Filed under History

Only our rivers: a tribute to Mick MacConnell

Only our rivers: a tribute to Mick MacConnell

‘Only Our Rivers run Free’,  ‘It was a classic example of the right song, in the right place at the right time, recorded by the right artist, Christy Moore, because Christy’s career was taking off in a big way it  afforded an authority and a whole importance to the song… Continue reading

Meeting of the Waters: Echuca and beyond

Meeting of the Waters: Echuca and beyond

Catherine is a direct descendant of Arthur Guinness who started the stout, (she and Wayne got special treatment at the brewery), and a grand-daughter of Harry Guinness who was a leader alongside Roger Casement and Edmund Morel in opposing Belgian slavery in the Congo. (In 2017 Catherine wrote a stunning book, Rubber Justice, about him.) Continue reading

Leaving Drummock Moss

During the night, my brother Brian’s dog never stopped yapping. Early next morning my mother called out and she always used the Irish language pronunciation of my name.
‘Meehawl, your fry is on the table, and you’ll need it. You have a long day ahead of you.’ Continue reading

The Sad Tale of Eliza Fitzpatrick

The Sad Tale of Eliza Fitzpatrick

Her story is one, initially, of normal native Irish family life, then blighted by the Famine, the workhouse, and being sent to Australia, where her marriage, children, and oversall loss apparently sent her into a downward spiral and a tragic death. Continue reading

The Shanahans and the Kearns: Tipperary to Australia Part 2

The Shanahans and the Kearns: Tipperary to Australia Part 2

Late in the lean month of Iúil an Chabáiste on Friday 26 July 1850, before the digging of the new crop and at the remnants of the previous seasons harvest, agents of Government, bailiffs, crowbar men, police, army, law and land agents gathered at Ross Cottage at Cullohill or Kearns Cross to clear the surrounding townlands of Cooleen, Carrigeen, Cullohill, Mountkinane, Curraghkeale, Glenanoge and Glenarisk. Continue reading