Connolly Column

The Connolly Column (Spanish: Columna Connolly, Irish: Colún Uí Chonghaile) is a phrase retroactively applied to a group of Irish republican socialist volunteers who fought for the Second Spanish Republic in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. They were named after James Connolly, the executed leader of the Irish Citizen Army. They were a company-strength unit of the American Lincoln Battalion of the XV International Brigade, formed from Irishmen who were earlier part of the British Battalion of the same Brigade.

On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, support for the Spanish Republic grew among left-wing organizations, taking tangible form in a decision in September 1936 to form an International Brigade of volunteers to fight with the Republican government against the fascist-dominated Nationalist rebels. This decision was echoed in Ireland by various left-wing groups; the chief organizers of this effort were Sean Murray, Peadar O'Donnell, and Frank Ryan.

Murray was chairman of the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) at the time, and a fine orator. he was in contact with Bill Scott, a volunteer with the Thälmann Battalion who sent regular reports of conditions in Spain, and which Murray published in the party newspaper, The Worker.

O'Donnell, a socialist and Irish republican, was in Barcelona for the "People's Olympics" – held in opposition to the Olympic Games being held in Berlin under the Nazi regime. O'Donnell sympathised with the anarchist workers' militia that defeated the attempted military coup in the city and joined one of their militias on the Aragon front. On his return to Ireland, O'Donnell urged the formation of Irish volunteer regiments to support the Popular Front government.

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