Filed under emigration …

Rethinking Identities

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

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 →

Meeting An Old Classic

That Trench was one of those responsible for the Famine exodus cannot be entirely excused by the fact that his motives were good, and that he felt this was a better solution than the humiliation of the workhouse and the cruelty of road-making. Continue reading →