Jimmy Crowley and Eve Telford To Appear at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2022.

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Admin

Eve Telford is a singer of traditional folk songs as well as her original compositions. She sings traditional Irish songs, and also Welsh, Scottish and English songs.

In her singing of traditional songs, one can sense her deep-seated connection with the old folk singers who have passed on.

She is currently recording an album of Child ballads learnt from the singing of Irish Travellers, with her partner, the singer and musician Jimmy Crowley. She has been booked for folk festivals in Ireland and Britain, such as Cork Folk Festival and Whitby Folk Week, both solo, and as a duo with Jimmy Crowley.

Her original songs are inspired by the wellsprings of world mythologies, indigenous rights, a proximity to the natural world, and a commitment to political protest.

Eve was born in Adelaide, Australia, and grew up in Japan, Tasmania, England and Wales, before finding her home in Co. Cork, Ireland. She believes that her early exposure to different cultures, as well as the absence of television and screen-culture in her childhood contributed vastly to the development of her folk psyche.

Jimmy Crowley has been a regular at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival since the very beginning of the event.

His collection of ballads and his singing style has appealed to generations of people everywhere but especially on Cork’s North side. Many of his songs represent working class traditions and gatherings.

Jimmy began singing in the late 60s and he formed Stokers Lodge. The group became regulars in the folk clubs around Cork city.

By the early 70s he had begun to write his own material and revived the art of the ballad maker.

His songs feature local Cork customs, sports and drinking. Draghunting, road bowling and hurling appear as well as local features such as Quinlans Pub in Blackpool, the Lee Road and The Boys of Fairhill.

The Boys of Fairhill Album and Songs from a Beautiful City.

While serving his time to a cabinet-maker he learned a popular song in 1920s Cork called simply Boozing. In Johnny Jump Up he sings of a cider so strong from being stored in old whiskey casks that it represented a passport to heaven. Jimmy sings of Katty Barry, Mother Jones, Mick Barry the bowler, Father Mathew and Jack Doyle.

The words of many of over 140 of these ballads are contained in his great work Songs From The Beautiful City, published by the Freestate Press in 2014. Jimmy has made an inestimable contribution to the preservation of traditional Cork ballads.

Jimmy loves playing at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and one should not miss his performance with Eve Telford on Friday 29th July at the Shandon Maldron Hotel.

Jimmy and Eve will sing at the Shandon Maldron Hotel from 1 to 2pm for a lunchtime concert on Friday 29th July.

All are welcome, but please come in good time to guarantee a seat.

Jimmy Crowley and Mick Moloney in 2015 at Cork City Library at the launch of Songs From a Beautiful City.

Note:

Mick Moloney was born in Castletroy, Co. Limerick. He joined up with Donal Lunny and Brian Bolger in 1966 to form the Emmet Folk Group, where he sang and played the banjo and mandolin. Later this group became The Emmet Spiceland (after Mick had left). In the late 60s he and Paul Brady joined the Johnsons, with Adrienne and Lucy Johnson whose father had a pub in the village of Slane, Co Meath. The Johnsons had a string of hits including arrangements of The Travelling People, The Tunnel Tigers, O’Carolan’s Concerto and The Wind in My Hands. Mick went to America around 1973 and played traditional songs and collected roots music. In 1993 he was awarded a doctorate in folklore and music from the University of Pennsylvania. Mick played, sang, taught and amassed a vast collection of songs and tunes during his lifetime. He was professor of Music at New York University. Sadly he was found dead at home in Greenwich Village on 27th July 2022.

Day 4 of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival & Summer School 2019

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Admin

The 8th annual Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School continues today (Saturday, 3rd August) and the main events finish tonight, However there will also be an evening with the talented Stan Notte on Sunday night at Maureen’s Bar, John Redmond Street.

Spirit of Mother Jones festival and summer school events for Saturday 3rd August.

10:30 a.m. L Briege Voyle

“ Ballymurphy August 1971”

F Includes a screening of the Channel 4 documentary “The Ballymurphy Precedent”

Directed by Callum Macrae

Firkin Crane Theatre.

2:00 p m. A Conspiracy of Lies

Author and journalist Frank Connolly launches his novel (Mercier Press.)

Maldron Hotel.

3:00 p.m L Prof. Elliott Gorn

“The Lynching of Emmet Till. ……………A Civil Rights Movement is born!”

Firkin Crane Theatre.

5:30 p m Conal Creedon reads from his new novel Begotten Not Made

7:30 p.m M Annual toast and songs to Mother Jones at the plaque on John Redmond Street.

Maureen’s

9:00 p.m M Vocalic (Dance and celebrate the end of the 2019 festival.)

Maldron Hotel.

Sunday 4^th August.

In the round with Stan Notte. Music and Spoken Word.

Maureen’s, John Redmond Street at 8.30pm,

All welcome.

Jimmy Crowley returns to the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Admin

Jimmy Crowley will again perform at the eighth Spirit of Mother Jones festival at the Maldron Hotel on Friday 2^nd August at 1pm. In what has become a huge highlight of the festival Jimmy explained how much this gig means to him.

Jimmy Crowley (left) with fellow singer / songwriter and member of the Cork Mother Jones Committee Richard T. Cooke

Writing in the Evening Echo on August 11^th 2018, Jimmy said of his 2018 Mother Jones gig,

“I somehow attain my almost perfect audience for this little gig; people there for the right reasons; they’re patient with me if I want to introduce some new material; not too demanding of the “old stuff” and I get, perhaps, the most gentle, genial gentleman in Cork to introduce me and MC the event – the irrepressible Richard Cooke. “

Jimmy Crowley has been performing and singing ballads in Cork for almost 50 years. He was born in Douglas in Cork, began writing songs in the early 70s and ran the folk club at Douglas GAA club for many years. His band Stokers Lodge was known throughout Ireland.

Jimmy likes to talk and sing songs of Cork characters such as hunters and drag hunting, of harriers and the Shandon foot beagles and sportsmen such as legendary road bowler Mick Barry from Waterfall, and the immortal hurler Christy Ring, of stupendous deeds of valour, local rivalries and personalities, great and little events, and the real everyday topics of conversation of the people.

His first album “The Boys of Fairhill” released in 1997, contained such classics as The Pool Song, Johnny Jump Up, Salonika, the Armoured Car and of course The Boys of Fairhill. This was followed by a second album “Camphouse Ballads” and “Some Things Never Change”. Later still “Uncorked” was released in 1998, while “The Coast of Malabar” appeared in 2000.

These songs live on now in the soul, the streets and the singers of Cork regardless of cultural and musical globalisation. Just imagine where else in the world would you get an uplifting song about Connie Doyle’s legendary Fair Hill harrier dog known as The Armoured Car?

Jimmy has played all over Ireland, Europe and America and is a familiar face on the streets of Cork. He is known as the Bard of Cork as his unique style of singing and his love of his native City, especially the local Shandon area is central to his musical imagination.

In 2014, Jimmy Crowley produced *“Songs From The Beautiful City… The Cork Urban Ballads”. Now generally considered to be his greatest work, Jimmy proclaims this collection as “the true history of the people of Cork City through their only resource of expression: the humble ballad.” So after many hard years of research, much ferreting out of local traditional ballads, elusive song writers and reclusive characters, collecting of lost and half remembered words which portray a lively, progressive and earthy narrative of our priceless history, our folklore and bealoideas, Jimmy delivered his masterpiece!

The book contains such classics as Marilyn Munroe (words by the late Paddy O’Driscoll, the much loved Bard of Ballinure), Cheer, Boys, Cheer (words by the late Helen O’Donovan for many years bean an tí with the Cork Singers Club) and The Old Skellig Lists (words by Teresa Mac Carthaigh, who also wrote and sings the hugely inspiring Ballad of Mother Jones). Jimmy has ensured not just the survival but the vitality of umpteen Cork ballads for future generations of singers.

In the preface to this book, Mick Moloney, of the New York University Department of Music stated;

“It’s hard to compare him to anyone else; but if there was just one singer I would place alongside Jimmy in the matter of flair, delivery and style it would be another County Cork native; the magnificent irrepressible Maggie Barry. It’s no surprise that Jimmy and I are both admirers of this trailblazing woman operating very much in a man’s world who sadly did not get the affirmation she deserved in her lifetime”

Visit www.jimmycrowley.com for details.

*Songs from The Beautiful City: The Cork Urban Ballads…..collected, edited and annotated by Jimmy Crowley. The Freestate Press 2014.

Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Admin

March of the Mill Children

On a steaming hot day on 7th July 1903, a raggle-taggle group of adults and children left a small union hall in Kensington, Philadelphia. Led by an elderly woman in a Victorian style dress, a parade of children and adults set out on the road towards Torresdale Park on the edge of the city and into history.

It presented as a chaotic picture in the burning sun, with some children carrying flags, a little children’s fife and drum band playing, a number of adult stewards and some provision wagons, between 300 and 400 people in all. By the following morning, many had returned home before the march recommenced with 60/70 children setting out for the nearby town of Bristol.

The elderly woman was Mother Jones, her march was being used to highlight exploitative child labour practices in the textile mills as well as collecting money for their parents who were in the middle of a textile factory strike in Philadelphia. Mother Jones was determined to march with the children the 125 or so miles to Wall Street in New York. The youngest marcher was little Thomas McCarthy.

Mother Jones (centre) at the start of the March of the Mill Children, Philadelphia (Pic: US Library of Congress)

From this inauspicious beginning thus began one of the most famous and inspirational marches in history, the publicity created especially in the New York media highlighted in the public domain and wider consciousness how at least two million very young children were forced to forego education to work long hours in the mills, mines and factories across America. Carrying signs with slogans such as “We Only Ask For Justice”, “We Want To Go To School”, “We Want Time To Play”, “Prosperity is Here…Where is Ours?” the children proclaimed their wishes to all.

Over the next three weeks, beset by disputes, poor weather, bad conditions, poor food and even mosquito attacks, the young marchers pressed on, Otter Creek bridge, Morrisville, Trenton, Princeton University, Metuchen, Elizabeth, …….arrive, hold a large public meeting, find a place to sleep and onwards early the following morning. Somewhere along the way, Mother Jones decided she would call out to Oyster Bay, the summer residence of the President of the USA to meet with Theodore Roosevelt.

Saggamore Hill, summer home of US President Theodore Roosevelt at the time of the march

Crossing the Hudson River on 22^nd July, some 30,000 people gathered to welcome the young marchers. Mother Jones became a sensation in New York……..all she wanted was “public attention on the subject of child labour”. She certainly got that as she travelled out to Oyster Bay, Long Island with three children and despite the President refusing to meet her or the children “the President has nothing to do with such matters”, the local New York media covered it extensively. Cartoons satirising the President running away from Mother Jones and the children flourished in the newspapers.

Mother Jones had indeed achieved “a tipping point”. Child labour was now on the public agenda, it was being talked about on the streets and among some politicians. A National Child Labour Committee was established to reform child labour. Many States took action to ban young children from working and although it took nearly another 40 years for the Federal Authorities to ban it completely, the efforts of Mother Jones in 1903 certainly aroused public interest.

On August 4^th 1903, Mother Jones and her mill children went back to Philadelphia by train. Back in Kensington the textile strikers had to return to work for 60 hours per week, the children probably did too and became another lost generation. However child labour was now on the public agenda and Mother Jones with some quiet satisfaction was able to conclude “our march had done its work”

Plaque at Philadelphia City Hall marking the March of the Mill Children and the role of Mother Jones (Pic: Donald D. Groff via Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia)

This March initially appeared to achieve very little, as very powerful people and some union people could see little wrong with child labour. Yet in Mother Jones eyes …. child labour exploitation clearly exposed capitalism and its exploitation of labour at its most basic level…….the children had to work because the greedy powerful robber barons would not pay their parents a fair wage and families had no option but to send all members no matter what age out to work to survive. Her views became conventional wisdom.

Over time, the March of the Mill Children has grown in stature and fame as it triggered debate across a wide spectrum of public opinion. It became an important symbol in the struggle to abolish child slavery in the USA. While not yet gaining the national importance or recognition of the 1965 Selma Marches later did for civil rights, it remains today a powerful reminder of the injustice of child labour.

It resonates also today in the school children’s protests in relation to saving planet Earth from environmental destruction. Ironically the climate change children argue that there is little point in going to school if the planet is going to burn up as a result of human greed.

One cannot ignore either today that millions of young workers continue to work in dangerous conditions and face exploitation in the fashion industry in Asia, Africa and elsewhere. Young garment workers face appallingly low wages and sometimes work 12-14 hours per day to provide clothes and brand names as cheaply as possible for the affluent world. Worker’s right to organise are routinely ignored in many countries so the message of Mother Jones remains valid in much of the world today.

The Cork Mother Jones Committee with the assistance of the Cork Community Art Link project and the Foroige Group in Blarney Street will recreate the March of the Mill Children in a pageant beginning at 12.30 on Wednesday 31^st July at the Shandon Plaza, alongside the Firkin Crane Theatre.

We believe this is the very first occasion outside of America where this famous March will be performed. It will take place in the very streets where Mary Harris walked when she was a young girl.

Sources:

Mother Jones – The Most Dangerous Woman in America, Elliott J Gorn, Hill and Wang 2001. Chapter 5. The Children’s Crusade.

The Autobiography of Mother Jones, Mother Jones, Charles H Kerr Publishing Company 1925. Chapter X. The March of the Mill Children.

We Have Marched Together – The Working Children’s Crusade. Stephen Currie, Lerner Publications Company 1997.

On Our Way to Oyster Bay – Mother Jones And Her March for Children’s Rights. Written by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Felicita Sala. CitizenKid 2016.

Mother Jones Festival remembers Pete Seeger (1919 – 2014)

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Admin

Mother Jones Festival remembers Pete Seeger (1919 – 2014)

To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Pete Seeger, John Nyhan and Mick Treacy will sing some of the songs associated with this legendary folk singer at the Maldron Hotel on Friday 2^nd August at 9.30pm.

Pete Seeger remained committed throughout his long life to basic principles such as defence of trade unions, the rights of workers, social justice, peace and protection of the environment. An activist at heart, a songwriter, he wrote hundreds of songs, saved many “lost’ songs and popularised dozens of others.

“Songs won’t save the planet, but neither will books or speeches. But songs are sneaky things, they slip past borders, they proliferate in prisons”.

His main influences were Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Alan Lomax and Aunt Molly Jackson. Pete listened in awe as Leadbelly talked to his guitar, he sang for his next meal with Guthrie and he marvelled as Aunt Molly veteran of Harlan County mine wars sang out “I am a Union Woman”.

Almanac Singers album “Talking Union”

He studied sociology in Harvard, yet he wanted to be a journalist. The Harvard Class of 1940, including John F Kennedy, graduated without Pete who had dropped out. Abandoning his efforts to become an artist he discovered the songs and music of the people which allowed the working class to express themselves.

He was an integral part of the initial fusion and synergy of folk music with social and union activism, IWW songs, communist and leftist politics in the post-depression years. His first public appearance as a singer in 1940 ended with Pete forgetting how to play his 5 string banjo and then forgetting the words. Yet his dedication, belief and resilience saw him found the Almanac Singers and play Madison Square Garden in May 1941 before thousands of striking workers from the Transport Workers’ Union, led by Kilgarvan born Mike Quill.

The Almanac Singers “Talking Union” album featuring Pete and Woody became a musical bible for thousands of union activists and ensured the survival of songs such as Solidarity Forever (Ralph Chaplin), Which Side Are You On (Florence Reece) and We Shall Not Be Moved. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and the entry of the Americans into World War 2 ensured the demise of the Almanacs.

Pete Seeger in concert

Seeger was drafted into the Army and served the war out in Saipan. Tragically, his baby son Peter, with his wife Toshi died at 4 months while he was in Saipan. After the war, he helped to organise People’s Songs, a huge collective of musicians and union activists which shared songs and promoted left-wing causes. Later he established Sing Out.

In 1949, Pete along with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman established The Weavers. They achieved popular success with hits such as Goodnight Irene (written by Pete’s old friend Lead belly), Wimoweh and Tena, Tzena, Tzena.

The advent of the McCarthy witch hunts ensured Pete became a target for the FBI and informers. Labelled a “Commie” and “Stalin’s Songbird”, the notorious and feared blacklist brought about the demise of the popular Weavers, with work drying up. Pete considered himself a communist with a small “c”, he supported many communist causes, was a member of the Communist Party and defended them in the 40s and 50s but claimed to be a musician first rather than a politician.

Pete Seeger in a forthright stance at the US House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

Through the grinding 1950s, Seeger became a lightning rod for the FBI and was relentlessly investigated for sedition by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 1961 saw him cited for contempt of Congress and sentenced to ten one year periods in jail to run concurrently. Finally in May 1962, a Court of Appeal dismissed the charges.

His plight aroused a worldwide campaign. The Pete Seeger Committee in England had Paul Robeson as president, Ewan MacColl as secretary and Benjamin Britten, Doris Lessing and Sean O’Casey as sponsors. 4000 people packed the Royal Albert Hall in his support in 1961. A young Bob Dylan accused the authorities of framing him and described Seeger as a “saint.” Tommy Makem publicly supported Pete.

The 1960s saw the folk/rock boom take off and groups such as Peter, Paul and Mary and the Kingston Trio had huge hits with If I Had a Hammer and Where Have All The Flowers Gone. Turn Turn Turn and his adaption of the Cuban poem Guantanamera is embedded in the public consciousness. Pete’s version of We Shall Overcome an old gospel hymn adapted by striking tobacco workers in the 40s and published in People’s Songs became the anthem of the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War movements. He marched at Selma with Dr Martin Luther King and encouraged Bernice Johnson and the Freedom Singers, who brought the spiritual and slave songs of the South to the Civil Rights movement.

Clearwater on the Hudson River

Back in 1949, Pete and his wife Toshi had purchased 17 acres of land on a hilly site overlooking the River Hudson, near Beacon north of New York. There they built a “log cabin” and raised three children (Danny, Mika and Tinya) amidst the woods. Toshi was an activist, “the brains of the family” who shunned the limelight, she organised Pete and organised concerts, festivals and their itineraries (Newport Folk Festival, the Clearwater festival).

A non-drinker and non-smoker, Seeger lived a relatively independent ascetic lifestyle, answering mail from all over the world, writing songs, supporting union and social causes and simply chopping wood.

In the 60s he noticed how the nearby environment was deteriorating and how the Hudson River was increasingly contaminated with toxic materials. Vowing to try to rectify this environmental degradation floating past his remote home, he led a project to build a sloop to travel the river to educate people and society about cleaning up the once beautiful Hudson. In 1969, Clearwater was finally launched and still plies the waterways.

Pete and Toshi

Seeger played his banjo and sang at hundreds of counter culture events through the 70s and 80s and influenced generations of singers and activists, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins and dozens of others acknowledged his pioneering influence, Pete in turn acknowledged Huddie, Aunt Molly and Woody. His 90^th Birthday concert at Madison Square Garden was a huge event as the folk music world paid homage.

A highlight for Pete came when Barack Obama asked him to perform at his presidential inauguration concert in 2009. Accompanied by Tao Rodriguez, his grandson and Springsteen, they sang This Land is Your Land, written by Woody Guthrie.

Pete passed away on 27^th January 2014. Toshi Seeger died on 9^th July 2013.

John Nyhan

John Nyhan was born in Cork City, he now lives in North Cork. He was heavily influenced by the Folk music revival of the 60s and 70s and has been playing and promoting music for over 40 years. In the 1970s he was a founding member of the Shandon Folk Club in Eason’s Hill, within earshot of the Shandon Bells.

John worked as a peace campaigner in Northern Ireland in the 70s as a member of Voluntary Services International. He is well known for his involvement in the Bluegrass and Folks concerts which take place at the Village Arts Centre in Kilworth in North Cork.

Along with Mick Treacy he has played at the Mother Jones festivals and his song themes have included the songs of Joe Hill, songs of the mining communities and the songs of the Spanish Civil War in 2017. In 2018 John and Mick honoured Ewan MacColl in an unforgettable performance.

Mick Treacy was a familiar figure in the folk clubs across English which resulted from the Folk revival. He was a member of the famous “Munstermen” folk group which played and sang on the UK folk circuits. The Munstermen had their own club known as the “Holy Ground” in the Cambridge Inn. Mick’s knowledge of folk ballads is encyclopaedic and his powerful performances along with his old friend John Nyhan are always memorable at the festival.

The songs of Pete Seeger will be sung at the Maldron Hotel in Shandon at 9.30 pm on Friday night 2^nd August at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2019.

Mother Jones continues to draw huge interest in the USA

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Admin

Some news in from our friends at the Mother Jones Heritage Project in Illinois with thanks to Prof. Rosemary Feurer.

Firstly there’s an update on two exciting musical events

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, 4th February for what promises to be a highly impressive performance of the 2019 Siamsa na nGael – a Celtic Celebration of the Arts, Song, Dance and Stories.

Tickets are on sale beginning February 4. Post performance and sponsorship packages are available by calling 312-798-2348. The event takes place at the Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago.

Next there’s the equally exciting performance of the musical Mother Jones in Heaven by the inimitable Si Kahn who performed at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival in Cork in 2014. The musical will be performed on Wednesday, March 27th 2019 at 7.00pm at the Irish American Center in Chicago.

There’s also the Mother Jones May Day Birthday Party on May 1st celebrating Mother Jones unofficial “American birthday” at the same venue, followed by the opening of a brand new Mother Jones exhibition by artist Lindsay Hand. The exhibition and works are funded by the Government of Ireland.

Photos from Spirit of Mother Jones Festival Day 3 (3rd August)

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Admin

Photos from the second day of the 7th Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School 2018. Today (Saturday, 4th August) is the final day of the festival. Timetable to be uploaded on this site shortly.

Mary Manning presentation with James NOlan

James Nolan of the Cork Mother Jones Committtee presenting the Spirit of Mother Jones award 2018 to former Dunnes Stores striker Mary Manning at the Firkin Crane Theatre in Shandon last evening. The award was jointly made to Mary and the other former Dunnes Stores strikers who maintained their action in opposition to the sale of products from then Apartheid South Africa for almost three years

Dr. Emily Twarog at the Cathedral Visitor Centre

Video: Cork’s own Jimmy Crowley singing one of his own songs about the Spanish Civil War.

Cork’s own troubadour Jimmy Crowley was in fine form at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival at the Maldron Hotel

The Mother Jones Plaque at John Redmond Street. The final event of the festival will take place at this location at 7.30pm this evening (4th August) – the annual Toast and songs to Mother Jones. All welcome

St. Ann’s Church of Ireland, Shandon, Cork

Professor Louise Ryan with Ger O’Mahony of the Cork Mother Jones Committee

Mary Manning presentation with committee

Presentation to Mary Manning with members of the Cork Mother Jones Committee

Mother Jones 2018 Day 3 045

2018 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival “Music at the Maldron” Series.

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Admin

Some of those who will perform at Music at the Maldron. Clockwise from top left: Cobh Animation Team (pic:: Claire Stack), William Hammond, Cork Singers’ Club, Shandon Shawlies and Joan Goggin (Pic: Andy Jay)

Among the most popular musical events at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival each year is the “Music at the Maldron” series of concerts and shows.

The lunch time series take place at the Maldron Hotel bar from 1pm to 2pm approximately each day of the festival and feature some of Cork’s finest musical talent.

Wednesday August 1^st. Begins 1pm

Official opening of the seventh annual international Spirit of Mother Jones Festival by the Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr. Mick Finn. There will be several performances musical, song and theatrical performances featuring Richard T Cooke, Muddy Lee and the Shandon Shawlies, Joan Goggin and family, Cobh Animation and specially all the way from Illinois, America’s own Mother Jones, Loretta Williams.

Thursday August 2^nd

William Hammond, Linda Quinlan and guests. 1pm

Friday August 3^rd

The Jimmy Crowley concert. 1pm

Festival events

Wednesday 1^st August at 9.30 pm

The Cork Singers’ Club at the Maldron Hotel.

Thursday August 2^nd at 9.30 pm.

The Voltronic at the Maldron Hotel.

Friday 3^rd August at 9.30 pm

John Nyhan and Mick Treacy sing the songs of Ewan MacColl at 9.30 at the Maldron Hotel.

Saturday 4th August at 7.30 pm.

Songs and music at the Mother Jones Plaque (on John Redmond Street).

A toast will take place in honour of Mother Jones followed by a sing song and the Ukelele group will perform at the Shandon Plaza. (Near the Firkin Theatre)

All are welcome, events are free.

Loretta Williams to play Mother Jones at festival

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Admin

American actress Loretta Williams will appear at the 2018 Spirit of Mother Jones festival and will give a number of performances including at the formal opening in front of the Lord Mayor, Cllr Mick Finn.

Loretta Williams as Mother Jones with Jim Alderson as “General” Alexander Bradley

Loretta Williams, a historical reenactor from Illinois, portrays Mother Jones through fiery and original presentations. She has performed in Mt. Olive, Illinois at the Union Cemetery and Mother Jones Museum. She has also taken her presentations to various civic and cultural organizations.

Her re-enactments of diverse historical personalities are presented through Alton Theatre’s Vintage Voices and Living History Tours for the Alton, Illinois Convention and Visitors Bureau. Loretta’s performances bring to life the personalities that helped shape the political and cultural dynamics of the Midwest.

Loretta Williams reprises Mother Jones at the Mother Jones memorial in Mount Olive

The Mother Jones Museum utilises Loretta’s Mother Jones portrayal to educate children and adults concerning the struggles experienced by miners, labourers and their families. Loretta looks forward to sharing her experiences as Mother Jones with visitors to the Mother Jones Festival in 2018.

Loretta will be staying in Shandon and making appearances at the festival, so let’s ensure a warm Shandon welcome to Mount Olive’s own Mother Jones to the birthplace of Mother Jones in Cork.

Sweet Olive String Band makes sweet music

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Admin

The Sweet Olive String Band will play in concert at the Maldron Hotel on Saturday night 5^th August from 8pm.

Woodbine, a bluegrass band from Athy, Co Kildare is the support act.

This concert will bring the 2017 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School to a pulsating end.

Tickets at €10 each can be obtained from 087 7921771 or during the festival at the Maldron Hotel.

The New Orleans based Sweet Olive String Band is heading to Europe this summer for dates in the UK and Ireland. Formed in 2012, The Sweet Olive String Band creates music that harkens back to an authentic and rarely heard sound from those early Grand Ole Opry days that conjures up the sounds of the early pioneers of the genre like Hank Williams, early Bill Monroe and the Stanley brothers. Founders Mike Kerwin and Pat Flory are talented multi-instrumentalists who swap between acoustic guitars, mandolins, Steel Guitars and Stand Up Bass, and specialize in the high lonesome harmonies first made famous by the bluegrass and country brother duets of the 1940s and 50s. They will be joined on this trip by fellow multi-instrumentalist Jeff Burke, formerly of Jeff & Vida fame, who will pitch in on banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Irish audiences may remember Burke and Kerwin from their multiple tours with The Jeff & Vida Band, but this will mark the first appearance of Pat Flory outside of the US and the debut for the Sweet Olive String Band.

Pat Flory is the quintessential elder-statesmen-Old-Time-Country-and-Bluegrass-musician in New Orleans. The 69 year old has been keeping the flame of bluegrass and country music alive in New Orleans for over 4 decades. His deep love and expert execution of the genre come from a life steeped in exploring, playing, and preserving country music in Southeast Louisiana. Pat was a mentor to Bela Fleck and spent a good deal of time performing with Bill C Malone, the historian and writer of Country Music USA-one of the definitive histories of Country music in the United States. .

Mike Kerwin has been a successful singer songwriter and acoustic musician for over 20 years in New Orleans. His original compositions have received widespread praise in the city and beyond since the release of his solo album Rowboat. Mike is a sought after sideman on Stand Up Bass and guitar and has been performing with some of New Orleans best known roots acts including The Jeff and Vida Band, Johnny Sansone, Ingrid Lucia and others. Mike’s passion for acoustic bluegrass and country music has seen him emerge as one of New Orleans most active performers, preservers, and champions of the style in a city largely dominated by jazz and blues. That passion led him to Pat Flory and the formation of the Sweet Olive String Band, where he bends his own instrumental and vocal talents with Flory’s to create their authentic and compelling sound. Their show also feature a number of Kerwin’s original compositions which feel right at home in the style.

Jeff Burke, co-founder of the Jeff & Vida Band, has been collaborating with both Kerwin and Flory on and off for the last 20 years. A move to Nashville in 2005, took Burke away from New Orleans but he has returned often for musical collaborations with the Sweet Olive founders. Burke’s move to Nashville allowed him to immerse himself in that city’s pulsing bluegrass and country roots and to spend time picking with and learning from some of the best known talent in the business. His deep love of bluegrass led him to begin teaching in 2013 and in addition to becoming a sought after sideman in Music City, he has become a well-respected bluegrass instructor, leading group classes, workshops and lessons in Nashville and at festivals around the country.

The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival

Shandon, Cork City, Ireland

Category Archives: performance