With the passage of time Irish Catholics eventually did become part of the fabric of Australian society. With the coming of each generation, they moved along and some of them, up the social scale. But their ascent was neither rapid nor easy. Continue reading
Filed under research …
Community Gatherings in Ireland Old and New part one
. To this day, we have a saying in Irish ‘Bhí togha gacha bí agus rogha gacha dí le fail ann’, The finest of every food and the choice(st) of every drink was to be had there. This is believed to originally date from bards of one to two thousand years ago. As a chieftain or king, one’s reputation had to be maintained, or enhanced and these ‘songs of praise’, so to speak, were pivotal in this regard. Continue reading
Irish dust devils
My poem was written in English and in Irish, so I needed to find a suitable Irish term for a Dust Devil. Continue reading
Bloody Sunday: 50 years on
It was a sunny afternoon when 10,000 – 15,000 people joined together to take part in the march. The march began in the housing estate of Creggan and then made its way down the Bogside, which is the largely Catholic area just outside of Derry’s Old City walls. Continue reading
Sunburnt Irish A-Z
The Irish language thriving in Australian soil. Continue reading
‘A very jolly spree’: Irish Contraceptive Laws in the 70s
I have never smuggled anything over borders before or since and I was extremely nervous, but our car was not searched on the way over. The return trip was a different matter. Continue reading
A Brief History of the Irish in Australia
A summary of Irish role in history and literature of Australia, written prior to more recent research and publications in the area. Continue reading
The Irish Civil War
It is difficult to write about it – or, indeed, read about it – without anger, Continue reading
Chief Secretary of Ireland’s Office Archives.
The records of the Chief Secretary of Ireland’s Office constitute one of the most valuable collections of original source material for research into Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Continue reading
Eureka’s Children
Today it is up to the Australian community to require our governments to deliver long-promised justice and recognition for our indigenous communities. Continue reading