Delia Larkin : Short Biography

Delia Larkin was born in Toxeth, Liverpool to Irish immigrant parents on the 27th of February 1878. 

As an adult, Delia relocated to Dublin, where she worked with her brother James Larkin towards the improvement of conditions for the Dublin work force. 

Her first involvement with the Irish Trade Union movement was in 1911. She became the first secretary of the Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU) and began to write a column for a weekly newspaper known as The Irish Worker. In her column she outlined the demands of the IWWU, as well as writing about topics such as votes for women and the housing conditions in Dublin. 

Delia became a regular at Union conferences where she spoke on behalf of the IWWU. She was also heavily involved in the Irish Suffrage movement. She was instrumental in raising funds for the IWWU through concerts, classes, and dramatic productions which she organised. 

During the Dublin Lock-Out of 1913 Delia took charge of proceedings while her brother was away in England seeking support. She saw to the relief system by feeding the locked-out workers and their families. After the Lock-Out ended in January 1914, 400 of Delia's Union members were not permitted to return to employment. Instead she took them on a tour of the country as a dramatic group. 

Delia attempted to enter into a career in politics but was repeatedly snubbed for her involvement with the IWWU. It is believed that she relocated to London where she worked as a military nurse from 1915 to 1918. 

When she returned to a post-rising Dublin, Delia found it a changed place. She began working in insurance in Liberty Hall. Attempts to rejoin the IWWU were unsuccessful, as was her petition to join the Irish Clerical Workers Union. She became involved in activism by campaigning for the release of the Sydney 12, but Delia never became as involved in public affairs as she had been before the Lock-Out. She married Patrick Colgan with whom she shared a flat on Gardiner Street. 

Delia Larkin died on the 26th of October 1949 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.