Revolutionary socialist, trade union leader, leading political theorist, author - James Connolly was many things in his lifetime. However, he is best remembered as the inspirational Commandant of the Dublin Brigade during the 1916 Easter Rising. Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins said that he "would have followed him through hell".

The executions of the Easter Rising leaders - particularly Connolly's - deeply angered the majority of the Irish population, and were widely condemned in Britain and America. The rebels' actions, and the manner of their execution, helped gather support for Irish independence.

The James Connolly memorial was created in 1996 by prominent Irish sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty, known for many public artworks around Ireland, notably Dublin's Anna Livia monument. The bronze life-size statue shows Connolly looking into the distance, with a curved wall behind him holding a bronze plough and stars, and is inscribed with one of his best known quotations: "The Cause of Labour is the Cause of Ireland/The Cause of Ireland is the Cause of Labour".