Launch of Spirit of Mother Jones Festival in Cork

“Mother Jones of Togher, this is my very great honour,” said the Lord Mayor of Cork, as he was welcomed to Shandon for the launch of this year’s Spirit of Mother Jones Festival.

The new Lord Mayor, Fianna Fáil’s Fergal Dennehy, was greeted warmly by a neighbour from the south-west ward, Joan Goggin, who has portrayed the Cork-born US union leader at each festival since it began 14 years ago.

In his address at the launch, Mr Dennehy paid tribute to the late historian Richard T Cooke, long a stalwart of the festival, and he invoked the spirit of Mother Jones, born Mary Harris in Cork in 1837.

"Mother Jones famously declared, 'Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living'. 

"That call echoes louder than ever today—in our workplaces, in our schools, in our streets. It reminds us that honouring the past demands action in the present," Mr Dennehy said.

"We gather not merely to commemorate history, but to rekindle the flame of activism that Mother Jones lit over a century ago—a flame that still burns in every worker who demands fair wages, in every child who dreams of a future free from exploitation, and in every community that stands together for justice."

The launch featured music from the Kalyna Ukrainian choir, and folk singer John Nyhan.

The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival will run from Thursday, July 24, and continue for three days and nights until Saturday, July 26.