The other songs cut straight to the chase of the reality of war. Mrs McGrath and Johnny, I hardly knew you. They give a heartbreaking perspective on the horror and futility of war and although tinged with humour they give a firsthand account of the injuries and lifelong disabilities inflicted. Continue reading
Filed under Australian-Irish history …
Seasonal Poems
Vermeer would have made much of it Continue reading
Bridget Hopkins c1833-1915: A Galway girl goes to Bathurst and Bourke
A brilliant multi-layered Irish orphan story. Continue reading
Playing with Pennies
History tells us that when the stakes were substantial, Pitch and Toss games could become extremely serious. In Dundalk in 1914 a man died following an altercation during a game of Pitch and Toss when an argument arose as to who was entitled to the winnings. Continue reading
St Patrick’s Day in South Australia
From the beginning of European settlement, St Patrick’s Day in South Australia has been commemorated annually as a rallying call to express Irish identity in a new land. Continue reading
Irish dust devils
My poem was written in English and in Irish, so I needed to find a suitable Irish term for a Dust Devil. Continue reading
From the Papers
There is an older generation in Ireland for whom the first Australian name they ever heard was that of John Landy. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís. Continue reading
A Tale of Two Malahides
Fortunately for Rose Talbot, there was a backup Malahide – in Tasmania, Australia – to which Rose now moved. Continue reading
Paul Strzelecki, Hero in Australia and Ireland
The highest peak of the Snowy Mountains. He named it after the Polish-Lithuanian statesman Tadeusz Kosciuszko, giving us Mount Kosciuszko. Continue reading
Keneally, A Man for the Ages
Still writing, still stirring, Keneally is a model for the ages. Continue reading