Irish woman’s major role in miner rights

THREE years ago many Irish people had never heard of Mother Jones.

But later this month, an international festival in her native city will celebrate the turbulent life and times of the legendary Cork-woman who became a household name across America.

Born in the shadow of Shandon steeple, Mary Harris survived famine, the American Civil War, the loss of her business and the yellow fever epidemic which killed her husband George Jones and the couple’s four children to become one of the most famous union organisers in America.