In reviewing this important book about Irish who have migrated to Australia since 1945, I have two messages. Firstly, Patricia O’Connor and Fidelma McCorry have broken new ground with a solid and stimulating book. Continue reading
Filed under Irish Culture …
The Shanahans and the Kearns: Tipperary to Australia Part 1
No, it was not the gold discovery that brought me out. In Corrigeen, Barony of Kilmarney, where I lived, seventeen houses were burnt in one day by way of eviction. I at once made up my mind to be under Parker, our landlord, no longer, and I came out here. Continue reading
MONTO: a search for the definite article
The wicked history of ‘Monto’ spreads itself accommodatingly from the 1860s up to the 1950s. ‘Monto’ was, at one time, so it is claimed, to be the largest redlight district in Europe. It is estimated that there were at times up to 1,600 prostitutes working there. Continue reading
The Miracle of Old’s Cool
Good stories can be hard to find these days, so it is good to hear that Irishman Fergal Butler’s lost, found, and restored boat Old’s Cool is set to be relaunched. Continue reading
The Making of Irish Diasporas
The sheer distance between Ireland and Australia and the cost of the 12,000 mile passage for example meant that Australia was spared the ‘hundreds and thousands of refugees…ragged, starving and diseased, that were cast up on the shores of Great Britain and North America.’ Continue reading
What’s on July/August and beyond
Scoil Gheimhridh Sydney 2025
The Scoil Gheimhridh Sydney 2025 is a long weekend of Irish language and craic. Come and improve your Irish language skills. The key activity of the weekend is Irish language classes. Other
Irish activities provide a break in a convivial environment. These may include the official opening, table quiz, guest speaker, concert and classes in singing, tin whistle, boardgames or dance. Informal
sessions continue every night. Come and join the fun. Continue reading
My Passion for Cricket
But strangely enough despite all my extensive sports background, I got totally absorbed and immersered listening to cricket games on the BBC radio. Continue reading
Spinning Yarns and Little-Known Facts
What is unique about this publication, I believe, is how Colin brings little- known facts to us about all kinds of topics, but mostly about minorities, peoples and languages. Continue reading
Kerry Folklore: Na Cruacha Dubha agus Paróiste na Tuaithe: Seanchas agus Scéalaithe
Little of that inheritance was recorded in the new country, but books like this give a vivid impression of what came and what was lost. The Australian links in the material presented here are interesting. In one story a landlord declares that if any of his workers steal even a lamb they will be transported. Continue reading
What we are reading at the moment:
She used a blue biro pen and had numbered the pages on small, plain, lined notepaper…I was pleased to see, sometimes, the smudged ring of a teacup or saucer imprinted on the page. I ould see her in the kichen getting a cup of tea as she wrote to me on a Sunday night. Continue reading
Tinteán 