supplies from Scottish miners to ‘A’ Company and later to the purchasing group under the ICA GHQ. ‘A’ Company preferred the ICA constitution to that of the Irish Volunteers. According to Reader:
We welcomed John Maclean, to whom it had already been explained that we would only be interested in matters of a military nature and not to be giving us a lecture on economics or political science. He got to the point by telling us that there was unrest in Scotland and, on no account should we bring the Irish War into Scotland as it would lead to sectarian hatred. He said that there should be co-ordination or federation with the Scots Irish and the other revolutionary groups in Scotland, England, and Wales. He was told that a GHQ representative from Ireland would be in Scotland to organise the purchase of arms and munitions, and the transport of same to Ireland. And as it had taken years to build our movement, we were anxious that the job in hand should be a success and that he could be of invaluable assistance to the Irish cause. Also, that from observations and consultation, we did not see any hope of an armed revolt on the Clyde.
Maclean admitted that very few of the socialist leaders believed in the use of arms, but that the Scottish ex-servicemen were coming to the fore, and a revolutionary plan had been drawn up with the intended formation of workshop committees, district councils, national councils, and co-operative movement for the distribution of the necessities of life. District units of the Scottish Citizen Army, for discipline, city street patrols, crofter patrols, defence forces, Black Brigade of Miners, Clyde Brigade of Engineers, and Clyde workers.
Reader goes on to state: ‘Maclean gave me permission to use his name when I was organising in the Scottish mining districts for the purchasing groups and the Scottish Brigade.’ His idea of a Federation of Scottish and Irish Defence forces was reported to the officials of the IRB in Scotland and was met with a mixed response. It is evident from what was discussed at this meeting that Maclean’s position had shifted since he was in the dock at Edinburgh High Court in December 1916, when he stated that while physical force methods ‘might be good enough for men in Dublin’, they were inappropriate for the Clyde workers’ movement.
During her visit Markievicz met with Maclean and promised that she would contemplate on his suggestions for a federation of Irish and Scottish defence forces. Seamus Reader recalls that:
During her visit Markievicz met with Maclean and promised that she would contemplate on his suggestions for a federation of Irish and Scottish defence forces. Seamus Reader recalls that:
I told her the then Adjutant General Michael Collins was aware that ‘A’ Company and ‘B’ Company, Glasgow had been sending small quantities of munitions to her and the ICA. That it would likely cease as Joe Vize was sent by Michael Collins to Scotland to organise the procuring and transporting of munitions on a unified basis under the direction of GHQ.
John Maclean visited Dublin for the James Connolly birthday celebrations organised by the Socialist Party of Ireland on 5 June 1919. He was exposed to the large British military build-up in Ireland and was forced to confront several of his ideological blind spots on the ‘Irish Question’. In his ‘Impressions of Dublin’, Maclean recounted a speech he gave there in which he indelicately asserted the inadequacy of a Sinn Féin republic for the emancipation of Irish labour because Ireland’s freedom ‘depended on the revolt and success of British labour’. Given the militant mood in Ireland, Maclean’s suggestion that ‘Irish workers ought not to antagonise the soldiers of occupation in Ireland but should try to win them over to the Irish point of view’ was sure to raise Irish hackles. Indeed, over the next several days he encountered ‘keen criticism and opposition’, ranging from ‘good-natured correction’ of his reference to Britain as ‘the mainland’ to hostile questioning about the presence of Scots troops in Ireland. Maclean welcomed the ‘frank interchange of viewpoints’ and reflected deeply on his visit. He wrote:
Hot stuff like that was poured into me, and through these manifestations of the Irish mind at home I began to realise the spirit that nine hundred years of oppression had failed to subdue. Once the workers develop a similar hatred of capitalism things are going to move on avalanche-like.
Propaganda work
The year 1919 was a seminal one in the Scottish labour movement’s support for Irish aspirations and witnessed the largest ever International Labour Day celebration in Glasgow. Over a hundred thousand people wound their way through the city with floats and banners led by an Irish pipe band. Irish tricolours were displayed among the many thousands of red flags. At the Green, Constance Markievicz was the main speaker. Another large crowd was drawn for John Maclean who was also warmly received. A resolution was passed in favour of the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist commonwealth.
In September 1920, a Hands Off Ireland conference was held in Glasgow with delegates from the Independent Labour Party, the trade unions, and various Irish organisations. At a Hands Off Ireland rally in Glasgow in December, 5,000 packed into the St Andrew’s Halls, while another 5,000 were turned away. A resolution calling for self-determination for Ireland and a withdrawal of British troops, was passed.
In 1920 Maclean shared platforms with William Gallacher of the Clyde Workers’ Committee, Sean McLoughlin and Roddy Connolly, son of James, on a Hands Off Ireland speaking tour in Glasgow, Paisley, Duntocher, Clydebank and the Vale of Leven. In Motherwell Orange mobs broke up a Hands Off Ireland meeting. In January 1921, 400 miners at Giffnock colliery staged a 24-hour strike ‘in protest against British atrocities in Ireland’ and called on the Lanarkshire coalfield to do likewise.
Maclean and his comrades conducted the most consistent and principled work in support of the Irish struggle. In May 1920 onwards The Vanguard carried major articles such as ‘The Irish Fight For Freedom’ exposing Britain’s war against the Irish people and making the case for why workers should support the Irish struggle. 20,000 copies of a pamphlet written by Maclean titled The Irish Tragedy: Scotland’s Disgrace was sold throughout the working-class districts of Scotland. It detailed Britain’s brutal ‘war of attrition’ and acts of aggression against the Irish people, referring to it as ‘itemised bloody brutality’. Maclean reasoned that ‘To any right-thinking person, Britain’s retention of Ireland is the world’s most startling instance of dictatorship by terrorists’. He pointed out that the recent war was supposed to have been fought to defend the rights of small nations, yet Ireland at the 1918 elections had voted with a vast majority for an independent republic: ‘Obviously the vote shows that by four to one the people in Ireland wish to look after their own affairs’. However, their democratic rights had been brushed aside, and instead they had to contend with a military occupation.
Thanks to collections taken at Hands Off Ireland meetings, Maclean’s group, the Tramp Trust Unlimited was able to publish a hundred thousand copies of a leaflet titled Proposed Irish Massacre, which appealed to Scots not to let themselves be used to murder the Irish race, but to save Ireland, if possible, by a general strike for the withdrawal of British troops. Through Maclean’s contacts in the socialist press, numerous Irish Government publications were printed in Glasgow, as it was illegal to do so in Ireland. The links between Irish revolutionaries and Scottish socialists did not go unobserved by the British authorities. They recognised the strength of the workers’ movement in Clydeside and considered Glasgow to be ‘the most dangerous centre of Sinn Fein activity in Britain.’
In April 1920, a statement made by John Maclean was given in a joint report to the IRB Military Board in Scotland which Seamus Reader was to convey to GHQ in Dublin. Maclean stated his intention to organise a Scottish Workers’ Republican Party which came into being three years later in 1923. Like Connolly, he came to believe that the twin goals of national independence and socialism were two sides of one great democratic principle, each being incomplete without the other. He also announced that a section of the Scottish Citizen Army had been formed. He had hoped to make a start with, at least, a battalion strength from the Scottish Brigade of the Irish Republican Army members born in Scotland, or, failing that, a battalion of Irishmen working on the Clyde which would be the start of a Federal Defence Force. However, these expectations went unfulfilled as the Scottish Brigade’s primary focus remained the equipping of their comrades in Ireland with the means to fight the Crown forces.
In April 1920, a statement made by John Maclean was given in a joint report to the IRB Military Board in Scotland which Seamus Reader was to convey to GHQ in Dublin. Maclean stated his intention to organise a Scottish Workers’ Republican Party which came into being three years later in 1923. Like Connolly, he came to believe that the twin goals of national independence and socialism were two sides of one great democratic principle, each being incomplete without the other. He also announced that a section of the Scottish Citizen Army had been formed. He had hoped to make a start with, at least, a battalion strength from the Scottish Brigade of the Irish Republican Army members born in Scotland, or, failing that, a battalion of Irishmen working on the Clyde which would be the start of a Federal Defence Force. However, these expectations went unfulfilled as the Scottish Brigade’s primary focus remained the equipping of their comrades in Ireland with the means to fight the Crown forces.
According to Reader, had the Scottish Citizen Army emerged as a credible force at this time, ‘it would be the cause of Ireland losing some if not all, our munitions supply from the Clyde area.’ Maclean told the Scottish IRB that the British Government would prefer to give the Irish any terms they wanted than to face an armed revolt of the Scottish workers, which is what would happen if the Irish war wasn’t resolved soon. This is why he was so against extending the Communist Party of Great Britain into Scotland. He made it clear that he would continue to give the Irish cause all the support he could, while working for the betterment of the Scottish working class.
The organisational efforts of Joe Vize to expand the IRA in Scotland, resulted in the formation of a second Brigade in the East Coast, so that by the time of the Truce in July 1921, a Scottish Division was established with a total membership of approximately 2,500 members. The importance of the work of the Scottish Brigade was acknowledged by Vize who stated that Scotland was responsible for two-thirds of the war material received and used in Ireland. The Sinn Féin organisation in Scotland could boast 30,000 members.
The Civil War
During the period of the Civil War (June 1922 - May 1923) most members of the Scottish Division were neutral. Of those that remained active, 350 took the anti-Treaty side with about 250 responding in the affirmative to Michael Collins appeal to the Scottish membership to join the fledgling Free State Army, with the inducement of jobs in Ireland. In his Military Service Pension application, Joe Robinson, O/C of the IRA in Scotland, claimed that most of the arms used by the Republicans in the Civil War were supplied by Scotland.
On Robinson’s instructions, Brigade Adjutant Seamus Reader, brought a 25 person ‘expeditionary force’ from the 1st Battalion on the night of 1 July on a ship bound for Dublin. Four members of Glasgow Cumann na mBan on board were carrying small arms and ammunition for the Glasgow Volunteers. Stewart McGregor who was an agent of John Maclean, got 7 pistols and ammunition on board. The Volunteers took part in the battle for the defence of the Republic, but after Dublin fell to the Free State forces, all the women and most of the Volunteers from Scotland were interned. In a letter to the Free State leader Cosgrove, expressing dismay and disgust at the execution of four Republican prisoners by the Free State during the counter revolution, John Maclean signed it on behalf of “four thousand ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ supporters of a Scottish Workers’ Republic”, which was the number of votes he received when he stood as a republican candidate in the Gorbals on an abstentionist basis. Constance Markievicz and Jim Larkin spoke for him at municipal election meetings.
At the end of the Civil War the IRA was reorganised in Scotland. In a separate development a large meeting of ex members of the IRA/IRB who chose to remain in Scotland was held in 1923. Veterans from Glasgow, Coatbridge, Motherwell, Paisley, Port Glasgow, Greenock, Denny and Falkirk declared their support for the principles of the Scottish Defence Force (SDF), and federation of revolutionary groups in Ireland, England and Wales. Gunn of Parkhead and John Graham of Paisley Road West, directed the attestations and the registrations on behalf of the Scottish Nation. The fledgling Scottish Citizen Army and Fianna na hAlba continued to exist as units of the SDF. Seamus Reader acted as liaison officer between the SDF and the Scottish Brigade of the IRA.
Support for Maclean among the Irish community
On November 30, 1923, the stunned working-class population of Glasgow learned that John Maclean was dead. Among the ranks of the 10,000 mourners who attended his funeral, were representatives of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish republican movement. In a letter to his widow, Agnes, Mary Murray, Secretary of Glasgow Sinn Féin stated: ‘All who knew the late Mr. John Mclean are bound to acknowledge his honesty and straightforwardness, his name will never be forgotten by the people of Glasgow, but especially by the Irish Republicans of Glasgow his name will ever be remembered as one who always stood for fair play and justice for all.’
Harry McShane recalls in his book No Mean Fighter that even before 1919, a great number of Irish people in the Gorbals supported Maclean. At meetings during the December 1918 General Election, when Maclean was the official candidate for Gorbals (although in prison at the time), the audience would stand up and sing ‘God Save Ireland’ at the end of the meetings.
Charles Doran, a Dubliner who had come to Glasgow a few years previously related the following story to Nan Milton:
This article has sought to demonstrate that John Maclean was steadfast in his support for Irish freedom. More than any other Scottish socialist, he worked tirelessly in word and deed, to convince Scots of the tragedy that was unfolding in Ireland. I have shown how he had been closely connected with the Irish Labour Movement for many years and was on friendly terms with its leaders including Jim Larkin and Cathal O’Shannon. The Easter Rising helped to change Maclean’s attitude to the whole question of the independence of small nations, and he began to realise, like Connolly, that national liberation was a necessary prelude to socialism. Like Connolly, of course, he never failed to insist that it was only a prelude and was consistent with his belief in internationalist principles. Maclean was sufficiently influenced by the Irish struggle to argue for a Scottish Communist Party rather than become a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain when it was formed.
The organisational efforts of Joe Vize to expand the IRA in Scotland, resulted in the formation of a second Brigade in the East Coast, so that by the time of the Truce in July 1921, a Scottish Division was established with a total membership of approximately 2,500 members. The importance of the work of the Scottish Brigade was acknowledged by Vize who stated that Scotland was responsible for two-thirds of the war material received and used in Ireland. The Sinn Féin organisation in Scotland could boast 30,000 members.
The Civil War
During the period of the Civil War (June 1922 - May 1923) most members of the Scottish Division were neutral. Of those that remained active, 350 took the anti-Treaty side with about 250 responding in the affirmative to Michael Collins appeal to the Scottish membership to join the fledgling Free State Army, with the inducement of jobs in Ireland. In his Military Service Pension application, Joe Robinson, O/C of the IRA in Scotland, claimed that most of the arms used by the Republicans in the Civil War were supplied by Scotland.
On Robinson’s instructions, Brigade Adjutant Seamus Reader, brought a 25 person ‘expeditionary force’ from the 1st Battalion on the night of 1 July on a ship bound for Dublin. Four members of Glasgow Cumann na mBan on board were carrying small arms and ammunition for the Glasgow Volunteers. Stewart McGregor who was an agent of John Maclean, got 7 pistols and ammunition on board. The Volunteers took part in the battle for the defence of the Republic, but after Dublin fell to the Free State forces, all the women and most of the Volunteers from Scotland were interned. In a letter to the Free State leader Cosgrove, expressing dismay and disgust at the execution of four Republican prisoners by the Free State during the counter revolution, John Maclean signed it on behalf of “four thousand ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ supporters of a Scottish Workers’ Republic”, which was the number of votes he received when he stood as a republican candidate in the Gorbals on an abstentionist basis. Constance Markievicz and Jim Larkin spoke for him at municipal election meetings.
At the end of the Civil War the IRA was reorganised in Scotland. In a separate development a large meeting of ex members of the IRA/IRB who chose to remain in Scotland was held in 1923. Veterans from Glasgow, Coatbridge, Motherwell, Paisley, Port Glasgow, Greenock, Denny and Falkirk declared their support for the principles of the Scottish Defence Force (SDF), and federation of revolutionary groups in Ireland, England and Wales. Gunn of Parkhead and John Graham of Paisley Road West, directed the attestations and the registrations on behalf of the Scottish Nation. The fledgling Scottish Citizen Army and Fianna na hAlba continued to exist as units of the SDF. Seamus Reader acted as liaison officer between the SDF and the Scottish Brigade of the IRA.
Support for Maclean among the Irish community
On November 30, 1923, the stunned working-class population of Glasgow learned that John Maclean was dead. Among the ranks of the 10,000 mourners who attended his funeral, were representatives of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish republican movement. In a letter to his widow, Agnes, Mary Murray, Secretary of Glasgow Sinn Féin stated: ‘All who knew the late Mr. John Mclean are bound to acknowledge his honesty and straightforwardness, his name will never be forgotten by the people of Glasgow, but especially by the Irish Republicans of Glasgow his name will ever be remembered as one who always stood for fair play and justice for all.’
Harry McShane recalls in his book No Mean Fighter that even before 1919, a great number of Irish people in the Gorbals supported Maclean. At meetings during the December 1918 General Election, when Maclean was the official candidate for Gorbals (although in prison at the time), the audience would stand up and sing ‘God Save Ireland’ at the end of the meetings.
Charles Doran, a Dubliner who had come to Glasgow a few years previously related the following story to Nan Milton:
…The Irish on the Clyde really idolized John Maclean as the following incident will show. I was then in the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation. I took the chair one night at Govan Cross at which our speaker in his usual fashion vigorously condemned all of our politicians and called them ‘fakers’. The speech called forth a lot of heated opposition. Our speakers called the local member of Parliament, Neil MacLean – no relation of John’s – a ‘faker’ – and some of the audience demanded ‘Is De Valera a faker?’ Our speaker without hesitation replied ‘Yes!’ Slight commotion! Another question from the audience – ‘Would you dare to say that John Maclean is a faker?’ Our speaker was nearly lynched when he foolishly in a spirit of bravado, defiantly replied ‘Yes!’ ‘Then the ball burst! A huge woman with strong Irish brogue [possibly Mother Flanagan] shoved me aside so violently that I nearly fell and shouted as she made for the platform – ‘Let me get at the bastard that calls John Maclean a ‘faker!’
Were it not for Paddy Halfpenny and his band of Irish Republicans our speaker might have been thrown in the Clyde that night. There was less deep anger at the ‘slandering’ of Neil MacLean and even De Valera than there was in defence of John Maclean. Our speaker, incidentally, didn’t regard John as a faker, but felt he had to show courage in asserting a lie…
We have seen that prior to the Easter Rising Maclean used his contacts among the Scottish miners to supply the IRB circles with explosives, and this valuable work continued during the War of Independence and the Civil War when he sided with the Republicans. On the propaganda front he travelled the length and breadth of Scotland speaking at Hands Off Ireland rallies and published and distributed tens of thousands of copies of ‘The Irish Tragedy: Scotland’s Disgrace’ and ‘The Irish Massacre’. The last word will go to Seamus Reader who in a letter from Dublin in 1968, states:
Credit is due to the men of the Clyde Valley, the Clyde Brigade, the Scots Brigade, and Fianna na hAlba, the latter being the answer to John Maclean’s pamphlet The Irish Tragedy. They all saved Scotland from disgrace, and we still have our noble tradition.
I am indebted to Eddi Reader for giving me access to her great uncle, Seamus Reader’s unpublished manuscript titled Revolutionist: A Record of Revolutionary Events 1700 to 1950.
I am indebted to Eddi Reader for giving me access to her great uncle, Seamus Reader’s unpublished manuscript titled Revolutionist: A Record of Revolutionary Events 1700 to 1950.
