The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

Born in Dublin in 1870, Robert Noonan (better known under his pen name Tressell) was the author of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

That book, which remained unpublished during Tressell’s life, would become a seminal text on the exploitive nature of capitalist society for generations of trade unionists and socialists after it became widely available in the latter half of the 20th century.

Tressell’s own life connects the story of the workers’ movement from Ireland to Britain and South Africa. However, in the city of his birth his legacy and the important role his book has played in modern trade unionist and socialist culture is largely overlooked.

The Robert Tressell Festival Organising Committee is committed to reinvigorating interest in the key concerns which underpin the great artistic and educational endeavour that is the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

The aims and objectives of the Robert Tressell Festival Organising Committee

1. To increase knowledge and appreciation of the concerns central to the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists through the holding of at least one cultural event or series of cultural events annually in Dublin.
2. To promote cultural and political interaction between the Irish and British trade union movements in order to advance an understanding of our shared heritage and how practical cooperation can further our shared interests.
3. To promote among the general public a greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of the trade unionist, cooperative and socialist perspective as a way of promoting positive social change within society.
4. To bring the activities of the Robert Tressell Festival Organising Committee to the attention of the widest audience of workers possible through the use of digital technology and utilising all resources in an inclusive public focused manner.

Organising Committee Members