Dublin’s inaugural Beatles Weekend begins on Friday, celebrating not just the Fab Four’s links to Ireland but also the city’s deep connections with Liverpool.
A twinning arrangement between Dublin and Liverpool, which has always been the most Irish of British cities, was first signed in 1997 and was reactivated earlier this year.
The links between the two cities are many and stretch back hundreds of years. Here are five you may not be aware of:
Music: The Beatles
Three of the Fab Four had Irish roots. Paul McCartney’s mother, Mary Mohin, was the daughter of Owen Mohin, originally from Tullynamalra in north Co Monaghan. McCartney’s paternal grandmother was also from an Irish family. Mary spent some of her childhood living in Ireland. In 1941, she married James McCartney, a part-time musician, factory worker and wartime firefighter.
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McCartney’s mother died from cancer when he was just 14, but she is referenced towards the end of The Beatles’ run in the classic McCartney-written ballad Let It Be. He mentions “Mother Mary” in the opening line as a tribute to his mother, though some fans see it as a nod to the Virgin Mary.
John Lennon‘s paternal grandparents, John (Jack) Lennon and Mary Anne “Polly” Maguire, were born in Dublin.
Lennon purchased an island, Dorinish, in Clew Bay, Co Mayo, in 1967. He had always planned to build a home there and was investigating that process when he died in 1980. Locals still call the place “Beatle Island”.
[ The story of Clew Bay, from Granuaile to John LennonOpens in new window ]
George Harrison’s maternal grandfather, John French, was born in Co Wexford. When The Beatles played their only concerts in Dublin in 1963, several of Harrison’s Irish cousins were in attendance.
Religion: Paddy’s Wigwam
Liverpool has been the most Catholic city in England for the last 160 years. Though not all Irish are Catholics, the overwhelming number of Catholics in Liverpool are of Irish descent. In the 1840s, Liverpool was the nearest place to Ireland for those fleeing poverty and the famine. The city’s population rose exponentially. By 1851, a quarter of Liverpool’s residents were Catholic, a proportion that has remained steady. By contrast, the Catholic population of England as a whole is about 8 per cent.
The city, though, didn’t have a Catholic cathedral until the 1960s. An earlier design by the acclaimed architect Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the Cenotaph in London and the Irish War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, was shelved because of costs. The cathedral project was revived in the early 1960s in favour of a design that became known affectionally as Paddy’s Wigwam because of the association with Irish Catholicism.
Politics: Liverpool once returned an Irish nationalist MP
The Liverpool Scotland constituency near the docks in north Liverpool once had such a huge Irish population that it returned a nationalist MP for 44 years.
The seat was held by Thomas Power (TP) O’Connor, originally from Athlone, Co Westmeath, who first stood in the constituency in 1885.
He held his seat even after Irish independence and was the father of the House of Commons at the time of his death in 1929 at age 81.
O’Connor was also a journalist of some renown and earned the undying admiration of songwriters, having been instrumental in the passing of a Bill through the House of Commons in 1906 that protected their copyright.
Literature: The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists
The literary connections between Dublin and Liverpool are reflected in the life of Dublin-born house painter Robert Noonan, better known by his nom-de-plume Robert Tressell.
His family migrated to South Africa and then to England. He moved to Liverpool with a view to emigrating to Canada, but never got beyond the city. In 1914 he wrote the novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, which was a critique of the capitalist system that Tressell experienced as a house painter. The book is one of the most influential political novels published in the English language.
Another labour connection between Liverpool and Dublin is James Larkin, who was born in the city’s Toxteth area. He moved to Belfast in 1907, but found fame when he founded the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) in Dublin and led the Dublin Lockout of 1913. There is a plaque commemorating Larkin’s birth in Liverpool
Football: Former England player’s grandfather fought in 1916
Peter Reid grew up as a Liverpool fan but ended up being a linchpin for city rival Everton during a golden run in the 1980s that saw the club win two league titles, a FA Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. He also won 13 caps for England before a management career that included spells at Manchester City, Leeds United and Sunderland.
What is less well known about Reid is that his grandfather, Patrick “Whacker” Reid, was involved in the Easter Rising. He was stationed in Boland’s Mill during the fighting. He fled to Britain and ended up in Liverpool.
He spent most of his life active in trade union affairs and at the time of his death was chairman of British prime minister Harold Wilson’s Huyton constituency organisation.
Wilson instigated very good relations with the Irish government during the 1960s as his constituency had a very large community of Irish extraction.
A Liverpool-Irish contingent took part in the Rising and were billeted in Joseph Mary Plunkett’s palatial home at Larkfield, Kimmage.
The Beatles Weekend takes place between Friday and Sunday with events around Dublin city. Details at Dublin.ie/beatles
