They broke the ground for the generations to follow. The Old Ghan railway was a major achievement, not only providing an essential service but in showing what is required to live and work in this challenging environment. Continue reading
Filed under ancestry …
From Tipperary to Outback Australia
Today, a hundred and eighty years later I stand near his grave in the hot, dry semi-desert land of the Australian ‘outback.’ Emigrating to Australia in the 1860s and becoming one of the burgeoning numbers of the Irish diaspora, John, better known as Jack, was part of a heroic effort to develop this new and challenging land, so different in every way from the green fields of Tipperary. Continue reading
Middleton’s Irish connection
The name Middleton seemed appropriate for this midpoint between Goolwa and Port Elliot, but I was unable to pinpoint where in Ireland the original Middleton was, presumably a place between two towns or village Continue reading
The Dictionary and Lost Irish Words
Is there bias in dictionary compiling? Ultimately, yes. Continue reading
What’s On – August to September, 2023
Lughnasa Bacon and Cabbage Night, Films to watch, Courses, conferences and seminars to attend, and a Battle of the Bands. Continue reading
Community Gatherings in Ireland: part two
The very earliest communal gathering and feasting for which we have solid evidence are known as fulachta fia. These were the locations where an animal, probably a deer or boar, was cooked following a hunt. The sharing of food is a social act that creates and maintains bonds and obligations within a group or community, which seems to have been the entire function of these feasts. Continue reading
What’s On – July – August, 2023
National Famine Commemoration, Lughnasa Bacon and Cabbage Night, Films to watch, FIFA Women’s World Cup Continue reading
You’ll take a cup of tea? Archaeological evidence for tea drinking at Baker’s Flat, South Australia
The fineness of the design and the stippling indicate a manufacture date in the early nineteenth century, suggesting that the teacup may have been brought to South Australia in an emigrant’s baggage rather than purchased locally in the years after arrival. Continue reading
Twin Room as Gaeilge
This poem was published in English as ‘Twin Room” in Tinteán on the 7 May, 2019 (see https://tintean.org.au/2019/05/07/twin-room-by-david-harris/). Here is a version as Gaeilge. Continue reading
A Right Royal Cup of Tay
Tea drinking may be associated with English culture, but it is still very much part of Irish culture too. Continue reading
