Lambert McKenna

Background

He was born Andrew Joseph Lambert McKenna in Clontarf, and studied in Europe.

Career

He collected and edited religious and folk poetry in the Irish language. Working with the Irish Texts Society, he edited the famous Contention of the bards and many anthologies of Irish bardic poetry and historical works. He was an editor of the Irish Monthly and An Timire.

He also served as principal of Belvedere College.

In the first tract of his book The Church and Labour (1914) he wrote:

"The wealthy few now rule the world. They have done so before, but never precisely in virtue of their wealth.

They were patriarchs, patricians, chieftains of clans, feudal nobles acknowledging responsibilities and bearing heavy burdens. Today wealth making no sacrifices for the public good, rules in its own right, and exercises a more despotic sway than any form of authority hitherto known.

lieutenant has armies and fleets at command.

lieutenant has myriads of placemen, or would-be placemen, in utter dependence. lieutenant is highly centralised, and can exert a great power at any point. lieutenant can at any moment cast thousands of households into intolerable misery.

Yet, though centralised, it is not open to attack.

lieutenant does not, as the kings of old, dwell in castles that can be stormed by an angry people. On the contrary it stands as the embodiment of legality, order, security, peace—even of popular will.

lieutenant is constantly drawing up into itself that wealth and diverting it from useful purposes.".

Achievements

• He was awarded an honorary Doctorate for his contribution to Celtic Studies (Doctor of Letters Celt) by University College Dublin in 1947 on the same day that Jack Butler Yeats was also awarded an honorary D.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Bardic Syntactical Tracts
  • The Social Teachings of James Connolly

Views

McKenna was a committed social reformer and an outspoken critic of capitalism. Capitalism, using the work of the labouring classes, has vastly increased the wealth of the world. Yet it strives to prevent these labouring classes from benefiting by this increase.