Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty

Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty (Irish: Tomás Ó Flaithearta; also known as Thomas J. O'Flaherty; 30 December 1890 – 19 May 1936) was an Irish Communist politician in the early 20th century, a supporter of the Trotskyist James P. Cannon, and writer in English and Irish. In 1919, he, along with John Reed, Jim Larkin and others, helped to create the Communist Labor Party, a precursor to the Communist Party USA.

Background

Tom Maidhc O'Flaherty was born at Gort na gCapall on 30 December 1890 (though some sources state 1889), His sister was Bríd Ní Fhlatharta.

Career

O’Flatherty was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers, a militia formed to further Ireland's independence, and later migrated to the United States, where he became a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He was among those who first joined the American Communist Party, where he was an associate of John Reed, James P. Cannon, and William F. Dunne.

He was a columnist for the Daily Worker and was the first editor of the Labor Defender. O'Flaherty was active in the defence of imprisoned Irish labour leader James Larkin and was editor of the left-wing Irish American paper The Irish People. He left the Communist Party in 1928 to co-found the Trotskyist Communist League of America

Works Like his brother Liam, O'Flaherty retained a deep interest in the Irish language. Like Liam, he wrote fiction in English and in Irish. His works include two books of short stories: Aranmen All and Cliffmen of the West, and a collection of his short stories in Irish under the title An Bhrachlainn Mhór, published posthumously.

Legacy O’Flaherty figures in the memoir of Whittaker Chambers, who worked with him at the Daily Worker in New York City.