IN THE dawning days of the 20th century the streets of Dublin echoed with a trio of new voices to represent the city’s work force.
They were the voices of James Larkin, James Connolly and William X O’Brien, the voice of disenfranchised, the voice of the downtrodden, the voice of Labour.
A hundred years ago the Labour party was founded in Clonmel by James Connolly, James Larkin and William O’Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress.
The first decade of the party’s existence was a tumultuous time in Irish politics and the Labour movement’s role in the constitutional, electoral and military upheavals that resulted in the foundation of the State are without equal.
It was the Labour movement that battled with the employers in the Lockout of 1913. It was the Labour movement that filled the ranks of the Irish Citizens Army in 1916 and it was the Labour movement that struggled for workers’ rights in the fledgling state in the 1920s.
To commemorate the centenary of these events Glasnevin Trust is running a series Labour history tours of the cemetery over the month of June.
The tour, conceived and written by cemetery historian Shane MacThomais, takes in the graves of many of the men and women who dedicated their lives towards a fair and just Irish society.
Amongst the graves visited are those of Countess Markievicz, the world’s first woman minister, Helena Maloney, founding member of the Irish Women Workers Union, Thomas Foran, who built up the trade union after Connolly’s execution, Sean Connolly, among he first casualties of the Easter Rising and Charlotte Despard, sister of Lord French and revolutionary socialist agitator.
The tour culminates at the grave of James Larkin where veteran actor of the stage and screen, Ger O’Leary, will perform Larkin’s famous speech –
“the great appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!
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O’Leary has played Larkin on the stage no less than 14 times including his participation in The Non-Stop Connolly Show in 1975, which lasted for 26 hours at its first performance in liberty Hall.
The tour commences on each Sunday (3rd, 10th.17th and 24th) in June at 1pm and costs
?¬6. All money raised goes towards the upkeep of the graves of these remarkable men and women.
For further details or bookings contact the cemetery museum on 01-8301133 or visit www.glasnevinmuseum.ie. Contact Shane MacThomais for further details or interview on 086-8911683 or 01-8301133 or email smacthomais@glasnevintrust.ie.