We are struck by the extent of the brothers’ influence on both their adopted countries. They made a difference. They added to the community and to the culture. Continue reading
Filed under Australian-Irish history …
Irish homestead names in Australia
While many Irish place names in Australia remain unchanged, especially those of populated areas and permanent geographical features, the names of homesteads are more likely to change. A homestead in Australia is usually a house and pastoral property. Some placename websites separate the homestead from the land, and some call a homestead a ‘station’. Continue reading
Thoughts on the Irish Language Revival: then and now
Still, figures from the 1891 public records suggest that the Irish-speaking population had dropped to less than 4% – a major language transformation in less than a century. Continue reading
Christmas Delights and Disasters: recipes and anecdotes
The main course was a labour of love, requiring a new (double) cherry seeder and a great deal of patience and finding space in the fridge, overstuffed for the season. To me, it looked festive with its glossy cherries and a crisp watermelon. Continue reading
Eureka 170: a grandson remembers his grandmother
However, that story of liberation and democracy continues. Peter at the stockade and Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, was not the closing chapter. Continue reading
Land Ownership in Ireland part 3
Because people had been crying out for a resolution of the land question for so long, and had no desire to wait any longer, this, along with war weariness, may have been a big factor in the massive support for acceptance of the treaty with Britain. Continue reading
Land Ownership Part 2
It was the case, however, that the only crime of those arrested may have been to support the aims of the Land League but, in the eyes of the authorities, this amounted to conspiracy. Continue reading
A new Irish-Australian Meeting point in Brisbane?
This now slightly derogatory generic name for an Australian female was first applied to Irish women who appeared in Australian courts. Continue reading
A road to nowhere: faith-based political parties
A concise history of the politics of religion-based parties in Australia. Continue reading
Land Ownership in Ireland Part 1
The result of decades of land sub-division, as a result of the Act of 1704, and a rapidly increasing population, along with the suppression of the woollen and linen cottage industries which had once flourished, had resulted in the great majority of tenants, especially along the West coast, being left with tiny subsistence landholdings. Continue reading
Tinteán 