Labnet: Major conference on the Manchester Martyrs, Salford 24 November

[labnet at lists.labourhistory.net]

From: Bernadette & Michael [mailto:mossley at phonecoop.coop] 



 

Manchester Martyrs conference in Salford

 

A major history conference  will take place at the Working Class Movement Library  in Salford on  Saturday 24th November which will look back at the events in November 1867 when  three Irishmen  were  hanged in public outside  Salford prison, convicted of the murder of  police Sergeant  Brett  during the rescue of two  Fenian prisoners from a prison van on Hyde Road, manchester. 

 

The men  maintained their innocence to the grim end and became known as the Manchester Martyrs.  It was one of the most controversial judicial and political  episodes in the fraught and sometimes bloody  relationship between Britain and Ireland.  This conference will explore  the political and historical resonances  of the episode and the  diverse ways in which the men  have been remembered over the past 140 years. 

 

The conference is entitled The Bold Fenian Men":  Remembering the Manchester Martyrs and  has been organised jointly by the Working Class Movement Library and Dr Christine Kinealy It has been sponsored by DION fund through the Irish Embassy in Britain   and the University of Central Lancashire.

 

Conference Chair: Bernadette Hyland

 

Speakers: Christine Kinealy, Eileen Murphy, Michael Herbert, Tristram Hunt and  Roger Swift. Songs from Bernie Murphy

 

Bernadette Hyland is a former national Chair  of the Irish in Britain Representation Group and has been active in Irish campaigns on miscarriages of justice and in support of prisoners.

 

Christine Kinealy is a Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire and Drew University, USA. She has written on Irish history, specialising in the history of the Famine.

 

Eileen Murphy is a playwright and theatre director. Her work includes two plays on the Manchester Martyrs. 

 

Bernie Murphy is a singer from Manchester and is active in campaigns in support of asylum seekers. 

 

Michael Herbert is the author of The Wearing of the Green: a Political History of the Irish in Manchester.

 

Tristram Hunt is a lecturer in history  at Queen Mary, University of  London. He recently presented a TV series on Protestantism and  is writing a biography of Frederick Engels. 

 

Roger Swift is a Professor of history and has written extensively on the Irish in Britain. 

 

 

Entrance to the conference is free.  Attendance should be pre-booked. A sandwich lunch will be provided  for which tickets costing £6 must be bought in advance Please  send a cheque made payable to Working Class Movement  Library to WCML, 51 The Crescent, Salford M5 4WX.   Further details: 0161 736 3601 or email enquiries at wcml.org.uk

 

More information; www.wcml.org.uk

 


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