The former President of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), Des Geraghty will speak at the forthcoming Spirit of Mother Jones festival on Thursday 23rd July 2026.
Des Geraghty.
The title of the talk is “An Injury to One is the Concern of All”.
The title is a slogan of the US Knights of Labor, coined by Uriah S Stephens in 1869 and popularised by Irish trade union leader, Jim Larkin forms the basis for a talk by Des Geraghty at this year’s festival. The Knights, forerunners of the American trade union movement did not admit women until the 1880s when Mary Harris joined and where she formed a strong friendship with Terence Powderly, whose people were from Co Meath.
Terence Powerdly, leader of the Knights of Labor with his friend, Mother Jones.
Des Geraghty has spent a long and varied career immersed in the SIPTU Trade Union and in Left wing party politics in Ireland, yet he has also found time to be a writer, a singer and a musician. In 1984 he stood unsuccessfully for the Workers’ Party in the European elections, but became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 1992 when he replaced Proinsias De Rossa who had became leader of the Democratic Left.
Des served as Vice-President of SIPTU 1997-1999, and then as President from 1999 to 2003.
Although very active in union politics, social partnership and labour disputes over many decades, Dublin born Liberties man, Des was active on many social justice issues, sang songs, played the flute and wrote a book about his friend Luke Kelly.
He is chairman of the Clé Club, a traditional music and song club at Liberty Hall.
Des Geraghty with Meath man,Jim O’Brien.at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2025.
Des Geraghty singing at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2025.
Des produced a documentary film about his hero James Connolly, “We Only Want the Earth” which was shown at the 2025 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival to a large audience. The documentary was written and directed by acclaimed film-maker Alan Gilsenan.
“We Only Want the Earth” challenged the viewers to look in a wider perspective at the icon that is James Connolly. It portrayed the ordinary human Connolly, which lies behind the martyr of 1916. All the while tracing the real spirit of the man and of the legacy and vision he left behind after his execution in 1916 in the form of present day activists campaigning for social and labour justice.
Des was quoted as saying at the time that he was “more interested in his life than in his death” and that certainly is achieved through this powerful documentary. Mother Jones, a contemporary of Connolly in her time always referred to unions being “the family of labour”, since unions looked after communities and not just individuals. James Connolly would have endorsed this approach.
Des Geraghty will speak at 5:00 pm on Thursday 23rd July at the Maldron Hotel Shandon. All are welcome.
Tadhg Hickey will appear at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival on Friday 24th July at 3.45 pm.
Tadhg Hickey. Photo courtesy of Tadhg Hickey.
He will discuss his experiences on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza last year
Born in Cork, Tadhg Hickey is a comedian, filmmaker, writer and political activist. He has had a long standing interest and commitment to the Palestinian people and during the coronavirus period in 2021 he created a fundraiser for the Aida Palestinian Refugee Camp which raised over 32 thousand euro.
In 2025, Tadhg participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla which attempted to reach Gaza then as now blockaded by Israel. He was arrested and detained by the Israeli authorities when their boat was boarded.
He continues to challenge the hypocrisy of the West towards the Middle East through his comedy performances and in the release of short videos which forces one to question the accepted Western perspectives of the struggles of people who are not white.
His biting political satire has amassed 100 million views and a global social media following. He wrote ‘The School’ for RTE and has toured extensively throughout Britain and Ireland. Currently his searing satire show NOOW written and performed with Nicole Jones is now out.
Tadhg will speak at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival on Friday 24th July 2026 at 3.45 pm.
Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area History Group will speak at the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival about the Cummins Sisters, a remarkable and fascinating Cork family.
The presentation will take place on Thursday 23rd July at 7.30 pm at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
Historian, Anne Twomey.
In particular. Anne will examine the lives of the five Cummins sisters who were daughters of William Edward Ashley Cummins (1858-1923) and Jane Constable Hall (1864-1944) who lived on Patrick’s Hill in Cork.
William Cummins was Professor of Medicine at University College Cork and a surgeon at Victoria Hospital.
It was a large Anglican family of five daughters, Geraldine, Mary, Iris, Jane and Phyllis and six sons Arthur, William, Robert, Harry, Nicholas and Fenton.
Left to Right: Dr. Mary Hearn, Dr. Jane Mullin, Geraldine Cummins, Phyllis Hayes, and Iris Cummins.
An unusual element is that in an era which is not noted for the involvement of women in 3rd level education and having independent careers, the five sisters achieved academic excellence through the encouragement especially of their father and the influence of their governess Winifred Holloway.
Their active participation in the sport of hockey at an international level, four out of the five gained international caps for Ireland, more than matched the achievement of their brothers on the rugby fields and was also unusual at the time. Their individual achievements in their private and professional lives in medicine, engineering, arts, as scientists and army officers in Cork and elsewhere are worthy of examination.
Iris Cummins holding the Munster Cup. Photo: UCC.
Anne Twomey will concentrate on the life stories and achievement of the five unique sisters and portray the wider picture of this unusual Cork family in the early years of the 20th century in Cork as they made their journey in a male dominated society through the turmoil and tragedy of World War 1.
Their story, their achievements and accomplishments which contributed to society in general and to an Ireland itself in a revolutionary era as it emerged from being a British colony on its troubled pathway towards creating a free and Independent state is worth telling.
How the women of this wealthy establishment Cork family which through education broke many glass ceilings and sought to actively transition into the new social and political fabric of society in many diverse ways remains largely untold.
A basic outline of the interests and lives five sisters follows:
Geraldine Dorothy Cummins (1890-1969) writer, suffragist, psychic and spiritualist. Geraldine co-founded the Munster Women’s Franchise League with Susanne Bouvier Day. Along with Susanne, she wrote and published plays, short stories and several religious books.
Geraldine Cummins.
She recalled being physically stoned by a hostile group of women in her native city in 1914 while campaigning for ‘Votes For Women’. Geraldine was briefly married to poet Austin Clarke. An Irish hockey international, she settled in London during World War Two and made occasional visits to Cork.
Mary Cummins Hearn, (1891-1969)
Mary, then a medical student, married Robert Hearn (1875-1952) in 1911. They had two children. Later he was appointed Bishop of Cork Cloyne and Ross (1938-1952). Mary returned to UCC to her medical studies, after which she was appointed an anesthetist in the Victoria hospital.
Dr.Mary Hearn, courtesy of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
Later as a gynecologist, Mary was renowned throughout Cork city as a family doctor for treating and curing all classes regardless of ability to pay. “Dr. Mary’s” astute medical knowledge of women and her kindness to patients became legendary. In 1924 she became the first female fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and continued to practice medicine in the city for almost 40 years. .
Also an Irish hockey international. The old graveyard surrounding the Bells of Shandon is named the Dr. Mary Hearn Park.
Iris Ashley Cummins (1894-1968)
Iris was the first female graduate in Engineering at University College Cork in 1915. After using her engineering skills in the British navy in World War 1 she returned to Ireland and established her own private business as a land surveyor. Later on in 1927 she joined the Irish Land Commission where she was appointed as the first female land surveyor. She lectured and wrote articles in engineering papers and always encouraged girls to enter the profession.
Iris Cummins at University College Cork.
Iris was an Irish hockey international from around 1914 to 1939 and was active in the administration of the game, including taking part in a trip to the United States where she met President Calvin Coolidge.in 1928. (Mother Jones also met President Coolidge earlier in 1924). On the 22nd February 2022, the Civil Engineering Building in UCC was named the Iris Ashley Cummins Building in her honour.
Aras Iris Ashley Cummins Building in University College Cork. Photo: J. Barimo.
Jane Grace Cummins (1899-1982)
Jane also studied at UCC and graduated with degrees in Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery and joined the British Colonial Medical Service in Ghana, where she spent most of her life. Married in 1934 to David Miller, they had two children. She served as a squadron officer with the RAF Medical Service during the Second World War. After the war ended, she established child care clinics for the treatment of chest and TB illnesses.
Phyllis Aylmer Cummins (1907-1960)
Phyllis Aylmer Cummins graduated from UCC in 1929 with a Bachelor of Science and a Higher Diploma in Education. Later in 1931, she earned a Master of Science. She worked with the Metallurgy Atomic Research Station at Harwell in the UK.
Phyllis married Horace Shiel Hayes, son of Nathaniel Hayes in 1932.
There were also six sons in the family.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee acknowledges the research of Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area History Group.
Anne Twomey and Maeve Higgins of the Shandon Area History Group. Photo: Donoughmore Facebook.
The story of the Remarkable Cummins Sisters from Cork will be told in far more detail by Anne Twomey at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane on Thursday evening 23rd July at 7.30pm.
There is no charge, booking is not required but people are advised to come early as it is first come, first seated.
Dr. Naomi Masheti of the Cork Migrant Centre will discuss the above topic on Saturday afternoon 25th July at 2:15 p.m.
A programme coordinator at the Cork Migrant Centre at Nano Nagle, Place, Dr Naomi Masheti is a four-time graduate at the University College Cork. She is a Psychologist (CBT Therapist) with a huge interest and focus on Psychosocial Wellbeing of Non-Western Population.
Dr. Naomi Masheti
Naomi was instrumental in setting up the Cork Migrant Centre Psychosocial Wellbeing and Integration Hub at the Nano Nagle Place, focused on culturally sensitive services and premised on capacity building (emotional, cognitive, physical, social, knowledge and skills) conceptualised through a human rights and a strength-based perspective towards equity and transformative social justice work.
She is a guest lecturer at the School of Psychology, University College Cork (UCC) and part-time lecturer on the International Development Course.
Naomi is the recipient of several awards from University College Cork, including the 2020 Athena SWAN Equality Award, the Lifetime Alumni Award 2024 and one of 11 women selected for the Accenture’s Women on Walls. She has also received the Lord Mayor’s Civic Award 2024 in Cork.
Naomi will speak at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon at the 2026 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival on Saturday afternoon 25th July at 2.15 pm.
Topic: “Taking Action for the Planet: Life on the High Seas”
Grace O’Sullivan from Tramore, Co. Waterford was a frontline activist with Greenpeace for ten years and spent a further 10 years working with the organization in its headquarters in Amsterdam.
Grace O’Sullivan
Grace was a crew member onboard the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, New Zealand when it was bombed by French Secret Service agents in 1985. Her colleague and friend, photographer Fernando Pereira was killed by the explosions. This act of terrorism did not deter Grace from continuing to campaign for social and environmental justice with Greenpeace, Oceana and more recently joining the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2025.
Grace O’Sullivan, standing alongside the Arctic Sunrise.
In 2016 Grace entered the Irish national political arena when she was elected to Seanad Eireann for 3 years and subsequently was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 as a Green Party MEP where she served as a forceful defender of human rights and the environment.
Grace O’Sullivan attempting to climb on board a Soviet nuclear warship.
Grace will reflect back on her years as an activist, giving personal insights into the challenges she faced and how she kept a steady focus on the issues that matter. She will describe her early life as an environmental activist when Greenpeace sought to raise public awareness among people across the world of the threats to their environment and the destruction of the natural world itself.
Grace O’Sullivan will speak at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon on Friday afternoon 24th July at 2.15pm. All are welcome.
PHIL Ní SHEAGHDHA, President of the Irish Congress of Trade Union (ICTU) will speak at the forthcoming Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
Phil Ní Sheaghdha. Photo by INMO.
She will address the topic
“Democratic Trade Unions matter because they strengthen Democracy.”
Phil was born and raised in the West Kerry Gaeltacht and is a proud advocate for the Irish language. She trained as a general nurse at Jervis Street Hospital in Dublin and later completed a postgraduate specialisation in intensive care nursing at Kingston Hospital in London.
Phil has extensive international experience, having worked as an ICU nurse in Ireland, Australia, the UK, and at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York.
She joined the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO), in 1998 and went on to further her education, completing a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations, a Higher Diploma in Employment Law, and a qualification in Economics. Phil served as the INMO’s Director of Industrial Relations from 2008 to 2018, before being appointed General Secretary in 2018.
She is a strong and resilient advocate for her members. Phil has become one of the best known trade union spoke persons due to her regular media appearances and her cogent and factually informative arguments for her members who work in the front lines of the Health system in Ireland.
She is currently President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Ireland’s national trade union federation, and serves as one of two Vice-Chairs of the ICTU Public Services Committee.
Phil will speak on Thursday 23rd July at the Maldron Hotel Shandon at 2.30 pm. All are welcome.
Mother Jones celebrating her birthday on the 1st May 1930 at the Burgess Farm in Maryland.
Supporters of Labour and union activist Mother Jones are presently celebrating her “American birthday”, which Mother herself claimed was on 1st May.
Celebrating Mother Jones’ birthday in Chicago are Hector Arellano of the Bricklayers Union and Brigid Duffy as Mother Jones of Chicago. The photo is by the Mother Jones Heritage Project.
This coincides with May Day which is celebrated as workers day across the world and is based on the campaign for an eight hour day by labour unions in America in 1886.
SIPTU plaque at the Haymarket in Chicago.The Haymarket Incident in Chicago.
While the Haymarket incident took place on the 4th May, the subsequent execution of four innocent workers for the deaths of the policemen after a union meeting in Haymarket Square has been commemorated for the past 140 years.
Deeply influenced by the events at the Haymarket, Mary Harris repeatedly refers to the labour martyrs for the eight hour day in her writings and appears to have said later in her life that she was born on 1st May 1830 as part of her Mother Jones persona.
However records at the North Cathedral in Cork show that she was baptised on the first day of August 1837. So she was probably born on the 31st July as children in Ireland were baptised as early as possible after birth. Church records state that Mary Harris was baptised by Fr. John O’Mahony, her parents were Richard Harris and Mary Cotter and her sponsors were James Hennessy and Ellen Leary.
The North Cathedral of St. Mary and Anne, CorkCertificate of birth and baptism.
Of interest is that the baptism font used that morning almost 190 years ago still remains in use today in the Cathedral.
The original baptism font in which Mary Harris was baptised on the 1st August 1837.
So the annual Spirit of Mother Jones festival takes place in the Shandon Historic Quarter in late July to honour Mother Jones’s annual Irish birthday. All are welcome to the events and to attend the annual toast to Mother Jones using the best Irish whiskey at her Plaque in Shandon thus completing the second annual birthday celebrations of this remarkable woman.
The annual toast to Mother Jones at her plaque in Shandon.
In 2026 the dates of the Spirit of Mother Jones festival and summer school are from Thursday 23rd July until Saturday 25th July.
The Cork Mother Jones Committee is very sad to learn of the passing of Joan Goggin. Joan has attended all our festivals since 2012 in the persona and costume of Mother Jones. In that time, she endeared herself to the thousands of people, who have visited the Festival, and became a treasured part of the annual event.
Joan Goggin. Photo, courtesy of Andy Jay
“Joan has made a huge contribution to the Spirit of Mother Jones festivals and we are all saddened by her death. On behalf of everyone associated with this festival we wish to pass on our sympathy to her daughter Eadaoin and granddaughter Aoife who often accompanied Joan and to all her family. Her kindness and positive spirit will be sadly missed by all”
stated Festival spokesperson James Nolan.
Joan was an accomplished actor and singer and always stood up for social justice and the Labour movement. Her father Bill Martin was a branch secretary of the Transport union and she was extremely proud that Jim Larkin would often visit and stay in their house during his trips to Cork.
Joan leading the March of the Mill Children in Shandon in 2019. Photo courtesy of Claire Stack.
Joan in full Mother Jones outfit often joined in with pickets by nurses and other workers in Cork. Her hero was Cork born Mary Harris, whose activities on behalf of miners and workers in America led to her being renamed Mother Jones.
Joan Goggin with UK Trade Union leader, Mick Lynch at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. Mick’s father came from Bandon Road in Cork City, near where Joan was born. She referred to Mick as a “neighbour’s child”.Joan with Spirit of Mother Jones Award winner Arthur Leahy and Cork Mother Jones Committee 2025.Joan welcomes Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy to the Festival 2025.Final performance by Joan at the plaque in 2025.
May Joan rest in peace! We will miss you dear friend.
‘Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann’
Watch Joan above as she portrays Mother Jones visiting Cork in 1920.
“The Organised Society and Role of the Labour Movement.”
The former General Secretary of the National Union of Rail,Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union, Mick Lynch returned to Cork to speak at the Spirit of Mother Jones festival 2025.
He spoke about the role of the Labour Movement in society.
Mick Lynch. Photo: Emma Bowell.
Thanks to JASE Media Services and after receiving many inquiries we are showing his entire talk which took place at the Dance Cork Firkin Crane.
Relevant, interesting and challenging are the criteria for presentations and lectures at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. Mick Lynch certainly delivered in this talk. We hope you will watch the video and listen to his ideas.
Mick Lynch: Photo: Angela Flynn.Joan Goggin and Ann Piggott with Mick Lynch. Photo: Emma Bowell.
Des Geraghty, Karan Casey, Mick Lynch and Ethel Buckley at the Cork Butter Exchange in Shandon.
Mick Lynch speaking at the weekly Gaza March in Cork City. Photo: Angela Flynn.Mick Lynch at the Mother Jones plaque.Mick Lynch with the Mexican Community Dance Group.
Cork piper Norman O’Rourke sadly passed away on Tuesday August 26th at St Finbarr’s hospital.
Norman O’Rourke at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.
Norman played his pipes at many events across Cork but for those of us associated with the annual Spirit of Mother Jones Festival, he will be remembered for piping in the Lord Mayor of Cork to the formal launches and official opening ceremonies of the festival.
Norman O’Rourke with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy and Cork’s Mother Jones (Joan Goggin).
Norman learned to play the pipes in the 1950s with the Cork Volunteers’ Pipe Band which took part in commemorative parades throughout Ireland and played at all the major Gaelic Athletic Association matches during that period. To many, Norman was the face and image of Cork city and he proudly adorns a large banner on the Grand Parade having been chosen as the official piper of the Decade of Centenaries celebrations by Cork City Council, where he is viewed by the thousands coming and going in the City Centre. He used to joke how he kept an eye on all the parades and demonstrations gathered right underneath him for years.
A City Remembers. Norman looks down on the Grand Parade.
A proud follower of Cork hurlers he was so looking forward recently to the All-Ireland final this year but alas victory was not to be. He played with and supported St Vincent’s Hurling and Football Club. However he was regularly seen leading parades of excited children to their medal presentations on pitches at GAA clubs, the sound of his pipes being a magnet for crowds to gather. A lifelong republican he played his pipes at commemorations, parades and funerals where he was a familiar figure.
Norman O’Rourke plays at the baptism font, where Mary Harris (Mother Jones) was baptised on 1st August 1837 in the North Cathedral in Cork. His performance took place on August 1st 2012 at the inaugural Mother Jones Festival. Photo by Martin Duggan.
He played at festivals across the City and It was a great honour for the Cork Mother Jones Committee to have him come each year to do the honours for the Lord Mayor of Cork at our festival. Norman often returned to the festival events later with his wife Marie where he listened to the speakers and the music and he really enjoyed the songs and the craic of the Cork Singers’ Club. Possessing a vast knowledge of Irish history he had a repertoire of stories and funny incidents which he told with a warmth, sincerity and humanity. His admiration for the Cork girl who went on to become Mother Jones was total.
Norman O’Rourke in Shandon in 2012.Norman O’Rourke with Marat Moore in 2012.
He was extremely proud of his family and spoke of his love and support for them.
Norman’s beloved pipes may be silent for now but his warm heart lives on.
We offer our sympathy to Marie, his children and his family.
Norman O’Rourke with his good friend, Richard T. Cooke.Finbarr Archer with Norman.Norman chatting with Richard T. Cooke and Ann Rea on the Cork Mother Jones Committee at the Festival in 2024.
Norman pipes in the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dan Boyle accompanied by Cork’s Mother Jones to the Festival in 2024.
