THE RISING OF THE WOMEN

The Rising of the Women is Mike Finn's hilarious re-telling of the story of legendary film director, John Ford's visit to Limerick in 1956 to shoot scenes for his film, The Rising of the Moon. This being his first film since the success of The Quiet Man, the new film was eagerly anticipated and the great man’s arrival in the Treaty City was the cause of great excitement. Amid the glamour and the clamour, two hundred women were recruited from the Labour Exchange as extras. Their job was to portray worried citizens, anxiously reciting the rosary outside King John’s Castle while inside, a condemned rebel awaited execution at the hands of the Black and Tans. Midway through the first day’s shooting, the extras discovered that the buns provided for lunch were stale and that their pay was to be six shillings and eight pence rather than the promised ten bob. There was nothing for it but to strike! While they were at it, they also demanded porter to wash down the buns! Having fearlessly confronted the great John Ford, the film’s producer Lord Killanin and its technical consultant, Ernie O’Malley, the women demanded their issues were to be being seriously considered.

Mike Finn’s newest play, The Rising of the Women, was a huge success when it was read in St. Mary’s National School, Bishop St. on July 4th, 2024. You can now listen to an audio recording of this play on our Soundcloud platform here.

The story was staged in various areas in St. Mary's, Limerick, including street locations and inside the nearby St. Munchin's (former Church of Ireland) Church. Joan Sheehy directed an exceptional cast of Limerick performers for this unique productio,n including Gene Rooney, Aidan Crowe, Georgina Miller, Padhraic Hastings, James Corr, Carrie Barrett, Carmel Duggan, Megan O’Halloran, Mary O’Sullivan and Sheila Fitzpatrick. This production was a truly Limerick story with a 100% Limerick cast.