(BORDENTOWN, NJ) -- The Fanny Parnell Poetry Project returns to Old City Hall in Bordentown, New Jersey, on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The two-part free event celebrates the famous 19th century Irish poet and revolutionary with a deep connection to Bordentown. Now in its 4th year, the event's date is set for St. Brigid’s Day, the Irish saint whose patronage includes poetry and beer.
The day’s first session is the 3:00pm “Poetry, Politics, and Ms. Parnell,” a voice theater work that gives voice to Parnell’s politically charged poems and passages from her 1879 “The Hovels of Ireland.” That book was written in Bordentown to advance the efforts of her famed brother, Irish Home Rule leader Charles Stewart Parnell, and examines the causes and effects of Ireland’s historic social and economic inequality.
The event takes place at Old City Hall (11 Crosswicks Street) in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Fanny Parnell’s poems likewise confront that inequality but include a call to action. Her much-anthologized poem “Hold the Harvest” has been called “The Marseillaise” of the Irish peasant.
Parnell’s connection to Bordentown is through her mother, Adelia Stewart Parnell, the daughter of celebrated War of 1812 naval commander and Bordentown resident Charles Stewart, aka “Old Ironsides”. Using her family’s estate as a base to raise funds for the Irish cause, the 33-year-old poet died suddenly of heart failure in Bordentown in 1882.
“Poetry, Politics, and Ms. Parnell” will feature Hopewell-based professional theater artist Carol Kehoe, known regionally for her work with Princeton Rep, Foundation Theater, and other venues. Also performing are two active Irish music instrumentalists, Bill O’Neal and George Zienowicz.
O’Neal, of Ewing, is a guitarist who has been heard in both Ireland and New Jersey, including his monthly session at Tir na Nog in Trenton. The Ewing resident is also a retired English teacher and author. Zienowicz, whose mother is of Scottish ancestry, is a pipe player and fiddler who performed with a Celtic rock band and at various Irish-themed venues. He is also the owner of Zienowicz signs in Trenton and a neon artist.
Bill O’Neal
The Parnell program was developed by Bordentown-based journalist and theater professional Dan Aubrey, whose theater credits include productions at Passage Theater, La Mama ETC in New York, and the once prominent southern New Jersey professional Foundation Theatre.
The second part of the program is the 4:00pm “Poets and Pints” session at Bordentown Square Tap + Grill (233 Farnsworth Avenue) in Bordentown. The session features regional and state writers D. Ryan Lafferty (Bordentown), Todd Evans (Trenton/Willingboro), and Derrick Owings (Burlington). A limited open reading will also be included.
Admission to all events is free.
The Fanny Parnell Project is part of the larger Bordentown Poetry Project developed through the Bordentown Old City Hall Restoration Committee, a volunteer group dedicated to providing awareness and funds to restore the historic landmark building in downtown Bordentown.