The Catalpa escape involved the rescue of six men serving life sentences. All were former British soldiers who had taken the Fenian oath. Continue reading
Filed under Book review …
A Ground-breaking Study of South Australian Irish
When the evidence is looked at objectively, the vast majority of the colonial Irish, regardless of religious affiliation and county of origin, were respectable, law abiding people, neither rebels nor disaffected peasants. They arrived in Australia full of optimism and expected a better life. Continue reading
A First Book Gem
He came from nothing, but his success left him isolated and alone. Continue reading
The Multiple Identities of the Irish in Victoria
Irish-Australians call ourselves Irish Catholics, which is true culturally but our spiritual formation was not specifically Irish, but continental Catholicism. Continue reading
From Dublin with Love
Roddy Doyle’s Charlie Savage is the best remedy for a bad mood or a feeling that life is going too fast Continue reading
Recalling Daniel Mannix
Morgan’s book, The Mannix Era, is richly personal. It is written with considerable charm and an acerbic wit. But to read it in 2019 is to be overwhelmed by its masculinist perspective. Continue reading
Romantic Ireland – not dead and gone.
Christopher Kock belongs to a small but select class – he was a proud Irish Tasmanian and literary. Continue reading
Personal Reflections Inspired by A New History of the Irish in Australia
At the outset I must remark that all who are interested in the story of the Irish in ‘The Great South Land Under The Southern Cross’ will forever be indebted to the exceptional scholarship of two enormously talented historians, Elizabeth Malcolm and Dianne Hall. Continue reading
Who Watches the Watchers?
It is easy to appreciate the difficulty of policing in a place where a fugitive can escape into a different country by simply crossing a bridge or driving over a division in the road. Continue reading
Creeslough does Troy
For the modern reader of Homer, reading battle narratives can be a challenge. They are a genre Homer’s audience knew well and in which they can follow his every move. For us it is more difficult, but not when we’re in Daniel Kelly’s hands. Continue reading
