Charles (Charlie) Donnelly (1914 - 1937) was an Irish poet and left wing political activist. He was killed fighting on the republican side during the Spanish Civil War.
Spanish Civil War
In July 1936, on the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he urged the Republican Congress to send fighters to the International Brigades. He himself returned to Dublin with the intention of organising such a force. By the end of 1936, he had gone again to London and joined the Brigades. He reached Spain on 7 January 1937 and at Albacete, met up with an Irish contingent, led by his friend Frank Ryan, known as the Connolly Column who had come to Spain to fight on the Republican side. Donnelly and his comrades were attached to the American Abraham Lincoln Battalion.
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Related Topics:
Spanish Civil War - International Brigades - Albacete - Connolly Column - Abraham Lincoln Battalion
Spanish Civil War - International Brigades - Albacete - Connolly Column - Abraham Lincoln Battalion
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On 15 February, after receiving only rudimentary military training, the Abraham Lincoln battalion was thrown into the battle of Jarama, near Madrid. Donnelly reached the front on 23 February, where he was promoted to the rank of field commander. On 27 February his unit were sent on a frontal assault on the Nationalist positions on a hill named Pingarron. Donnelly and his unit were pinned down by machine gun fire all day. In the evening, the Nationalists launched a counter-attack.
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A Canadian veteran recalled, "We ran for cover, Charlie Donnelly, the commander of an Irish company is crouched behind an olive tree. He has picked up a bunch of olives from the ground and is squeezing them. I hear him say something quietly between a lull in machine gun fire: Even the olives are bleeding (quoted in Joseph O'Connor, Even the Olives are Bleeding - the life and times of Charles Donnelly, p.105). The line would later become famous. A few minutes later, as his unit retreated, Donnelly was caught in a burst of gunfire. He was struck three times, in the right arm, the right side and the head. He collapsed and died instantly. His body lay on the battlefield until it was recovered by fellow Irish Brigader Peter O'Connor on 10 March. He was buried at Jarama in an unmarked grave with several of his comrades. A sister, Christine lives in Dublin, and a brother, Tony, and sister Carmel live in England.
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The collection of his work, The Life and Poems, was published in 1987. On the eve of the 71st anniversary of his death, 26 February 2008, Charles was commemorated with the unveiling of a plaque in his alma mater, UCD, attended by 150 people. The commemoration, organised jointly by a group of UCD students and the Donnelly family, was hosted by the School of English and also included a lecture by Gerald Dawe on Charlie's life and poetry. In April 2008, the UCD Branch of the Labour Party was renamed the Charlie Donnelly Branch in his honour.
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http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/charles-donnelly-poet-/spanish-civil-war.html
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"There is a valley in Spain called Jarama ... And most of our old age as well" (Há em Espanha um vale chamado Jarama. É um lugar que todos conhecemos muito bem, porque foi nele que perdemos a nossa juventude e, também, grande parte do nosso passado ...)
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Music video about the Irish volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. Music by Pól McAdam.
The Civil War in Spain (Irish Tribute)
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Dedicated to the memory of all the International Volunteers who went to fight the Fascists in theSpanish Civil war, expecially the Volunteers of the Connolly Column from Ireland and our old friend and comrade Clarence Kailin, International Brigadista from Madison, Wisconsin, who heard us perform this song many times. Rest in Peace, Comrades. Hasta la Victoria siempre!
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Recorded live at the Irish Brigade reunion concert, May Day 2005. Sorry for the crowd noise, but it adds tothe Craic!Irish Brigade lineup at the Reunion Concert: Chas Moore Barb Tennis Kevin Donleavy Seoirse MacDomhnaill ("S.G.") Karen Andersen Gage Averill Bob Newton plus Kenny Perlow and John Kraniak from earlier lineups,and special thanks to Patrick Gray, session guitar.
Recorded live at the Irish Brigade reunion concert, May Day 2005. Sorry for the crowd noise, but it adds tothe Craic!Irish Brigade lineup at the Reunion Concert: Chas Moore Barb Tennis Kevin Donleavy Seoirse MacDomhnaill ("S.G.") Karen Andersen Gage Averill Bob Newton plus Kenny Perlow and John Kraniak from earlier lineups,and special thanks to Patrick Gray, session guitar.
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An excellent documentary chronicling the formation, history and exploits of the long forgotten Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion - one of the finest and most dedicated units of the legendary XV International Brigade that fought on the side of Republican Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The Battalion's namesake was inspired by the leaders of the failed 1837 Lower and Upper Canada Rebellions - William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau respectively who sought to overthrow British colonial rule and establish an independent Canadian Republic based on the French model. Initially Canadian volunteers fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. As the name suggests - this formation was primarily comprised of Americans but the Canadian volunteers initially enlisted and fought with this unit as did a large number of Irish volunteers informally known as the "Connolly Column" named after James Connolly - most of the Irish volunteers being members of the Irish Republican Army. While fighting with the American battalions significant numbers of Canadians fought at the fierce Battle of Jarama where at least nine were killed. Despite the government's strict neutrality and the new Foreign Enlistment Act which made it a criminal offence for a Canadian to enlist in a foreign army - by spring 1937 so many swelled the ranks of the American Lincoln Brigade that the formation of a distinctly Canadian battalion was authorized and in May 1937 the 60th Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion of the XV International Brigade was born. Though the large majority, the Mac-Pap Battalion was never entirely a Canadian formation. Many of its support, political and administrative staff remained American or Spanish. In addition it is quite possible that the battalion also included among its number a few Irish Republicans from the Connolly Column. Not all Canadians served with the Mac-Paps either. Even after the formation of the Canadian Battalion the American Battalion contained so many volunteers from Canada that they formed the 1st Canadian Company. Others fought as individuals in other national units of the International Brigades and in Spanish units such as Bill Williamson who was the first Canadian in Spain to fight. Despite this many platoons within the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion bore a distinctly Canadian identity. A platoon in the 2nd Company was comprised entirely of Ukrainian-Canadians. The Battalion's Machine Gun Company was largely Finnish-Canadian led by Niilo Makela - the highest ranking Canadian in Spain. The Canadians of the International Brigades were the first Canucks to fight Fascism and more than half of the estimated 1,300 Canadian volunteers were killed before the International Brigades were withdrawn and disbanded in September 1938. Though most would say that Republican Spain's situation was beyond hope by this point, few would disagree that this move was nothing short of suicidal. The Mac-Pap veterans had a long and arduous journey home. Without funds they had to wait until the Communist Party and CCF (NDP of today) could raise enough money to pay their fare. It is said that upon their return to Canada only 30 men were capable of standing - the rest nursing wounds or too malnourished to walk. Instead of being heralded as heroes by the government the Mackenzie-Papineau veterans were persecuted following their return to Canada and often denied employment. Despite this many of the younger surviving Mac-Paps enlisted in the Canadian armed forces upon the outbreak of the Second World War but because of Communist and Socialist sympathies and age restraints (the majority of the volunteers were in their mid thirties) most were barred from enlisting in the Canadian Army. The Mac-Pap veterans would continue to fall under the suspicion of the RCMP for many years following the Second World War during the height of the Red Scare. Contrary to popular belief not all members of the International Brigades were Communists or Anarchists - they counted among their number Socialists, Liberals, Conservatives and the apolitical. What mattered is that they were all determined to destroy Fascism and restore Spanish democracy - and willing to die doing it. This documentary was produced the same year Francisco Franco died and democracy in Spain was indeed restored - it is a part of our history told by those who lived it and almost to a man are now gone and largely forgotten - having been shunned and demonized by successive Canadian governments despite their early and sacrificial stand for Democracy in what was the dress rehearsal of the Second World War. Regardless of whatever political affiliations these men may have had they deserve to be remembered with respect and admiration.
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This was actually just a prototype video for a school project thing which I didn't end up making. It was about the Spanish Civil War. I have left it up as it has proven to be quite popular for some strange reason.
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Clips from the Spanish Civil War. Songs: 'El Tercio' by Raimundo Lanas and 'El Gallo Rojo', a communist fight song during the Spanish Civil War.
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A collections of pictures dedicated to the bravery, valour and internationalism of the thousands of volunteers who fought for the Spanish Republic. Contains pictures of Canadian, Irish and American volunteers; along with Spanish loyalists.
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"Viva la Quince Brigada" (Long Live the Fifteenth Brigade)
Dedicated to the bravery of the Irish Volunteers (1936-1939) who joined the 15th International Brigade supporting the Spanish Republic in the War of Spain against Franco´s fascist troops.
Many of those brave irish boys never came back to Ireland, giving the best of their youth to the spanish country....
Many of those brave irish boys never came back to Ireland, giving the best of their youth to the spanish country....
VIVA LA QUINCE BRIGADA
Christie Moore
Ten years before I saw lhe light of morning
A comradeship of heroes was laid.
From every corner of the world came sailing
The Fifteenth Inlernational Brigade.
They came to stand beside the Spanish people.
To try and stem the rising Fascist tide
Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy,
Frank Ryan's men came from the other side.
Even the olives were bleeding
As the battle for Madrid it thundered on.
Truth and love against the force af evil,
Brotherhood against the Fascist clan.
Vive La Quince Brigada!
"NO PASARAN" the pledge that made them fight.
"ADELANTE" was the cry around the hillside.
Let us all remember them tonight.
Bob Hillard was a Church of Ireland pastor;
From Killarney across the Pyrenees ho came.
From Derry came a brave young Christian Brother.
Side by side they fought and died in Spain.
Tommy Woods, aged seventeen, died in Cordoba.
With Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun.
From Dublin to the Villa del Rio
Where he fought and died beneath the Spanish sun.
Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco.
Joined Hitler and Mussolini too.
Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers
Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew.
The word came from Maynooth: 'Support the Fascists.'
The men of cloth failed yet again
When the bishops blessed the blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire
As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain.
This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan.
Kit Conway and Dinny Coady too.
Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar.
Though many died I can but name a few.
Danny Doyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnelly.
Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls.
Jack Nally, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy,
Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill.
Written in 1983
©Christy Moore
RG-Apr97
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Viva la Quinta Brigada (listed as Viva la Quince Brigade in later recordings) is a song about the Irishmen who fought in the Spanish Civil War against Franco. The title was inspired by a Spanish song about the war, 'Viva La Quinta Brigada'. Terry O'Neil sings this great song. I will be uploading more of his songs very soon his voice is superb so keep checking back or subscribe
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