Manus: Dancing at his niece’s wedding in Autumn 2021, with daughter Jessica can be viewed at:
Tribune obituary for Manus, by Francy Devine
11.10.2021
•
• https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/10/remembering-manus-oriordan
Remembering Manus O’Riordan
By
Francis Devine
Manus O’Riordan, who passed away last month, dedicated his life keeping anti-fascist memory alive – and to ensuring future generations never forgot why men like his father joined the International Brigades.
The sudden death of Manus O’Riordan, Ireland secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, on 26 September occasioned immense shock and sadness. In Irish president Michael D. Higgins’ words, it is ‘a sadness that will be shared by so many of those who have worked for a more equal and inclusive society’. Despite Covid restrictions and advice that allowed few to witness Glasnevin’s funeral ceremony, hundreds marched the coffin from his home or lined the street, a piper leading a colourful parade of banners, flags, and streamers.
A lifelong socialist and trade unionist, his weekend had been a typical swirl of events. After watching Finn Harps defeat Bohemians at Dalymount Park on Friday night, he went into the Teachers’ Club to attend the Frank Harte Festival, as he would on Saturday with his eldest grandchild Amaia, after travelling back from Sliabh Foy above Omeath in County Louth for an annual tribute to men from the country who fought in the International Brigades: a typical Manus weekend of football, political organising, singing, company, and comradeship.
Education and Trade Unionism
Micheál Manus O’Riordan was born on 30 May 1949, one of Michael O’Riordan and Kay Keohane’s three children along with Mary, who was born in 1948 and died shortly after, and Brenda, born in 1952. They grew up in Victoria Street in Dublin’s Portobello and after a scholarship to Synge Street CBS, Manus gained a BA in Economics and Politics at UCD before completing a Masters in Economics and Labor History at the University of New Hampshire, Durham. His thesis revealed much of James Connolly’s then little-known life in the United States, and was in many ways a pioneering work.
Living close to a synagogue, now Dublin’s Jewish Museum in Walworth Road, Manus developed a fascination with Jewish Dublin. In 2002, he was involved in erecting a plaque in Lower Camden Street at the former premises of the International Tailors, Pressers and Machinists Union – the Jewish tailors’ union. Similarly, his recovery of James Connolly’s 1902 Wood Quay election address in Yiddish was an exquisite piece of work that was published in Saothar, the journal of the Irish Labour History Society, in 1988.
Manus had a long history in the Irish trade union movement. In 1971, he was appointed head of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union’s (ITGWU) research department in the newly-created Development Services Division (DSD) which contained Communications, Education and Training and Industrial Engineering Departments. In 1990, after the ITGWU merged with the Federated Workers’ Union of Ireland (FWUI) to form SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union), Manus remained head of research until retirement in 2010.
In this capacity, he wrote countless speeches and papers, provided immeasurable advice and explanation of economic and social events to union officers and executives. Much of this material, while recorded in others’ speeches he had drafted and in his own addresses to conferences, was not published publicly and, in any case, was often transient by its very nature, as it dealt with particular circumstances occasioned by political or economic crisis, lobbies for budgetary reforms, or national bargaining demands.
ITGWU conferences began to debate policy papers drafted by Manus’ research department on economic and social policy, equality, and employment law. For key figures engaged in pay bargaining from national wage agreements to national understandings – and their collapse – followed by the Programme for National Recovery in 1987 and social partnership, Manus’s precise, tightly-referenced explanations were extremely influential.
He believed, in the traditions of James Larkin junior, in placing organised labour and its members’ needs at the heart of matters. This went far beyond the simplistic ambition to ‘get more wages’. Industrial strength — in the continuing absence of any Irish Labour Party ability to obtain meaningful power — could be used to win advances in social welfare, education, health, and employment rights. While never a particularly public figure, Manus’ closely-argued papers were reflected in trade union achievements that benefitted thousands.
Politics and the International Brigades
Politically, Manus began in the Connolly Youth Movement, youth wing of the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI), which his father Michael O’Riordan had led. He later moved to the British and Irish Communist Organisation, which promoted a ‘Two Nations’ theory that held that Ulster Unionists had a separate national identity with a right to self-determination. This brought him into conflict, sometimes publicly, with his In the early 1980s, secularism and anti-clericalism led Manus to join Limerick TD Jim Kemmy’s (1936-1997) Democratic Socialist Party (DSP). Manus both campaigned and wrote for the organisation, which was strongly motivated by ambitions to challenge the Church’s influence over debates on divorce, contraception and abortion. After the DSP merged into the Labour Party in 1990, Manus declined to travel with them and remained unaffiliated.
His politics were nevertheless informed by Marxism and democratic concerns. He demonstrated a considerable and courageous capacity to change his view – often expressed in detailed letters to the Irish Times sharply critical of his own earlier positions. On the Irish national question, Cuba, and Palestinian solidarity, Manus moved closer to his father’s CPI line while maintaining (privately) criticisms of Soviet failures and (publicly) concerns about socialism’s future and its continued, vital necessity.
It was a brave person that took on Manus in a political discussion as he was inevitably well-informed and prepared. And yet, he created few political enemies, as evidenced by the ‘broad kirk’ attending his funeral from many different left-wing, radical and republican traditions in Ireland.
Michael O’Riordan fought in Spain and his son’s commitment to maintaining the memory of the International Brigades became what many will regard as his greatest legacy. He was Ireland Secretary of the International Brigade Memorial Trust and served on the Executive of Friends of the International Brigades in Ireland.
He spoke at memorial events across the globe. In 2016, he had shared a platform with Jeremy Corbyn and fellow Dubliner Max Levitas at the 80th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Cable Street, carrying the banner of the Connolly Column. In 2018, he travelled to the Catalan town of Gandesa, where he helped a mayor to unveil a painting of his father, Michael, carrying the Catalan flag across the Ebro. Manus was key to many monuments that have been erected to Irish Brigadistas too, most proudly the Liberty Hall plaque unveiled by president Mary Robinson in May 1996.
It was through what his sister Brenda describes as ‘our international family’ that Manus met his partner Nancy Wallach, whose father fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. For Manus, it was not merely maintaining a memory, important as that was, but reminding people that some fights might yet have to be fought again. In the words of the late Welsh historian and activist Gwynn A. Williams, Manus was a ‘people’s remembrancer’, the IB fight remaining horribly relevant.
Writing and Culture
In the days well before Google, when struggling with a question — whether of economics, labour history, or folklore — for many the solution was ‘to Manus it’. A phone call provided not just the answer but most often, a number of answers to other questions that you had not asked but might have done.
A correspondence followed containing references, documents, personal memories, frequently laced with a wry humour. On the weekend of his death, he emailed a typically lengthy response to a comrade who had innocently asked a question when they ran into each other at Dalymount Park.
Manus published widely, sometimes in relatively obscure left-wing or local history publications, often now difficult to retrieve. Those in the Irish Political Review, Saothar, and recent editions of Umiskin Press’s Left Lives are easily referenced. So too is his recent article for Tribune on the life and politics of Paul Robeson, a product of his own friendship with this publication’s editor.
Michael D. Higgins particularly praised Manus’s work on Ireland in the 1930s but his range of interests was breath-taking and included, in no particular order, agrarian struggles; Fenianism; women workers and equality; Jim Larkin – senior and junior; Ernest Bevin; Frank Ryan; European communism and the Soviet Union; Mike Quill and the Transport Workers’ Union; environmental issues; and all aspects of the Spanish Civil War and Brigadista biographies
Whatever he wrote was informed and informing, his style accessible despite its frequent depth. A valuable task would be to collect his works and make them available online and his papers — electronic and actual — when assembled will be a unique and valuable commentary on his times.
Manus had a deep interest in and respect for language and culture. In addition to fluent Irish, Manus could be heard singing in Catalan, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish, the song often one he had discovered as a verse and set to music. He had to know the provenance of anything he sang from ‘The Bould Tenant Farmer’ to Frank O’Connor’s tribute to Larkin, ‘Roll Away the Stone’, sung so movingly by his son Luke at the funeral.
Manus’ singing can be heard on the Irish Traditional Music Archive and on various Youtube clips. He was a fixture at An Góilín Traditional Singers’ Club and, more recently, at Howth Singing Circle and Liberty Hall’s Clé Club, where his ‘sleeve notes’ were often longer than the song but no less compelling for that.
He was a theatre goer, admiring Irish playwrights from O’Casey to Murphy, Friel to McGuinness, while Brecht, Ibsen, and contemporary works held equal fascination, his interest in the production, setting and acting as well as the work itself. He was also an inveterate attender at the National Concert Hall, appreciating all musical forms and loved serious cinema. His decision to skip a Bohemians versus Shamrock Rovers derby in 2017 to attend a Shostakovich concert in the same venue was a source of much slagging from his sons, but underlined his broad and at times competing interests.
He was also an informed critic of televised history and political documentaries and, too seldom, was asked to contribute to them. He read incessantly: O’Donnell and McGill, Sholakhov and Yovkov, Angelou and Mariam Khan, Machada de Assis and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the poetry of Akhmatova or Lola Ridge, Donnelly, Neruda or Víctor Jara. He absorbed what he read with an endless capacity for more; whether it was folklore, visual arts, posters and banners: art, to Manus, was political expression.
Family
It was in the ITGWU’s DSD premises in Palmerston Park that Manus met Annette Hennessy Macdonald who worked as librarian. They married in 1974 and had three children – Jessica, Neil, and Luke. Annette tragically died in 2013. Her own life story led to involvement in campaigns for the Lost Children, the scandal of Mother and Baby Homes and the widespread pain they caused and continue to cause.
Notwithstanding Manus’s myriad preoccupations, family was the fulcrum around which his life revolved. A loving father and adoring grandfather, he erected a memorial bench at Hart’s corner dedicated to his father Michael and Annette’s memory. For his children Jess, Neil and Luke, grandchildren Amaia, Rory, Caleb and Eli, sister Brenda, partner Nancy, and his extended family, their sudden loss is immense. They can draw consolation from the hundreds of expressions of love and respect that greeted his passing and are reflected in the countless tributes on his Facebook page and elsewhere.
In his address at Manus’s funeral, his son Neil observed that ‘my father was almost always on the right side of history… Look at the big social issues of the last few generations and he was ahead of his time.’ He contributed, intellectually, organisationally, and personally by attendance at rallies and meetings, to every significant trade union or social campaign fought in the last five decades. He was universally regarded as deeply personable, a man full of brilliant eccentricities, a tireless agitator for progressive causes, whose company that you always left enlightened or provoked but—either way—with a smile on your face and a lift in your heart.
On the hastily made banner at Bohemians’ game at Oriel Park, Dundalk the Monday after his death, youthful Bohs fans scrawled the words ‘RIP Manus – No Pasarán’. It was apt; like Joe Hill, Manus would demand not that we mourn but that we organise. Many more virtual banners fluttered aloft in Catalonia and Gougane Barra, Havana and Willowfield, Sofia and New York, lining the multitude of overlapping tracks trodden by a remarkable comrade. La lucha continua.
About the Author
Francis Devine is a former ITGWU and SIPTU official, a member of the Musicians’ Union of Ireland, a labour historian and a singer.
Peter Whitelegg:
There was a good tribute to Manus by Ruth Levitas at the Cable Street rally yesterday (3rd October 2021). Several other speakers also paid tribute to Manus.
Malachi Lawless:
Manus was so nimble as to be able to adapt between so many different grinding political circumstances and still retain the wide respect he commanded .
The President, Michael D Higgins signalled his sympathy at Manus’ passing, and empathy with Manus’ politics, and the papers rushed in to nod an echo in response .
The grudging respect for Manus in the National newspapers , given his driven contribution to national politics, is highlighted in the Independant by the remark that Manus only got involved in politics in 1982 in the DSP . Perhaps De Brèadùn is referring to Irish Party politics as distinct from writing for and selling the Irish Communist magazine outside the GPO in 1969/ 70 and being chased off by the Gardai , 10 years before Pope John 11 was ecstatically welcomed to Catholic Ireland .
To ignore what drove Manus’ politics , even in an Irish Independant obit is to agree with the Irish Times view of Manus politics as irrelevant to todays Ireland, ( the various Liberal agenda campaigns ) Manus here, is viewed in a cultural context , merely the safekeeper of the historical legacy of his father,s political contribution , a mere antiquarian , a harmless stuffed exhibit in a heritage museum . As for Manus’ contribution to Bohemians Soccer club , well , thats for the Star to acknowledge .
Neither of the National dailies in Dublin attempt to reflect on his amazing fusion of political singer/ balladeer performances that travelled all over the world in a kind of a pared down minor Christy Moore balladeer style . He had the humour , he had the melancholy , he had the passion .Unlike Christy, Manus had the looks . He was a walking, talking singing pamphleteer .
He could have been a musical contender in some far off Middle Eastern musical market. . People often remarked on his youthful days as smouldering dark haired Omar Sharif lookalike . Johnny logan was huge in Turkey . Joe Dolan hit it big in Spain and Italy . Maybe he just needed the right manager and backing band .Leonard Cohen couldnt ” sing” either . Neithrr could Kris Kristofferson, but they could ” say” a mournful ditty .
Men such as Manus are never recognised in their own homeland , certainly not in their lifetime . The begrudgery is in the Partitioned landscape .
If a Canadian Jewish. singer songwriter like Leonard Cohen can inspire a following in his dotage in far off Ireland , what price Ireland’s singing pamphleteer in the desert sands of North Africa ?
He developed what can only be more accurately described as his unique adaptation of the traditional Irish Sean Nòs singing/ saying a song style in the weekly Gòilìn singers club over the years. There, and in the Liberty Hall Clè club he had the advantage of a sympathetic audience . In reality thats all he needed ; an audience . His unique musical/ political fusion of Irish melodies with Yiddish / Spanish/ Gaelic lyrics definitely was an Irish uphill listen but had the ability to grow on unaccustomed ears if you had the oul bit of audience empathy ,stamina and respect for diamonds in the rough. In everything he did , Manus dug deep.
Sent from my Galaxy
——– Original message ——–
From: Dave Alvey <dave.alvey2@gmail.com>
Date: 03/10/2021 14:18 (GMT+00:00)
To: Wilson John Haire <london.eye@hotmail.co.uk>
Cc: majlawless <majlawless@gmail.com>, aubane list <aubane@heresiarch.org>
Subject: Re: [Aubane] (no subject)
It is complimentary to Manus but it says nothing about his belief in social partnership, his opposition to historical revisionism or the contribution he made to Irish Political Review over the years.
On Sun, 3 Oct 2021 at 13:59, Wilson John Haire <london.eye@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
Yes, better, much more interesting revealing about the background of Manus.
From: Aubane <aubane-bounces@heresiarch.org> on behalf of majlawless <majlawless@gmail.com>
Sent: 03 October 2021 13:49
To: aubane list <aubane@heresiarch.org>
Subject: [Aubane] (no subject)
Manus O’Riordan obituary: Prominent trade union chief and anti-fascism activist
Deaglán de Bréadún
October 03 2021 02:30 AM
Political activist and former trade union official Manus O’Riordan died suddenly last Sunday at the age of 72. His passing is mourned by a wide circle of colleagues and admirers, including President Michael D Higgins, who attended last Friday’s funeral ceremony at Glasnevin Crematorium.
O’Riordan headed the Research Department at the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) from 1971 until 2010, by which time the ITGWU had merged with the Federated Workers’ Union of Ireland (FWUI) to form the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (Siptu).
Born on May 30, 1949, his full name was Micheál Manus O’Riordan, but he was always known simply as Manus. Tragically, a sister named Mary was born a year earlier, but she died within two days. Growing up in Dublin’s Portobello, his academic ability enabled him to overcome modest family circumstances.
This started with a secondary school scholarship and he attended CBS Synge Street. He later achieved a bachelor of arts degree in economics and politics at University College Dublin and a masters in economics and labour history at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, in the US. He started work shortly afterwards as ITGWU research chief at the early age of 22.
The influence he developed on industrial relations at national level has been reflected in a tribute by former general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Peter Cassells, who said: “Without Manus’s intellectual underpinning of the partnership process, there would have been no partnership agreements.”
O’Riordan also got involved in politics as a member of the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), founded in 1982 with Limerick East TD and former member of the Irish Labour Party Jim Kemmy (1936-97), as its leader. The DSP merged into the Labour Party in 1990.
Initially a member of the Connolly Youth Movement, Manus moved over to the British and Irish Communist Organisation, which promoted, as an alternative to republicanism, the controversial “two-nations theory” that Ulster unionists constitute a separate Irish national community with a right of self-determination.
Manus’s other great political passion was honouring the members of the International Brigades who took part in the fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. His Cork-born father, Michael O’Riordan (1917-2006) was seriously wounded by shrapnel at the Battle of the Ebro in 1938 and repatriated to Ireland, where he later headed up the Communist Party of Ireland.
Manus was the Ireland Secretary for the International Brigades Memorial Trust as well as a board-member of the Friends of the International Brigades Ireland.
He was an ardent supporter of Bohemians and, at an away game against Dundalk in Oriel Park last Monday, banners were raised stating “RIP Manus” and “No Pasarán” (They Shall Not Pass), the anti-fascist slogan from the Spanish Civil War.
President Higgins praised his work as a trade union official and for highlighting the role of the International Brigades, as well as his research into the Ireland of the 1930s — including “those institutions and voices who saw the emergence of fascism and the rise of Hitler as a source of stability”.
Cuba’s Ambassador to Ireland Hugo Ramos Milanes praised “O’Riordan’s deep friendship towards the Cuban Revolution”.
He died following a heart attack at Drumcondra Station, where he was about to board a train to visit his grandchildren.
Predeceased by his wife Annette and sister Mary, he is survived by his daughter Jessica, sons Neil and Luke, grandchildren Amaia, Rory, Caleb and Eli; sister Brenda; partner Nancy Wallach and other relatives and friends.
Sunday Independent
Dave Alvey:
Manus was a member of the Dublin branch of the British and Irish Communist Organisation (B&ICO) in the 1970s (that group also had branches in Belfast and London). Most well-known for its advocacy of the two nations theory—holding that the Ulster unionists constituted a separate IRISH national community with a right of self-determination—the B&ICO provoked intense opposition but also won respect in areas of the body politic. When Jim Kemmy finally won a Dail seat in the early 1980s he was persuaded to form a new political party, the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP). Most of the Dublin branch, including Manus, joined in that venture, splitting away from the B&ICO in the process. Having failed to attract significant electoral support nationally, a difficult endeavour in the best of times, the DSP eventually merged with the Labour Party in 1990.
Following the DSP split, the B&ICO continued to evolve as a centre for new thinking on the Left to the point where the communist tag became a misnomer. From 1985 on, among other publications, the group produced a monthly magazine, Irish Political Review (IPR), which welcomed open-minded engagement with the complexities of politics. Themes it covered included trenchant opposition to what became known as historical revisionism, its position being that the baby was being thrown out with the bath water in the way that Irish independence itself was being renounced. Another prominent theme was opposition to the growing influence of liberal economics and globalisation.
Manus FOUND HIMSELF IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE IRISH POLITICAL REVIEW APPROACH TO POLITICAL AND TRADE UNION ISSUES, AND became a long-term contributor to Irish Political Review, AND HELPED TO CIRCULATE THE MAGAZINE. [a significant move in that the DSP experience had entailed strong disagreements. In doing so he widened the base of contributors to the publication and helped to advertise it as a beacon of tolerance on the Irish Left. ]
In opposition to the revisionist trend that has blighted Irish discourse in recent decades Manus wrote innumerable polemical articles. One which captures the spirit of his feelings is a short piece entitled, The Wife of the Bold Tenant Farmer about a song of the same name. In writing the article and making a recording, for the Gόilín Club, of himself singing the song, he communicated much of what he had to say about the national tradition in Ireland.
The song lightheartedly tells the story of a woman from the village of Ballinascarty in West Cork who argued with the local landlord’s son on the merits of the Land League. Ballinascarty was the village where his own mother, Kay Keohane O’Riordan, came from, and the song was much loved by his mother’s people and was a favourite of the singer, Joe Heaney. You might say that Manus sang the song as a lesson to the revisionists about the resilience of Irish culture.
One aspect of his politics that deserves recognition and about which, as it happens, he was writing when he died, was his belief in social partnership. In an article for the October edition of IRISH POLITICAL REVIEW, what was to be the first of a two-part series, he summarised the case he had made over many years in different fora for extending the scope of trade unionism beyond the issues of wages and conditions to include support for economic policies agreed between the social partners in bodies like the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).
In a nutshell Manus believed that the labour movement should abjure narrow campaigns on behalf of sectional interests and instead focus on long term goals that enhanced national economic development. In that context he admired and defended figures in the trade union movement like the two Jim Larkins, father and son. He was also generous in advising fellow researchers like Philip O’Connor with whom he worked closely, so that the cause of social partnership would continue to have articulate advocates.
In ways Manus was more mainstream than many of the radical spirits with whom he collaborated on the political fringe. He was often a bridge between opposing elements. His ability to win the respect of diverse elements explains why he had friends in many walks of life from traditional music to sport to the multifarious strands of the political world. That he was known and liked by so many people in Ireland and abroad must surely rank among his greatest achievements.
Below is a selection of the many, many tributes to Manus from the RIP website. Those wishing to see all the tributes can go to : https://rip.ie/cb.php?dn=470919
Manus died before his time, with plenty projects in hand, writing regularly for Irish Political Review and other publications; and attending political discussions and debates, and contributing his sharp analysis. He loved life. A committed socialist, he was determined to make a difference. And he did.
Angela Clifford
Shocked and saddened to hear Manus has died. I knew him as a historian and trade unionist over many years. We both served on the NESC many years ago. He was a hugely impressive representative for the trade union movement and the working class in that forum. Learned, forensic and with a formidable presence, when he spoke people sat up and listened. He will be sorely missed on so many levels. My condolences to his family.
Tony Monks
My condolences to Manus’s family, friends and comrades. He was a warm, and noble soul who carried his enormous knowledge with humility and generosity. I will miss his good company, his writings and his contributions to meetings which were forensic and razor sharp but always without rancour. I have known him for over fifty years and in all that time his core purpose was to serve the working class and understand its history without being doctrinaire or insular. As a result his scholarship on Connolly and Germany and the national question as well as his career with Siptu will stand as monuments of scholarship and practical politics that will continue to provide guidance for a very long time to come.
Eamon Dyas
Very sorry and shocked to hear of Manus’ sudden death. Deep condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. He was a great Republican in both the Irish and the Spanish sense, and he will be gratefully remembered for his indefatigable commemorative work, original historical research and publications, which will long continue to be consulted.
Martin Mansergh
Manus will be sorely missed by us for his great contribution to the main issues in Irish politics over many years.
IRISH POLITICAL REVIEW GROUP
So sorry to hear of the passing of Manus. He was a great Socialist and Trade Unionist who did apply theory in practical terms for the benefit of society. His influence was immense and he will is an inspiration for future generations.
Bill McClinton GMB
Very sad and shocked to hear the sudden passing of Manus, my very good friend for over a half century. A towering historian, a great Irish man, a lovely singer, a passion for people, dauntless in standing up against right-wing power abuse. He will be greatly missed in Ireland, Catalonia and beyond. Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Cathal MacSwiney Brugha
We will really miss Manus and his warm personality and the times he was at our events for the Lincoln Brigade Celebration in California bringing his international camaraderie, humor, and singing. He took us on a tour of the Dublin memorials to Irish political figures, what warm friendly person with a connection to history. Salud! NO Pasaran!
Richard Bermack Bay area Abraham Lincoln Brigade, ALBA
I knew Manus O’Riordan’s father Michael (Mick) long before I met Manus himself. My father Tom O’Brien, like Mick, was a member of the brave Connolly Column volunteers, who joined the international brigades fighting for democrary in Spain against Franco’s fascists. Manus was a talented and energetic historian, and was really helpful when we founded The O’Brien Press in 1974. With huge energy and knowledge he would answer or research my queries fully and always with both professionalism and kindness. Manus knew more about sections of my family than I knew myself! A good example was his discovery that my grandfather, Abraham Sevitt, was a founder of the Tailor’s Guild in Dublin. He organised the unveiling of a plaque to honour the guild, and their brave work in winning better working conditions for members. Socialist issues in Ireland get a poor press even today, and Manus diligently built a legacy for Ireland and the world as SIPTU historian. To create a trade union history department showed brilliant foresight. Manus will be widely missed: his skills, kindness and unique contribution to his family, community and country are irreplaceable.
Michael O’Brien
So sad to hear Manus is no longer with us. I worked with him in the Research Department along with Paul Sweeney and Rosheen Callender. As Departmental Head, I once introduced him as my boss, only for him to say, ‘we are colleagues’, which says a lot about him. The four of us had regular lunch dates before Covid hit and they always began with what Paul described as the ‘organ recital’ – an update on our health issues! We were looking forward to meeting again soon but fate intervened. Sincere condolences to family and Nancy.
Barbara Kelly
I have been thinking a lot about Manus in the days since I heard of his death. I will miss his sharp and pithy observations on life, economics and on people. He had a sharp and sometimes wicked sense of humour! I left SIPTU’s Research department over 20 years ago but Manus, Rosheen Callender, Barbara Kelly and I met up regularly since, and we were all looking forward to meeting up personally soon, once Covid was eased. I did however keep in touch with Manus by phone and email, but only occasionally. He will be missed.
Paul Sweeney
Deepest and sincerest condolences to all the wider O’Riordan family, the source of all his mighty strength and commitment. He was a giant of thought and action down to his very last day. I was just discussing my book, due to appear shortly, with him the day before he died. A great friend and colleague, I heartily share in all the wonderful things said about him here. Love to all his magnificent family in this heart-breaking time.
Philip O’Connor
I was in touch with Manus after the game in Dalymount park on Monday last and he sent me as promised the next day his reviews of book of the Spanish civil war I was shocked to hear of his sudden passing He was a valued colleague and a great service to the work of the Union my sincere sympathy goes to his family on this most saddest of time
Bill Attley Former General Secretary SIPTU
Bill Attley [Second Tribute:]
My sincerest sympathy to the family of Manus O’Riordan. I first got to know Manus when we both served on NESC. We had a shared interest in Frank Ryan and the Spanish civil war. I come from the area where Frank Ryan was born and my Uncle lived across the Road from Frank Ryan’s home and they shared many conversations. As I was growing up in the 1950s I heard a lot of conversations about Frank Ryan. I found Manus a gifted intellectual with a profound understanding of history. I will always remember the many conversations that we had Frank Allen Former President ICMSA
Frank Allen
Malachi Lawless:
Was at the wake tonight .in his house ….he had the plough and the stars flag over his coffin …it was a shock to see how ” healthy” he looked in the coffin with a wry smile on his face ….in contrast to how theatrical Conor Lynch was made up , to look like some rent a Tuatha De Danaan chieftain in his repose .
Thats 3 wakes in the same house now …Michael ORiordan’s , Annette’s in 2013 and now Manus’ …tough on his children . The house is like a glorious museum to all his political/ cultural involvements decked out with paintings ( Frank Ryan) cartoons/ paintings depicting Jewish stereotypes. His son, Luke has lived there with Manus . Dave Alvey tells me Luke works for Sinn Fein . The other son , Neil has a family of his own nearby and is a sports journalist with the Star newspaper . It was just incredible the breadth of Manus’s connections at the wake …even old DSP ers like Eoin O Malley ( grandson of Kevin O Higgins ) recently retired from the EU Commission as some class of accountancy role . Nice guy. Big fan of Manus .
We ( me and Tony Byrne) walk in procession to the crematorium tomorrow at 10 am . ….Eamon Dyas’ eloquent tribute on the condolences stood out amongst the amazing spread of same . In the midst of a full life poor old Manus was ambushed . It’s stiĺl a shock. Especially when you look at his fresh face in the coffin , with the little grin , as if to say, “Fooled yis all , yis thought I wasnt sick “… I expected his eyes to pop open and he would jump up and give forth on some Yiddish , Gaelic, Engish, Spanish tune in that Sean Nòs storytelling singing style of his . …. But no ….The singing pamphlet , I called him and that’s neither the quarter nor the half of it . What an exit .
1 October 2021
Peter Cassells, a key ICTU official in the 1970s-80s and its indefatigable General Secretary for a decade from 1989 when building social partnership:
“Sincere condolences to the O’Riordan family and Nancy. Manus was a close trade union colleague from whom I learned a lot. I can say that, without Manus’s intellectual underpinning of the partnership process, there would have been no Partnership Agreements”
Peter Cassells
Philip O’Connor notes:
It is important to do this, as the emerging narrative, boosted by the Irish Times and especially by the influential Left who opposed all the important things he advocated, is to portray him as a dedicated and prolific antiquarian! It’s all about the Spanish Civil War and “Irish history in the 1930s.” Apart from Cassells, no one mentions social partnership, or for that matter his work on Connolly and Germany, the Two Nations and the many other things on which he really stood out.
Martin Mansergh’s message on rip.ie :
“Very sorry and shocked to hear of Manus’ sudden death. Deep condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. He was a great Republican in both the Irish and the Spanish sense, and he will be gratefully remembered for his indefatigable commemorative work, original historical research and publications, which will long continue to be consulted.”
Martin Mansergh
________________
The death has occurred of Micheál Manus O’Riordan
Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin
•
O’Riordan, Micheál Manus (suddenly), formerly of ITGWU, SIPTU, IBMT and FIBI, of Finglas Road, Glasnevin, aged 72, on Sunday September 26. Predeceased by his beloved wife Annette and sister Mary. Deeply regretted by his daughter Jess; sons Neil and Luke; grandchildren Amaia, Rory, Caleb and Eli; sister Brenda; son-in-law Sveinn; daughter-in-law Sara; brother-in-law Tony; nephew Dara; niece Caitriona; partner Nancy; and extended family and friends.
Manus will repose at home from 6pm on Thursday, September 30, and a celebration of his life will take place at Glasnevin Crematorium on Friday, October 1. People are welcome to pay their respects in the house and at the procession to the crematorium which will leave the house at 10:10am. However, please note because of Covid-19 restrictions, the ceremony will be strictly restricted to family and close friends.
Manus’s cremation service can be viewed online at 10.40 am October 1st by clicking on the following link
https://www.dctrust.ie/location/glasnevin/chapel-webstream.html
The above link is provided and managed by an independent company. The Funeral Home accepts no responsibility for its functionality or any interruption to a live service.
Date Published: Wednesday 29th September 2021
Date of Death: Sunday 26th September 2021
My condolences to Manus’s family, friends and comrades. He was a warm, and noble soul who carried his enormous knowledge with humility and generosity. I will miss his good company, his writings and his contributions to meetings which were forensic and razor sharp but always without rancour. I have known him for over fifty years and in all that time his core purpose was to serve the working class and understand its history without being doctrinaire or insular. As a result his scholarship on Connolly and Germany and the national question as well as his career with Siptu will stand as monuments of scholarship and practical politics that will continue to provide guidance for a very long time to come.
Eamon Dyas
Deepest sympathy to the O’Riordan family on your sad loss. Manus coupled his scholarship with a passionate activism. As a proud custodian of the legacy and history of the Connolly Column and the International Brigade, he helped ensure their memory will never fade. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis
Des Dalton
I wish to offer my condolences to the O’Riordan family on the untimely death of Manus. I will remember him for his in-depth knowledge of all things relating to the International Brigade and his generosity in sharing that knowledge with us in Inistioge at the George Brown Commemoration weekend.
Martin Gahan, George Brown Commemoration Committee
Very sorry to hear of the untimely death of Manus. He was a great colleague in ITGWU and Siptu and a real gentleman to boot. His lifetime work for the Trade Union and wider Labour movement will leave a lasting impression. Deepest sympathy to all his family. John Mc Donnell . Siptu
John Mc Donnell
I knew Manus O’Riordan’s father Michael (Mick) long before I met Manus himself. My father Tom O’Brien, like Mick, was a member of the brave Connolly Column volunteers, who joined the international brigades fighting for democracy in Spain against Franco’s fascists. Manus was a talented and energetic historian, and was really helpful when we founded The O’Brien Press in 1974. With huge energy and knowledge he would answer or research my queries fully and always with both professionalism and kindness. Manus knew more about sections of my family than I knew myself! A good example was his discovery that my grandfather, Abraham Sevitt, was a founder of the Tailor’s Guild in Dublin. He organised the unveiling of a plaque to honour the guild, and their brave work in winning better working conditions for members. Socialist issues in Ireland get a poor press even today, and Manus diligently built a legacy for Ireland and the world as SIPTU historan. To create a trade union history department showed brilliant foresight. Manus will be widely missed: his skills, kindness and unique contribution to his family, community and country are irreplaceable.
Michael O’Brien
The many fine tributes on this page are proof that Manus was widely liked and respected. I last met Manus properly at the July 6 funeral of fellow Labour Historian Rayner Lysaght on a miserably rainy day at Glasnevin Crematorium and afterwards in Hedigan’s. Manus carried a banner that day honouring Irish anti-fascist fighters who fought in Spain against Franco in the 1930’s. As usual Manus was great company. We did not always agree on political priorities – that’s life! – but often fought on the same side. Manus will be missed.
John Meehan
Manus was a man of principle.; a great historian and a wonderful speaker. He attended the George Brown Memorial Event in Inistioge many times and we will miss his presence here greatly. Sincere condolences to his family, partner and friends. His legacy will outlive him, because he gave so much more than he took from this world and that is the mark of greatness. “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.”
Amanda Richards
I am greatly saddened by the death of Manus. He will be sadly missed by that great community of people, at home and abroad, who honour the memory of the International Brigades. He was energetic and tireless in researching and disseminating information about the Brigaders and he – literally – carried the red-yellow-and-purple flag of the Spanish Republic to events all over Ireland and beyond. More than that, Manus campaigned for progressive values – freedom, justice, equality – and he was a formidable one-person research unit for the trade union movement for many years. A great mind and heart is stilled. Combhrón ó chroí lena mhuintir agus leaba i measc Laochra na hEite Clé dó.
Liam Cahill
Deepest condolences to the O’Riordan Family on the passing of Manus. He contributed immensely to the study of Irish history and the wider trade union movement over many years. A gentleman, his contributions to Irish Labour History Society events and to publications always added greatly to them. Manus will be sorely missed.
Kevin Murphy, Irish Labour History Society
Manus, was a An Góilín and Clé Club stalwart. We will miss his songs to commemorate Parnell, Spanish Republicans and Labour heroes. He sang on the Frank Harte Festival 2021 traditional singing walking tour which was field recorded two weeks ago and may be seen on the Frank Harte Festival website. His song Come, Gather Round Me, Panellists by WB Yeates was sung at the Garden of Remembrance. What a lovely man. We are thinking of his family and friends at this sad time.
Frank and Carol Nugent
Sincere condolences to the O’Riordan family and Nancy. Manus was a close trade union colleague from whom I learned a lot. I can say that, without Manus’s intellectual underpinning of the partnership process, there would have been no Partnership Agreements
Peter Cassells
For many years Manus was known to me as an indefatigable advocate for workers. More recently I was with him on the European Economic and Social Committee. I offer my deep sympathy to all his family.
Jim McCusker exNIPSA
The phrase ‘a gentleman and a scholar’ must have been coined especially for Manus. He joins the history of the movement he so energetically recorded and participated in. He respected all within it and now all salute him. Deepest sympathies to his family, friends and colleagues.
Des Derwin
My deepest condolences to the family. I was very shocked to hear of the sudden passing – his last email reached me on Sunday morning “All well here”. His energy and passionate interest in so many areas were exemplary, it is such a sad loss. RIP
Gisela Holfter
Lucky to have known Manus for 50 years. Goodbye companero.
Ed Riordan TUI
So sad to learn of the departure from this life of Manus O’Riordan a devoted Trade Unionist who was dedicated to the cause of Equality, Justice, Fairness and Labour. Privileged to have known and served with him as a former member of the National Executive Committee’s of the ITGWU & SIPTU. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Seamus Briscoe Ex NEC ITGWU & SIPTU
A kind and personable gentleman, a man of activism and commitment. Always happy to sing a song at the Góilín Singing Club. I remember him coming along on his lunch break years ago to a Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill poetry reading I had organised at DCU, where he charmed us all with a poem of hers he had set to music. Laoch ar lár.
Eithne O’Connell DCU
My heartfelt condolences to the family of Manus. He will be a great loss to the labour and trade union movement. He was always available to help shop stewards like me when assistance was needed. Above all, Manus was a man of principle and conviction.
Bill McCamley
I was shocked to hear of Manus’s death. He was so energetic and enthusiastic for good causes, and a great help to us in remembering the Waterford volunteers in the Connolly Column. I measc laochra lucht oibre go raibh a ainm.
Emmet O’Connor
Hard to believe that Manus has died. He contributed thousands of articles over the years, always informative and well argued. His contribution to Irish politics and trade unionism has been immense. He was also supportive to those of us who lacked his experience and extensive knowledge. My deep condolences to his family and Nancy.
Dave Alvey, Irish Political Review
Manus was a real intellectual heavyweight steeped in our culture and in our heritage. He brought with him a perspective always guided by a formidable philosophical frame of reference. He lived by his beliefs and for that he was respected. For sure he made a difference always bringing a fresh dimension to the discussion. It seems like only a few weeks since I saw him heading down with shopping bag as I was driving through Hart’s Corner. I beeped the horn but he didn’t spot me. Duine den scoth. Neamhspleách agus misniúil. Adelante. Sincerest condolences.
Joe O’Toole
Deepest sympathies to the family, relations and many friends of Manus on his sudden passing. I only had the opportunity to meet him on a handful of occasions, but found him to be a well-spoken gentleman of wide learning and passionate interest in the welfare of his fellow man. He will be sorely missed.
Nick Folley
Sincere condolences to the O’Riordan family on the untimely death of Manus. I was speaking to him on Saturday at the Int Brigade commemorative event outside Omeath in the Cooley Mountains. He was a great man and an unflinching supporter of the Left and it’s eternal quest for social justice for all. May his soul rest in peace. Salud comrade ✊
Tony Martin Dundalk
Shocked and saddened to hear this awful news. We joined with Manus in many campaigns as comrades and knew him and Annette as good friends. Our sincere condolences to Jessica, Neil and Luke and all their family. Sorry that we are abroad and will not be able to pay our respects in person.
Linda Jones and Martin McGarry
athol-streetpeople.org 