Jim Larkin, Matt Talbot and the 1913 Dublin Lockout

In the September 2013 issue of Pioneer Magazine, official publication of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA), of which Matt Talbot was a member, one article may be of particular interest at 

http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/images/stories/pioneercovers/magazine/september2013.pdf, pages 16-17.

 

In the article titled, “Jim Larkin, Matt Talbot, and the 1913 Dublin Lockout,” Sean Ua Cearnaigh provides a brief overview of the historical lockout and Matt Talbot’s role in it. As the author notes, Matt “was not a scab as some critics who did not know him tried to convey” but one in solidarity. 

 

More on this topic can be found at

http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2013/10/matt-talbot-and-1913-dublin-lockout_3.html)

Matt Talbot and the 1913 Dublin Lockout

The source of the following article by Fr. Tom Ryan is from http://www.shannonparish.ie/category/fr-toms-courier-column.
Information about the 21st Annual Matt Talbot Novena is also available with a list of the speakers at
http://www.shannonparish.ie/2013/09/matt-talbot-novena-2013/.
 

“For the Tuesdays of October and November 2013, we invite you to join us for our 21st annual Matt Talbot Novena, praying for all suffering or sharing in the life of addiction.

Addiction is defined as a craving or obsession not only for substances such as alcohol, tobacco and other drugs but also a psychological dependency on things such as gambling, food, pornography, video games, internet, work, exercise, self harming etc. Addictions lead to all sorts of problems at home, work, school and in the community which can in turn cause guilt, shame, anxiety and rejection.

Matt Talbot’s addiction was alcohol. Matt’s programme of recovery was built around devotion to the Eucharist, love of Mary Mother of God and prayer, but he never forgot his struggle with his addiction. The life and example of Matt Talbot is an inspiration and help to people to overcome and accept their problems and difficulties.

This year marks the centenary of the 1913 Dublin Lockout. In the early autumn of that year, the heartless lords of industry locked out some 20,000 poorly paid Dublin workers, most of them with large hungry families. The reason for all of this was the spirited refusal of the workers to sever their connection with Jim Larkin’s founded Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. The average weekly wage was five shillings (less that 90 cent in today’s Euro), working in excess of 80 hours per week.

Matt Talbot, as a poorly paid worker himself, admired and respected Jim Larkin and he became a member of the ITGWU, a link only severed by his death. Matt spent most of his time during the Lockout praying in Gardiner Street Church.

The final days of 1913 witnessed a rapid decline in the workers’ fortunes. Food supplies had dwindled disastrously and funds for fresh supplies were non-existent. During January and early February 1914, the men gradually returned to their work. As broken as they were with little or no improvement in their wages, they had yet gained a political victory. The employers, despite their best efforts, had failed to break Jim Larkin’s Union. In the ensuing years, the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union went from strength to strength. Matt was a fully paid up member of the ITGWU for the rest of his life. In 1923, Matt became very ill and was unable to work. He received sick pay, fifteen shillings from the Union.

He died in Granby Lane, Dublin on 7th June 1925 on his way to Church. It was the feast of The Holy Trinity. Matt’s life and story is not time bound. Matt was not a colourful character; he had a very simple personality. He was a man who had great faith rooted in prayer and the Eucharist; he possessed a great sense of justice, especially for workers. Matt was a man who overcame addiction by using primarily the spiritual resources that are available to all who suffer addiction. His conquering of addiction was with free will and the help of God. These two ingredients, free will and God’s help, are still readily available to all of us on our own journey through life, in our battles with our own addictions.”


Also note these references:

http://www.matttalbot.ie/matt-on-strike.htm

Reflections on Work and Workers

The 1913 Strike and Lockout

Reflections on Work and Workers

These links are provided for reflection on work and workers today in the USA and nearly a century ago in Matt Talbot's Dublin.

The first link is a personal reflection by Deacon Keith Fournier on the Catholic Church's perspective on the dignity, meaning, and redemptive value of all human work.

See http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=29071

In keeping with their annual Labor Day tradition, the US Bishops have released the following statement on the dignity of human work: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=29072

Life, work, and workers were significantly different during Matt's lifetime.The first link provides a perspective on various themes in Dublin in 1911, when Matt was a 55 year old labourer with 27 years of sobriety: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/exhibition/index.html

This link, The 1913 Strike and Lockout, is self-explanatory.

The 1913 Strike and Lockout

Matt was a labourer throughout his life and a member of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, which was formed in 1908. Perhaps the most detailed discussion about Matt and this "big" or "great" strike as his biographer, Mary Purcell, refers to it can be found in Chapter 10 of her book, Matt Talbot and His Times (1977). She discusses not only the labour conditions but also includes many lengthy quotes by those who knew Matt at that time. Matt sought the advise of his confessor, read extensively on labour related topics, and financially helped fellow workers with families.

A search of this website notes those writings that include reference to the strike. For one of many Google references to this strike and lockout, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Strike_and_Lockout