A presentation was made during the recent festival to Ted Tynan by James Nolan on behalf of the Cork Mother Jones Committee for his help and support over many years for the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
James Nolan of the Cork Mother Jones Committee makes a presentation to Ted Tynan.
Ted is a founding member of the committee and worked on many of the initial festivals. He has attended all fifteen festivals and participated in the discussions at events over the years. His advice and his assistance and his experience is valued highly by all of the various committees who organise each festival.
He was involved in selecting the lovely plaque celebrating Mother Jones, which was designed by renowned sculptor Mick Wilkins and erected in Shandon in 2012 for the 175th anniversary of her birth. Today this monument is a noted landmark on the North side of Cork City and is visited by many people from all over the world.
Ted responses to the presentation in the company of the acting Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Tony Fitzgerald and Anne Piggott of the Cork Mother Jones Committee..
First elected as a Workers Party Councillor in 1979, Ted retired in May of this year. He has said that he was always inspired by Mother Jones who fought for the workers.
We wish Ted and his wife Carmel well in retirement and we are delighted to make this presentation to him for all his work for the recognition in Cork of Mary Harris who became known as Mother Jones.
Carmel and Ted Tynan at the presentation ceremony.
Left to Right at the Presentation: Ger O’Mahony, Brian O’Rourke, Anne Piggott, and Eadaoin Delaney. Photo: Emma.
Joan Goggin.
Joan was a familiar sight at the festival, dressed as Mother Jones in her Victorian outfit and being present at launches, openings or just attending some of the many events.
When not at the festival she often joined the picket lines at strikes in the city especially whenever nurses were involved.
Daughter of union man Bill Martin, she remembers her father telling her that Jim Larkin used to visit their home on Bandon road, when he came to Cork.
Joan passed away on March 26th 2026. May she rest in peace.
A memorial plaque was presented to her daughter Eadaoin Delaney on behalf of the Cork Mother Jones committee.
Joan Goggin 2022 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
Norman O’Rourke
Norman attended many festivals and his stirring bagpipes piped in the Lord Mayors of Cork at the launches and openings of the Spirit of Mother Jones festivals. He was indeed a familiar sight at festivals, matches and Republican ceremonies around Cork and beyond for decades. Norman was thrilled to receive a Lord Mayor’s Community Award in 2024 and he was even more thrilled with his image on a large banner which hung on the Grand Parade for many years where it overlooked the Gaza marches on Saturdays.
Norman passed away on 27th August 2025. To Marie, his wife and to Brian, Dara, Niamh, Breffni and Cliona we extend our sympathy. Brian accepted the plaque on behalf of the O’ Rourke family and afterwards took it to St.Finbarr’s hospital to present to his mother Marie.
May Norman rest in peace.
Norman O’Rourke (Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2023).
Events at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School for Saturday 25th July 2026. All events at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon except where stated.
9:30 a.m. Peter Foynes: A Heritage stroll. Meet at the Maldron
11:00 a.m. “Remembering the Asbestos War in County Cork 1975-1980” Speakers: Gertie O’Driscoll, Tom MacSweeney, Derry Chambers & John Twomey.
1:15 p.m. Memories of departed friends.
2:15 p.m. Naomi Masheti. Cork Migrant Centre. “Activism through Story Telling: Raising the Voices of Migrants’
3:30 p.m. John Donoghue. “The Battle of Irish Town: Mother Jones, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Catholic Working Class Resistance 1919-1923.”
5:00 p.m. Celebrating the Vita Cortex Struggle. Speakers: Ex-Workers and Supporters tell their story
6:30 p.m. Plaque events with singer and songwriter Martin Leahy. Singers and musicians welcome. Followed by a traditional whiskey toast to Mother Jones. Plaque is located on John Redmond Street.
All events take place today at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.
10:00 a.m. The Big Meeting. A documentary about the annual Durham Miners’ Gala, the largest trade union and community gathering in the UK. Directed by Daniel Draper.
11:30 a.m. Bernardo Guanche Hernandez, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Ireland. Life in Cuba
1: 00 p.m. Club Ceoil Ballyphehane Ballad Group.
2:15 p.m. Grace O’ Sullivan. “Taking Action for the Planet: Life on the High Seas”. In memory of Fernando Pereira (1950-1985)
3:45 p.m. Tadhg Hickey: Writer, film maker, comedian and political activist.
5: 00 p.m. GAZA (2019):
A film by Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell. Portrait of a people and a place prior to the Genocide.
7:30 p.m. “This Land is Our Land: Confronting Extremism and Reclaiming Democracy” Panel discussion: speakers, John Donoghue, Associate Professor of History, Loyola University, Chicago Gema Kloppe-Santamaria, Lecturer, School of Society, Politics and Ethics, UCC. Tom Boland, Lecturer in Sociology in UCC. Moderator: John Barimo.
9:30 p.m. John Nyhan and Friends David King and Friends: Songs of Struggle, Songs of Hope.
Children of GazaArctic SunriseGemma Kloppe-SantamariaGrace O’SullivanJohn DonoghueTadhg HickeyTom BolandClub Ceoil BallyphehaneJohn Nyhan and James NolanDavid King and FriendsCuban Ambassador to Ireland, Bernardo Guanche HernandezDurham Miners Gala
All Events at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School on Thursday 23rd July 2026 are at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon, except where stated.
11:00 a.m. Frameworks Films Mother Jones and Her Children…. the Documentary
12:00 noon. Dr. Edward Lahiff discusses the book by Elliott Gorn, Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America.
1:15 p.m. Official opening by the Lord Mayor of Cork Performance by KALYNA Ukrainian Community Choir. Cobh Animation Group will attend.
2:30 p.m. Phil Ni Sheaghdha, President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. “Democratic Trade Unions matter because they Strengthen Democracy” Followed by Presentation of the Spirit of Mother Jones Award 2026.
4:00 p.m. Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants CWA, AFL-CIO. ZOOM fraternal greetings to the festival from one of America’s most important Trade Union leaders.
5:00 p.m. Des Geraghty, Former President of SIPTU and MEP. Author, musician, singer and social justice campaigner. “An Injury to One is the Concern of All”
7:30 p.m. Anne Twomey. “The Remarkable Cummins Sisters from Cork at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane
US labour leader, Sara Nelson will join the Festival via Zoom at 4:00 pm on Thursday to send a message of solidarity across the Atlantic to the gathering. She has a special affinity with the life of Cork born, Mother Jones and has been active in the US in promoting efforts to construct a statue to Mother Jones in Chicago.
Sara Nelson is a 30 year Union Flight Attendant and International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, representing 55,000 of aviation’s first responders at 20 airlines.
The New York Times called her “America’s most powerful flight attendant” for her role in helping to end the 35-day Government Shutdown, InStyle Magazine put her on their Top 50 Badass Women list, and Lawrence O’Donnal called her the most effective advocate in labor when she won $54 billion to keep aviation workers in the jobs during COVID.
Sara Nelson on the Picket Line.
She also serves as chair of the International Transport Workers’ Federation Civil Aviation Section, representing nearly 1 million aviation workers around the world. Sara’s ancestry includes family on her mother’s side who emigrated from County Cork. All are welcome to participant at the Zoom conversation in the Maldron Hotel, Shandon at 4:00 pm.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee is delighted to announce the recipient of the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Award.
It has been awarded to Irish trade union leader Phil Ní Sheaghdha, general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) and currently President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).
Phil NÍ Sheaghdha.
The award will be presented to Ms. Ní Sheaghdha at the Maldron Hotel Shandon on Thursday afternoon 23rd July at 3.30 pm by James Nolan on behalf of the Cork Mother Jones Committee after her contribution at the festival on the topic
“Democratic Trade Unions matter because they strengthen Democracy”
James Nolan spokesperson for the Cork Mother Jones Committee stated
“The Cork Mother Jones Committee is pleased to present the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Award to Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha.
Phil has served as the INMO’s Director of Industrial Relations from 2008 to 2018 before being appointed General Secretary in 2018. In 2019, she led the nurses first national strike in almost 20 years, securing significant improvements in pay and staffing for nurses and midwives.
Her steadfast defence of her members who perform their duties magnificently in spite of often working in difficult conditions in overcrowded hospitals and her regular exposures of the serious shortcomings in the Irish Health system has ensured that it remains in the public narrative and forces various governments to reform and invest in the service. Phil Ní Sheaghdha follows in the footsteps of Mother Jones as a formidable trade union leader who “fights for the living.”
The citation for Phil Ní Sheaghdha from the Cork Mother Jones Committee reads as follows.
The Spirit of Mother Jones Award 2026 will be presented to Phil Ni Sheaghdha • For Phil’s active role and leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic as nurses became front-line workers and continued to report for work in spite of personal dangers and all the inadequacies of the health service, including inadequate protection.
• For her consistent highlighting of the deficiencies in the hospitals throughout the Health Service Executive (HSE) system in Ireland and for exposing the sometimes appalling conditions and delays being experienced by patients on waiting lists and on trolleys
• For repeatedly drawing public attention to the day-to-day conditions under which nurses have to work due to the existing state of the health service and for drawing attention to solutions to improve the system.
• For her long standing commitment to nursing, to a decent health service for all, to the rights and safety of workers and for her fearless advocacy for her members at all times.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee congratulates Phil Ní Sheaghdha on this award.
The festival will be held in and around the Shandon Historic Quarter from Thursday, July 23rd, until Saturday, July 25th, 2026, inclusive. It will be organised by the Cork Mother Jones Committee 2026, an independent, voluntary, community-based committee. The festival is dedicated to the memory of Mary Harris/Mother Jones and to inspirational people everywhere who fight for social justice, workers’ rights, and human rights. This festival celebrates her spirit.
The festival and summer school will consist of talks, discussions, songs, music, films and documentaries. We hope to make them interesting, challenging and relevant.
The venues are the Maldron Hotel, Shandon and the Dance Cork Firkin Crane and both venues are very close to each other on John Redmond Street, which is itself about 5 minutes walk from the Cork Opera House and Christy Ring Bridge. When on John Redmond Street why not visit the Mother Jones plaque erected by this committee on 1st August 2012. As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the passing of Mother Jones in 2030,we hope with the support of everyone to erect a statue to Mary Harris/Mother Jones who once walked these streets.
All are welcome to attend the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School. The events are informal and free, thanks to the support of the Trade Union movement, the Cork City Council, Cathedral Credit Union and local businesses. Attendance at each event is on a first-come, first-seated basis, so booking is unnecessary.
We look forward to seeing you spend some time in the wonderful Shandon Community and we hope you will return.
The Kalyna Ukrainian Choir with the then Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy.
We are very proud of the fact that this choir has appeared in every festival since 2023 and has become a firm favourite across Cork in recent years. It comprises women and men who are now living in Cork following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing attacks on their country. In spite of the ongoing war and the personal toll on members the Choir represents Ukraine with pride and distinction. Winners of the Lord Mayors top community prize at Cork City Hall in 2024, this choir perform traditional songs from the Ukraine and their wonderful renderings of the Irish National Anthem “Amhrán Na bhFiann” and “You Raised Me Up” are inspiring.
Kalyna Ukrainian Community Choir should not be missed and their harmonious performances against a background of the war on their people and homeland provide an example of hope for the human spirit to overcome adversity. We look forward to welcoming them back to perform for the fourth time at the opening of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival, on Thursday 23rd July at 1:00 pm at the Maldron Hotel. All are welcome.
Svitlava Deikun & Victoria Tymoshehuk with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dan Boyle.
The Cork Singers’ Club.
Thursday 23rd July 2026 at 9.30 p.m.
Established in 1993, the Cork Singers’ Club has uniquely featured in every Mother Jones festival since the opening night on 31st July 2012. Eagerly awaited each year, the Cork Singers’ Club will present an evening of songs. It has ensured that the tradition of singing remains alive in Cork, no instruments are allowed. For locals and visitors this is an opportunity to hear songs being sung in a pure manner in front of an attentive audience and an opportunity to sing a song themselves. Club members also gather each Sunday night at An Spailpín Fánach to hone their remarkable art.
Cork Singers Club on Tour. Photo courtesy of William Hammond.
Under the Fear An Tí Jim Walsh, the Cork Singers’ Club represents the unique singing heritage of the people of Cork. Their efforts at this festival to sing songs influenced by Mother Jones is deeply appreciated and songs of trade unions, of working class people and social justice, the well springs of folk and traditional songs are celebrated. Come along and sing your song!
Friday 24th July at 1:00 p.m.
Club Ceoil Ballyphehane Ballad Group
Club Ceoil Ballyphehane, a volunteer-run, non-profit traditional Irish music organization in Cork. Founded in 2008 by Maurice Dineen, the club welcomes participants of all ages and abilities, offering affordable classes on various instruments and group singing. The Club Ceoil Ballad Group consists of local singers and instrumentalists playing guitar, banjo, bodhrán, fiddle, and tin whistle.
Club Ceoil Ballyphehane
Notable highlights from the group include performing “The Hegartys of The Laurels” at Cork City Hall alongside composer John Murphy, as well as frequent performances for local charities like Feed Cork and community gatherings. Club Ceoil runs classes on a Monday night in Coláiste Éamann Rís and on a Tuesday evening in Presentation Secondary School, Ballyphehane. Their performance should not be missed and their first visit to the festival since 2019 is bound to be a memorable one.
Friday 24th July at 9.30 p.m.
John Nyhan and friendsand introducing David King and friends
What can one say about the legendary John Nyhan…? John is a highly versatile musician and singer who has been associated with the Spirit of Mother Jones festival since its beginning.
His contributions to the folk revival, country music and bluegrass music in Ireland has been immense over the years and he is a familiar sight at festivals in the north Cork area. He attends the Willie Clancy Summer School each year. His knowledge of music and those who play and sing is almost encyclopedic. His renderings of ‘Universal Soldier’ andWhere HaveAll the Flowers Gone’ are without parallel in the genre of anti-war songs and John sings them with a rare passion. He is very much at home with folk and protest songs from the 60s and 70s and as this year’s theme is ‘Songs of Struggle, Songs of Hope’ John will be at his best.
John Nyhan. Photo: Claire Stack.
John will introduce a relatively new band from the south side of the city led by American exile David King and his Irish Friends present an uplifting collection of songs of labour and wider struggles, inspired by the likes of Pete Seeger, Luke Kelly, Joan Baez and Woody Guthrie. This largely acoustic set includes some recent works and a fresh take on familiar standards. And maybe a few jigs, and a cowboy song or two. Perfect for celebrating the life and legacy of Mother Jones., the band will perform a wide selection of the songs of protest and struggle. A great evening’s music is assured.
Dave King and Friends.
Saturday 25th July at 6.30p.m. Approx. (At the Mother Jones Plaque on John Redmond Street)
Martin Leahy will again perform his song about homelessness “Everyone Should Have a Home” at the Plaque. He has performed this each Thursday outside Dail Eireann for the past two years and recently declared that he felt he had made his point. His dedication in travelling each week to perform outside the Dail highlighted the great failure of many recent Irish governments. Last year we were honoured that Martin released his new song called ‘Mother Jones’ at the festival. It is available online.
Martin Leahy at the plaque with the late Joan Goggin.
His song “Where We Lay our Bodies Down” remains a fitting tribute to the late Ann Lovett while “Snowflakes“relates to the online attacks on people. Martin sings and plays in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and like woody abhors injustice. He writes his songs with that theme central to words and music. Martin has been very active in exposing the genocide in Gaza and regularly sings also on Saturdays at the Palestinian marches in Cork City.
This year we miss Jimmy Crowley from the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival line up. Jimmy was delighted to play at the Spirit of Mother Jones festival in the early days and has played at all of the Festivals to date. He made the festival Friday lunchtime concert all his own as he returned year after year to play his favourite songs of Cork before appreciative audiences. Many eagerly looked forward to Jimmy’s appearances, year after year.
This year he is recovering back home in Cobh from a very serious illness. On behalf of everyone at the festival, we wish him well and hope to see himself and Eve Telford back at the festival again.
Jimmy Crowley with his book, Songs from the Beautiful City.
