Julianna Minihan will deliver a talk on the above topic on Saturday, July 27th, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.
Most of us take water totally for granted, and we never ask questions about where it comes from, how it is delivered to our homes and where it goes. Yet where there is no water, there is no life! It is the very lifeblood of the land and nature. It has been fought over; it has been dammed, polluted and disputed, politicised, and wasted; humans have failed to perfect the cycle of water. Clean drinking water may yet be the oil and gold of future generations, but whereas we can live without oil and gold, we cannot survive without drinking water.
Berwick Water Fountain on the Grand Parade in Cork.
In Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency has been warning about the growing pollution in our rivers, lakes and seas. Growing controversy from 2013 to 2017 about the privatisation of water supplies and charging for water led to tens of thousands of citizens taking to the streets, arguing that access to fresh water is a basic human right. Uisce Eireann, previously Irish Water, a state-owned company, was established to take over the provision of water and wastewater services, which had previously been carried out by Local Authorities across Ireland.
Old water pump which delivered a public water supply to many communities.
The following is Julianna Minihan’s outline of her talk:
“This talk will outline the historical provision of water in Cork City 1760-1900, with some background information on the people of the city, public health, economics, and levels of poverty at the time. It will consider how the poor of Cork were affected by a part time and inadequate supply of water from a very few public fountains paid for by the City; and how 50,000 poor Cork people were dependent on contaminated water in the 1840’s. It will consider how just 900 houses owned by wealthy people had a private supply of water (which they paid for) in the 1840’s, and how that came about.
It will consider the supply of water to industry, and will briefly mention waste disposal, the cess collection business, the usefulness of market gardens for utilizing compost, and the importance of tidal flushing of the river twice daily. It will explain why the City once again took over the water supply around 1860, and why they had once sold shares to businessmen after 1765. It will provide some information on the people who benefited, the politics, economics, public health, and even the basic need for water for human survival involved in the 1800’s.”
In 1833, one fountain provided water (part-time) for the poor in Cork. It was located on Nile Street (now Western Road). At the time, the company was paying its shareholders 5% dividends, and they complained that the fountain for the poor was built at a great loss to them. They refused to allow other fountains without ongoing payments.
The weir by the water works, originally erected by Mr Fitton in 1765, was known as ‘the Bald Weir’ in an 1845 court case, taken by a mill owner when the height of the weir almost blocked the flow of water on the south channel of the Lee.
The Water Weir on the River Lee is close to the Waterworks.
Julianna Minihan will speak at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon, on Saturday, July 27th, at 10:30 a.m.
All are welcome.
The Dunscombe Fountain on Shandon StreetThe Dunscombe Fountain at Christmas.
The Dunscombe Testimonial Fountain above was donated by the Dunscombe family to Cork Corporation in 1883 as a drinking fountain representing an appropriate memorial for abstinence from alcohol. It disappeared in the late 70s, and Cork City Council say they do not know where it is. Would any reader know?
Our festival will take place from Thursday 25th to Saturday 27th July, in and around the Shandon Historic Quarter. The Summer School and musical events are held in the Shandon Maldron Hotel and Dance Cork Firkin Crane on John Redmond Street.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy opens the 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival pictured with some members of the Cork Mother Jones Committee.
The members of the Cork Mother Jones Committee are busy planning the three day programme of events for what is our thirteenth annual community festival..
The festival and summer school will again feature a wide variety of speakers, films, walks, toasts and music associated with the trade union campaigning interests of Cork born Mother Jones.
Announcements of speakers as they confirm will appear here on a regular basis. However we can confirm that historians Liz Gillis and Anne Twomey will again feature on the opening evening. The work of both over many years has questioned the disappearance of many radical women from the official narrative of Irish history.
Historians Liz Gillis and Anne Twomey.
Many of these women had been active in the Irish War Of Independence and Irish Civil War, and some highlighted the appalling social conditions endured by many people in the new State from 1922 onwards. However the new government cancelled the women in today’s terms and through legislation marginalised them for many decades in the social, economic and political life of the State.
The festival is planning to feature the latest documentary on Mother Jones “Fight Like Hell” – The Testimony of Mother Jones which was written and performed by Kaiulani Lee.
Actress Kaiulani, who has visited the festival on several occasions, has worked for several years to create this amazing documentary and we are all eagerly looking forward to seeing it for the first time in Mother Jones’ home place.
Our strong interest in the international trade union movement will see a range of Irish trade union speakers discuss the future of trade unions while we will feature a number of documentaries on the 40th anniversary of the UK Miners Strike and the actions of Scottish workers who refused to work on General Pinochet’s Air Force planes.
Trade Union leader, Mick Lynch in pensive mood at the Butter Market in Shandon.
Environmental issues and climate change will also feature and will include a showing of a documentary on local biodiversity as well as a round table discussion involving young environmental activists.
The Cork Ukrainian Choir and the Cobh Animation Group at the 2023 Festival Launch.
A highlight of the opening night will see the return of the unique and legendary Cork Singers’ Club, who have performed to packed attendances at all the festivals since 2012. Cork’s John Nyhan will arrange the musical events on Friday night and has planned a huge surprise, while singer Martin Leahy returns to sing at the traditional whiskey toast of Mother Jones on Saturday evening.
Cork Piper, Norman O’Rourke plays the traditional bagpipes for the Lord Mayor’s entry to the festival.
Remember we try to ensure that events, except fundraising remain free to all. There is no pre booking required, but please attend early as its a first come, first seated policy.
As always we expect the 2024 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival will be interesting, relevant and challenging to encourage discussion and debate.
The 13th Spirit of Mother Jones Festival will be held in and around the Shandon Historic Quarter from Thursday 25th July until Saturday 27th July 2024 inclusive. The festival will be organised by the Cork Mother Jones Committee 2024, 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.
Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the RMT Union with members for the Cork Mother Jones Committee receives the 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Award. Photo: Niamh O’Flynn.
The festival and summer school will consist of talks, discussions, songs, music, films and documentaries. We hope to make them interesting, challenging and relevant. If you have a relevant topic which you wish to see included, please email motherjonescork@gmail.com as early as possible but before 29th February 2024 and we will get back to you.
According to James Nolan, spokesperson,
“The 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones festival was without doubt one of the very best we’ve had. Hundreds of people from all corners of Ireland and across the world visited Shandon and many events had a capacity audience. Trade union leader Mick Lynch was an outstanding speaker, he attracted a huge attendance to the Firkin Theatre and was delighted to be back in the city of his father and the extended Lynch family. All the speakers, musicians, singers, choirs, many participating for the first time, ensured a lively three days. Even the traditional Irish whiskey toast to Mother Jones was packed. We are already looking forward to the 2024 festival.”
All are welcome to attend the 2024 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School, events are informal and free thanks to the support of the Irish trade union movement and the Cork City Council. Attendance at each event is on a first come, first seated basis, so no need to book. We look forward to seeing you.
Cork Singer Songwriter, Martin Leahy brought the curtain down on the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2023.
Singer-songwriter Martin Leahy.
Martin travelled to Dublin every week for a year, to stand close to the Dáíl and sing his song, “Everyone Should Have a Home”.
Playing before an enormous crowd on John Redmond Street on Saturday evening, Martin sang an emotional Everyone Should Have a Home under the Mother Jones Plaque. Earlier he sang tributes to Sinead O’Connor and Ann Lovett.
Some of the large crowd at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
This was followed by the traditional whiskey toast to Mother Jones at the plaque.
Members of the Cork Mother Jones Committee.
Earlier we had talks from historians, Luke Dineen and Pat Murphy, who was brought up in Ballyphehane and is now Chairperson of the Nottingham Irish Centre.
Pat MurphyLuke Dineen
It is fair to say that those watching the film Secrets From Putamayo won’t forget it for a long time. It may go a long ways towards ensuring that the work of Roger Casement is appreciated more.
An early start saw historian Peter Foynes take people on a fascinating trip around the historic Shandon district. Maggie O’Neill conducted a large Feminist walking tour around the north side of the City.
Maggie O’NeillPeter Foynes at the Mother Jones plaque.
It has been a wonderful festival.
Mother Jones with Mick Lynch.Mick Lynch at the Cork Butter Market.Crowd at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
The 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Award was presented yesterday to Mick Lynch by James Nolan at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival in Shandon in front of a capacity at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
Mick Lynch at the Butter Market in Shandon with the Spirit of Mother Jones Award.
Jim Nolan presenting the award to Mick Lynch.A packed auditorium.
Peter Foynes of the Cork Butter Museum will conduct a walk through the historic birthplace of Mary Harris on Saturday morning 29th July 2023 beginning at 9.30 am at the Maldron Hotel. All are welcome.
Peter Foynes.
Shandon was at the heart of the city food trade in the 18th and 19th Century. Cattle were bought and sold and slaughtered around the area for export. The Committee of Merchants (1769-1925) conducted the butter trade here and Cork butter was exported from here all over the world. The wealth of the city was largely derived from these exports.
While the existing portico in the Butter Exchange building dates from 1849, the building and those nearby were extremely busy places when Mary Harris was a young girl.
Cork Butter Museum.
It was a period of Church building and renovation. The Cathedral of St. Mary and St Anne (North Cathedral) where Mary Harris was baptised was reconstructed in the 1830s after a fire. St. Mary’s Dominican Church on Pope’s Quay was built in the late 1830s. The Church of St Anne, home of the Shandon Bells dates from the early 1700s and was by the 1840s a local landmark, indeed the bells were added in 1847. Other local landmarks familiar to Mary Harris include the Civil Trust Building (1730s) Skiddys Home (1719) and the North Infirmary (1710) site of the present day Maldron Hotel where many of the Spirit of Mother Jones events are held each year.
Shandon Bells.
The Shandon Historic Quarter contains some of the network of streets familiar to Mary Harris and while in 1750, 23 streets and passageways were connected to Shandon Street itself, some still remain as they were in the 1840s.
The area is ideal for walking, so join Peter on Saturday 29th to learn of the home of Mother Jones and a present day local vibrant community.
Then later that day at approx. 4:30 p.m., Maggie O’Neill will conduct a Feminist Walking Tour of Cork City. Meeting point at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.
This presentation is by Anne Twomey of the Shandon Are History Group and will take place in Dance Cork Firkin Crane on Thursday 27th July at 7.15 pm.
Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area History Group.
Anne’s talk will be followed immediately by historian, Liz Gillis.
Some Background Notes.
The Blarney Street/Sundays Well district is a long established community on the north west of Cork City, bounded on the south by the River Lee and on the north by Blarney Street.
Three extraordinary women from this community who were born a little more than a kilometre from each other; sisters Lil and May Conlon who lived on Blarney Street and later at 92 Sundays Well Road and Margaret Buckley from 12 Winters Hill all contributed enormously to the Irish Revolution. Yet the advent of the Irish Civil War saw them take opposite sides in the savage political schism which followed. The subsequent lives of these women represent a local human microcosm of the bitter split among friends after the War of Independence and the different roads of life subsequently taken by each.
Anne Twomey will examine their journeys.
Margaret Buckley.
“If I were dealing with the Constitution I would have something to say about de Valera’s treating the women of the country as half-wits”
MARGARET BUCKLEY
Born on or around July 28th 1879, Margaret Goulding became a teacher and joined the various nationalist cultural organizations in Cork operating from An Dún, the cultural fulcrum (this building remains on Fr. Mathew Street, now stands sadly dilapidated) of the pre-revolutionary era in the early 1900s.
When she married Pat Buckley, who worked for the British Custom & Excise and Inland Revenue in Dublin, she left Cork in 1906. Pat Buckley died very young and Margaret became active as a union organiser in the Irish Women Workers Union, where she spent the next four decades. She joined Sinn Fein after the 1916 Rising and returned to Cork for a while to care for her dying father.
Margaret Buckley.
During the War of Independence, Margaret served in the Sinn Fein courts in Dublin. Like most Cumann Na mBan members, she opposed the Treaty. She was arrested and spent nine months in jail during the Civil War, when as officer commanding the women prisoners, she witnessed appalling brutality against women in the civil war jails of Kilmainham, Mountjoy and the North Dublin Union. She was eventually released from prison in October 1923.
Layer, in 1938 she published “The Jangle of the Keys” about her time in jail. Having spent time imprisoned in Mountjoy, her lively account of daily life in the North Dublin Union and Kilmainham jails, (republished by Sinn Fein in 2022) is at times tragic, brutal and depressing, yet her humanity, her humour and sense of fun along with her quiet solid leadership marks her out as a formidable, but fair woman who sailed a single minded path in life.
A tall woman with an impressive presence, Bean Uí Bhuachalla became a natural and respected leader. She continued working with Sinn Fein, eventually becoming its President from 1937 until 1950 and worked unceasingly in maintaining and consolidating what had by then become a very small, inward looking organisation.
Margaret’s approach was to keep active, to remain working in the trade union movement and in her political life, she was very efficient at the tasks and usual monotony of a political activist. Her greatest achievement was to ensure the very survival of the near moribund and divided Sinn Fein organisation during a difficult period in the 1940s. Eighty years later, with the Sinn Fein party, today on the verge of attaining political power both in the south and north of Ireland, perhaps the work and resilience of this revolutionary woman from Winter’s Hill in Cork may eventually be fully acknowledged, especially in her native city.
Margaret Buckley was listed as one of the plaintiffs in what has become known as the Sinn Fein funds case which meandered through the Irish courts during the 1940s. Sinn Fein had sought to recover approx. £22,000 (value in 1947) of funds held in trust which had been owned by Sinn Fein in 1922, prior to the Civil War. The case was lost as the court eventually decided that the reconstituted Sinn Fein of 1923 (post Civil War) was not a legal continuation of the 1922 pre Civil War, Sinn Fein. After legal fees and costs of the myriad of lawyers were paid out of the monies held, very little remained.
Throughout her life, Margaret remained very active in defence of social justice issues and exposing the poor working conditions and discrimination against women workers. Her blunt assessment of the 1937 Constitution was that it treated women as “half-wits” and in her ongoing and prolific writings as Margaret Lee and Maggie she severely criticised the treatment of women and worked to highlight the poor social conditions experienced by many ordinary people in the Republic.
Margaret died on 24th July 1962 and her wish was to be buried in St. Finbarr’s cemetery in Cork.
Lil and May Conlon.
May (Mary) was born on 26th April 1892, while Lil (Elizabeth) followed less than two years later on 29th March 1894. From an early age both sisters from a family of seven were very close and became active in nationalist circles in Cork. They were present in 1914 at the founding of Cork Cumann Na mBan (C Na mB) and later at the founding of the Shandon branch, which became one of the most active in Ireland. May, known as Bealtaine was appointed branch secretary and was described by her sister as having her finger “on the pulse of all national undertaking and activities throughout these tempestuous years.”
Lil Conlon (Left) and May Conlon (Right).
Unlike the wider national body, the C Na mB organisation in Cork voted to accept the Treaty, which had led to the foundation of the Irish Free State and campaigned actively in support of the Cork politicians who spoke in in favour of it. This split in Cork was particularly bitter and rancorous, with many of those women on opposite sides of the Civil War sadly remaining at loggerheads for the rest of their lives.
Lil and May always defended the women who took the pro-treaty side. Lil later worked as a civil servant in Dublin and was subsequently employed on the clerical staff at University College Cork, where her brother Sean taught Irish and served on the governing body of the college. Both continued to be active in Catholic Church support bodies, charity works and were firm supporters of the GAA in Cork.
Back in 2008, a phone call from a Conlon relation cleaning out the old family home in Sundays Well, to the Cork City Museum led to the discovery of a large cache of archives belonging to Lil Conlon, including leaflets, correspondence and the original drafts of her 1969 book, “Cumann Na mBan & the Woman of Ireland 1913-1925.”
She said that this book did not purport to be a history but “simply a pot-pourri of bitter sweet memories”.
This treasure trove of material is available to view online at
Having suffered from bad health for many years, May had passed away earlier in September 1946 aged just 54. Lil died at the North Infirmary Hospital on Thursday 27th October 1983 and both are buried in Kilcrea cemetery, near Ovens, County Cork.
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy launched the 12th annual Spirit Of Mother Jones Festival this morning at Shandon.
Accompanied by Mother Jones (Joan Goggin), the Lord Mayor was led into the Maldron Hotel, Shandon by Cork piper, Norman O’Rourke. The Lord Mayor praised the efforts of the Cork Mother Jones Committee, which through this annual festival ensures that the extraordinary life of Mother Jones spent in defending social justice, labour rights and fair play for all remains a vital and essential element of democracy to this day.
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy with Mother Jones and Norman O’Rourke.
The Cork Ukrainian Choir – Kalyna were our special guests at the spectacular launch and brought the gathering to its feet with several songs from their native land. Accompanied by the Lord Mayor himself, their beautiful version of “Danny Boy” brought a huge response. Folk singer Johnny Nyhan then gave a very poignant rendering of the anti-war song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” which concluded amidst some tears and indeed when will some people ever learn?
Cork Ukrainian Choir – Kalyna.
The event was also graced by the attendance of the Cobh Animation Team and members of Cork Art Link.
Cork Ukrainian Choir with the Cobh Animation Team
It was a memorable launch to the 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. Our thanks to all.
Bogdarra Piasetska (artist), Agata Kozlowska, Liz Cremin, Aaron O’ Connor, Joe Lyons and Olha Davydenko of Cork Art Link.
Cobh Animation Team members, Liz Forrest and Viv Hally.
The Cork Ukrainian Choir – Kalyna will again appear at the formal opening of the festival on Thursday 27th July at 1:00 pm. Do not miss them!
Cllr. Kieran McCarthy with a photograph of the portrait of Mother Jones (Lindsay Hand) following the presentation by Ann Piggott of the Cork Mother Jones Committee.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee is pleased to announce the dates for the 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
Our 12th Annual festival will be held in and around Shandon in Cork City from Thursday 27th to Saturday 29th July 2023. All are welcome.
Thanks to our sponsors, the festival remains open to all free of charge. We are promising a very interesting selection of speakers and topics. Further announcements will appear regularly on this website and on the festival Facebook pages.
Hope to see you all and thanks to everyone for your support for this very unique festival.
Mother Jones in 1909 enjoying a chat with her friend, Terence B. Powderly, whose family was from Co. Meath, Ireland. (Illinois Labor History Society).
Terence V Powderly (1849-1924) started life as a 13 year old railroad worker where he worked as an apprentice in a machine shop. Born in Pennsylvania, Terence’s people were from Co Meath in Ireland.
Having joined the trade union movement, he became a moderate head of the Knights of Labor in 1879. This “Order” grew to having about three-quarters of a million members by the mid 1880s, but subsequently went into rapid decline due the growing radicalism and militancy of the new trade unions and the oppression of the growing industrial corporations which treated workers very badly.
Powderly, who originally lived in Scranton in Pennsylvania went on to hold a number of government posts until his death in 1924.
Mother Jones, although regarded as a radical became great friends with Terence and his wife Emma for several decades and stayed at their homes in Scranton and in Washington with them when visiting those cities.
Mother Jones returned to sprinkle her unique magic over this our eleventh festival gathering in and around Shandon from 28th July till Saturday evening 30th July. Following two years of Covid-19 where the events were mainly pre-recorded for television which allowed our festivals to continue and be enjoyed although human contact was at a minimum, it was a great relief to meet up with people again and witness the interaction and discussions at a real event. Our heartfelt thanks to Cork Community Television for covering both the festivals for 2020 and 2021.
Music Session at the FestivalPacked Firkin TheatrePacked Maldron Hotel
Prior to this festival, an extremely worried committee wondered would people come along, would they attend, did they remain apprehensive, how would they react to the real-life presentations by speakers, enjoy music and songs by musicians and singers?
The answer was definite and yes, they did! People came in huge numbers and participated actively and eagerly.
Each year there is something very special about the recipients of the Spirit of Mother Jones awards, their endless efforts to demand justice or to seek a better and fairer society create such a positive energy field at the festival.
Antoinette Keegan with Don O’Leary.
The sheer dignity, passion and joy of Antoinette Keegan and her family, who lost her sisters Mary and Martina is humbling. Year after year since the 1981 Stardust tragedy, the Keegan family and many other families bereaved by the fire that Valentine’s night continue to seek the truth for the loss of their 48 children who never came home. The Spirit of Mother Jones Award for 2020 was to have been presented to Christine Keegan however Christine (Antoinette’s Mam) sadly passed away on 14th July 2020 and Covid-19 had prevented the presentation to Antoinette since then.
The Keegan SistersThe Keegan and McHugh families with Shandon in the backgroundMauric and Phyllis McHugh receiving a presentation from Ann and Ger.Stardust Relatives with members of the Cork Mother Jones Committee.
Phyllis and Maurice McHugh, whose beautiful daughter Caroline died in the fire also attended and it was a privilege for everyone to listen to and hear their heart-breaking stories. Their resilience and quest for the truth is awesome.
Likewise, the Spirit of Mother Jones Award for 2022 went to Don O’Leary and all at the Cork Life Centre. Their vision and practical support for young people who fall through the education system and the cracks in society has been shown to work and work effectively. Yet the support of the educational establishment for this vision often fails to provide the resources necessary to ensure the continuation of the extraordinary work being done for the young people who enter its protective doors.
Don O’Leary with the Mother Jones CommitteeDon O’Leary with Caitriona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners
A theme of many of the festivals has been the failure to acknowledge the role of women in history, something Mother Jones would have been familiar with. The role of five Cork women during the revolutionary period was examined in the latest Shandon Area History Group/Frameworks Films production Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times documentary was examined. Sisters Nora and Sheila Wallace and Mary and Annie MacSwiney along with their sister-in-law Muriel Murphy. One day soon Cork will surely acknowledge properly all of them and so many others. The Cork City Council documentary Endurance and Engagement introduced us all to four other Cork women who made a huge contribution to the city.
Professor Maggie O’Neill in collaboration with Traveller Pride launched the Feminism Walking Tour of Cork which as it expands and develops will highlight the huge role of women in history and society and will become a highlight of a visit to Cork city. Rain on the evening proved no obstacle to the inaugural walkabout.
Cork Feminist Walk
As the Decade of Centenaries reaches a close, the work of a few historians continues to explore with a critical eye the experiences of many women during the period. Anne Twomey certainly did not hold back as she detailed the shocking treatment meted out to some women by all sides during the War of Independence and Civil War. The idea that Irish wars are different and that women were treated with a civility and respect by all sides in those wars certainly needs to be examined and discussed. The violence perpetrated on women remains unspoken about as the accounts remain untold or hidden away in the silence and omerta of the participants and the files. The truth needs to be told before the Decade of Centenaries fades away, otherwise it may never be!
Looking to impacts on Irish society from earlier years, Angela Flynn in a presentation in which past events influenced current failures, gave a forensic analysis of what our health service might look like had Dr Noel Browne’s Mother and Child Scheme been successfully implemented in the 1950s. Her forensic presentation was a perfect way to honour the efforts of this visionary doctor and politician on the 25th Anniversary of his death.
Angela Flynn with Mary Crilly, Freewoman of Cork City.
Cork’s own Mother Jones, Joan Goggin had earlier honoured her own father’s friend, labour leader James Larkin for the 75th anniversary of his passing. Historian Luke Dineen delivered a fascinating account of the General Strike in Cork in 1923, another forgotten labour battle lost in the midst of the Civil War and its aftermath, although the outcome of the strike had a hugely negative impact on thousands of Cork workers and their families.
We learned about Red Tom Hickey from Westmeath, we visited the magnificent North Cathedral and in the company of Anne Twomey, we examined the Baptism register for 1837 and the baptism font where Mary Harris was baptised on August 1st of that year.
Baptism Font in the North Cathedral, Cork
Cllr. John Sheehan, acting Lord Mayor with speaker Peter Buckingham.
Denis Wilson, Shandon Area History Group, Liam O’hUigin, with Ann Piggott.
Visions of what a united Ireland might look like were debated with trade union representatives from TUNUI and later with author Frank Connolly. Liam O hUigín took us out on an early morning tour of Shandon.
Bill DalyCaitlin Ni LordanGerry MurphyJoe MurphyLinda QuinlanMaire Ní CheileachairRory McCarthy
What a wonderful night we had with the legendary Cork Singers’ Club and to hear again singers such as Therese MacCarthaigh and her husband Sean from Blarney Street and so many others was a special treat, our thanks to everyone especially Jim Walsh and William Hammond.
Therese and Sean McCarthaigh
Eve Telford and Jimmy Crowley showed just how good they can be for the traditional Friday festival lunchtime gig, while the legendary John Nyhan and his son Gearoid provided further practical evidence as to just how relevant the songs of Woody Guthrie still remain after more than eight decades.
Eve Telford with Jimmy Crowley
The traditional final toast at the Mother Jones Plaque allowed us all the opportunity to remember absent friends. We honoured committee member John Jefferies (RIP) and so pleased that his sister Monica was on hand to receive a special presentation from everyone who worked with John on the Cork Mother Jones Committee. We remembered Manus O’ Riordan, Liam Cahill and Helen O’Donovan and other absent friends also.
Monica Jefferies with Joan Goggin.
So many people and organisations helped to bring the eleventh Spirit of Mother Jones Festival to fruition. Frameworks Films, Cork Community Tv, the Shandon Area Renewal Association, Shandon Area History Group along with the Shandon Maldron Hotel and Dance Cork Firkin Theatre.
Cork City Council Heritage and Tourism Departments along with the City and County Libraries and Cork City and County Archives have been hugely helpful and supportive. We wish to thank Cllr. Damian Boyle, Cllr. Colette Finn, and Cllr. John Sheehan who attended the festival as acting Lord Mayor of Cork. Also, we are grateful to Cllr. Kieran McCarthy and Cllr. Ted Tynan for their assistance.
Our sponsors in the Irish Trade Union movement ensure the unique festival takes place and guarantee that it remains open and free to all to attend. SIPTU at Liberty Hall has sponsored the festival from its very beginning and we are very grateful. Likewise, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, especially the Cork South Paddy Mulcahy Branch. IFUT, the INTO and Connect are also valued sponsors. Local sponsors include the Cathedral Credit Union and Cllr Ted Tynan.
Special mention to Mary Dineen, Joan Goggin, Eadaoin and Aoife, Anne Twomey, Jimmy Crowley, Luke Dineen, John Nyhan and the Cork Singers’ Club for their support. Finally, to all our speakers from far and near who come and speak and engage in debate and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere on the north side of Cork. The festival remains relevant to people, it must remain when necessary willing to challenge the accepted orthodoxy and above all we wish to remain interesting.
Let us know by email what you wish to discuss at next year’s summer school. Our email is motherjonescork@gmail.com.
Our thanks too to Friends of Mother Jones around the world for their encouragement especially those in Chicago, Mount Olive, Washington, Colorado and elsewhere. Cork may have given Mother Jones to the world, now Mother Jones is bringing the world to Cork.
Provisional dates for the 2023 festival are Thursday 27th July to Saturday 29th July 2023.
Hope to see you there.
Cork Mother Jones Committee 2022.
Richard T Cooke, James Nolan, Ann Piggott, Dominic O’Callaghan, Ann Rea, William Hammond, Geraldine McCarthy, Shannon Smyth, John Barimo, Angela Flynn and Gerard O’Mahony.
