C. Desmond Greaves
Charles Desmond Greaves (27 September 1913 – 23 August 1988) was an English
Marxist historian. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, through the Connolly Association he was one of the key figures, along with Roy Johnston, responsible for inserting Marxist perspectives into the 1960s Irish republicanism, in relation to the Northern Ireland civil rights movement
.
History
Greaves was born in
Liverpool University where he graduated in chemistry and botany, he worked as a research chemist at Powell Duffryn. In 1934 he joined Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1941 he joined the Connolly Club which became the Connolly Association, and became editor of its magazine, The Irish Democrat.[1]
During the 1950s Greaves used his influence at the Connolly Association to push the view that the best path to a
Lord Brookeborough they were able to force the release of the prisoners. Greaves and the Connolly Association would continue to push Labour against the Unionists into the 1960s, which would later prove to be a key piece of political strategy on the eve of The Troubles.[2]
Greaves became associated with
Official Sinn Féin (later known as the Workers' Party) and the Official Irish Republican Army
, rather than the Provisionals. This was done under the rationale of anti-sectarianism, claiming that the Provisionals were representative of just the Catholic nationalist community.
His library of Irish books is held at the
Salford, deposited by his executor Anthony Coughlan. The Desmond Greaves summer school is held each year as a forum for discussing topics which exercised him, such as Irish left wing, and republican politics.[3]
Publications
- The Life and Times of James Connolly (1961)
- The Easter Rising as History (London 1966)
- Northern Ireland: Civil Rights and Political Wrongs (1969)
- The Irish Crisis (1972, second enlarged edition 1974)
- Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution (1971)
- Reminiscences of the Connolly Association (1978)
- Sean O'Casey Politics and Art (1979)
- The Easter Rising in Song and Ballad (1980)
- Irish Transport and General Workers' Union: The Formative Years (1982)
References
- ^ C. Desmond Greaves profile, irishdemocrat.co.uk; accessed 25 February 2015.
- ^ Coughlan, Anthony (24 March 2017). "The father of Irish Civil Rights". Village Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ Éanna Ó Caollaí, "Something for the weekend: What's on", Irish Times, 15 September 2012; retrieved 12 January 2013.
External links
- C. Desmond Greaves profile, irishdemocrat.co.uk; accessed 10 March 2015.
- The Desmond Greaves School official website; accessed 10 March 2015.
- The Desmond Greaves Archive
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
