In February 1937, the Irish poet Charles Donnelly was killed in action during the Battle of Jarama, fighting with the International Brigades against the Nationalist forces. Donnelly, a promising young poet and member of the Irish Republican Army, had volunteered for the Republican cause out of a deep commitment to anti-fascism. His death, at the age of 22, cut short a promising literary career and made him a symbol of Irish involvement in the Spanish Civil War.

Donnelly's poetry, which was published posthumously, became an important part of the Irish literary tradition, and his death was memorialized by poets in Ireland and beyond. His work, which often addressed themes of political struggle and national identity, influenced later Irish poets who wrote about the conflict in Northern Ireland. Donnelly's legacy also served as a reminder of the international character of the Spanish Civil War, as volunteers from small countries like Ireland joined the fight.