JAMES CONNOLLY’S NEW YORK at THE GREAT HALL of COOPER UNION

On the 100th anniversary of his death, New York Irish musicians, writers and storytellers performed in tribute to James Connolly on the stage where he spoke in 1902 in a free, public event. The performers included Michael Brunnock, Niall Connolly, Mary Courtney, Charles Cushing (grandson of Robert Monteith who traveled with Roger Casement to Ireland in April 1916), writer Matt Gallagher, musician Honor Finnegan, Kevin Holohan, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Warren Malone, Honor Molloy, Isabelle O’Connell and Brendan O’Shea.

Connolly (1868 – 1916), a dedicated Marxist, Irish Republican and revolutionary, appeared in The Great Hall in 1902 as part of an American lecture tour. He then lived in New York from 1903 until 1910. Six years later he was executed as a leader of the Easter Rising of 1916.

Susan invited New York based Cork songwriter Niall Connolly to write a song for the occasion and sent him footage of Connolly’s daughter Nora telling stories of his life and his death. Niall still performs the song today, most recently with Glen Hansard at a recent concert in Boston.