Irish Left ArchiveMar 30, 2023

The Draft Constitution and Rules of Saor Éire: https://www.leftarchive.ie/document/6252/

Saor Éire was a short-lived left Republican and communist organisation founded by members of the IRA in 1931. Notable among its founders were Peadar O’Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore.

It brought together members of the Revolutionary Workers’ Groups (RWG), which was chiefly Dublin-based, and the Irish Working Farmers’ Congress (IWFC), which had been established by O’Donnell in 1930 and was associated with Krestintern, the Peasants International.

#IrishLeftArchive #SaorÉire #IrishWorkingFarmersCongress #RevolutionaryWorkersGroups

Saor Éire: Draft Constitution and Rules (1931) — Saor Éire [1931]

Commentary and PDF of Saor Éire: Draft Constitution and Rules, published by Saor Éire [1931].

Irish Left Archive
Show threadIrish Left ArchiveMar 30, 2023

Two unconnected later groups, active in the late 1960s and early 70s, also had the name Saor Éire.

One was a Republican "urban guerilla" group formed by former IRA members and Trotskyists, also known as the Saor Éire Action Group. It was involved in a number of bank robberies to fund arms purchases in the late 60s. By 1975 it had dissolved.

Their manifesto, reportedly printed by Peter Graham using the presses of Red Mole in London (the publication of the International Marxist Group), is available in the archive here: https://www.leftarchive.ie/document/1712/

#SaorÉire #RedMole #InternationalMarxistGroup #IMG #IrishLeftArchive

Saor Éire Manifesto (1971) — Saor Éire [1967]

Commentary and PDF of Saor Éire Manifesto, published by Saor Éire [1967].

Irish Left Archive
Show threadIrish Left Archive

The other Saor Éire was a Maoist-influenced group in Cork, and a successor to the Irish Revolutionary Forces. It published a magazine called People's Voice, which can be read in the archive: https://www.leftarchive.ie/publication/131/

Associated with Jim Lane, members went on to join the Irish Communist Organisation (ICO), though later left to form the Cork Communist Organisation after the ICO moved to the "two nations" theory.

#IrishLeftArchive #SaorÉire #IrishRevolutionaryForces #IrishCommunistOrganisation #CorkCommunistOrganisation

People's Voice

People's Voice in the Irish Left Archive. People’s Voice was the publication of the Saor Éire group in Cork (successor of the Irish Revolutionary Forces, and not to be confused with the Dublin-based group of the same name). It was published monthly, beginning in November 1968. Six issues were produced. …

Irish Left Archive
Mar 30, 2023 at 9:18amWeb
Show threadIrish Left ArchiveMar 30, 2023

Our Timeline of the Irish Left details the associations between each of these groups.

Saor Éire (1931): https://www.leftarchive.ie/page/timeline-of-the-irish-left/#find-SE31

Saor Éire (Cork): https://www.leftarchive.ie/page/timeline-of-the-irish-left/#find-SECork

Saor Éire Action Group: https://www.leftarchive.ie/page/timeline-of-the-irish-left/#find-SE

#IrishLeft

Timeline of the Irish Left

A timeline of the development of left wing political groups and parties in Ireland from 1900 to the present, from the Irish Left Archive.

Irish Left Archive