James Connolly centenary fundraiser for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

James Connolly

On May the 12th an event will take place in the Crane Bar, Galway to mark the centenary of the death of James Connolly and to raise funds for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). It will be a celebratory evening but will also reflect issues that continue to effect Ireland and Europe; social injustice, the unequal treatment of women, anti-migrant policies and propoganda. Below are details of the evening, the participants and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Venue: Crane Bar, Sea Rd, Galway.
Time: 8pm (doors open 7.45)
Price: 10 Euro / 8 Euro concession. All money raised will go to MSF
Contact: 087 654 5411 / celtictales@gmail.com

About the event

The evening will begin with a reading of James Connolly’s poetry by Fionnuala Gallagher.

James Connolly was a Scots born socialist, internationalist and supporter of women’s rights. He also wrote poems and songs. He pithily summed up his beliefs in one of his poems: ‘For our demands most moderate are, We only want the earth.’

Commandant-General of the Volunteers who took part in the Easter Rising, James Connolly was wounded in the GPO. Unable to stand due to his wounds, he was tied to a chair on 12th May and executed by a firing squad.

Reflecting James Connolly's support for women's rights, Rab Fulton, Scottish storyteller, will tell a ghost story called ‘The Wicked Woman’. Based on folk lore from the Beara Peninsula this tale, partly set in the time of the Cromwellian invasion, mixes humour and horror to tell the story of women caught up in war. This story will be followed by a shorter magical Scottish tale about a fisherman who betrayed a mermaid.

Ellie Cummins, a relation of Margaret Keogh, a nurse who was the first civilian casualty of the 1916 Rising, will finish the evening by reading out the 1916 Proclamation.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

The world is currently facing the worst displacement crisis since the Second World War. More than 60 million people across the globe are fleeing conflict, poverty and persecution, either within their home countries or by fleeing abroad.

In Europe MSF is involved in providing medical care and shelter for refugees, as well as carrying out search and rescue missions for refugees crossing the Mediterranean. MSF has refused to be involved in the EU’s current policy of mass expulsion. As Marie Elisabeth Ingres, MSF Head of Mission in Greece, explained: “We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized for a mass expulsion operation and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants.” MSF Humanitarian Affairs Advisor, Aurélie Ponthieu, has described the EU plans ‘as likely to produce additional human suffering’

For more details on the refugee crisis see MSF’s Overview of the refugee crisisin Europe

 

Participants

Fionnuala Gallagher

Fionnuala Gallagher was a founder Member of Blue Raincoat and Dhá Éan Theatre Companies and has substantial experience acting, directing and producing Theatre as well as teaching Drama. She holds an M.A. in Drama & Theatre and a Higher Diploma in Drama through Irish. Fionnuala Has been the Director of the Múscailt Arts Festival at NUI Galway for 12 years. In the last 2 years Fionnuala has completed the first 2 stages of training in Red Nose Clown Theatre with renowned teacher Lee DeLong and has worked on collaborations with live music and performance with Triko Cirkus Teatar in Croatia, under the direction of Lee DeLong. Fionnuala is keen to use her new skills to direct live performances, and also to direct live recorded performances. In 2015 Fionnuala directed Siúl II, a solo dance piece devised by Bernie Divilly, which was presented in the Firkin Crane in July 2015.


Rab Fulton

Rab Fulton is an author and storyteller. He is currently working on a collaborative storytelling and narrative project for children with dyslexia, which will be launched in 2017. Rab recently finished writing a scifi blog novel for the Múscailt Arts Festival, Marcus Marcus and the Hurting Heart. The blog novel will be officially launched at the Colours Fringe Festival on Friday 3rd of July at 1pm in the City Library, Galway. For more on Rab’s work see Rab Fulton Stories


Ellie Cummins

Ellie Cummins & Rab Fulton met in the late 90s in Galway and had many adventures together in the Global Music Project with music and poetry raising awareness of the plight of Asylum Seekers. Ellie’s plays have been seen in Praha, New York, and places in between. She also appears in Salmon Poetry’s Dogs Singing & in short films such as Men & Women & TV including Little John Nee’s Fear an Phoist. She is delighted to read the Proclamation in honour of her Grand Aunt Nurse Margaret Kehoe The first civilian casualty of the 1916 Rising who was shot by the British despite wearing her nurses uniform as she tended to a wounded volunteer Dan McCarthy who went on to head the GAA.