Saturday 26th July: Events at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School.

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Admin

Nearly all events at the Maldron Hotel.

9:30 a.m.

Peter Foynes

Peter Foynes will conduct a heritage stroll in the Shandon Historical Quarter. Peter has lived and worked in Shandon for many years and is very familiar with this historic area with its ancient streetscape, its proud history and its resilient and diverse community. He offers a unique insight into the economic, social and political area and his Saturday morning festival walks around the community are essential to an understanding of the heritage which includes its famous daughter Mary Harris.

Meet outside the Maldron.

11.00 a.m.

Joe Noonan

“Environmental Law & Environmental Justice – are they allies or enemies?’

Joe Noonan is a Solicitor in practice in Cork for 45 years. Carbon dioxide in 1979 was 336 ppm. It is 426 ppm now. His legal work has included some of Cork and Ireland’s most controversial environmental issues, from how we licence and regulate hazardous industrial activities, the assessment of proposals to build a waste incinerator in Cork Harbour, and assisting people driven from their homes by intolerable noise from badly planned wind turbines. Has the law helped or hindered the public on the front line? What is its place in the critically-urgent global and local response to climate change?

Three hundred years ago Jonathan Swift wrote that laws are like cobwebs. They may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets through.

How true is that of an area of law that concerns everyone – the law relating to the environment we depend on for our existence?

12:00 a.m.

Jennie C Stephens

“Climate Justice Here and Now”

Jennie C. Stephens is a feminist climate justice scholar-activist based in Dublin. Her coalition-building work focuses on societal transformation and envisioning a hopeful future for all. She challenges the powerful actors and institutions who have been obstructing transformative climate action for decades and is a member of the Climate Justice Universities Union, a collective leveraging the transformative potential of higher education institutions to accelerate change toward a more just and healthy future. She is the author of Climate Justice and the University (Hopkins University Press, 2024) and Diversifying Power: Why We Need Feminist, Antiracist Leadership on Climate and Energy (Island Press, 2020).

2:00 p.m

Mike Allen

“Housing, Homelessness and the Struggle for Social Justice: A bed for the night.”

Over the last decade, the number of people who are homeless has quadrupled, with people from a far wider range of social background and circumstances becoming homeless, or at risk of losing their homes. Why has this happened? What impact does this have on the men, women and children who experience it? And what are the effects on our wider society? The talk will also set out some of the proposals about what can be done to solve the problem, and look at the various social movements which emerged over time to demand solutions.”

3:00 p.m.

Jack Lane

“Roger Casement-The Real and The Imagined”

Roger Casement remains a compelling figure in Irish history. This year is the 60th anniversary of his re-internment. He has become an icon for many causes. But icons are lifeless things and are deprived of context and thus any real historical meaning. Jack Lane argues that Casement remains highly relevant. After 49 of his 52 years as an active participant and onetime poster boy for the British Empire he became the most dangerous Irishman that the Empire ever faced. That is why he was hanged and that is why there has been a consistent attempt for over 100 years since to traduce his moral significance. Jack will seek to put the record straight.

4:00 p.m.

Anne Twomey

Making Their Mark: Remarkable Cork Women and the contribution they made to Cork and Irish Society.

Anne Twomey will discuss the ground breaking role of four Cork women. Anna Haslam, suffragette leader, feminist and campaigner for political rights for women. Suzanne Rouviere Day, suffragette, writer and novelist who was among the first women to stand for election. Jennie Dowdall the first woman elected Lord Mayor of Cork (1959) and Eileen Desmond, the first female Minister of the senior Government Departments of Health and Social Welfare.

5:00 p.m.

Luke Dineen

“Big Jim Larkin: His Life, Times and Ideology”

Big Jim Larkin lived in a tumultuous world during turbulent times. Like so many other radicals in the early years of the twentieth century, he believed that the dawn of a new age of the people was imminent, one in which the working classes, and not the captains of industry, would control the destinies of nations, including a free and independent Irish Republic.

Central to this vision was his belief in the ideology of syndicalism, the most popular brand of revolutionary socialism until the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. This talk will examine the various components of Larkin’s ideology until the 1913 Dublin Lockout, especially the impact that syndicalism had on him.

Note: This talk may take place using Zoom at the venue.

6:15 p.m.

Plaque events and the annual toast

With singers Martin Leahy and Dee Power.

Hear Martin’s new song “Mother Jones” just released.

Followed by the traditional whiskey toast to Mother Jones at her plaque.

Big Jim Larkin: His Life, Times and Ideology.

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Admin

Saturday 27th July 2024 at 4.30pm

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Luke Dineen is unable to attend the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2024. Historian Gerard O’Rourke, will instead give a talk on his recent book, “Land War to Civil War 1900-1924 Donoughmore to Cork and Beyond” at 4:30 pm on Saturday 27th July 2024 at the Shandon Maldron Hotel. All are welcome.

See further details on the site.

Maldron Hotel Shandon.

Speaker: Luke Dineen.

2024 is the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Jim Larkin, who was born on January 28th 1874 in Liverpool.

Iconic photo of Jim Larkin, in O’Connell, 1913.

Jim Larkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers Union in December 1908.

He was among the founders of the Irish Labour Party in 1912 and led the workers in the Dublin Lockout in 1913/14. He also helped to establish the Irish Citizen Army which played a prominent role under James Connolly in the 1916 Rising, Larkin spent from 1914 to 1923 in America. . On his return from America he was involved in a split from the ITGWU and the Workers Union of Ireland was formed. Jim Larkin was elected to Dáil Eiréann on three occasions. He died on 30th January 1947.

Luke Dineen, a regular speaker at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival intends to “put a particular focus on what underpinned Larkin’s ideology – Larkinism as it was called at the time – and how significant this was for events in Cork (1909 lock out) and across the country”.

Luke Dineen speaking at the 2022 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.

Festival Programme Saturday 29th July 2023.

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Admin

9:30 a.m. Peter Foynes historic walk. (meet at Maldron)

11:00 a.m. Secrets from Putamayo.

2:00 p.m Luke Dineen.

3:15 p.m. Pat Murphy

4:30 p.m. Maggie O’Neill.

6:00 p.m. Mother Jones Toast at Plaque, Martin Leahy.

The Cork General Lockout of 1909 by Luke Dineen.

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Admin

Luke Dineen will discuss the Cork General Lockout of 1909 at the Spirit of Mother Jones summer school on Saturday afternoon 29th July at 2:00 pm at the Maldron Hotel, Shandon.

Luke Dineen receiving a presentation from Ann Piggott of the Cork Mother Jones Committee in 2019.

In 1909 in America, Mother Jones was extremely active. The Miners’ Magazine, publication of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) stated in 1909 quoting from her speech in South Dakota stated “Mother Jones in her speeches in the Black Hills wore no gloves but rapped Capitalism with bare knuckles”. That year also she helped striking shirtwaist workers in New York City and Mexican revolutionaries jailed in the US.

Here in her native Cork, throughout 1909 there was growing unrest in the Labour movement with thousands of workers either on strike or locked out of their jobs. Small local trade disputes multiplied, the City Docks quarrels of 1908 again came to the boil, James Larkin’s new Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) was at the centre of several disputes as it had attracted large numbers of recruits from among various workforces in the city.

By May 1909, the employers in the city formed the Cork Employers’ Federation (CEF) and appointed Belfast born, Sir Alfred Dobbin (owner of the Imperial Hotel and Palace Theatre and many other businesses) as chairman. Described by Luke Dineen as “Cork’s answer to William Martin Murphy” and “widely loathed”, Dobbin’s inability to negotiate resulted in a refusal to resolve disputes as more and more workers were locked out.

Through the months of June and July 1909, Cork was the scene of violent street battles and baton charges by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Anyone wearing an ITGWU union badge was targeted. On the night of 20th June, twenty people attended the North Infirmary hospital suffering from head wounds as a result of the street battles.

The end result was a total defeat for the workers, the recently formed ITGWU branch collapsed. Inter union conflict with the Workers’ Union,

the ruthlessness of the employers and RIC and the opposition from the local press ensured a comprehensive victory for the employers. Many workers were left destitute or in prison and their families in poverty.

In the later 1913 Dublin Lockout, Cork born William Martin Murphy acted in a similar manner to Dobbin and the Dublin Employers’ Federation (founded in 1911) adopted the same approach as the CEF. Murphy had the advantage of actually owning the Irish Independent newspaper thus ensuring the support of the press. For their part, the ITGWU learned that union unity and working class solidarity, along with appropriate financial resources, were all vital to success.

During the bitter lockout, the ITGWU had organised some of the workers in Cork into protection groups, armed with hurleys and clubs whose role was to protect strikers on Cork’s docks. This became a precursor of the later Irish Citizen Army (ICA) of 1913 and while defeat was again the outcome in 1913 for the unions and workers, the men and women of the ICA were to prove a major catalyst for the 1916 Rising.

Luke is the author of the recent Irish Labour History Society publication “A City Of Strikes: The Cork General Lockout of 1909”.

He previously spoke about the 1909 Cork Lockout at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival in 2013.

Historian Luke Dineen to speak at the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival 2022.

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Admin

As 2022 signals a return to real festival events, we are happy to announce that Luke Dineen will once again speak at this year’s Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.

Labour and trade union historian Luke has appeared at many of our festivals and is one of the most popular contributors.

He brings to life the often forgotten history of the trade union movement in Cork and its proud contribution to bettering the lives of ordinary people.

Luke, who was awarded a PhD in labour history from UCC will speak on the “Cork General Lockout of 1923”.

The end of the Civil War in May 1923 encouraged the Cork Employers’ Federation (CEF) to demand wage reductions across a wide range of workplaces in the city. Discussions and negotiations with the unions failed to resolve the issues and by July 1923, the ITGWU dockers were on strike. The employers insisted on wage reductions of up to 25% and further reductions in workers allowances which the unions refused to accept.

On 20th August 1923, most businesses in Cork closed, the Cork Lockout had begun, over 6000 workers were either on strike or locked out by their employers.

It was part of a wider effort by employers in other cities and towns across Ireland to bring about wage cuts.

Despite large marches, sackings, mass unemployment and growing signs of serious shortages of food and coal stocks, John Rearden, a solicitor and secretary of the CEF refused to compromise and the impasse dragged on in the city.

Recently elected TD and UCC Registrar Alfred O’Rahilly acted as arbitrator in the dispute and agreed a resolution with Trade Union leader Jim Hickey.

Most workers went back on reduced wages by mid November and while at the end of the day, both sides accepted compromises, the trade unions suffered most as the lockout used up much of their financial resources in strike pay, Payments to strikers by the ITGWU were almost £24,000 representing 15% of all the union’s expenditure for 1923. Membership fell to a third of its 1923 level by 1928. Employers still retained the right to hire and fire at will.

The final result of the 1923 Cork Lockout set the Cork trade union movement back many years. On a political level, the new Free State government had clearly signalled to the trade union movement, that it no longer needed to encourage their support in the new independent Ireland. The Irish government instead aligned with the new state already established business class, whose pragmatic rapprochement with the changed political order reflected the inherent conservatism of the real victors in the Irish Civil War. Labour would have to wait again!

Luke Dineen will speak at the Shandon Maldron Hotel at 11.30 am on Saturday 30th July. All are welcome.

Sources:

Article by Luke Dineen ‘Class War in Cork’: The Cork General Lockout of 1923′ in Saothar 46. (Journal of the Irish Labour History Society 2021).

Article by Francis Devine, The Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union in Cork City and County 1918-1930. (Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Volume 124, 2019).

Luke Dineen: “Connect Trade Union – An Early History, 1919-23”

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Admin

The Cork Mother Jones Committee is delighted to welcome historian Luke Dineen to the 2019 Spirit of Mother Jones Summer School.

Luke will address the topic of “Craftsmen and the Irish Revolution 1920 – 23. The outline of the talk follows.

“Connect Trade Union – An Early History, 1919-23”

Luke Dineen

“Organised labour was a vital component of the independence struggle from 1918-20. During those year labour was an open, though unofficial, ally of the republican movement. Many trade unionists were active members of Sinn Féin and/or the IRA. Although craftsmen were at the heart of the Irish revolution, their role in it has received little attention from historians. With the aid of the republicans, craftsmen launched breakaway Irish trade unions tasked with playing their part in destroying British rule in Ireland. Despite a tumultuous birth, one such union survives to this day: Connect Trade Union, until recently called the Technical, Electrical and Engineering Union. It was, and remains, an exclusively Irish union for the trades, catering exclusively for Irish needs.

Connect Trade Union logo

This talk will chart the early history of Connect, covering its launch in May 1920 and the first few years of its existence. It will explore the factors that birthed the union and the extensive links it had to senior figures in the republican movement in its early years, including Michael Collins and Countess Markiewicz. In so doing, this talk will examine how the Irish working class perceived and participated in the Irish revolution, and what they got out of it. “

Luke has now participated in seven festivals and his contributions explore the hidden and often ignored contribution of the Irish trade union movement and working class people to the Irish revolutionary period in the early 20^th Century. Among the areas which he has explored are the 1909 Cork Lockout, the Cork Harbour Soviet, the Post Office Strike of 1922, the labour movement and the republican struggle in Cork 1919-1923 and the life of Thomas “Corkie” Walsh.

Luke will speak on Friday morning 2^nd August beginning at 11am at the Cathedral Visitor Centre.

All welcome.

Luke Dineen to tell little-known story of one Ireland’s 1922 post office strike

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Admin

Luke Dineen has been a regular contributor to the Mother Jones summer school and we are delighted to welcome him back in 2016. He will address the significance of the Postal Strike of 1922 at the Maldron Hotel on Saturday 30^th July at 11.30.

JJ Walsh Countess Markievicz — J.J. Walsh with Countess Markievicz

”The Postal Strike of 1922 was the first major industrial dispute the new government of the Irish Free State faced and it occurred right in the middle of the Civil War.

When the dispute began, the government refused to concede the right of public servants to strike. The postal workers were condemned for taking industrial action against wage reductions because, as members of the public service, they enjoyed permanent, pensionable positions.

The government’s handling of the postal strike challenges the narrative that the establishment of the Free State represented the triumph of democracy. Rather, it shows an authoritarian government that was intolerant of dissent and willing to use harsh measures to suppress it.”

(Extract from Cathal Brennan in online article in The Irish Story).

The Cork postal workers had earlier voted to strike in February 1922 due to threatened pay cuts, but action was postponed as a result of union intervention whereby an independent commission was established to examine the issues in relation to pay.

The Postmaster General during the strike was James Joseph Walsh, known as J.J., a TD from Cork. Born near Bandon, Walsh was a former postal worker himself, an active trade unionist and member of Sinn Féin. He had taken part in the 1916 Rising in the GPO and received a ten year sentence.Described by Marcus De Burca author of The GAA…a History as “a dominating Cork personality”, he had also been Chairman (President) of the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). His Departmental Secretary in 1922 was P. S. O’Hegarty, another Corkman and a former post office worker in London who was friendly with Michael Collins.

The events during this strike in September 1922 and the government’s brutal reaction form a surprising if largely forgotten portrait of the new Irish State at the time and raise a fundamental question….…was the labour movement the biggest casualty of the Irish Civil War and its aftermath?

Luke Dineen will tell the story of the events surrounding this strike on Saturday morning 30^th July at 11.30 am. Luke is currently writing his PhD Thesis at University College Cork.

The Cork Harbour Soviet

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Admin

The Cork Mother Jones Committee is delighted to welcome local historian Luke Dineen back to the Spirit of Mother Jones festival in 2014. Luke is 24 years old and is presently working on a PhD Thesis in UCC on the labour movement in Cork and Derry from 1917 to 1923. Luke gave a presentation on the 1909 Cork Lockout, a precursor of the Dublin Lockout, at the 2013 festival which stimulated some very interesting debate. In his presentation at the 2014 festival and summer school Luke will relate the story of the Cork Harbour Soviet of 1921.

Robert Day (1885-1949). Photo from oireachtas.ie

In March 1920 at the height of the War of Independence in Cork, a Cork Corporation Cost of Living Commission was established by Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Curtáin to determine a proper living wage for Cork’s workers. In late September 1920 it reported that this wage was 70 shillings a week, rather more than most workers in the city received at this time. On 12 February 1921 it reiterated this.

Four days later, the Cork Harbour Board received a letter from the local ITGWU branch asking that the 70 shillings rate be put into effect by the Board. The Cork Harbour Board resisted implementing the wage for months and finally rejected the idea in June 1921.

Two months later, it rejected the claim again and a strike of the Board’s employees was declared. The Harbour Board, however, failed to realise that its refusal to grant this wage would lead to its workers seizing control of the Cork Custom House, where a red flag was flown and a soviet declared, in early September 1921.

The Harbour Board, traditionally a home of the city’s commercial elite, had a recent addition to its ranks – Bob Day, a trade union militant and the secretary of Cork’s ITGWU branch. Day, together with his close comrade William Kenneally, led the harbour workers in an endeavour that was reported as far away as New York.

The ‘Cork Harbour Soviet’ of 1921 of the 7^th September existed for a very short time and is largely forgotten. Nevertheless, it revealed the place and militancy of workers in early 20^th century Cork, the future position of the labour movement in Independent Ireland and, ultimately, the nature of the 1919-1923 Irish revolution itself.

The Cork Harbour Soviet of 7^th September 1921 presentation by Luke will take place at the Firkin Crane on Wednesday 30^th July.

The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival

Shandon, Cork City, Ireland

Tag Archives: Luke Dineen