About the War
The war started in 1936 as a result of a right-wing military based uprising against the left-wing Spanish Government elected in February of that year. The leader of the Insurgents, rebels, Facists and even Nationalist as they were known, initially tried to take Barcelona but failed. With their leader General Franco they secured the help of Hitler and a civil war commenced.
This military coup in Spain that July was only one of several countries who suffered at the hands of Facist governments over the year. Hungary, Romania and even Italy all seen their government become more reactionary and when Mussolini took over in Italy approximately 10,000 people were exiled within the first few months.
Within Spain the socialist government encouraged people to stand up to Franco and to 'support the working man'. Campaigns were started and some of the posters used to generate and lobby for support are included and on display at the exhibition.
The Spanish Government sought support from other democratically elected governments across Europe but without success. Many of the governments agreed not to interfere for fear of upsetting the Germans and Italians. The Russians became aware of the lack of support for the Spanish Government from Europe and their inability to tackle the Germans and Italians decided to offer help to the Republican Government.
It was then that the Russians began campaigning and sending volunteers to help fight the Insurgents. These volunteers eventually came from all over the world and soon became known as the International Brigades.
The volunteers from within the International Brigades came from all over the world and were to fight alongside the Spanish soldiers against Franco's army of rebels. It was then that many of the 320 Irish people became involved in the Civil War.
The majority of the Irish and Northern Irish people who took part in the war sided with the Spanish Republican and democratically elected Government. People such as Packy McAllister, an Irish man seen his role as political and as an opportunity to fight the Facist in defence of the working man. Others such as Jack Jones from New Barnsley seen their role as defending their faith and in defence of the Catholic Church. The church was attacked by the Government and many Priests and Nuns were slaughtered throughout the war.
The first two men from Northern Ireland Joe Boyd and Fred McMahon left North Belfast to the support of the local Socialist Party singing the 'Red Flag', a Catholic and a Protestant, they represented the support from across both religious communities in Ireland for the republican cause in Spain.
The Historians Perspective
Dick O'Neill left his job in Belfast on December 10th 1936. He left his sister who was about to get married. He regretted his choice, but felt that he had to go. He was going to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He didn't come back. He was one of over 90 Irish men and women who died in that foreign war. Why did he go?
The time since World War 1 was a period of intense political upheaval across the world. In Ireland there was partition, but globally there was the Russian Revolution, then the rise of fascism in Italy, Germany with similar governments in a lot of other places. Political activists were looking at what was happening internationally with great interest.
In Spain there had been a series of elections, attempted revolutions and military coups in the early 1930s, so when the centre left Popular Front government narrowly won in the Feb. 1936 elections this was seen by socialists as a great advance. The military establishment and the aristocracy had other plans, so in July 1936 they launched a military attack on the government, quickly gaining the military support of Hitler and Mussolini.
Everyone was looking to Spain. Working class activists across the world were horrified by the military move against the elected government. Catholics were horrified by the attacks on Church property and on some priests. As soon as the rebellion broke out the Irish News reported the atrocities by the Left, building support for the Irish Christian Front, a pro-Franco support group here. It also, along with the Irish Independent, gave a lot of coverage to the plans by General Eoin O'Duffy, previously the head of the Garda, to send an Irish Bandera, a military unit, to fight against the godless communists.
The Irish News reported on 7th December that there was a Belfast ICF demonstration the day before, with an estimated 4,000 at it. The march went from Smithfield to Clonard. Speakers included Mr. W McCann, Chairman of the St. Malachy's branch (Markets); John F MacIlvenny, John Corr (Dublin) and P Belton, TD, President of the ICF.
Dick O'Neill was one of the 10 West Belfast men to fight on behalf of the Spanish government after it had been attacked by the military, the aristocracy and international fascism. Those 10 were among the 45,000 men and women from across the world who volunteered in the fight against fascism. Unemployment throughout the 1920s-30s had forced tens of thousands of Belfast workers to go to Britain or further abroad. Dick was joined in Spain by others like Patsy McAllister, who had emigrated to Canada, and Bill Beattie who was living in Glasgow.
The Belfast delegation formed a small part of the 320 Irish men and women who went out for the Spanish Republican forces. The International Brigades were there to fight, and fight they did. From the earliest days of December 1936, through to the last day of battle for the IB, Irish volunteers fought and died. The first Irishman to die was native Irish speaker Tom Patten of Achill in December 1936. Among the last was the Shankill Road man Henry McGrath who died on the last day that the IB was asked to fight. Of those volunteers, 82 were to die in Spain. 6 of the 10 men from West Belfast were killed in Spain.
The 8 strong Belfast contingent for Eoin O'Duffy formed the largest part of the 22 Northerners who went out to support Franco. The Irish Bandera had hoped that it would be a short, victorious war, but when it dragged on for months into 1937 the Bandera was allocated to a reasonably quiet part of the front line. In reality it faced very little military action, with 6 men getting killed in action before the bulk of the Bandera left in June 1937.
When the majority of the Bandera volunteers left a small group, 20 men, decided to stay, and these diehards included Tom Jones from the Whiterock. We know that he was still there in January 1938.
Of the 6 local men who died in Spain we have no graves. They were buried in a rush during the war, and the victorious fascist forces disinterred nearly every grave of the republican dead. The City Cemetery in West Belfast does hold a grave directly linked to the Spanish Civil War. Luis Diaz, the captain of a Spanish ship, was stranded here from 1937-1940, when the Basque government nationalised his ship. Diaz supported this but the while issue was dragged through the courts here. In the end Luis continued his anti-fascist struggle by enlisting in the merchant marine during World War 2 but his ship was sunk and he died on April 27th 1943, being buried in the City Cemetery.
What can we learn from the involvement in the Spanish Civil War? Back in the thirties some stood up for their beliefs, they can be respected for that. Other local people saw the need to stand up and oppose repression. Something we can all be proud off, and we should remember that struggle.