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
Filed under Irish Families …
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
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
What’s on June/July 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
Poetry: Mary Howlett, Colm Breathnach, Ray Givans, Diane Fahey, Patrick O Sullivan.
It’s not easy to be in love with
a place that has changed so much. Continue reading
Small Things Like These
The world of the film is a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and yet no-one ever speaks of what happens just down the road. Continue reading
What’s on May/June 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
The Brothers O’Shea: becoming stardust
We are struck by the extent of the brothers’ influence on both their adopted countries. They made a difference. They added to the community and to the culture. Continue reading
Irish homestead names in Australia
While many Irish place names in Australia remain unchanged, especially those of populated areas and permanent geographical features, the names of homesteads are more likely to change. A homestead in Australia is usually a house and pastoral property. Some placename websites separate the homestead from the land, and some call a homestead a ‘station’. Continue reading