In 2014, The Risen People, a play by James Plunkett, was showing on the Abbey Stage, Ireland’s National Theatre. It was set in the shadow of the 1913 Lockout, a major industrial dispute between 20,000 workers and 300 employees in Ireland’s capital city, which lasted months and caused huge hardship. After every performance of the play, a special guest was invited to give their response in what became known as The Noble Call. I was very honoured to be one such Noble Caller and chose to honour all the women in the struggle, in particular Rosie Hackett. Rosie helped organise 3,000 women from Jacob’s Biscuit factory to strike in support of their male colleagues, was a founding member of the Irish Women Workers’ Union and fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, a precursor to Ireland’s War of Independence. In 2013 a bridge traversing the river Liffey in Dublin was named in her honour.
It can be found on my latest album “Donnelly’s Arm”. My speech and performance as a Noble Caller can be heard here.
Waltz for Rosie [comp. Niamh Ní Charra]
