Cork Women’s (Fun) Weekend marks 40th anniversary

THE Cork Women’s Weekend (CWW), taking place from May 3-5, is one of the key events in the Irish lesbian calendar.

It attracts women not just from Cork, but from all over Ireland and abroad. This social weekend includes music, dancing, workshops, a barbecue, a pub quiz, and much more.

This year, to mark the 40th anniversary, attendees will also have the opportunity to attend an exhibition recalling previous CWWs, curated by Orla Egan of the Cork LGBT Archive.

Beginning as the Cork Women’s Fun Weekend in 1984, it was a weekend organised by women in the lesbian community in Cork for the lesbian and bisexual community in Ireland, as a fun, social event, during a time of highly contentious issues such as abortion, divorce, and the availability of contraception.

According to Orla’s research, the inaugural Cork Women’s Fun Weekend was organised by the Women’s Place at the Quay Co-Op. One of the founding organisers, Helen Slattery, said: “There were a lot of heavy-duty political women’s conferences and discussions going on at the time and, as an antidote, we decided to have a weekend of just fun."

Another founding organiser, Dr Joan McCarthy, explained to Orla that it happened “in the middle of a severe economic recession, just a year after the defeat of the anti-amendment campaign and the insertion of the 1983 amendment into the Constitution.

"We wanted to focus on activities that celebrated women, and that were about music, joy, sport, and craic. We invented a pub quiz that focused on women’s achievements in literature, film, and sport, as opposed to the usual pub quizzes at the time that hardly referred to women at all."

Orla Egan’s exhibition will be on display in the Student Centre, UCC, on the Saturday night. It includes posters, leaflets, photographs, newspaper reports, badges, and t-shirts from the 1980s up to the 2020s.

Orla says it is “part of the Cork LGBT Archive’s work of ‘Animating the Archive’, bringing Cork’s queer history to life, making it more engaging and accessible for people. This includes publications, exhibitions, walking tours, and documentaries”.

The exhibition is supported by the CWW, Cork City Council Heritage Office, and the Heritage Council.

Current chairperson of the Cork Women’s Weekend organising committee, Andrea Coleman, from Togher, gives us a rundown of the weekend’s events. Every event organised by Cork Women’s Weekend, apart from Saturday night in Hamish’s Bar, is free entry. All money raised goes straight back into the running costs for the following year. Cork Women’s Weekend is a volunteer run, not-for-profit organisation.

Friday night’s events will begin with speed dating, followed by competition time in The Sibín on Princes Street as the Drag King entrants battle it out for top prize – the glory! With tunes and dancing to finish the Friday events.

Saturday is workshop and barbecue day, both hosted in and supported by LINC, White Street. There is a badminton tournament hosted by Racket Rebels.

Saturday night is the main event, in Hamish’s Bar, Student Centre, UCC, and tickets are selling fast for this 40th anniversary celebration. Ticket holders will receive a free memento on entry to mark the occasion, and can look forward to a fabulous night of music from two live acts - Stephanie Rainey and the band Witless, as well as late night tunes with DJ Jules.

There’s a chance for a rest on Sunday morning as An Spailpín Fánach on South Main Street plays host from 3pm onwards. Always a firm crowd favourite, the annual table quiz will kick off the day followed by LINC Drama group, Stacey K performing her new release, live music from Misneach from the Kabin Studios, and karaoke with Prima Donna. There will also be a raffle for spot prizes donated by various generous local businesses. For people who want to keep the night going, there will be an after party in Vibe on Oliver Plunkett Street (passes available from CWW).

For people in need of a bit of fresh air and a debrief on Monday morning, Cork Frontrunners are hosting a walk and coffee meet up at Marina Market at 11am.

Andrea says that, typically, the Saturday night can see around 200+ revellers attend, who identify as lesbian, bisexual, trans women, and non-binary. “The events over the weekend are safe spaces where people can be affectionate towards each other, socialise, and not have to worry about what they look like or how they present."

With marriage equality, abortion, and divorce now available in this country, I ask Andrea what issues are now under the spotlight at the CWW? “There is still homophobia around, even if it’s understated. You can see it on social media. People in the community may feel a bit wary of showing affection or being themselves in a straight bar."

Andrea says the LGBTQIA+ community is Cork is very grateful for the new space recently opened in the city; Vibe on Oliver Plunkett Street opened by a friend of CWW, Jen Bowler, which welcomes LGBTQIA+ people. This space was badly needed for the community.

The CWW committee is looking forward to welcoming about 300 attendees this May Bank Holiday weekend, with people travelling from all over Ireland as well as various parts of the UK. They’ve even had people from America attend in the past, having once discovered the weekend as a happy accident while on holiday and then becoming return attendees.

Andrea is joined on the current organising committee by Sandra Carroll, and Sinéad Huggins-Young.

“The weekend is very important to us as a committee, and we always want to do things in the best interest of the weekend and its attendees. We feel privileged as volunteers to temporarily hold the torch for the institution that is the Cork Women's Weekend, and we hope to see it evolve and flourish for another 40 years and beyond.”

For further info and a full listing of events for the Cork Women’s Weekend 40th anniversary, check out their Facebook - Cork Women’s Weekend - and their Instagram - @corkwomensweekend. Email for tickets: corkwomensweekend.est1984@gmail.com