{"id":4191,"date":"2012-11-13T12:44:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T12:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=4191"},"modified":"2021-03-08T18:59:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T18:59:39","slug":"turlough-macdaid-1930-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/13\/turlough-macdaid-1930-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Turlough MacDaid, 1930-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Allan Armstrong writes this tribute to Turlough MacDaid<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4196\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4196\" style=\"width: 220px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4196 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/turlough-macdaid-26-may-20124web1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"220\" height=\"157\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4196\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turlough receiving a lifetime achievement award from BECTU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Turlough MacDaid, a larger than life socialist and trade unionist activist, who had lived in Edinburgh since the early 1970s, died on 27<sup>th<\/sup> October. Turlough, although very much an outgoing person and always good company, was secretive about his personal life. His marriage broke up in the 1960s and his former wife and family left for Australia. It is thought that his father had been a lighthouse keeper from Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, whilst his mother had come from Rathlin Island, County Antrim.<\/p>\n<p>Turlough first became an electrician working in the merchant navy. However, when his personal life took a tragic turn, he moved to Edinburgh. Here he became an electrician working in theatre and a leading activist in what became the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU)<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_4191_1('footnote_plugin_reference_4191_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_4191_1('footnote_plugin_reference_4191_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_4191_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_4191_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">see <span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.bectu.org.uk\/news\/1700<\/span><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_4191_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_4191_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I first met Turlough in the mid-1970s, when we were both delegates to the Edinburgh Trades Council. There was quite a lot of tension, at the time, between the Communist Party and Labour Party delegates who controlled the Trades Council, and a growing number, mainly from a Trotskyist background (IS\/SWP, IMG and WRP), who formed a not always united \u2018opposition\u2019. Sometimes, things could become pretty acrimonious.<\/p>\n<p>I was then a member of IS\/SWP and a delegate from the EIS. Turlough came from a Labour Left background. However, his political affiliation came very much second to his burning passion for the wider trade unionist cause. Turlough never displayed an ounce of sectarianism and had that uncanny ability to appeal to all. As soon as you got to know Turlough, you realised he had a deep historical knowledge, particularly about trade unionism and socialism in Ireland and Scotland. He was always keen to pass \u00a0this on to anybody who showed an interest.\u00a0Turlough also maintained an open house, where visitors were invited to share a glass of whisky. His cooking skills (particularly Christmas puddings!) were very much appreciated. His appearance also made him a natural Santa Claus.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4197\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4197\" style=\"width: 241px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4197\" src=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Connolly.2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"241\" height=\"175\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4197\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edinburgh branch banner of ACT&amp;SS with James Connolly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Turlough was particularly committed to ensuring that the legacy of James Connolly was remembered in his own city. In 1968 the Edinburgh Trades Council managed to get the Connolly plaque installed in the Cowgate, in the face of both loyalist and right labourist opposition. Turlough ensured that his own union branch, no. 7\/133 of the Association of Clerical, Technical &amp; Supervisory Staffs of the T&amp;GWU, was the first in the city to have James Connolly on its banner, with his slogan, &#8220;None So Fit To Break The Chains As Those Who Wear Them&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Turlough\u2019s home housed an amazing collection of banners, badges, conference handbooks, and other trade union and socialist memorabilia. Through these, and his interest in trade union and socialist history, he made many valuable friends. Turlough was central to the organising of \u00a0&#8216;The Union Makes Us Strong\u2019 exhibition of trade union banners, badges and emblems, from 1800 &#8211; 1978, which was held in Edinburgh\u2019s Fruitmarket Gallery, between December 16<sup>th<\/sup> 1978 &#8211; January 27th, 1978.<\/p>\n<p>After I ceased to be a Trades Council delegate, I rarely saw Turlough. However, when I began to write my book about Connolly\u2019s years in Edinburgh, I immediately thought of Turlough, and paid him a visit to seek out information. He was obviously unwell, but still very sociable and extremely helpful. Immediately, he phoned his trade union contacts, Francis Devine in Dublin and Jim Friel in Glasgow. I gave him a copy of my first book, <cite>From Davitt to Connolly<\/cite>, which he very much appreciated.<\/p>\n<p>Turlough\u2019s humanist funeral, which was a celebration of his life, rather than a mournful occasion, was held on November 6<sup>th<\/sup> at Edinburgh\u2019s Warriston Crematorium. It was addressed by BECTU General Secretary, Gerry Morrisey. He humourously recalled Turlough\u2019s decidedly \u2018unofficial\u2019 approach to union business. Roy Lockett, also from BECTU, read out his wonderful poem, a tribute to <cite>Turlough MacDaid<\/cite>.\u00a0 The music welcoming those attending this celebration was by the Chieftains. Later, the version of <cite>The Red Flag<\/cite>, sung by Billy Bragg and Dick Gaughan (with its very Celtic musical arrangement), was also played. These choices reflected Turlough\u2019s Scottish and Irish roots and his own deep love of both traditional and workers\u2019 music.<\/p>\n<p>Turlough was very much \u2018one of a kind\u2019. He will be fondly remembered by all those trade unionists and socialists who ever met him.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>TURLOUGH MacDAID<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>\nScottish internationalist: loyalty and laughter<br \/>\nSea hardened son of a lighthouse keeper<br \/>\nBeard like white surf on the rock of his face<br \/>\nCommissar of Christmas puddens and Hogmanay<\/p>\n<p>Sea hardened son of a lighthouse keeper<br \/>\nHistorian of the past and its future<br \/>\nCommissar of Christmas puddens and Hogmanay<br \/>\nLampman in the peeling light of old theatres<\/p>\n<p>Historian of the past and its future<br \/>\nEdinburgh performer needing no festival<br \/>\nLampman in the peeling light of old theatres<br \/>\nLaird-rich with love of the working people<\/p>\n<p>Edinburgh performer needing no festival<br \/>\nMade in the shape of his union and its pride<br \/>\nLaird-rich with love of the working people<br \/>\nRewiring the circuits of solidarity<\/p>\n<p>Made in the shape of the union and its pride<br \/>\nBeard like white surf on the rock of his face<br \/>\nRewiring the circuits of solidarity<br \/>\nScottish internationalist: loyalty and laughter\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Roy Lockett<br \/>\n\u00a0___________________<\/p>\n<p>See Billy Bragg and Dick Gaughan sing <cite>The Red Flag<\/cite><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/obpd9uc5HVg\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Footnotes<\/h3>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><h3><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_4191_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_4191_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_4191_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/h3><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_4191_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_4191_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_4191_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_4191_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">see <span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.bectu.org.uk\/news\/1700<\/span><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_4191_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_4191_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_4191_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_4191_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_4191_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_4191_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_4191_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_4191_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_4191_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_4191_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_4191_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_4191_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_4191_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_4191_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Allan Armstrong writes this tribute to Turlough MacDaid Turlough MacDaid, a larger than life socialist and trade unionist activist, who had lived in Edinburgh since the early 1970s, died on 27th October. Turlough, although very much an outgoing person and always good company, was secretive about his personal life. His marriage broke up in the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[910,1876,1875],"tags":[230,8994],"class_list":["post-4191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trade-unionism","category-ireland-against-unionism","category-scotland-against-unionism","tag-author-allan-armstrong","tag-author-roy-lockett"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":5253,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4191"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18357,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions\/18357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}