A group of 30 scholars, writers, and cultural practitioners convened on June 11–12 at the Druid’s Mick Lally Theatre to discuss Irish working class histories, representations, and creative lives as part of the symposium, “Representing the Global Irish Working Class: National and International Contexts and Dialogues.”
The symposium was organized by the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies in the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and the University of Galway, with organizational leadership from Dr. Ciara McAllister, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Galway, and Ariel Clark-Semyck, assistant director for research programs at the Keough-Naughton Institute.
In keeping with the symposium’s title, presentations explored how the lived realities as well as artistic and media portrayals of the Irish working class have shaped and been shaped by the socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of globalization. Due consideration was also paid to the formation and navigation of class within Ireland and local contexts. Throughout the two days, conversations centered on the movements of working-class writers, artists, and activists who have dedicated themselves to self-representation through creative expression and community organizing.
Irish working-class histories and activism
Several participants focused their talks on working-class histories in Ireland, tracing workers’ patterns of resistance to social and economic oppression. Constantin Torve (Queen’s University Belfast) examined class structure in 19th century rural Ireland and the secret labor societies that mobilized in response to poor wages and land evictions. Olivier Coquelin (University of Caen Normandy) discussed the rise of the Irish soviets, localized labor activism, and media coverage during the revolutionary period. Susannah Deedigan (Queen’s University Belfast, Keough-Naughton Institute) considered the letters of appeal written by wives, family members, and advocates of male political prisoners in the 1940s, documenting rhetorical strategies that argued for the internee’s release based on his role as a family breadwinner and “good worker” for Ireland. Emma Penney (Atlantic Technological University) delineated connections between the welfare rights movement led by Black working-class women in the U.S. in the 1960s, which inspired Irish working-class women’s welfare rights advocacy in the 1980s. As Penney highlighted, the activism took shape through political protest as well as through self-narration and collective storytelling: a “transperipheral” articulation of working-class feminism.
Working-class representation in literature, theatre, and the arts
Other papers explored a variety of works that portray working-class life in Ireland and follow the Irish emigrant worker abroad. Claire Creedon (Queen’s University Belfast), Andrew Mullan (Queen’s University Belfast), Brian Kelly (King’s College London), and Zara Meadows (Queen’s University Belfast) presented on contemporary Irish writers such as Anna Burns, Michael Magee, Lisa McInerney, and Matthew Rice, illuminating how their works break new ground in form, focus, and voice to communicate working-class perspectives. At the heart of these analyses was the spotlighting of experimentation and innovation in working-class writing as well as critical insight into the power dynamics and artistic implications of observation. A version of a flâneur that is far from idle — as Meadows conceptualized in their presentation on Rice’s poetry collection Plastic — emerges as a narrativizing figure across these texts. Each presentation demonstrated how the surveilling eyes of state force, unfriendly onlooker, or the workplace punchclock are met with the working-class flâneur’s own gaze that chronicles, challenges, and makes incisive art of it all.
Keynote speaker Michael Pierse (Queen’s University Belfast) delivered a comprehensive survey of writing on the Irish emigrant worker. Focusing on early 20th century authors including Patrick MacGill, James Hanley, Robert Tressell, and Sean O’Casey, Pierse underscored a condition that haunts their narratives of the Irish diaspora: an estrangement from place of origin and destination. Pierse’s reading of these texts emphasized how the working class contended with adversity wrought from colonial oppression and restrictive social norms in Ireland. Upon emigrating, however, Irish workers went on to encounter alienation and industry exploitation in their adopted homes. Despite the grim circumstances of the Irish emigrant worker as depicted in these narratives, the literary representation was revolutionary. Pierse highlighted how these writers, from working-class backgrounds themselves, drew from personal experience to tell the stories of those living and laboring on the margins.
Keith Hennessy (University of Liverpool), Oana Spătăriuc (Babeș-Bolyai University), Teresa Dunne (University of Galway), and Niamh MacGloin (University of York) also presented on literature of the Irish working-class diaspora, discussing authors Pádraic Ó Conaire, Dónall Mac Amhlaigh, Robert Tressell, and James Hanley among others. Central themes gleaned from these textual analyses were the Irish emigrant figure’s constant renegotiation of identity, culture, and language amidst pressure to assimilate, as well as compounding experiences of discrimination based on class, ethnicity, and disability.
Moving beyond the page, other participants discussed working-class representation as shown on stage, screen, or house siding. Paul Murphy (Queen’s University Belfast) traced traditions of political dissent in Irish diasporic theatre. Maria McGarrity (Long Island University) presented on Brian Campbell’s Voyage of No Return, a play that situates contemporary racism alongside the history of the 1768 St. Patrick’s Day Rebellion in Montserrat led by enslaved Africans against their Irish enslavers. John Hill (Royal Holloway London) provided an extensive media history of television dramas that portray Northern Ireland’s working class across eras. Rebecca Steinberger (Misericordia University) and Ana-Maria Someşan (Babeș-Bolyai University) each reflected on Kneecap’s global popularity, and how Belfast working-class identity, Gaeilge revival, and transnational anti-colonialism are at the forefront of their music. Struan Kennedy (Peace & Justice Scotland) discussed loyalist, working-class murals and the possibilities that symbols hold for mis/representation, fostering solidarity, or deepening division.
Working-class leadership in the arts
The symposium also foregrounded conversation about working-class leadership in cultural arts organizations and the importance of making identity-affirming creative spaces and career pathways available to all artists. Holly Foskett (founder, We Are Class) presented her research into socioeconomic and structural barriers that hinder participation in the arts, as well as organizations in Belfast, such as EastSide Arts, that offer professional development programs and community-based projects for working-class artists. Ciara McAllister joined Gary Crossan, producer for The Playhouse Derry, and actress Rachel Harley for a conversation on The Playhouse’s mission to peacebuild and offer accessible career training for local performers. The panel also discussed the impact Derry Girls has had on Derry and its creative industries. While Derry Girls served as a gateway for global audiences to see and get to know the city, discussants agreed that the TV show should serve as a starting point for people to further research and understand Derry’s history. Crossan and Harley also shared the positive industry effects that Derry Girls, and other TV and film productions set in the North, have had, such as the development and regular hire of highly trained local crews and creative professionals on these sets. They also emphasized that more cross-border arts funding and organizational collaboration could build a more supportive network for early-career practitioners.
The Writers’ Roundtable
The symposium came to an exhilarating close on the second day with a set of readings by Emmet Kirwan (Dublin Oldschool, Accents), Fran Lock (Hyena!, Vulgar Errors/ Feral Subjects), Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies trilogy), and Scott McKendry (Gub). Readings spanned a vast terrain in terms of subject, style, and genre. Kirwan performed two spoken-word pieces from his plays: one weaving through the thrumming milieu of Dublin nightlife, and the other a dynamic contemplation of fatherhood. Lock delivered a sonic-bloom of polyvalent poetics on the entanglements of class and gender performance. McInerney read an excerpt of zinging dialogue from her novel, Rules of Revelation, that reflects on the persisting trauma of the Magdalene Laundries. McKendry shared poems from Gub, a collection that depicts family and community life, the imprint of the Troubles, and no shortage of geese within working-class Belfast in vivid specificity — and with sharp wit, compassion, and a delight in all that language can do. A roundtable moderated by Dan Carey (University of Galway) followed the authors’ readings, and the group discussed how working-class consciousness shapes writing practice as well as artistic decisions in subject, language, and form. Discussants also commented on the ways that class is still glossed over — purposefully and unconsciously — in arenas of literary culture and critique, and that working-class writers often face pressure to mask aspects of their identity.
Participant reflections
After the symposium concluded, organizer Ciara McAllister and other participants offered the following reflections on the gathering:
“On behalf of myself and the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Galway, I want to thank Colin Barr, Ariel Clark-Semyck and the Keough Naughton Institute for being such enthusiastic partners on this symposium and thank all of the participants and audience members who gave up their time to enrich the event. Our aim with this symposium was to bring together scholars working on class across the globe to share their insights and experiences from their own national contexts. We were delighted to welcome speakers from universities in Ireland, Britain, France, Romania, and the United States, working across a variety of disciplines to form new partnerships and begin new conversations on where Irish studies and working-class studies can meet. After a truly inspiring and invigorating two days of discussion, it is clear that understanding shared commonalities across borders, amplifying marginalised voices, and celebrating different forms of culture can only strengthen our discipline. I look forward to seeing the inevitable impact that these conversations will have on research and scholarship moving forward.” – Ciara McAllister
“The Representing the Global Irish Working Class Symposium proved to be a highly enjoyable and intellectually stimulating event. Bringing together scholars and cultural practitioners of different generations from across Ireland, Britain, continental Europe and the USA, the event successfully broadened the scope of discussion of the Irish working class and helped to raise awareness of the importance of this for Irish studies, and Irish Cultural Studies in particular. The event was notable for the supportive and convivial way in which debate was conducted and I’m sure that we all left both intellectually recharged and ready to carry on more work in the same vein.” – John Hill
“The Representing the Global Irish Working Class Symposium brought together a phenomenal group of researchers at the Druid Theatre. The papers were wide ranging and provocative; they showcased engaging intersections between academic research and the lived experience of both panelists and community members. A sure sign of an excellent conference, conversations continued well into the after-hours as innovative ideas were discussed, and new projects were forged. Thanks to the organizers for setting up the conference and establishing an atmosphere of scholarly good cheer that made these connections possible.” – Maria McGarrity
“This conference was a resounding success. Ciara and Ariel must be praised highly as attentive and embedded hosts. The venue, the food and the general atmosphere were exemplary. This was the most useful and encouraging conference within the field of Irish Studies that I've been at. Everyone mingled and chatted — sometimes shop, sometimes getting-to-know-you — and debates were conducted with professionalism, grace and even joviality. Genuine friendships were formed. Contributors and attendees were diverse in background and interest, and each paper was rich, enthused and full of novel lines of thought. We’d fresh insights on Irish pop culture, a critical thesis on ekphrasis and factory work, a quantitative take on class nuance in nineteenth-century Ireland, and more. Throughout, discourse remained genuinely pluralistic and democratic. All sorts of connections were made. It was, from my perspective at any rate, a landmark in our understanding of what the words 'class' and 'Ireland' mean. It was class.” — Scott McKendry
“An outstanding, landmark Irish studies gathering, ‘Representing the Global Irish Working Class: National and International Contexts and Dialogues’ ranged from evocative readings and performances to cutting-edge new research on class and culture in the Irish world. This conference, so ably organised by the University of Galway’s Dr Ciara McAllister and Notre Dame’s Ariel Clark-Semyck, brought a gathering of specialists and creatives together in a well-curated series of panels that will no doubt lead to further academic collaborations in this growing field. The programme rightly contended that ‘globalisation has not only transformed Irish culture and society, it has redefined what it means to belong to the Irish working class’, and this reality was explored repeatedly through compelling papers that emphasised the rich, exceptionally complicated and global experience of Irish working-class life. A dynamic mix of undergraduate, doctoral, early-career and experienced academic perspectives, along with practitioner and artist voices, made for a fascinating and representative dialogue. Papers covered everything from the historical formation of class in Ireland, to class and disability studies, to factory ekphrasis, to the representation of migrant labour and identity, working-class masculinities, TV dramas of the northern conflict, transperipheral feminisms, and the modern performance of class conflict by Kneecap and the post-crash Irish novel. The author readings were particularly evocative — you couldn’t hear a pin drop for some, you couldn’t stop laughing with others. It was also nice (and very appropriate) that this conference was free and open to the public. It made for a more accessible, relaxed vibe that shone through, for example, in sessions where the audience took over the Q&A. I can’t thank or praise our organisers enough; it has been a long time coming, but it feels like the study of class and culture in Ireland is now on a solid footing with a range of emerging scholars carrying it forward with brio and ground-breaking, insightful research.” – Michael Pierse
“Representing the Global Irish Working Class was an amazing experience that has transcended the two-day event at Mick Lally Theatre in Galway. From the first panel to our final dinner together, the community of scholars from diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds forged new pathways into this important area of study. Because this was a safe space, academics, art practitioners, and students of Irish studies freely discussed and debated over two days in this theatre with a storied past.” – Rebecca Steinberger
“The symposium was an outstanding opportunity to discuss issues of class in Ireland that could not have come at a more pressing time, with the riots in Belfast immediately preceding it. The interdisciplinary strength of the panels, ranging from historical aspects to contemporary popular culture and featuring academics as well as cultural practitioners, reflected a growing interest in matters of class as both an analytical lens and a present-day social factor. In a context where this dimension has all too often been neglected in favour of sectarian or national narratives, a reckoning with the stark class divide underpinning Irish society past and present is overdue, and this symposium has laid a strong foundation for it.” – Constantin Torve