The 2014 lecture programme of the Old
Drogheda Society opens in spectacular fashion on Wednesday
15th January when the Society presents Who Fears to Wear the Red
Hand Badge? an illustrated talk about the Great Dublin Lock-Out of 1913, its
local impact and its aftermath.
The lecture will be held in the Governor’s
House, Millmount, at 8 p.m.
Francis Devine, the acclaimed labour
historian, author, poet and singer and his colleague, Fergus Russell, will tell
the story of the Lock-Out through the songs and stories of the time, accompanied by fascinating contemporary
images. Francis, often called “Renaissance Man”, because of his accomplishments
in such a wide variety of activities, is well known in Drogheda and his previous
presentations have been a great success. He has collected the contemporary
songs and poems relating to the dispute. And the singing of these songs, most of
which have not been heard for a century, will bring the events of Dublin city
and county vividly to life.
No mere academic exercise, this event will add
greatly to our understanding of the period – a decade that laid the foundations
for modern Ireland.
Representatives of the Millmount Research
Unit will complement this exciting material with a parallel presentation on the
reporting of the dispute in the local newspapers at the time. Although Drogheda
itself was not directly involved in the cataclysmic events in the capital city,
the story of the struggle of the farm labourers of North County Dublin for union
recognition and for better wages and conditions cannot be separated from the
better known events in Dublin.
As well as telling this story in detail, the
presentation will also deal with the conflict within the communities of North
Dublin, the response of the Church to the industrial unrest and the political
developments arising from the dispute that prepared the way for a refocusing on
the National Question and opened the path to the 1916 Rising.
This is a public lecture and all are welcome.
There will be a book stall open on the night
MillmountGovernor's
House,
Millmount,
Drogheda
0419833097
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