MOTHER co-founders Lisa Connell and Cormac Cashman on Cultúr Club 2024
Ahead of St. Patrick’s Festival’s Cultúr Club on Saturday 16 March, Sarah Gill chats with MOTHER co-founders Lisa Connell and Cormac Cashman on Irish pride, queer clubbing, and what’s to be expected from the 2024 offering.
Founded in 2010, MOTHER is a weekly club night in Dublin city centre celebrating LGBTQ+ club culture that’s grown in leaps and bounds to become a veritable institution of Irish nightlife.
As part of St Patrick’s Festival, MOTHER returns to proudly present Cultúr Club, a very special night of live music, queer performance and art in celebration in one of Ireland’s most iconic spaces, The National Museum of Ireland.
Across three stages, including a 3500-capacity main stage dance tent, a drag cabaret circus tent and the outdoor arena in Clarke Square, Cultúr Club is bringing an array of live music, DJ, and drag talent from across the LGBTQ+ community, traversing musical styles from electronic and disco to trad, techno and beyond for a massive multi-stage queer dance party.
To give us a little insight of what’s in store, and an idea of the highlights and progress from the past 15 years, co-founders Lisa Connell and Cormac Cashman share the MOTHER story so far…
Lisa, tell me a little bit about your background and how you decided to create MOTHER
MOTHER is a weekly club night based in Dublin city centre founded in 2010 to, among other things, raise vital funds for the national LGBTQ+ press, GCN. I was working with GCN and Cormac was an emerging promoter with a very successful LGBTQ+ student night, Prhomo.
We created MOTHER in a very specific context, that of the recession and for a very particular set of needs. Fundraising for a beloved community resource and the desire to create a safe and queer space for the community at a challenging time for all. The recession affected everyone differently but we had a belief that dancing and gathering together needed to be prioritised.
Coming up to 15 years of MOTHER, from a basement breakfast nook to a veritable institution of Dublin nightlife, how does it feel to reflect on how much it’s grown and how much Irish society has progressed?
Humble beginnings with disco lights duct-taped to pod tables and decks assembled on high couches didn’t dampen our delight at creating a new queer space in the city. From night one we had our not-so-secret to success, our beloved Resident DJs, they are the beating heart of all that we do and keep the party going. We love them.
Ireland has witnessed seismic social change since 2010, much of which was led and supported by the LGBTQ+ community. Marriage Equality, Gender Recognition, Repeal of the 8th to name a few.
We were happy to do our bit and play our part with lots of activism and fundraising across two referendums (Mar Ref and Repeal the 8th), and supporting our trans family all along the way. Trans rights are human rights.
It brings us so much joy to witness the magic that can happen in a queer space when people are connecting, letting loose and given permission to be themselves.
