Charles Donnelly

Charles (Charlie) Donnelly was born in Killybrackey, County Tyrone. His family moved to Dundalk in 1917 and later, in 1928, to Dublin. Donnelly attended University College Dublin for a time and began contributing poetry and prose to student publications. In 1934, he joined the Republican Congress, a left wing socialist Irish Republican group. The following year, he moved to London where he earned a living as a dishwasher and as a reporter, writing, for example, for the Left Review. He joined the Irish James Connolly Company, led by Frank Ryan, of the American Lincoln Battalion in Spain in January 1937. A few weeks later, he was killed in the Battle of Jarama by Nationalist troops.