SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, will lay a wreath at the grave of Jim Larkin, founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, today (30th January) at 4.30 p.m. to mark the 66th anniversary of the labour leader’s death. Jim Larkin was born on 21st January 1876 to Irish parents in Liverpool. The Larkin family later moved to a small cottage in Burren, Co. Down. Growing up in poverty, Jim received little formal education and began working in a variety of jobs while still a child. He became a full-time trade union organiser in 1905. Larkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union in 1909 and led the workers of Dublin during the 1913 Lockout. The wreath laying ceremony will be followed by a commemorative event in the Glasnevin Museum at 5.00 p.m. A vintage tram from the National Transport Museum, Howth, from the era of the 1913 Lockout will be on display.
Jim Larkin commemoration in Glasnevin Cemetery
