Overview

A compelling account of a twentieth-century Irish labor leader.   In the 1920s, James “Dongaree” Baird worked as a boilermaker in Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard, where he was one of the hundreds of Protestants—the so-called “rotten Prods”— and thousands of Catholics who were forced into unemployment by British loyalists. Emmet O’Connor’s Rotten Prod uncovers the story of this quietly influential labor leader who fought for an undivided Ireland. As O’Connor explains, the nationalistic expulsions that left Baird out of work marked the end of what Belfastians knew as the city’s “two red years,” colored by widespread worker strikes that led to a brief period of radicalization. O’Connor offers insights into this pulsating era when Protestant workers who opposed the partition of Ireland clashed with British loyalists who viewed labor leaders as their chief enemy. As a leader of expelled workers after his removal from the Hartland and Wolff shipyards, Baird worked for the National Sailors’ and Firemen’s Union, and the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, where he led the farm workers of Waterford in an epic strike against wage cuts and was nearly elected to the Irish legislature. Rotten Prod offers a compelling account of an unsung labor hero as well as a unique perspective on twentieth-century Irish history.

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9781910820858

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Reviews

'His is a rare story, not just of a man too radical for Belfast but of one of the subalterns of the failed and forgotten social revolution of 1917-23.' - Belfast Telegraph, December 2022.; 'An eloquent memorial to the man Jim Larkin described as a sober, intelligent and strangely honest and courageous spokesman for his class .' - Henry Patterson, Dublin Review of Books, December 2022.; 'Recounts the history of an exceptional man who was also typical of many Ulster Protestant trade unionists in becoming radicalised & in concluding that partition was not in the interest of the working class.' - Martin Doyle, The Irish Times, December 2022.; 'O'Connor's study offers a detailed account of the turbulent years surrounding the emergence of a partitioned Ireland, and an insight into a marginalised group of labour activists who paid a heavy price for their commitment.' - Dr Mike Mecham, Society for the Study of Labour History, January 2023.; 'Emmet O'Connor has successfully retrieved a remarkable leader and his times from history's dustbin. Baird deserves to be remembered; this book should be read.' - Niall Meehan, History Ireland, March 2023.

"'Baird was an outstanding figure amongst the 'rotten Prods' but he represented an element of the Protestant working class who were radicalised by the political ferment of the post-war years and whose history O'Connor's book brings out of the shadows.' - Peter Connell, Sound Post, Winter 2023.; 'Emmet O'Connor has successfully retrieved a remarkable leader and his times from history's dustbin. Baird deserves to be remembered; this book should be read.' - History Ireland, March 2023.; 'His is a rare story, not just of a man too radical for Belfast but of one of the subalterns of the failed and forgotten social revolution of 1917-23.' - Belfast Telegraph, December 2022.; 'An eloquent memorial to the man Jim Larkin described as ""a sober, intelligent and strangely honest and courageous spokesman for his class"".' - Henry Patterson, Dublin Review of Books, December 2022.; 'Recounts the history of an exceptional man who was also typical of many Ulster Protestant trade unionists in becoming radicalised & in concluding that partition was not in the interest of the working class.' - Martin Doyle, The Irish Times, December 2022.; 'O'Connor's study offers a detailed account of the turbulent years surrounding the emergence of a partitioned Ireland, and an insight into a marginalised group of labour activists who paid a heavy price for their commitment.' - Dr Mike Mecham, Society for the Study of Labour History, January 2023.; 'Emmet O'Connor has successfully retrieved a remarkable leader and his times from history's dustbin. Baird deserves to be remembered; this book should be read.' - Niall Meehan, History Ireland, March 2023."

Author Information

Emmet O'Connor lectures in Ulster University and has published widely on labour history including, with Barry McLoughlin, In Spanish Trenches: The Mind and Deeds of the Irish Who Fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War (UCD Press, 2020)

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