We may not sound Irish, but have a strong sense of our Irish-Australian identity. We’re a largely-untapped resource with much to contribute to Irish-Australia. Continue reading
Filed under emigration …
The ‘Best Choir in the Anglosphere’
Catherine Fitzpatrick, a convict’s wife, conductor of the first choir of an infant colony. Continue reading
Bridget Watson: from Ireland to Lancashire to Hobart
On 18th October 1831 Bridget Watson arrived in Hobart on the Mary III with her three surviving children … Continue reading
Irish Women Migrants of the 1850s
Single women seeking work as domestic servants were faced with frequent ‘No Irish Need Apply’ advertisements in newspapers. Yet, most Irish women did find employment, and were successful immigrants. 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
Daughters remember Barney Devlin
Tributes from his daughters for Barney Devlin, journalist, teacher, lover of the Irish language. Continue reading
Feminists before First Wave
This book on Nano Nagle and her legacy casts a powerful gaze on the lives and culture of a body of nuns whose charism was particularly and importantly focused on girls Continue reading
Support for Irish Nurses Down Under
Irish nurses at home and across the diaspora strike for better conditions in Ireland. Continue reading
Rethinking Identities
Reflections on Identity by Geraldine O’Reilly I’ve just returned from a trip ‘back home’. Like many immigrants I have more than one place I call ‘home’; in my heart ‘home’ is Melbourne, Northern England and Ireland. Ireland has its share of problems but is generally a happening place. Its people are enjoying liberties long denied; … Continue reading
Famine Amnesia
By Frank O’Shea The word ‘amnesia’ was heard several times at the Famine round table in the Williamstown Town Hall on October 28. It was used to describe the way that Ireland seemed to have forgotten about the Great Famine of 1845-51 until it was brought to public discourse following the publication of Cecil Woodham-Smith’s … Continue reading
