Trades Union Congress London, East & South East Race Relations Committee (RRC) support: IRISH HISTORY EVENTS 2018

Trades Union Congress London, East & South East Race Relations Committee (RRC) support: IRISH HISTORY EVENTS 2018

• Walking Tour of Irish and Jewish Communities in East London Sunday 11 March 2018, 11.45am This walk will look at the different and vibrant immigrant communities in East London from the Irish community of the 17th century to the Jewish community in 1870’s. Visiting Brick Lane, which was the home of the French Huguenot community (Refugees) in London from the 1680’s, then the Jewish Community fleeing pogroms in Poland and Russia, and more recently the Bangladeshi and Somalian communities. Then on to Commercial Road, and the history of women and men who worked and lived in the streets in that area. We will walk through to Cable Street and the site of the famous anti-fascist resistance in East London between Jewish, Irish and progressive forces against Police and the Mosley's British Union of Fascists. We will be exploring how this developed and how different communities joined in the fight against Fascism in the 1930’s up to the present day. This event is FREE (voluntary donations at event close) Please register: lese@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Trade Union presence on the St. Patrick's Day Parade in London Sunday 18 March 2018, 11.30am TUC London, East and South East representatives will be marching in London on the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Trade Union participation is in dedication to all the Irish Workers of the last few centuries which made Britain the most industrialised nation in the world. Through their mass concentration of cheap labour, British industry boomed through the high level of production in the factories, construction and transport. Irish women were als, formidable through their work in the street markets, the cotton industry and nursing. As a result, the Trade Unions membership rapidly increased and this year, it will be 130 years since the Match Girls Strike! Teenage girls of Irish heritage had the most successful strike in British history. After withdrawing their labour for three days, all their demands were met for better pay and conditions. The contribution of Irish workers in Britain must never be forgotten! www.london.gov.uk/events/2017-03-17/london-st-patricks-festival __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 • London Memorial to the Irish Famine (An Gorta Mor) Sunday 13 May 2018, 1-2pm (outside TUC Congress House) Sunday 13 May 2017 marked 170 years since the systematic number of deaths became more advanced during "An Gorta Mor" (Great Hunger) in Ireland. There will be a commemoration outside TUC Congress at 1 pm with guest speakers. This area in the Parish of St. Giles was the first recorded "Little Ireland" in London from the end of the eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. It was populated with Irish workers living in poverty and squalor. Many Irish people fled the Famine to this part of London and soon died of starvation as well as typhus. The failure of the potato crop began in 1845 and impacted heavily on the Irish population, as other crops had to be purchased for survival at a very high price or forfeited to their landlords. Hence, the starvation took effect in 1846. During the following year, it was the beginning of more than a million deaths as Britain refused to supply grain to the starving Irish population. By 1848 was the year of revolutions throughout Europe, 170 years ago, the deaths of Irish people were in a very advanced stage and there was an even an attempt at rebellion in Ireland. It is important that we commemorate "An Gorta Mor" (The Great Hunger) in London. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ • LESE RRC Irish History Event Thursday 17 May 2018, 6.30pm, TUC Congress House Guest Speaker: Mary Doolin, PCS, Senior Full-Time Officer, will be speaking on the history of Irish women in the British Trade Union movement. This year it will be 100 years since our first woman MP following the success of the Suffragettes, who achieved the Votes for Women. It is also 130 years since the "Match Girls Strike" as teenage girls of Irish heritage achieved all their demands since they withdrew their labour for three weeks in 1888. Please register: lese@tuc.org.uk / 020 7467 1220 www.tuc.org.uk/lese-race-relations-committee 

• Please note that this list is not exhaustive and if an event is not mentioned specifically it should not be inferred that LESE does not support it