Fifth Mother Jones Festival celebrates Cork’s most famous revolutionary socialist
Launch of the Spirit of Mother Jones Festival and Summer School 2016
Maldron Hotel, Shandon on Wednesday 29th June at 1pm.
The 2016 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival/ Summer School will again be held in Shandon and this year has been extended over five days through the August bank Holiday weekend from Thursday 28th July until Monday 1st August 2016. The last day is designated by Cork City Council as Mother Jones Day in the city. Hundreds of visitors are expected from all over Ireland, England and Scotland to what has become quite a major summer school featuring over 20 different events.
This event celebrates the life of trade union activist, Cork born Mary Harris, known as Mother Jones, and the summer school and festival events are “dedicated to inspirational people everywhere who fight for social justice.”
Among the confirmed participants for 2016 are journalist Justine McCarthy, writer and BBC correspondent and journalist Fergal Keane, as well as historians Dr. Sean Pettit, Luke Dineen, and Laurence Fenton.
Former Supreme Court justice Catherine McGuiness will discuss the continued use of Direct Provision, where over 4000 people still remain.
The programme of events begins on Thursday evening 28th July at the Firkin Crane in Shandon when the President of SIPTU, Mr. Jack O’Connor will deliver the 2016 Mother Jones Lecture entitled “Organising to win – what is to be done!”
According to Jim Nolan of the Cork Mother Jones Committee,
“The 2016 festival and summer school will again see a wide variety of talks, films and music associated with the labour movement, human rights and social justice issues as well as historical and heritage events. The growing stature of the summer school can be seen in the quality and expertise of our speakers. We are quite proud that our independent community based committee has now organized five festivals and we have managed to retain the unique friendly and informal character of the summer school, located as it is in Shandon the very historic heart of Cork city.”
This is the fifth annual summer school/festival organised by the Cork Mother Jones committee since 2012, when the committee erected a plaque in Shandon to honour “the most dangerous woman in America”. Mary Harris was born in Cork in late July 1837 and baptized in the local North Cathedral on 1st August that year. She lived through the famine in Cork and later left with her family for Canada. She subsequently emerged as one of the most celebrated and feared union leaders in the USA and was a passionate defender of miners and the rights of workers and underdogs everywhere. She fought hard to highlight the injustice of child labour.
All events take place at either the Maldron Hotel or at the Firkin Crane Theatre in Shandon.
In view of 1916 and in an effort to remember forgotten heroes in history the summer school will feature a remarkable Cork story of courage. Anne Twomey of the Shandon Area Historical Society will present the unbelievable account of the activities of the Wallace sisters. Sheila and Nora Wallace were two local members of the Citizen Army who ran a small newspaper shop in St Augustine Street and were responsible for overseeing much of the intelligence work in Cork during the War of Independence. This is a truly incredible story of two extremely brave Cork woman whose activities from 1915 to 1921 were long forgotten and is only slowly coming to light.
The Mother Jones summer school will again feature Yvette Vanson’s stunning film on the events at Orgreave during the 1984/5 Miners Strike. Following the recent Hillsborough decision, the clamour grows for justice also for the miners and for a public enquiry into the events of that day and Ms. Vanson’s “Battle for Orgreave” is truly dramatic.
The festival also features “The Mining Wars” recently shown on US Public television and which features many US union leaders including Mother Jones. Cork based Frameworks Films will also show a number of Cork produced films including “Mother Jones and her Children”.
On Saturday night 30th July local musical folklorists and labour song collectors, John Nyhan and Mick Treacy and friends will present and sing some of his collection of mining and protest songs. Jimmy Crowley, the Cork Singers Club, Richard T Cooke, the Mother Jones Ceili Band and Greenshine also feature.
Long time SIPTU union activist and researcher Tish Gibbons will feature and will address the theme “Organising in the shadow of the law”.
“The whole point of the summer school is to present topics that are interesting, challenging and relevant, it is an opportunity to listen to issues, talk and debate and also to relax and enjoy the local community and the wider city. Everyone is welcome to come along to the events, there is no charge for entry but we ask that people would come in time as some talks fill up very quickly” continued Jim Nolan.
A full programme of events will appear on the website www.motherjonescork.com
It is updated regularly as events are confirmed. Phone 086 3196063 for the latest information.
For details contact Ger O’Mahony 086 3196063. Ann Piggott 087 9031282 or Jim Nolan 0861651356.