JAMES CONNOLLY was a self-taught literary man as well as a man of action in trade unionism and revolutionary politics. Reared in dire poverty, he saw education as vital for progress. He was a voracious reader from an early age and he became a prolific writer. In 1915 and 1916, his writings in his paper, The Workers’ Republic, had a crucial influence on the forces that made the Easter Rising possible. Premium service article