JAMES CONNOLLY FESTIVAL EVENTS 2026
Wednesday May 6th, 7pm, The New Theatre
Theatre, Readings, Songs and Stories
James Connolly’s ‘The Agitator’s Wife’
The first performance of James Connolly’s ‘The Agitator's Wife’. It is a formerly lost short story discovered in 2019, believed to be written by Irish revolutionary James Connolly in 1894. Found in the Labour Prophet journal, it depicts a Scottish docker's wife taking over leadership of a strike to support her family and community. It likely inspired a lost play of the same name mentioned in his daughter's 1935 memoir.
Portrait of a Rebel Father
A reading from Portrait of a Rebel Father(1935), a biography of James Connolly. The memoir was written by his daughter, Nora Connolly O'Brien. It offers an intimate, firsthand account of his life, lecture tours, and final days before
Music
TBC
Directed by Jessica Freed
Curated by Frank Connolly
Performed by
Finbarr Doyle
Leanne Pickerdike
Daniel Costello
Rory Mullen
Thursday, May 7th, 7pm at The New Theatre
Film
‘I Am Cuba’ (Soy Cuba) was both a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made. A legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion.
The result of an extraordinarily ambitious collaboration between the Soviet and Cuban film industries, director Mikhail Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba unfolds in four explosive vignettes that capture Cuban life on the brink of transformation, as crushing economic exploitation and inequality give way to a working-class uprising.
Backed by Carlos Fariñas’s stirring score, the dazzling camera work by Sergei Urusevsky—an inspiration for generations of filmmakers to follow—gives flight to the movie’s message of liberation.
Friday, May 8th, 7pm at The New Theatre
Politics
Michael O'Riordan was born in Cork in November 1917. He was for many decades the public face of the communist movement in Ireland from the mid 1940's onwards until his death on the 18th May 2006. He dedicated his entire life to the struggle for socialism, for the liberation of the working class and for a united independent sovereign Ireland. He fought in the Spanish anti-fascist war (1936-39) with the Connolly Column as part of the International Bridge.
He stood for elections on a number of occasions. During the election campaign of 1951, at the height of the Cold War, he received the endorsement of playwright Sean O'Casey who wrote “Mr O'Riordan is his own message. He has nothing to sell but his soul. But he hasn't done that, though he will be told he'll lose it by holding on to it.”
O'Riordan was a communist with strong principles, showing great personal and political courage throughout his life. He was a man of peace, an anti-fascist, a housing activist and a strong, active supporter of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in the occupied six counties. He was a staunch defender of the Soviet Union and all those fighting for a better world.
On the twentieth anniversary of his passing, join us for an evening of memories and discussion on his life with long time stalwart members of the Communist Party of Ireland and author of ‘The Making of an Irish Communist Leader - life and times of Michael O’Riordan 1938-1947’
Saturday, May 9th, 12.00pm, Connolly Books (Courtyard)
Poetry & Spoken Word
Poetry and spoken word in our courtyard.
Anna D is a writer, performer and spoken word poet from Dublin. Her work is violently vulnerable, fragile and fierce and aims to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. She is interested in the politics of emotional life, the female experience, motherhood, relationships, familial and collective trauma and the web of structural oppression that impacts how we relate to each other and the world today. She has won multiple slams and competitions including the All-Ireland Poetry Slam. Her show ‘Roots in Every Room’ debuted at Dublin Fringe Festival 2025 and was nominated for the ‘Radical Spirit’ award. She is currently Artist in Residence at Dublin Fringe Festival where she is working on a multidisciplinary theatre project about ‘Matrescence’.
Nithy Kasa was born in Kimpese, a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2005, the teenage Kasa moved to Galway. A poem she submitted to her secondary school’s magazine caught the attention of her English teacher, a renowned Galway poet. Her teacher’s encouragement led to her enrolment in Poetry Ireland’s national Poetry Aloud Competition, where she reached the finals multiple times. More contests followed in poetry and public speaking, and from that point on, writing poetry became a major part of Kasa’s life. A member of the Dublin Writers’ Forum since 2014, Kasa has read for Poetry Ireland, RTÉ Radio’s Poetry Programme, Concern, Ranelagh Art Festival, Mother Tongues Festival, and other series and events.
Rachel Lally is an actor, writer, poet, facilitator and performer whose work centres on community, social justice and collective storytelling.
A multidisciplinary artist, Rachel has performed across theatre, spoken word and live music, with appearances at festivals including Edinburgh Fringe, Prague Fringe, Electric Picnic and Knockanstockan. Her work spans intimate performance spaces and large-scale events, often blending poetry, theatre and ritual to create immersive audience experiences.
She is curator and madame of the Dublin Poetry Brothel, including a special edition for the Bram Stoker Festival, creating spaces where poetry becomes personal, political and participatory.
Rachel’s practice is rooted in access and engagement. She has facilitated workshops with Poetry Ireland’s programmes in secondary schools and collaborated with UISCE using Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to explore addiction, marginalisation and lived experience. Her work frequently engages with themes of power, class, gender and resistance, drawing on both personal narrative and wider social histories.
Her poem and film “Indirect Prison,” responding to Ireland’s Direct Provision system, premiered at Axis Theatre and reflects her ongoing commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices.
Clíodhna Bhreatnach is from Waterford and lives in Dublin. Her poetry has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Propel, and Poetry Ireland Review. She was awarded a Dublin City Arts Bursary in 2025. She is the former poetry editor of the Frustrated Writers Group. Her debut pamphlet Pink roses, Green was published by Green Bottle Press in 2025 and was highly commended for the Patrick Kavanagh Award.
Saturday, May 9th, 2pm, Connolly Books (Upstairs)
Book Launch
Ireland's transformation over the past half a century is regularly presented as a success story - from poverty to prosperity, mass emigration a “poster boy” for successful economic development that should be the template for other nations to follow?
The book pulls away the veil of the slick Irish government PR spin and exposes the deep economic and political weaknesses that lie at the heart of this social and economic dependency strategy. The book interrogates that dependency not as moral failure but as a structural feature of capitalism in Ireland.
The road from dependency to sovereignty is neither automatic nor inevitable. It must be fought for, organised, and defended and ultimately owned by the working class.
Saturday, May 9th, 4pm, The New Theatre
LECTURE
The annual James Connolly Memorial Lecture will be given this year by Dr Patrick Bresnihan
Ireland’s neutrality was borne out of a long history of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle. Today, Ireland is one of the most dependent national economies in the world, reliant on a handful of US multinational companies and highly exposed to US industrial and foreign policy interests.
From inaction on the Occupied Territories Bill to the removal of the Triple Lock, the erosion of Ireland’s neutrality is inseparable from this structure of economic dependency.
The fight for neutrality remains a question of anti-imperialism and sovereign development.
Sunday, May 10th, 3pm, Arbour Hill
The annual Connolly Commemoration is a central and concluding end to our festival. For many decades Irish communists have gathered in Arbour Hill cemetery to mark and celebrate Ireland's greatest working class thinker and leader James Connolly.
After his execution on 12th May, 1916 that date has been marked by Irish communists and other progress forces from within the working class and republican traditions. Even on the battle field in Spain (1936-39) volunteers of the Connolly Column took time to mark his murder.
For this year's commemoration we are honoured to welcome Dr Saeb Sha’ath to give the oration. The Gaza-born activist is a well known public speaker and expert on West Asia. He is also well versed on Irish history and affairs. He will address our commemoration on the historic struggle of the Irish and Palestinian people for national freedom and independence.
The commemoration is an opportunity to rededicate to the political legacy of James Connolly and the struggle for a united, sovereign, independent socialist Ireland.