The Cork Ukrainian Choir yesterday opened the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival with a stunning musical performance. The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy accompanied them on “Danny Boy”. It was a wonderful occasion from a fantastic choir.
11:00 a.m. Salt of the Earth. (1954) Film – Maldron Hotel.
1:00 p.m. Official Opening by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy and the Cork Ukrainian Choir. Maldron Hotel.
2:30 p.m. Mavis Ramazani – Maldron Hotel.
4.00 p.m. Mick Lynch – Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
7:15 p.m. Anne Twomey & Liz Gillis – Dance Cork Firkin Crane
9:30 p.m. The Cork Singers’ Club. – Maldron Hotel.
As part of the ongoing debate relating to the climate change taking place (one we feel would have been embraced by Mother Jones, especially in view of her fight against the exploitation of labour by unregulated capitalism, which now in turn exploits the environment), we welcome Niamh Guiry who will discuss how insights from Ireland’s ancient past might assist Ireland developing a sustainable path to resolving its environmental issues.
Niamh Guiry will speak at the Maldron Hotel Shandon on Friday morning 28th July at 10.30 am Conservation Insights from Brehon Law: Exploring Ireland’s Ancient Tree Considerations.
Many ancient cultures seemed to embody a multi-dimensional understanding of their local environment, recognising the practical benefits of healthy ecosystems as well as their more-than-human qualities.
Delving into Ireland’s past, we find a legacy of environmental considerations, reflected in the legal, social, and cultural value the people of early Irish society bestowed upon trees. Exploring the Old-Irish tree list found in Bretha Comaithchesa (Judgements of Neighbourhood) of Brehon law, mythological stories, and the spiritual practices of the time, this talk discusses how we could use insights from Ireland’s ancient environmental considerations to strengthen our approach to conservation.
Niamh Guiry is a climate activist and PhD Researcher at the School of Law, University College Cork. Her PhD research explores the interrelationship between the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, global environmental governance, and evolving patterns of international law-making.
A member of Not Here Not Anywhere, a grassroots organisation campaigning to end fossil fuel exploration and the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland, Niamh has a keen interest in biodiversity protection, climate justice, and environmental communication.
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.
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?
The event was also graced by the attendance of the Cobh Animation Team and members of Cork Art Link.
It was a memorable launch to the 2023 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. Our thanks to all.
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!
The formal launch of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2023 will be held at the Maldron Hotel on Monday, 3rd July 2023. The launch of the Festival will be performed by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy. We are delighted to present an interesting and challenging programme, which we hope remains relevant to all.
You can download the Festival poster here:
All speakers, singers and musicians included in this programme are committed to attending the festival. Additional speakers and events may be included later. However, there may be late changes to the speaking times of a few speakers due to their commitments elsewhere, so we advise those attending to visit this website regularly to check for updates, which we will provide closer to the festival itself.
*Important Update – 10.07.2023:
Please note this is a revised programme of events. Speaker Mick Lynch is now listed to speak on Thursday, 27th July, at 4.00 p.m. at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane in Shandon.
A documentary, “Secrets From Putumayo”, detailing the investigations by Roger Casement into the human rights abuses in the rubber extraction industry in Peru, will be shown on Saturday morning at the Maldron Hotel at 11am.
You can access The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2023 Programme below by clicking on the download button.
A Mother Jones Birthday party will take place on Sunday 30th April from 3 – 5 pm at the Irish American Heritage Centre in Chicago.
It will feature Liz Carroll, (fiddle), Brendan and Siobhan Mc Kinney (pipes and Flute), Kathy Cowan, vocalist and Mother Jones, Brigid Duffy. In attendance also will be Sarah Keating, Vice Consul of Ireland in Chicago.
Karen White of the National Education Association will speak to issues of the exploitation of children on this the 120th Anniversary of the march of the Mill Children led by Mother Jones in 1903.
Fundraising is proceeding for the erection of the new Mother Jones Monument in Chicago.
Further information from www.motherjonesmuseum.org
Meanwhile about 250 miles further south in the town of Mt. Olive, the burial place of Mother Jones an International Mother Jones Festival takes place also on Sunday 30th April. It will be held at the Union Miners Cemetery beginning at 12 noon and continuing afterwards at the Mother Jones Museum on Main Street.
Speakers and artists include the Consul-General of Ireland in Chicago, Kevin Byrne. Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL/CIO and Brother Jerome Lewnard of the Viatorian Order. Music will be provided by Wildflower Conspiracy along with a number of other bands. Loretta Williams will participate as Mother Jones and historian, Dale Hawkins will also take part.
Further details call 618-659-8759.
Congratulations to all involved and best wishes from Cork for the May Day American Birthday celebrations for Mother Jones.
Note: The American celebrations have traditionally taken place around May Day which was the day, Mother Jones gave as her birthday, however her real birth date was probably 31st July 1837 as she was baptised at the North Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne in Cork on the 1st August of that year.
Photo 1: Kevin Byrne Consul General of Ireland, Chicago with Tim Drea, President of the AFL-CIO in Illinois at Mount Olive Cemetery on the 30th May 2023.
Photo 2: Rosemary Feurer of the Mother Jones Museum, Chicago making a presentation of a limited edition artwork by Lindsay Hand, “Chicago March 1915” to Karen White, speaker at the May Day Chicago Celebration of Mother Jones.
Yes! We did it again!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A documentary from Frameworks Films and the Shandon Area History Group.
7.30 pm Friday 29th July at Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
‘Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times’ tells the story of five women – Nora and Sheila Wallace and Mary, Annie and Muriel MacSwiney. These women played a vital role in the formation of the Irish state and yet their stories are not widely known. This documentary provides an account of the lives of these five women and in particular the part they played in the Irish revolutionary period, whilst still carrying on their roles as shopkeepers, teachers, wives and mothers. It attempts to answer in some small way the question that was often asked in the early years of the Irish Free State, ‘What did the women do anyway?’.
7.15 pm Thursday 28th July at Dance Cork Firkin Theatre.
The short documentary, commissioned by Cork City Council, as part of the Decade of Commemorations and funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts Gaeltacht, Sport & Media looks at the lives of ordinary women in Cork City during the turbulent period of the struggle for independence and how they were impacted by the violence and unrest. The women included in the documentary are Eilish MacCurtain, The Duggan Sisters, Geraldine Neeson and Dr. Mary Hearn. The research team on the project were Anne Twomey of Shandon History Group, Dr Helene O’Keeffe of UCC School of History, and Gerry White. The documentary directors Ciara Buckley & David Slowo of Wombat Media. The Executive Producer of this documentary was Christine Moloney of LW Management who will introduce it on the night. Release Date 2022. Runtime 32 minutes.
2:00 pm Thursday 28th July at the Maldron Hotel Shandon.
This film tells the story of Mary Harris (1837 – 1930) from Cork who went on to become known “the most dangerous woman in America”. Starting with her early years in Cork, the documentary goes on to detail her life in America following the famine, her marriage to George Jones and the birth of her four children. It details the tragedies which befell her. Her growing involvement in the labour movement in America, defending the rights of children and workers is documented. Through interviews with leading experts on Mother Jones, we learn of her fearless and tireless campaign to organise workers at a time of severe labour strife and her international legacy today. Produced by Frameworks Films and the Cork Mother Jones Committee in 2014. Runtime is 52 minutes.
3:00 pm. Thursday 28th July at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.
Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman is a documentary about the amazing labor heroine, Mary Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones. Mother Jones’ organising career influenced the history of early 20th century United States. She overcame class and gender limitations to shape an identity that allowed her to become an effective labor organiser in the early 20th century. Mother Jones transformed personal and political grief and rage about class injustices into an effective persona that led workers into battles that changed the course of history. The terrible conditions and labor oppression of the time motivated her to traverse the country, in order to organise against injustices. This film also gives a deeply moving account of the Ludlow Massacre. This is a film by Rosemary Feurer and Laura Vazquez. Release Date 2007 (Canada). Its runtime is 24 minutes.
The formal Launch of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2022 will take place at the Shandon Butter Market Garden on Friday 1st July at 1pm.
Our eleventh annual festival takes place from Thursday 28th July until Saturday 30th July and contains a full programme of events, both indoors and outdoors.
According to Jim Nolan of the Cork Mother Jones Committee
“We will have over 20 events ranging from talks and lively discussions, to walks and exhibitions, to presentations of awards and toasts as well as singing, poetry and music.
We wish to thank our sponsors in particular the Cork City Council, the SIPTU trade union, the ASTI Trade union and IFUT. With their assistance, it is possible to maintain the festival free and open to all.
Highlights will include the screening of the Shandon Area History Group/Frameworks Films documentary ‘Ordinary Women in Extraordinary Times’ at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane Theatre on Friday night.
Of special interest this year will be the visit of Antoinette Keegan, whose two sisters Mary and Martina died in the Stardust Fire tragedy in 1981. Christine her mother and John her father were instrumental in establishing the campaign of the Stardust Victims to seek justice for their loved ones over the past 40 years. Antoinette was will be presented with the 2020 Spirit of Mother Jones Award in person on Friday afternoon 29th July at 3pm.
We hope the people of Cork will come along and show their support to the victims and survivors of the Stardust tragedy in their efforts to attain justice.
After two years in which the festival went online, we are very much looking forward to meeting people again, whether they are regulars or dropping in for the first time to the festival, all will be welcome at Shandon.”
All events are free and all are welcome. (But come along early)
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) highlighted the suffering of the rural poor and dispossessed in depression and dust storm America of the 1930s.
His many songs provide the backdrop for many of the reality of ordinary American life outside of the glamour of Hollywood and big City dreams.
Guthrie openly supported the trade union movement and promoted left-wing causes for several decades and campaigned on social justice issues while his battered guitar proudly displayed the message “This Machine Kills Fascists”.
During the 50s he along with thousands of others experienced the cancelation culture of the communist witch hunts of Joe McCarthy. (McCarthy of Tipperary and Galway heritage was publicly praised by some Catholic bishops in Ireland.)
Travelling incessantly when younger, his songs chart the daily lives of a hidden class of drifting migrant labourers and poor farmers driven from their lands and jobs by exploitation and natural disasters and faced with poverty, hunger and death.
His autobiography, ‘Bound For Glory’ published in 1943, which has sold millions of copies, brought his life’s work and ideas to a wide audience.
Woody played and sang with many of the great artists such as Sonny Terry, Cisco Houston, Leadbelly and Pete Seeger.
The song collector Alan Lomax also recorded Woody for the Library of Congress.
Many regard his composition ‘This Land Is Your Land’ as the alternative anthem of North America.
There is some debate about the words of two of the original seven verses which were critical of the political situation and are rarely sung these days but may still be just as relevant.
As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said “No Trespassing”. But on the other side it didn’t say nothing, That side was made for you and me.
In the squares of the City, In the shadow of a steeple;
Near the relief office, I’ve seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
His many songs include ‘Ye Shall Be Free”, ‘John Henry’, ‘Tom Joad’, ‘Pastures of Plenty’, ‘So Long It’s been Good to Know Yah’, ‘Vigilante Man’, ‘ I Ain’t Got No Home’, while the Dust Bowl Ballads contains some of his finest work. He died after contracting Huntington’s Chorea, a degenerative disease.
His son Arlo Guthrie with Marjorie Greenblatt (Mazia), is a well known folk singer and has visited and played gigs in Ireland and in Cork many times.
The story and songs of Woody Gurthrie will be told by John Nyhan, Mick Treacy and friends at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon on Friday night 29th July from 9.30, all welcome. Not to be missed.
