Local launch of book which recounts epic strike by labourers in Waterford

The Waterford Council of Trade Unions will host the launch of Rotten Prod, Dr.Emmet O’Connor’s book on the extraordinary life of James “Dongaree” Baird, at 8pm on 24 November in the Granville Hotel, Waterford.

James Baird, a radical Ulster Protestant boilermaker in the Harland and Wolff shipyard, was one of the hundreds of “rotten Prods”, who, along with thousands of Catholic workers were driven from their workplace by loyalists in 1920.

Having won election to Belfast Corporation in 1920, Councillor Baird instantly infuriated the Unionists and earned himself the name ‘Dongaree Baird’ by attending the splendid City Hall in his work overalls, his cap sticking out of his side pocket.

 As an official of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union in Kilkenny and Waterford, in 1923 he led the farm labourers of Waterford in an epic strike against wage cuts.  This historic struggle involved 1500 men in 23 parishes on the Copper Coast, lasting from May to December 1923.  Baird was very nearly elected to Dail Eireann as Labour candidate for Waterford.

 In 1927 he and his family emigrated to Brisbane, Queensland, where his daughters Nora and Helene were decorated by the Australian government for services to music in schools.

The author, Dr. Emmet O'Connor, who lectures in Ulster University, is a native of Waterford and is Irelands foremost Labour historian, renowned for his publications on the Labour history of Waterford and of Ireland, and on the Irish who fought against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

 “ROTTEN PROD, the Unlikely Career of Dongaree Baird” offers a compelling account of an unsung labour hero as well as a unique perspective on twentieth-century Irish history.

All are welcome at the launch at 8pm on 24 November 2022