Tag Archives: Festival Dates

Spirit of Mother Jones Festival Programme and Festival Poster 2025

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The festival will be held in and around the Shandon Historic Quarter from Thursday, July 24th, until Saturday, July 26th, 2025, inclusive. It will be organised by the Cork Mother Jones Committee 2025, an independent, voluntary, community-based committee. The festival is dedicated to the memory of Mary Harris/Mother Jones and to inspirational people everywhere who fight for social justice, workers’ rights, and human rights. This festival celebrates her spirit.

The festival and summer school will consist of talks, discussions, songs, music, films and documentaries. We hope to make them interesting, challenging and relevant.

Spirit of Mother Jones Programme 2025 for printDownload

The venues are Dance Cork Firkin Crane and Maldron Hotel, Shandon and both venues are very close to each other on John Redmond Street, which is itself about 5 minutes walk from the Cork Opera House and Christy Ring Bridge.

All are welcome to attend the 2025 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School. The events are informal and free, thanks to the support of the trade union movement, the Cork City Council, Cathedral Credit Union and local businesses. Attendance at each event is on a first-come, first-seated basis, so booking is unnecessary.

We look forward to seeing you.

Announcement: Spirit of Mother Jones Festival Dates for 2023.

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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.