A summary of Irish role in history and literature of Australia, written prior to more recent research and publications in the area. Continue reading
Filed under Catholic church …
Runaway Priest Makes a Debut
The premiere season of Runaway Priest by Felix Meagher, postponed because of pandemic, is about to open. Continue reading
Learning about Australia from John O’Brien
For many in Ireland, ‘Around the Boree Log’ was our introduction to Australia. Continue reading
The Report on the Mother and Child Homes
In the culture of the time, the father, considered the boss of the household in a patriarchal society, felt compelled to do his duty by barring his umarried pregnant daughter from living with the family. Considerations of familial love wilted when faced with the condemnation of neighbors, community and church. Continue reading
Brigid: from Goddess to Saint to Poet
The poem begins with a recognition of the unbroken chain (slabhra) from the celtic Brigid to the abbess who built her own convent in Kildare, to a modern day Brigid taking care of her family, and through to the writer, the poet. Continue reading
The Face of Irish Australian Literature
A review of two books, a disturbing one about Keneally’s literary career, and his unsentimental and searching novel on clerical abuse in the catholic church. And an invitation to read and review the Keneally novels you’ve not got around to….. Continue reading
Recalling Dorothy Day
The Pope named her with Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Thomas Merton as four great Americans. Continue reading
A word for the Brothers
Their schools were known for their tough discipline, but they deserve the country’s thanks. Continue reading
The Hermit Priest
A book about an Irish hermit and priest who spent 47 years in the West Australian desert and opened cross-cultural religious dialogue with indigenous Australians. 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
