ILHS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT LIBERTY HALL The FREE Bi-Annual Newsletter of the Irish Labour History Society May 2016 Volume 2, No. 1 Irish Labour History News The latest issue of Saothar is now available. Members receive complimentary copies of all ILHS publications. Copies of Saothar can also be purchased on our website - irishlabourhistorysociety.com Contents 1. Annual Conference 2015. Saothar 40. 2. Connolly event in Galway. Geraghty lecture & CWU book launch. 3. Labour history events at the Linenhall Library, Belfast. 4. Saothar 41 Special Issue. Jim Gralton lecture in Leitrim. SAOTHAR 40 NOW AVAILABLE JOIN THE ILHS. SEE PAGE 4 FOR DETAILS 1 ILHS Newsletter May 2016 President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins with his wife Sabi- na and John Horgan, on the opening night of the 2015 ILHS Conference held at the Liberty Hall eatre, 9-11 October. (Photograph: Eddie Soye). Editors: James Curry & Adrian Grant The ILHS annual conference took place on 9 – 11 October 2015 at Liberty Hall. Entitled ‘Labour in 1915: on the cusp of the Revolu- tionary Year’, this successful three- day event was held in conjunction with a number of different parties. After a lecture on ‘Setting the Scene: Dublin in 1915’ by Caitriona Crowe, the conference’s opening address – ‘After the Lockout. The options for the poor’ – was deliv- ered by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. This address was immediately followed by the proposing of an official vote of thanks by Suzanne Griffin of SIPTU Equality, and a presentation by ILHS Vice-President Fionnuala Richardson. The following day then saw a number of sessions tackle different aspects of the conference theme. These included ‘The Women of 1916’ , ‘James Connolly: Socialist and Soldier’, and a History Ireland hedge school panel discussion on ‘1915 and the events leading up to 1916’. At the close of Saturday’s proceed- ings the official launch took place of Mary McAuliffe’s new edited volume of essays concerning gen- der and class in twentieth century Ireland, published by Arlen Press to mark the historic recent naming of the Rosie Hackett Bridge over the River Liffey. The following morning a Young Workers Network session reflected on how the youth of Ireland today view the 1915-16 period in Irish history, before the weekend was brought to a close by a short walk- ing tour of Dublin city centre. A video recording of Michael D. Higgins’ address, along with audio recordings of the various Saturday panel events, can all be accessed on the ILHS website. The 2016 Con- ference will take place at Beggars Bush on Saturday 22 October 2016.
Transcript
ILHS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT LIBERTY HALL
The FREE Bi-Annual Newsletter of the Irish Labour History Society
May 2016 Volume 2, No. 1
Irish Labour History News
The latest issue of Saothar is now available. Members receive complimentary copies of all ILHS publications. Copies of Saothar can also be purchased on our website - irishlabourhistorysociety.com
Contents1.Annual Conference 2015.Saothar 40.
2.Connolly event in Galway.Geraghty lecture & CWU book launch.
3.Labour history events at the Linenhall Library, Belfast.
4.Saothar 41 Special Issue.Jim Gralton lecture in Leitrim.
SAOTHAR 40NOW AVAILABLE
JOIN THE ILHS. SEE PAGE 4 FOR DETAILS
1ILHS Newsletter May 2016
President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins with his wife Sabi-na and John Horgan, on the opening night of the 2015 ILHS Conference held at the Liberty Hall Theatre, 9-11 October. (Photograph: Eddie Soye).
Editors: James Curry & Adrian Grant
The ILHS annual conference took place on 9 – 11 October 2015 at Liberty Hall. Entitled ‘Labour in 1915: on the cusp of the Revolu-tionary Year’, this successful three-day event was held in conjunction with a number of different parties. After a lecture on ‘Setting the Scene: Dublin in 1915’ by Caitriona Crowe, the conference’s opening address – ‘After the Lockout. The options for the poor’ – was deliv-ered by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. This address was immediately followed by the proposing of an official vote of thanks by Suzanne Griffin of SIPTU Equality, and a presentation by ILHS Vice-President Fionnuala Richardson.
The following day then saw a number of sessions tackle different aspects of the conference theme. These included ‘The Women of 1916’ , ‘James Connolly: Socialist and Soldier’, and a History Ireland hedge school panel discussion on
‘1915 and the events leading up to 1916’.
At the close of Saturday’s proceed-ings the official launch took place of Mary McAuliffe’s new edited volume of essays concerning gen-der and class in twentieth century Ireland, published by Arlen Press to mark the historic recent naming of the Rosie Hackett Bridge over the River Liffey.
The following morning a Young Workers Network session reflected on how the youth of Ireland today view the 1915-16 period in Irish history, before the weekend was brought to a close by a short walk-ing tour of Dublin city centre.
A video recording of Michael D. Higgins’ address, along with audio recordings of the various Saturday panel events, can all be accessed on the ILHS website. The 2016 Con-ference will take place at Beggars Bush on Saturday 22 October 2016.
2 ILHS Newsletter May 2016
ILHS: Latest News & Events
Dublin Events: Remembering Joe Hill & the History of the CWU
ILHS committee members Theresa Moriarty and Emmet O’Connor took part in a Galway event dis-cussing the life, death and legacy of James Connolly on Thursday 18th February. Organised by the Moore Institute’s Irish Centre for the Histories of Labour and Class (ICHLC), in association with the Galway Council of Trade Unions, this well-attended event at the Me-chanics Institute saw Moriarty dis-cuss Connolly’s views on women, and O’Connor the labour leader’s radical socialism and nationalism in the lead up to the Easter Rising.
Other panel speakers on the night were Professor Peter Buckingham of Linfield College, Oregon (a Visit-ing Scholar to NUI Galway’s Moore Institute, who focused his attention on Connolly’s syndicalism and politics), and Meredith Meagher (a doctoral researcher at the Univer-sity of Notre Dame, who discussed Connolly’s American years).
The event was chaired by Mary Harris, and was memorably preced-ed by Margaretta D’Arcy reading from “The Non-Stop Connolly Show” (above). This work will be given extended daily readings at the Connolly Theatre in Dub-lin from 27th April to 12th May 2016. Information on forthcoming ICHLC events can be found on the interdisciplinary group’s official webpage:
https://ichlc.wordpress.com/
On 21 October 2015 the annual Hugh Geraghty Memorial Lecture took place at Liberty Hall’s Clé Club. The lecture commemorating the centenary of the execution of Swedish-American labour activist and famed songwriter Joe Hill was delivered by ILHS Honorary Presi-dent Francis Devine. Hugh Ger-aghty’s brother, Tom, introduced Devine on the night.
The event saw a selection of Joe Hill’s songs performed by Devine, Jimmy Jordan, Eric Fleming, Seán O hAracháin, Fergus Russell, Fergus Whelan and Des Geraghty (brother of Hugh).
Twelve days later, on 2 November, the ILHS was delighted to co-host the launching of Devine’s latest book, Communicating the Union: A History of the Communications Workers’ Union, at William Norton House, the North Circular Road headquarters of the CWU. Named in honour of the former Labour Party Leader and Tánaiste, the re-furbished conference and seminar venue was formally re-opened by President Higgins in March 2013. The event was chaired by ILHS president Jack McGinley.
At the launch of Communicating the Union, which complements the author’s accompanying 2013 volume, Connecting Communities:
A Pictorial History of the Commu-nications Workers’ Union, Devine delivered a brief historical overview of the CWU, Ireland’s leading trade union for postal, telecommunica-tion and call centre sectors.
The lecture focused on the union from the time of its founding in 1900 (as the Dual Workers’ As-sociation), through its various amalgamations and mergers up to the present day. Among the key events in the union’s history to be highlighted was the 1979 national postal strike, a dispute which re-mains the longest large-scale strike in Ireland since the founding of the Free State and “a benchmark for union solidarity”.
Special guests on the night includ-ed William Norton’s sons, Brendan and Kevin, CWU Office Manager Imelda Wall, and CWU general secretary Steve Fitzpatrick. After the author’s presentation Fitzpat-rick, who wrote the foreword to Communicating the Union, warmly thanked Devine (now deemed “a part of the CWU family”) for writing such a definitive history of his union.
Those interested in obtaining a copy of Communicating the Union should contact the CWU directly at the union’s website: www.cwu.ie
James Connolly:Life, Death & Legacy
Some of the musicians who took part in the event commemo-rating the life of the Swedish-American labour activist, Joe Hill. (Photograph: Eddie Soye).
3ILHS Newsletter May 2016
ILHS: Recent Events
‘OUR LIVES SHOULD NOT BE SWEATED’Lecture on Mary Galway at the
Linenhall Library, Belfast.ILHS committee member, Theresa Moriarty (above) gave a lecture ex-ploring the life of the trade union-ist, Mary Galway at the Linenhall Library in Belfast on 12 December 2015. The lecture also explored the lives of Belfast working women in the 1910-1915 period.
Mary Galway was born in Moira, Co. Down and was Secretary of the Irish Textile Operatives Society from 1897 to 1928. She was the first woman elected to the Irish Trade Union Congress National Executive in 1907 and was the first female Vice President of the ITUC in 1910.
The lecture was followed by the donation of a collection of Saothar back issues and other ILHS pub-lication to the Linenhall Library. The Library’s location in the heart
of Belfast city centre and its large number of members and visitors will ensure that the ILHS publica-tions reach a new and wider read-ership in Ireland’s oldest library.
The Linenhall Library was also home to the ‘Labor and Dignity: James Connolly in America’ exhibi-tion (right) from 9 November until 21 December 2015. The exhibition had previously been displayed by the Irish Studies programme at New York University.
Elsewhere in Belfast, on 11 April 2016, Queen’s University hosted a workshop to discuss the formation of a research network dedicated to the study of the Irish working class. ILHS members were in attendance and further developments with the proposed network will be reported in future issues of the newsletter.
ILHS committee member Theresa Moriarty delivering her lecture at the Linenhall Library.
(Photograph: Eddie Soye)
Part of the ‘James Connolly in America’ exhibition held recently in the Linenhall Library in Belfast.
(Image from exhibition programme)
Recent & Upcoming Labour History Events
4 ILHS Newsletter May 2016
The annual edition of Saothar (40), which members will have received in December 2015, is being quickly followed by Saothar 41 in May 2016. This ‘Special Issue’ of the journal is being published to mark the centenary of James Connolly’s execution in the aftermath of the Easter Rising.
The Special Issue includes articles giving regional perspectives on the Rising, on its global impact, on Labour in 1966, and on ‘the rabble’ in 1916. The issue will include the usual essays, notes on sources and reviews, all with a concentration on Connolly and the Rising.
Saothar 41 has been ably guest edited by Francis Devine, Sarah Anne Buckley and Brian Hanley. It includes contributions from, amongst others, Stefan Berger, Stefan Braun, Kate O’Malley, Eve Morrison, Donal Fallon, Róisín Hig-gins, Adrian Grant and David Toms.
Saothar 41 will be launched during a special event to be held in Dublin on 12 May, one hundred years to the day since Connolly’s execution. One of the journal’s contributors, Stefan Braun, will give a lecture on ‘The global impact of 1916’ as part of this special launch event.
An exact time and venue will be announced in advance of the launch. Please check the ILHS website or contact us directly using the details below for further information. ILHS members will re-ceive a complimentary copy of the journal as usual. Copies will also be available to purchase at the ILHS Museum and Archive at Beggars Bush and on the publications sec-tion of the ILHS website.
Those interested in purchasing a copy of Saothar 40 or other avail-able back issues can do so on the publications section of the website also.
JOIN THE ILHS TODAY
Join the Irish Labour History Society today and receive notice of upcom-ing events, a complimentary copy of Saothar, and the bi-annual ILHS News-letter.
You can download an application form at the web address below. Al-ternatively you can obtain a copy by email, phone or post:
Irish Labour History Society Museum & ArchiveBeggars BushHaddington Road Dublin 4
Below: The Carrick-on-Shannon Historical Society hosted a talk by historian and researcher Gerri O’Neill on ‘James Gralton, De Valera, and the 1933 Red Scare’ at the Bush Hotel on 16 March 2016. Pictured from left to right are Mary Dolan (Society PRO), John Feely (Society Chairperson & ILHS Committee Member), and the speaker, Gerri O’Neill.
Photograph: John Feely
The cover of Saothar 41, designed by Sonia Slevin of SIPTU Communications.
