Issuu

Western Australia’s

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Volume 17 Number 1 Nov/Dec 2014

Australia!

In this Issue.... • Medical Care for Irish in Oz • Catriona Writes • Meet Charlie McCarthy • Rovers Clean Up • WA Hurling Champs • Maura Ducey RIP • Ireland v Australia • New Irish Club President • Smith’s Honoured • Flann’s Ye Man

New Irish Club President Sean Daly presents Marty Burke with Rovers Clubman of the Year

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Would an Irish resident be entitled to MEDICAL CARE if they fell sick in AUSTRALIA? M

arty Kavanagh, the Honorary Consulate of Ireland for WA, and the Department of Health recently issued a joint statement about a very important area of agreement and cooperation between Ireland and Australia. The two nations have a reciprocal health care agreement (RHCA) which means residents from Ireland who hold a valid visa are eligible for ‘medically necessary’ treatment as a public patient, including both inpatient and outpatient care and subsidised prescription drugs through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in the Australian health care system. As the name of the scheme suggests Australian citizens are entitled to similar medical support while they are in Ireland. The RHCA does not entitle Irish visitors to Medicare benefits for outof-hospital medical care and does not apply where someone enters Australia for the sole purpose of accessing medical treatment. ‘Medically necessary’ treatment means any ill health or injury which occurs while the individual is in Australia and requires treatment before returning home. This includes treatment for preexisting conditions and maternity services are normally deemed to be ‘medically necessary’ as well and are also covered.

According to the joint statement, if the patient elects to be treated as a private patient, they become ineligible under the agreement and will be charged as an ineligible patient. Visitors admitted as public patients during their visit to Australia should tell hospital staff that they wish to be treated as a Medicare public patient under the RHCA. Admissions staff will request evidence of their Medicare eligibility. Because Irish visitors are not eligible for Medicare benefits for out-of-hospital services, Medicare does not enrol them or issue them with Medicare cards. A current Irish passport is sufficient proof of eligibility to receive public hospital treatment and Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme (PBS) medicines. Eligible Irish visitors include all holders of a valid temporary visa including 417 (Working Holiday) and 457 (Temporary Skilled Worker) visas. Visitors from Ireland to Australia cannot access the provisions of the RHCA if they are in Australia without a valid visa. The RHCA does not apply to Irish students studying in Australia and they are advised to take out Overseas Student Health Cover. Medical services and cost not covered by Medicare under the RHCA include medicines not subsidised

under the PBS, accommodation and medical treatment in a private hospital or as a private patient in a public hospital, theatre fees, ambulance services, home nursing or allied health services not listed on the Medicare Benefits Schedule for private services. Acupuncture, glasses and contact lenses, hearing aids and similar devices, dental examinations and all non chronic disease treatments, the cost of prostheses, surgery for purely cosmetic reasons, medical services that are not ‘medically necessary’ and eye therapy are also not covered by the RHCA and will generally come out of the pocket of the person who needs them. Anyone who needs more information about the agreement and their eligibility for cover should contact Medicare directly on 132 011. A pamphlet with more information about the scheme is also available from Marty Kavanagh’s official consulate website at http:// consulateofirelandwa.com.au. Ireland and Australia have had a RHCA since (May 25) 1998. It was signed into force by then health minister and later Taoiseach Brian (Warwick Smith) Cowen. Lloyd Gorman

THE

YEAR

By Lawrence Clarke

generations to come, some writings describing my active years. Whatever talent I have with the pen or pad may not produce a worthy story but it will be my story, written from my point of view. This manuscript will be the truth as I regard it. It will describe, to the best of my recollection and ability, the way my life transpired; and will include many of those who shared it with me at different times. My father only deserved to bear that title in the biological sense. In all other things which pertain to my idea of what a decent and loving parent should be, he was an abject failure. His legacy was one of irresponsibility and selfishness. I had long lost respect for him before the night he punched me behind the ear when my back was turned. I travelled the full length of the room and a wall stopped my momentum. My sister called him an animal and he turned on her. She left the room more rapidly than my mother and escaped out of the front door. It needs to be stated at this juncture that the old man was made up from 260 pounds

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he constraint of time is a strange thing. When I was a youngster, the days leading up to Christmas seemed to consist of an agonizingly slow procession of days. I recall dreaming that phase had passed and it was Christmas morning, only to awaken disappointed and find there were still two weeks to go. It was a time when old age seemed to exist in a distant, never to eventuate future belonging to people above 30 years of age. In fact, on Winter’s nights, when we had coal to set a roaring fire, the children would sit at my mother’s knee, basking in the warmth, and ask her to tell us stories of ‘the olden days when she was young’. Mother was barely 38 years old then. Now, at the other end of my life, time has speeded up markedly as the end approaches, and I think I might sacrifice my right arm to be 38 again. I’m an old man, staring at a fast approaching eternity and, after my mortal remains are interred under a solitary rose bush; I would like to leave behind, for the benefit of

Malcolm St

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of drunken fat and muscle and he had put every pound into the punch which sent me, a 150 pound teenager, flying. I recall that night in detail. He, and my mother, had done something extremely rare, which was to step out together. When they returned home, my father was intoxicated but my mother was sober. Having told me that very day how broke they were, I made a comment along the lines that lack of money didn’t prevent them spending a night in the pub. It was wrong and hurtful of me, I freely admit that, because if anyone deserved a little happiness it was my mother. I should have minded my own business and trotted off to bed but I was in my Christian, ‘holier than thou’ phase at the time. My mother took me completely by surprise when she burst into tears, left the room and ran upstairs to her bedroom while I turned away in confusion. That was when I received the blow to the back of my head. I don’t remember being propelled across the room and the first thing I do recall was coming around on the floor by the wall. My father was winding up to come at me again after my older sister had made her escape but, fortunately, her fiancée was as big as my father and more muscular. With a minimum of force, he used his strength to force the old man into an armchair, whereupon I was directed to make myself scarce. The following morning, I apologised to my mother but I ignored the old man and went off to church. I realise now that both of us had sinned the previous night in that I had acted in a supercilious manner and he, a drunken coward. There had been other previous times, as I was growing, where we, the children, received smacks to whichever parts of our bodies were most accessible but apart from a few hidings, they are forgotten now; however the cowardly punch comes vividly to mind on the rare occasions he crosses my mind. That was the last time he hit me. He died alone in 1984, except for the nursing staff, bedridden in a Bethnal Green hospital. During my teens and twenties, I hated my father because of the way he had treated my mother and his selfish indifference to the children he spawned. Until we were old enough to earn a wage, my mother struggled

from one day to the next while he lived a comfortable life as a seaman. When he was away for indeterminate periods of time, money would arrive intermittently but was soon exhausted by the settling of debts incurred to buy the little luxuries of life, like food, clothes and shelter. Now that I’ve joined the ranks of the aging army, the hatred is gone, to be replaced with a modicum of common sense. Over the years, I have come to the understanding that he was a product of those who raised him, and they a product of those who reared them and so on. Somewhere

along the way, responsibility, love and common decency were discarded in favour of day to day survival. It was my mother who taught us children the necessary values even though she too was the offspring of a selfish, unfaithful father. Luckily, according to what I was told, for I only ever saw my maternal grandmother once (on her deathbed), she too came from a gentle, loving mother. My grandfather, on my mother’s side, I also met just once, for he was not remotely interested in the fruits produced by his offspring. His interests lay in the corner pub and his mistress two streets away from his home. My grandmother bore him 14 children and he had another two borne by his mistress. Dirty old bastard. His legal posterities went into the World and achieved varying amounts of success, tempered along the road of life by disappointments of shifting severity. There were nine girls, four of which wed responsible husbands. The remaining five dealt in different ways with the failure and success I mentioned, depending on how high the bar was set. It is of no use for me now in laying waste to reputations about which I know far too little.

They are all long gone and most of what they accomplished in this world was buried with their remains. My mother was one of the five who made bad choices when it came to selecting husbands and I don’t need to expand on that anymore than I have. Two others married men with drinking problems, one of whom, when he was intoxicated, occasionally included matrimonial violence. I must make it patently clear, I am not standing in judgement of those men and women. I am simply stating the truth based on my own observations. Two of the five sons, after serving their apprenticeships in the shipyard, escaped from Belfast and the clutches of my maternal grandfather. One of the two, Alec, went to Australia in 1924, married a Belfast woman, settled into a responsible life and had a clutch of children. He never returned to Ulster and died in 1987. The second of the two escapees, Tommy, after a stint in the army during World War Two, followed Alec to Australia with his wife and three daughters. Both brothers helped each other build their homes in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. I knew and liked them. The remaining uncles lived out their lives in Ulster and Northern England and, if I ever met them, I don’t remember. My paternal grandmother was the only grandparent I knew well and I was close to her. My siblings and I spent a lot of time, during our formative years, in her cottage below Ben Madigan (The Cavehill), while my mother worked elsewhere for a few shillings. My grandfather died young. He was a stoker in the British Merchant Service and contracted a lung disease from inhaling coal dust. My sole uncle from that marriage, Danny, died at 12 years of age. Now, sitting here at my desk, writing by twilight, I raise my head and gaze back to the few short years when I was a young boy, to a time when my father, mother and grandparents should have embraced me and my siblings more often and told us, no matter what misfortune fell across our paths, we were loved. Perhaps I would have been a better, more successful person than the individual I turned out to be; one all but incapable of a loving touch and expressing matters of the heart.

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The Clarke Family

You are better than cancer -

BELIEVE ME! BY CATRIONA CLARKE

No matter who you are in this world at some stage you will have to deal with cancer in some way. I can only talk from the perspective of someone who has had cancer and been through chemotherapy but I do hope that in some way, shape or form I can reach out to even one person and help them overcome whatever degree of cancer they have to deal with. Cancer sucks. Chemotherapy is shitty. But most of all, having your whole life turned upside down. NOT FUN. But the reality of it all is don’t dwell on it. I’m not saying get over it and forget about it, I’m saying take every day as it comes and then when all the bad is over and done with remind yourself of the positives no matter how hard those positives are to find. This is how I coped with every day. The days I woke up getting sick and went to bed wanting to get sick, the days I was jabbed with fifty needles, the days I thought I wouldn’t make it to next year, the nights I cried myself to sleep. I’m not

saying it’s easy to just bounce back and feel great again but it sure as hell isn’t impossible and if I can do it after six months of having my life run over by cancer then why the hell can’t anyone else? The truth is there were days where everyone was at work or in college or just going about their lives as normal and I won’t lie, I resented and hated everyone. But when I eventually pulled myself out from under my sheet of depression and coped on I just saw how it really was. I’ll probably be alive until I’m 90, all going to plan. I’m currently 21. That means I only have to deal with ONE shitty year out of the 70 odd years I have left. So what have I really to be upset about? An old lady on the cancer ward was 70 and had cancer for 20 years. She was still kicking its ass every single day with a God Dam massive upbeat smile on her face. Inspiring to say the least. When you’re gone, you’re gone. But while you’re here you should fight every day to stay here and

experience as much life as you possibly can. When something gets you down just realise that in a year maybe even two that thing that upset you will be a memory that made you stronger and you’ll still be here making more memories and creating a life story worth telling people about. Getting cancer should have been the worst thing that has ever happened to me but honestly it was just one annoying step in the right direction. Because of cancer I now have every motivation to live my life fully and happily. I know that from now on I will fight to achieve all my goals in life and that I will never sit back and feel sorry for myself again. You are the story teller to your own life so make your story worth telling. Never stop fighting. Editor: Catriona Clarke is from Limerick, Ireland and is the daughter of Ann and Russell Clarke. She has been diagnosed with Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma, stage 2. If you would like to contact her please get in touch with Irish Scene. Alternatively if you are worried about cancer or need to find out more about it there are a large number of support organisations. The Cancer Council of WA would be a good starting point. For further information go to www. cancerwa.asn.au or call 131120. The Irish Cancer Society can also be contacted at www.cancer.ie.

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CROM-A-BOO! (Part Four)

The complex routines and difficulties of administering a struggling colony have been the central features of this series on the life and achievements of Governor Charles Fitzgerald. It will be obvious to readers that he was able to draw on loyal support from other colonial officials as the convict system evolved. As will be revealed, his most important friend and colleague was always Captain Edmund Henderson of the Royal Engineers, Comptroller General of Convicts in WA. He is pictured in the attached photograph. Charles Fitzgerald as a citizen and community builder requires attention, as does his glamorous and assertive wife Eleanora. They were staunchly Anglican in their religious beliefs and built up a solid working partnership with the Colonial Chaplain, John Wittenoom. In the year 1848 the as-yet unfinished St Georges Church in the Terrace was consecrated by the Bishop of South Australia, who had been imported from Adelaide by the Governor for the great occasion. Charles provided additional public funds to complete work on the church until 1853, when cost cutting was imposed on WA by Earl Grey (Secretary of State for War and the Colonies) back in London. From 1848 onwards Fitzgerald also assisted Wittenoom to establish secondary education in the colony by way of funding for the project; restrictions were imposed only after he left WA. The Governor gave equal regard and respect to the minority Catholic Church and provided land originally gazetted for the Church of England for building purposes – the current St Mary’s Cathedral now stands on the site. There was a regrettable schism in the church when two bishops – John Brady and Joseph Serra – contended for local dominance in the colony. The papal authorities eventually sorted out the mess. Fitzgerald helped from the sidelines and Serra was enabled to establish a Benedictine community called New Subiaco. In due course Subiaco was

Captain Edmund Henderson

chosen as the name of the present municipality and suburb. Settlement schemes involving young people drew the Governor’s attention, notably the activities of several hundred Parkhurst Boys - juvenile offenders from England who were sent to the colony up to the late 1840s. They were given apprenticeships or employment as servants and farm hands in suitable homes. The system was a surprising success and only one lad among many is known to have committed a capital offence in WA. The governor and his ‘first lady’ set an example by including a couple in their own household. Reverend Wittenoom assisted in ensuring decent treatment of the youngsters by intervening in situations when any required guidance or protection. Both before and after the first influx of convicts other immigration schemes involved young women, whether Irish famine orphan girls or additional free female immigrants brought in from 1850 to try and ‘balance the sexes’. The great hope was that they would marry the increasing numbers of young free male migrants or suitable exconvicts. Eleanora Fitzgerald enters the picture at this point, although she had already been very active from 1848 onwards “running a vigorous social programme based on Government House, opening charity bazaars, holding balls and organising

by Peter Conole

a school for immigrant children”. She also started a Sunday School system for colonial youngsters and in October 1850 took on the role of patron and benefactor of the Ladies’ Friendly Society. The latter was kickstarted by Wittenoom’s wife and daughter and provided premises plus free boarding and education for those young female immigrants and would-be brides who needed it. By 1852 Eleanora assumed a key role in the Society, partly because her social position and influence ensured more financial backing. Sadly her labours had led to a public feud. A capable but tactless lawyer named Alfred Stone made the mistake of insulting her. She responded by refusing him admittance to Government House in April 1851. Stone then described her as “an interfering little ignoramus” and was later barred from attending the all-important Governor’s Christmas Reception. He took months to eventually patch things up with Charles Fitzgerald and Eleanora, which was just as well because they all (along with the wonderful Reverend Wittenoom) worked hard to establish the Perth Mechanic’s Institute on the corner of Hay and Pierce streets. The Institute - an offshoot of a movement that began in England in the 1820s -was intended to offer young working class men chances of self-improvement by providing evening and weekend schooling, public lectures on a great variety of subjects, musical concerts, discussion groups and space for simple and civil relaxation. To boost the grand opening in May 1852 the Governor and his Colonial Secretary , the eccentric but brilliant William Sanford , provided huge quantities of champagne out of their own pockets. They later shelled out more money to supply and support the fine library at the institute. Alfred Stone described the opening event in his diary: everybody had a merry time and he hints that quite a few folk got drunk. John Wittenoom, leading

from the cello, organised a band for the evening and Stone (a good singer, pianist and flautist) played a solid part in festivities - including the drinking. Readers should mark the musical side of the event, for the Governor was a patron of the arts and approved the first tour of international minstrels to WA in 1851. He also supported the expansion and training of the St George’s Church choir and the appointment of a permanent organist in 1855. In regard to the intimate lives of Charles and Eleanora Fitzgerald we can only say that their union was a happy one. They had two children, both of whom were born in the colony – daughter Eleanor in 1849 and son Gerald in 1850. When the time for departure came Charles and Eleanora visited the Avon Valley at the close of their ‘reign’ and encouraged settlers to further develop agriculture at a public celebration. Eleanora made a farewell speech, proclaiming that whatever happened her children ‘’would never be allowed to forget they were born in Western Australia”, which was to remain a distant but beloved land in family memory. The Fitzgeralds sailed for Britain when the Governor’s term in office ended on July 22, 1855. They probably already had a dwelling to go to in his home town. The fine mansion shown here is Geraldine House in Kilkee (County Clare), where Charles and Eleanora lived out the rest of their lives. It was either gifted or leased to them. Robert Fitzgerald, brother of Charles, seems to have been a property developer and he turned part of Kilkee into a prime residential area between about 1840 and the mid-1850s. He called it Geraldine Place and can be credited with the building of other mansions apart from Geraldine House, including Desmond House (named after the Fitzgerald Earls of Desmond) and Trafalgar House. However Charles Fitzgerald had not yet done with West Australian matters. He was in London by early 1856 and not in a good mood. He believed that trust had been betrayed in regard to the development of convictism in the colony. About two years earlier prison officials in England broke their agreement with the Governor and started to send out numerous hardened offenders,

who often generated serious law enforcement issues after they arrived. In 1856 an irate Charles Fitzgerald and his old friend Captain Edmund Henderson fronted up to a Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament in London and poured out their grievances. The findings were published in a two volume report. Fitzgerald said things had degenerated since the early days and that only the arrival of more free settlers and increased capital investment could ensure the wellbeing of the colony. Henderson deplored an increase in crime and immorality in WA since the change of policy and said that the system should be terminated rather than force the colony to accept more hard core criminals. Committee member Horatio Waddington claimed transportation was a bad thing in itself, ‘failing to deter criminals at home or reform them abroad’. The situation was allowed to drift on and Fitzgerald’s successors as Governor - including fellow Irishman Arthur Kennedy - found them themselves in the position of having to introduce harsher systems for managing convicts. In recognition of his services Charles Fitzgerald received a high official honour in 1857 when he was made a Companion of the Bath (CB). He then returned to Geraldine House and virtually disappeared from public life. We do have some clues as to how Charles and Eleanora managed the quiet remainder of their lives. For one thing they appear to have been a very scholarly couple and they built up a private library of over 2000 books. That was a large collection by 19th Century standards and was probably the biggest in County Clare. Charles

seems to have been particularly interested in history and genealogy and those hobbies proved helpful to another learned man a couple of decades later. John O’Hart of County Mayo spent many years collecting and writing up the genealogies of hundreds of Irish and Anglo-Irish families. The project bore fruit in the shape of his massive two-volume work Irish Pedigrees (published first in 1876, then as a revised and expanded version in 1892). He was assisted by Charles in parts of his work and gratefully acknowledged the former Governor’s contributions. Charles Fitzgerald had manuscript material on the history and genealogies of various branches of his own great family and supplied oral testimony as well. Furthermore he was a major source for the records of at least one other family, the O’Çahans. Charles himself is listed as 17th in descent in the direct male line from Maurice Fitzgerald, who arrived in Ireland in 1169. Charles Fitzgerald died on December 29, 1887. His grave lies in the protestant cemetery of Kilkee. The only known monument to him is the small memorial plaque shown left. It was placed in the local Church of St James. Eleanora Elwes Fitzgerald passed away in January 1890. She donated the great library in Geraldine House to a parochial school on condition that the volumes were to be recorded and used carefully. We do not know what happened to the extensive collection of Fitzgerald family papers or whether the library itself has survived the passage of time. Their children left no descendants and, sad to say, son Gerald Fitzgerald fell victim to mental health issues. He spent his last years in an asylum and died in 1913.

Geraldine House the home of Captain Charles Fitzgerald RN CB. Now Geraldine Guest House

Charlie McCarthy

With Claire Wynne

And now, in association with Perth’s new Irish Music resource - www. facebook.com/liveirishmusicinperth - we introduce a new series of interviews with some of the most popular Irish musicians gigging around the pubs of Perth. If you’d like more up to date info on Irish Pub gigs, or to get to know your local musicians a bit better - check out the new Facebook page -Live Irish Music in Perth - administered by Claire Wynne. Here Claire talks to Charlie McCarthy of Irish Group ‘Sparrow’ fame... Charlie McCarthy! Tell us a bit about yourself; I am originally from Cork, I spent a good few years in Dublin before I came to Perth and have been here for almost 10 years. I am a professional musician, Perth based, but I do my fair share of work on a national level. I play folk/trad fiddle with the WA based band Sparrow, jazz with Belleville, bluegrass with The Seals and a lot of freelance classical work. I am currently playing for a season of Phantom of the Opera in the Regal Theatre in Subiaco and am enjoying

a thriving music scene here in Perth. What instruments do you play? Just the fiddle. I play a David Gage PRO-Ev5 five string semi acoustic violin. I use Thomastik-Infeld PI strings and a Coda Luma bow. I always get asked “what is the difference between a fiddle and a violin”? Violinists think I am a fiddle player and fiddlers think I am a violinist. The truth us that there is no difference, the product is identical, but a clear sign is if you are having fun playing it and can’t stop smiling, then it’s probably a fiddle. Where can we see you gigging? I play regularly in Dirty Nellies on a Sunday with Fiona Rea as part of the band Sparrow. I have organised the music at JB O’Reilly’s on Saturday nights for the last 3 years with the help of Ger Starr, David McGleave, Dympna Finch, Fiona Rea, Jane Morris & Jon Edwards all featuring as resident musicians. I also feature as a session musician with touring Irish artists here in Perth. I have shared a stage with John Spillane in the Mighty Quinn and also at JB O Reilly’s, Damien Dempsey on St Patrick’s Day last year and most recently played a gig in the Fly By Night in Fremantle with Declan O’Rourke, a real gent. Funny story, I asked Declan before his gig what differentiates himself from the armada of other Irish singer/songwriters out there, as he was putting on his silk shirt and brushing his teeth he replied “sure I’ve got class, those boys probably even went to school on Valentine’s day...”, legendary work Mr O’Rourke. In the past I have played with Josh Groban, Hank Marvin, a whole bunch of shows at the Burswood, made it to the finals of the Golden Fiddle Awards (a national fiddle-off competition type thing) and even had a gig on the Podge and Rodge show for one of their Christmas specials. Upcoming unusual gigs: I am credited in the soundtrack of an ABC documentary

to be aired nationally over the Anzac period later this year, I am playing at a rodeo next week (yes, a rodeo, with real horses and all) and releasing a solo violin album hopefully this side of Christmas, oh, and be sure to come and hear Sparrow play next Paddies day at JB’s, last year was an absolute corker! What can we expect from a Charlie gig? You can be sure to expect the unexpected. If you think you have heard it all, you should come and hear one of my gigs...... Who are your favourite Irish musicians/inspiration? I am a big fan of the Dubliners and the Chieftains of course, I am also a big fan of Scottish and Scandinavian folk music also as I find they all share a common ancestry with Irish music. Currently I am on a massive progressive-bluegrass voyage of discovery and cannot stop listening to Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, also Rushad Eggleston and Casey Driesson are two big heros of mine. I guess the biggest inspiration for me is the pure joy of being involved in live music, whether you are a performer or an audience member, there is nothing quite like the energy and spark of a gig in full flight. When you are playing an old song in a new way, when the room is cheering, people are up dancing, tables are cleared away to the side, kids and grannies (and backpackers of dubious reputation) all sharing the dance floor, chanting at the chorus, cheering for more, lining up pints of the black stuff at your feet, what more inspiration could you want. Have you any messages for the folk out there? Always drink upstream from the herd.....

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Chaise Sofas in Perth is a family owned direct to the public discount furniture business specialising in selfassembly L-Shape Sofas, Chaise Sofas and Corner Lounge Suites. Owner, Gay Skinner told The Irish Scene that their online shop has been setup for your convenience, which means you can purchase from home and they can deliver to your door. “As well as our online store you can see the furniture in the showroom before ordering. We service the Perth metropolitan region from our warehouses located in Bayswater and Bibra Lake.” To help keep prices low Chaise Sofas’ Perth warehouses are open minimal hours. “If the opening times don’t suit please contact us to arrange a private viewing time.” Gay said, “We source our Bobkona range of furniture and lounge suites from a designer in California who have been selling the range since 1989.” Bobkona, like Chaise Sofas, are dedicated to customer service and offer customers the finest quality furniture at the lowest possible prices. Founded in May 2012, operating from home, the first warehouse in Bibra Lake opened in November 2012. Quickly running out of space in Bibra Lake, and to service clients in the northern Perth suburbs more easily, the Bayswater warehouse opened in July 2014. “The Chaise Sofas point of difference to other furniture warehouses is we keep it simple; no fancy showrooms, no pushy salesmen and low overheads which allows us to sell our lounge suites directly to you for the lowest prices around.” To keep prices low the sofas are delivered in cartons which reduces transport and storage costs. Most of the items require some assembly. “When you open the box you simply need to attach the backs, arms and feet. As you get to decide where you want the chaise, to the left or the right hand side, you attach the arms and backs to suit”. As a convenience Chaise Sofas offer a set-up and assembly service for an extra fee. Gay added, “We always offer the best possible prices on our Chaise Sofas, to give you the best deal without needing to negotiate. Our prices already include the discount - saving you the trouble of haggling! Don’t pay more than you need to - we pass on all the savings.” “We strive to give our customers excellent value and service. We have in place our Chaise Sofas warranty program where we offer up to three years warranty for specific cover.” Chaise Sofas goal is to give you the best furniture buying experience possible. “In the unlikely event that you happen to find the same item from the same manufacturer advertised at a lower price at another furniture store Chaise Sofas will beat their price!” This offer applies within 30 days of your order date, and for stores within 80 km from their warehouses. Feel free to contact them by phone if you prefer on 1800 SOFA AUS (1800 763 228) during the day and evenings before 9 PM Perth time Monday to Thursday or before 7 PM Perth time Friday to Sunday.

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The Dermot & Delroy Show! You have to hand it to Irish Scene’s very own quiz master Dermot Byrne. When he isn’t crafting questions to put to readers he is out there at every opportunity testing the boundaries of his own knowledge. Our Dermot of Lesmurdie was heard on the Tony Delroy show on ABC radio on October 14. Mr Delroy presents a nightly quiz on his show, which seems to attract an endless stream of devoted listeners from across Australia and even some overseas callers. Dermot came in on the tail end of another listener and guessed the answer correctly. The two men then had a bit of a chat and the programme quickly - although briefly - took on an Irish flavour. Delroy said the next question had an Irish connection and asked Dermot what was meant

to be the destination of the Titanic. Dermot quickly got out New York but was about to reconsider his answer when Delroy recommended he went with that response. From the bit of chat the two men had on air we learned that Delroy had been to Ireland, and even Belfast, in the 1980’s. The popular radio host said he was surprised at how small Belfast’s population was then, and even now. He seemed to know a bit about the new museum to the Titanic in the old shipyards. Dermot too knew about them of course but it turns out that he hasn’t yet made it to the Belfast attraction. There was no Irish connection to the next question Dermot was asked, which might have been his downfall. He was asked what space telescope launched in 1980 was still operating in space. Dermot

asked for a clue and was told it started with the letter H, Delroy even went one better and told him that it was named after a man with the first name of Edwin. Dermot wasn’t able to get the answer but he gave it a red hot go and did his countrymen proud at least. Dermot didn’t know the answer, do you? Nightlife with Tony Delroy has been heard on your local ABC station every weekday evening for the past twenty years. Its one of Fred Rea’s favourite radio shows, especially when Dermot from Lesmurdie gets a guernsey! Lloyd Gorman

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MAURA DUCEY

1942 - 2104 The Irish Comminity in Perth was deeply saddened with the sudden passing of our dear friend Maura Ducey, our own Galway Girl! Maura Ducey was born in Galway on August 10, 1942, and started primary school aged four at “Scoll Fursa”, an all Irish (Gaelic) speaking school. Maura loved dancing. She learned step dancing and competed in many competitions. She also attended dances in dancehalls (the hops as they were known) as well as taking part in dancing and plays at the “Arus” Theatre. Maura met Pat at a dance in the Temperance Hall in Loughrea County Galway in October 1967. They married in Galway in April 1968, migrated to Australia end of November of the same year, arriving in Fremantle by ship on Christmas Eve, complete with best man, Pat Quinn. Daughter Yvonne was born in 1970 and son John was born in 1981. Maura was many things to many people and always available to lend a hand. She was a cheerful, outgoing, friendly and happy person, who loved to meet and greet people, both young and not so young. Over the years she made many friends and helped many people, especially families with young children and a number of elderly. She will be sadly missed by us all in the Irish Community in Perth, rest in peace Maura. To Pat, Yvonne and John our deepest sympathy. The family have asked that I pass on their very grateful thanks to all of their friends and family for their love and support.

I Am There by Iris Hesselden

Look for me when the tide is high And the gulls are wheeling overhead When the autumn wind sweeps the cloudy sky And one by one the leaves are shed Look for me when the trees are bare And the stars are bright in the frosty sky When the morning mist hangs on the air And shorter darker days pass by. I am there, where the river flows And salmon leap to a silver moon Where the insects hum and the tall grass grows And sunlight warms the afternoon I am there in the busy street I take your hand in the city square In the market place where the people meet In your quiet room - I am there. When a tune is played or a dance is danced When songs are sung and the crowd joins in. When a glass of wine at JB’s is shared Just look around - I am there. I am the love you cannot see And all I ask is - look for me

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May the Christmas Season and New Year bring the best to you and yours!

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CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM IRISH AMBASSADOR Warm personal greetings from me, and from my wife Nessa and our family here in Canberra, to all the Irish community in Western Australia for the festive season. Wishing you all a happy Christmas and for a prosperous New Year. With best personal regards Noel White Irelandâ€™s Ambassador to Australia

Follow the Irish Embassy on Twitter: @irlembaustralia

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with melody that would last forever. Bess Streeter Aldrich, Song of Years 17

WA’s first choice when it comes to sound migration advice

Migration News Update A Merry Migrant Christmas Tale! My family and I decided to depart the cooler northern hemisphere and migrate to Western Australia just before the dawn of the new Millenium. It was big step! I was working as a lawyer in the UK and had three very young children. Work was good, we had a lovely home, but the weather was miserable, the dog always smelled damp and for much of the year it was dark! It felt like Middle Earth! We arrived in WA just before Christmas. My three young daughters hadn’t seen their grandparents, Charles and Irene Lynch, for a couple of years. My parents had always planned to retire to a sunny, warm country and when the opportunity presented to retire to WA … they upped sticks and headed for the sun! Needless to say, the girls were incredibly excited to be spending their first Christmas in Australia at their grandparents’ home … that was until they saw the house itself! It was a beautiful house but there was no chimney on the roof and every door and window had security screens. I sensed growing unease amongst the girls. What on earth had possessed their grandparents to build a house without a chimney? How could Santa get in? Maybe Santa didn’t know where Australia was? Maybe that’s why Australians didn’t have chimneys? The girls quickly identified a more compelling concern. Where was Santa going to land? Instead of our lush green back garden which magically transformed into a reindeer landing strip each Christmas Eve, Nana and Granddad had a swimming pool and so even if Santa and his reindeer did manage to make the arduous 13,539 km flight from the North Pole to Perth, would Santa be able to land his sleigh on their Granddads’ swimming pool? And would Granddad be happy about that? And what if the reindeer

pooped in his pool? Would Granddad be happy about that? In the event, Christmas Eve and morning were wonderful. Santa had miraculously located Perth, had achieved entry into a home almost as secure as Fort Knox and had cleverly worked out that the girls would be needing bathers, summer clothes and floating blow up crocodiles rather than the usual array of warm woolly socks, beanies, gloves and a new sledge! Smart Santa! Once Christmas and New Year celebrations were over, and the novelty of waking up to clear blue skies every morning had started to wear off, we focused on settling into our new country. Fortunately, it didn’t take us long to make new friends and settle into the “Down Under” way of life. I went back to university to study Australian migration law and in 2003 I became a Registered Migration Agent. It’s a really fantastic job that helps me combine my legal training and personal migration experience to help others achieve their dream of migrating to Australia. Fred Rea and his team at the Irish Scene helped kick start my infant migration business (originally the Australian Immigration Advice Centre) back in 2003 and with Fred’s invaluable support, we’ve managed to grow the business from one agent working from home to a fantastic team of eight based in West Perth. As 2014 draws to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Fred for his ongoing support and wish all at the Irish Scene and our clients, families and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2015. Carol-Ann Lynch MARN 0320658

Carol-Ann P. Lynch LLB MMIA Principal Registered Migration Agent O: +61 8 9429 8860 E: carol-ann@easivisa.com A: Suite 5, 19 – 21 Outram Street, West Perth, WA 6005 Phone our team of experienced migration professionals for a free first consultation….

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LEGENDARY IRISH STAYER VINTAGE CROP WILL BE SADLY MISSED!

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Vintage Crop, one of the most popular horses of the 1990s after he became the first European-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup, has died. Who can ever forget the excitement for the Irish/Australian community when he took out the Cup!

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Trained by Dermot Weld for Michael Smurfit, Vintage Crop made his debut at four in a 2m Flat race at Thurles as the 20-1 outsider of two runners from his stable. He made a stunning start to his career, winning by eight lengths. Later in 1993 he landed the first of two consecutive victories in the Irish St Leger and made history by becoming the first European-trained winner of the Melbourne Cup under his regular rider Mick Kinane, breaking new ground for the numerous raiders from the continent who are now sent to Australia every November to try to win the race that stops a nation.

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He lived out his retirement as part of the Living Legends attraction at the Irish National Stud.

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Vintage Crop is commemorated by a life-size statue that overlooks the paddock at the Curragh, while the Group 3 staying race at Navan named in his honour was won this year by subsequent Gold Cup hero Leading Light.

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Sadly, Vintage Crop passed away on the 13 July 2014 aged 27. Irish National Stud CEO, John Osborne paid tribute to the Legend: “Vintage Crop was a true equine celebrity, a horse who pioneered the concept of truly global competition when he travelled from the Curragh to Flemington to win the Melbourne Cup, the richest race in Australia. The scale of that achievement is revealed by the number of horses who have since tried and come up short. He was a great feature of our visitor experience here at The Irish National Stud, his story was told to hundreds of thousands, who saw him as a true warrior. He was lovingly cared for here by Annette Boland, Fiona Doggett and Leona Harmon and will be missed by us all.”

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AUSTRALIA CALLED EMMA BACK By Lloyd Gorman/Fred Rea It was a case of deja vu when I heard Emma Doyle say how much she missed Australia. It was back (way back) in 1974 when Fred Rea experienced the same feelings about Australia. He too had retured home after just a year and 6 months later Australia called him back. Emma Doyle went back to Ireland last year for Christmas - arguably the best time of the year to enjoy everything - but she got a surprise she wasn’t necessarily expecting. Just one day after she returned to her native Kilkenny city she knew she wanted to get back to Western Australia where she had spent the previous year. “I ended up staying for three and a half months but I cried on my second day in Kilkenny,” she said. “I knew it was the wrong decision. My mum came into me and said is it emotional being home and I said no its the emotion that I left Australia. I knew straight away it was the wrong decision to go home so I applied for a visa straight away and I came back. I’m on my second year working holiday visa which I hope to somehow turn into staying long term because I can’t see myself living in Kilkenny” She initially enjoyed being back amongst mates and loved ones, but it dawned on her that something or perhaps somethings had changed. “When I went back it was great being with family and friends, going out and having a few drinks and catch ups, but they all have a life there, a routine, jobs, chores they need to do. After the first couple of times meeting everyone I was wondering “what routine am I in?” It’s different to the way it was before you left, you went your way, and they went theirs.” But Emma’s experience is not unique and as best she can tell most young people who come to Australia Emma and her family

quickly find that any desire to return to Ireland is replaced with a strong feeling they want to remain. “A lot of people that I know from over here have said the lifestyle is different and they want to stay. The majority of (young) people I know here want to stay. A lot of my friends now, even my friend Darren, who went back to Cork two weeks ago, after being here for two years said he’d come back as a student, or what not, just to be back here.” She first arrived in WA in November 2012 and decided to come here after becoming fed up and bored with life back in Ireland. She always had a brother James, his partner and a niece and a nephew living in WA. “I just woke up one morning and said there must be more to it than this, I want to go to Australia. So I applied for my redundancy from Superquinn in MarketCross, Kilkenny and I booked my ticket, and one for my cousin Annie, and decided I wanted to go in just two weeks time.” She convinced her cousin to come and not long afterwards the duo landed in Perth, where they spent the first two weeks. They decided to do their regional work as quickly as possible and before they knew it they were on a bus to Cuballing, about 200km south of Perth. “We landed on December 16. It was a bit of a shock to the system. I remember getting off the bus and thinking I must have gotten off at the wrong stop, that I was in the middle of nowhere, there was nothing around. I was used to being in the city, in Kilkenny. But it was

good, a great experience. We stayed in Cuballing for three months and then went to Narrogin, where we were for nine months. As it happened there were a lot of Irish there, about 15 or 20 at one stage. At the start it was four of us (Irish) girls in a four bedroom house, then seven of us, and then ten of us when three boys came along and finally there was 12 of us in the house. And there was always other Irish passing through doing their regional work. But during that time I got used to Australian’s, so its weird now working in Essence of Ireland, meeting so many Irish people.” She found out about the job in the new Irish shop from someone she didn’t know on the Irish Families in Perth Facebook page. She emailed her CV and got a call from the owner to come in the next day for an interview. “She said she’d be happy to help me out and that I could start the next day if I wanted,

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and here I am, loving it,” said Emma. She feels comfortable and optimistic about wanting to stay in WA for a long time. “Its a new start here, nobody knows you, your past, your family or anything. I think I’d like to start a whole life here, get out there and make a go of things, plant my roots here. My mum and dad know I’m doing well here and that I don’t want to go back and they support that.”

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While she is happy to be in Perth, Emma spends hours on Skype, talking to her sisters Becky, Vicki and Lucy and brother Shane. “I spend a lot of time talking to them, you can see them face to face, it doesn’t seem so bad being away from home because you are looking at them all the time and of course you still wreck each others heads, have loads of chit chat and messing with each other.”

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TWO OF CORK’S FINEST FOR FREMANTLE Two of Cork’s finest singer-songwriters, Mick Flannery & John Spillane will be at the Fly by Night in November. The pair have previously teamed up for a series of shows taking on the Marquee in Cork and Vicar Street Dublin, and will be re-uniting to bring their acclaimed show to Australia. Mick Flannery is a refreshingly unassuming artist, whose sole focus is on his craft, song-writing. A Flannery gig has a feeling of intimacy to it; his stage presence exudes no superficial gimmicks, just a man sharing his songs in an understated but powerful manner. John Spillane is a multi-platinum award winning musician, and one of the most accomplished artists in Ireland today. His music transports the listener; his live performance captivates the audience. Whether performing solo with guitar, with gentle accompaniment or with full band before 10, 10,000 or 100,000, John entertains, charms, and mesmerizes. See advert on right for bookings. Don’t forget to drop into Rosies in Fremantle for a bite and eat or a pint before the show to get in the mood!

SO FAR SO GOOD! 24

Silent Night A Not So

Memories of Christmas in Dublin in the 1940’s are still dear to me. We lived in the centre of the city which was never short of activity of some sort. The majority of people lived from week to week with no surplus cash. However amid the obvious poverty the Christmas spirit was real and uplifting. Moore Street was a street market that, as well as catering to local trade, was a popular tourist attraction. Predominately selling fruit, vegetables and some other food items, at Christmas time it was the most frequented spot in Dublin. Humorous exchanges between the stall holders were ongoing and at times a hapless buyer became caught up in these exchanges. Always mindful of the tourist, this was all part of the game. These stall holders could rival any comedians on TV today, A frequent ritual on Sunday morning after mass was a visit to listen to Hector Grey. Hector was a street seller who each Sunday morning could be found selling his wares outside the well-known Woolen Mills across the road from the Ha’penny Bridge. He sold a range of cheap items which in the weeks before Christmas included Christmas decorations. His amusing banter as he displayed his goods drew a large crowd even during inclement weather. The Woolen Mills, which sold a large range of high quality Irish made goods, was on that site since the 1930’s and many years ago a public sculpture of two female shoppers with bags at their feet was placed outside. “The Meeting Place” as it was called soon became known as “The Hags with the Bags” The Woolen Mills has now ceased trading and has reopened as “The Woolen Mills Restaurant” but the hags are still there. A visit to Santa Claus, who was stationed in all of the department stores in Dublin for several weeks before Christmas, was a must. A ticket was purchased and exchanged for a “parcel” which contained a cheap toy. The queues were long and

became longer as Christmas drew nearer. On one of these occasions late in the afternoon a couple of days before Christmas, as I stood in the queue with my father, directly in front of me was a tall boy. He received his parcel and moved aside to open it, inside was a tea set. The boy’s mother came back to Santa and questioned why her son had been given a girl’s present. Santa, who had obviously had enough by then, shouted loudly at the woman, telling her that was all he had left and her son was way too old to be visiting Santa anyway. The boy stood in the background crying loudly. Having three pubs as neighbours we were regaled with Christmas spirit at close of business. During the festive season the late night revellers at McCauley’s pub seemed to become more vocal than ever. As Christmas drew nearer their usual Irish and modern songs were interspersed with carols such as Come All Ye Faithful and Silent Night. As I lay in my bed, two houses from the pub, I was bombarded with “Carols by Street Light” every night until Christmas Eve. The making of the Christmas pudding was a grand affair in our family. Long discussions were held for weeks before, between my mother and Aunt Kathleen, as this was no simple task. In Aunt Kathleen’s household the making of the pudding was done by Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary was the oldest member of the family, she herself had never married, but she was deemed to be some sort of expert in the Christmas pudding department. On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks before Christmas Aunt Mary went to Aunt Kathleen’s house to make the pudding. Somewhere around the same time my mother would, with great fanfare make our pudding. Visitors to our home at Christmas were always served a small slice of Christmas pudding. The competition as to which was the best pudding was high and I was asked frequently which was the best, this did not require any great decision making

as I knew what was good for me, mother’s was always the best! A friend of my father’s had a stall in the fish markets, he also sold turkeys at Christmas. Our family always got a generous reduction on the cost of the turkey, this however did have its drawbacks. On Christmas Eve morning after finishing his night shift at British Railways, North Wall, my father would go to Slattery’s Pub, which was an early opener to accommodate the fish market workers, to share a Christmas drink with his friends. At home my mother would spend the morning watching and waiting for his arrival with our dinner for the next day. As the minutes ticked by her anger increased, this was my cue to grab my coat and continue the wait outside. By early afternoon her sister Kathleen would arrive and over cups of tea the anxious wait would continue. Eventually Daddy would stagger across Grattan Bridge carrying the turkey, stopping along the way to exchange the compliments of the season with several of the neighbours. Finally arriving at the hall door, with the bravado of a drunken man who does not know what is in store for him, he would happily go inside. Mass on Christmas Day was a jovial event with greetings flowing freely back and forth. Then it was a visit to my grandparents who lived in Inchicore. Back home and my father would carve the turkey, we ate the long awaited dinner and the excitement was over, until next year. Marie Moloney

MEET THE NEW IRISH CLUB PRESIDENT, SEAN DALY

Putting young heads on old shoulders by Lloyd Gorman

t is hard for young ears to appreciate how popular the now looked down upon sing along anthem ‘If you’re Irish come into the parlour’ was in its day. The song originally the product of a collaboration between an Irish man Shaun Glenville and Welshman Fred Godfrey was released on the 1912 album When Irish Eyes are Smiling. When Irish Eyes are Smiling was later recorded by Ruby Murray and it became a massive and enduring classic. Murray was one of the most popular and famous singers in Ireland and the UK during the 1950’s. In 1955 alone she had seven Top 10 hits and she set a pop chart record by having five hits in the Top 20 in one week. She was born on the Donegall Road in Belfast (29 March 1935) and died on December 17, 1996, in a Torquay nursing home where she ended her days singing and entertaining the other residents, staff and visitors. While the modern day music lover may not even recognise her name Ruby has found her way into popular culture and even one of the UK’s all time best comedy’s, Only Fools and Horses, where you will sometimes hear Del Boy say he is going for a Ruby Murray, rhyme for ‘curry’. This example of rhyming slang for which Cockney’s are renewed is, if you like, an example of how someone or something that became old fashioned can find a new life with another seemingly unconnected generation. I started thinking about the lyrics to Ruby’s song When Irish Eyes are Smiling as I listened to Sean Daly in conversation with Song for Ireland radio show host Frank Murphy, about his plans as the

newly elected president of the Irish Club. In particular he reminded me of the lyrics of the song “If you’re Irish come into the parlour, there’s a welcome there for you” and how those words could be adapted to appeal to modern tastes and expectations. “My wish is that when you walk into the club you feel you have entered a facility you feel you belong to. That when you walk in from the West Australian side of the door, that you feel different, that you are walking into a place where you belong,” said Sean. The Irish community in Perth has been fortunate to have had an Irish Club since the early 1950’s about the same time when Ruby Murray was in her prime - and later an established premises at Townshend Road, in Subiaco. In days past - when there wasn’t as many Irish in Perth as there are now - it was a vibrant and busy venue, a hub as much as a club or a pub. Opened in the mid 1970’s the Irish Club was for a few decades afterwards the go to place for anything to do with the Irish community, watch sports, listen to a session, to find a job or information, enjoy a stage play or just as a social meeting place. For a lot of reasons beyond its control the club lost its supremacy as the destination for the Irish in Perth. Sean wants to change that and restore it as much as possible to that position. To do that he knows he must encourage and convince people particularly younger people - that it is a place for them, their place. “One of the big things amongst the Irish community we find, is that a lot of people, when they emigrate to this country find it easy to

become involved in sports groups, heritage groups, cultural groups for the simple reason they are prepared to feel like they belong. When they look at the Irish Club they see it as a base where they can have functions and meetings. One of the challenges for us is to make them feel included in the Irish Club, to make that sense of community we all know exists within the Irish overseas, we want to see that sense of community within the club so that they do feel included.” He said the club struggles to get people in, that they see it as a perfect place to have a function, 21st parties, a sports gathering and that sort of thing, but that their visits to it are limited to those occasions. “What we need to do is get them to come in on a more regular basis so that they feel they belong and are a part of this community. Groups like the Irish Theatre Players, Ceoltas, are all attracting a younger membership base. The challenge for the committee and for me is to start speaking with them, listening to their ideas and try to develop how we engage them within the Irish Club, at the end of the day its their future, it’ll be their premises in years to come and so we need to start diversifying into those groups that continue to use the club.” Sean stresses that for this to work the engagement must be open, honest and go both ways. He wants people and groups to share

their ideas and insights but also to get involved to support the club and the community. “Its not just about sitting down and listening to someone and then saying thank you very much, its about asking them to help you to develop that idea, to develop that seed that they are planting that will grow into something bigger and better, that’s the key to it, people must feel they belong. If you do that, if they feel engaged, I think young people will stay involved.” Sean praised the contribution of his predecessor, Alan O’Meara. “When I joined the committee I began to realise what passion Alan had for the club, he genuinely had that, he is constantly thinking about it, he’s made himself so readily available to anybody that wanted to contact him. He had a drive to see the Irish Club as a focal point of the community in WA. What a lot of people don’t know about Alan is that’s he’s been exceptionally generous to the Irish community over the years, both cultural and sports groups, I know it myself from having a connection with the dancing world. (His daughter Sinead is with the Keady Upton School of Irish Dancing and Sean is president of the school’s fund raising committee)” Sean’s own son Kieran, is proof that the Irish Club can interest young people and offer them something they want. Kieran, Sean told Frank on air, is 14 and a keen sports man in different codes. He may also be a budding community leader of some kind. “One of Kieran’s big passions is politics, that’s where the Irishness is starting to come out in him,” said Sean who thanked MPs Stephen Dawson and Jim McKiernan for their encouragement of his interest in public affairs. “So Kieran likes to come to the Irish Club when there’s something on to his liking, plays that he finds political, visiting dignitaries from overseas, or anything like that.” Sean is conscious of where the club has come from and where it is going and that changes are needed to help keep it a relevant amenity in changing times. “One of the biggest challenges facing the Irish Club over the years we’ve had a bit of an overdependency on Subiaco Oval, and the membership (members of both the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers) we’ve built up from people attending the football,” added Sean. “So we’ve put in place a five year plan to move us away from that dependency and that’s already underway thanks to Nick, the Irish Club manager, who really puts a lot of effort into getting members to hold functions there, especially downstairs. Thanks to that we are generating a good income and that’s helping us to break away from what’s going on at Subiaco Oval [which will be replaced as Perths major sports stadium by 2018]. That’s the plan, to build on that and offer members this facility and we are getting a lot of people come throughout the doors. The second thing is to work closer with the many groups that use the club and to encourage those groups who don’t use it to come in and support the premises. There will be a redevelopment programme we’d like to put in place in coming years. We are aware its often difficult for people to access the upstairs, so we need to look at putting in a lift.” Before any big changes like this happen you

can expect to see softer changes at the club in the near future as a result of a small grant from the Irish Government. This money will be used to replace and upgrade the existing lighting at the club. The future is already starting to look brighter. Sean hails from Churchfield in Cork where he was involved in community work such as meals on wheels with young people. He went to London around 1990 where he worked for the Thomas Cook Group as their security risk manager. He migrated to Australia in 2000 and spent his first year working in security at the Perth Mint. He also joined the Irish Club committee as a volunteer at the time and has been active in some shape or form since. He is now manager of security for Curtin University and responsible for a big team of security personnel and the 24 hour protection of the university’s three campuses (at Bentley, a business school in Perth city and its school of mines in Kalgoorlie. Sean is married to Justine and they have two children, Kieran and Sinead. Sean will have a regular column in Irish Scene and he welcomes your input and feedback.

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James Keilley

Benedict pays tribute to his great, great grandad

THE MAN THE FENIAN’S LEFT BEHIND

During a visit to the Celtic Club in Perth, manager Stephen brought an email from Maria Jackson to my attention. It referred to The Celtic Club’s involvement in By Benedict Jackson helping James Keilley in the early 1900’s when he had There are many reasons why people have fallen on hard times. Members of The Celtic Club came immigrated to Australia over the years and many to his aid in the form a rental accommodation in Mary stories to tell. My story is about my Great, Great, Street in North Perth. I made contact with Maria and was Grandad, James Kiely, who emigrated from Ireland delighted to hear that a memorial service for James was to in 1868 and was never allowed to return. He was be held at Karrakatta Cemetery on Sunday 28th September. born around 1834 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Maria told me that most of the information they have Ireland. He had many brothers and sisters and was been able to access about the history of James had come a labourer in Clonmel. James married Margaret at St through her husband’s Aunty Susan, the granddaughter Joseph’s Church in Dungarvan in 1857. Margaret’s of James. “Our interest started last year surname is unknown but she was over 21 when she when our son Benedict’s (right) class married. was studying immigration in the 19th James joined the British Army in 1858 and was a century and they were asked to choose private in the 53rd Regiment of Foot. Michael (their an Australian immigrant and research first child) was born in 1860. Mary Anne (second their story including their contribution child) was born in 1865. In 1866, James’s uncle to Australia,” said Maria. “It is obviously became the mayor of Clonmel. much harder to research a person whom In the early 1860’s James became a Fenian - a you cannot interview but Benedict was member of the American organisation established adamant he would like to research James Keilley and what in 1858 to fight for an independent Ireland at a a beautiful experience it has been for him”. time when the country was under British rule. He was stationed in England for a time. The Regiment Maria told me that following on from discovering that was then sent to Kildare, Ireland and then to his James’s grave had been located by historian Liam Barry, home town, Clonmel in 1866. The military were Benedict wanted to organise a headstone to be erected used to push the poor people off the land, people and perhaps a small memorial service for anyone in the who may have been his friends or even his family. family who would like to come and share in this part of He was distressed with the failure of the potato their families ‘story’. “It became apparent earlier this year crop for the second time and sympathised with the that we were not able to place a headstone on his grave peasants. He became active in the Fenian movement as this part of the cemetery has been reused so we have and even played a leading part in a plot to break into commissioned a ground niche which has now been placed an armoury to get weapons for the cause. It was for at Karrakatta, very close to James’s grave as a lasting this that he was arrested and then court martialled reminder of his sacrifices for our family. We are so proud in Dublin. He was convicted on the 18th June 1866 of James and want the entire world to know it.” of having come to the knowledge of an intended Fr Gerard Conlan OMI (brother of Maria) conducted mutiny against Crown troops in Ireland and not the memorial service. I attended this event with my good friend Tony Costa, former Mayor of Subiaco along with Fenian historian Ormonde Waters. To mark the occasion, the President of the Celtic Club, John Devine presented Benedict Jackson with a Fenian flag and Tony Costa presented a book about the Fenians transported to Australia specially autographed for him by Liam Barry. Ormorde sang The Bold Fenian Men during the service and did so with lots of passion. It was also good to see Brian Hannon there. Congratulations to Benedict for taking the time to record this story and instigating the memorial service for James Keilley. Let us hope that this is just the beginning and the other Fenians will have their Australian story told for the benefit of future generations. So you may ask, “Who was James Keilley?”. The following remarkable story was penned by Benedict Jackson about his great, great grandfather. Tony Costa presents Maria Jackson and Fred Rea Benedict with a copy of Liam Barry’s book “Voices from the Tomb”

giving notice to his commanding officer (treason). He was to serve his life sentence in penal servitude (Australia) and was not allowed to return. He was detained in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin and was then transferred to England for a six month term of solitary confinement. It is said that during this time he offered to the authorities, names of other Fenians who had not been arrested. Twice he attempted to commit suicide. John Devoy said at the time…”I in 10 people in solitary confinement told authorities the information they wanted to know”. In September 1867, James was one of 62 chosen for transportation to Australia. Two thirds of the group was made up of two thirds of all the imprisoned Fenians. James boarded the Hougoumont with 220 non Fenian convicts and set sail to Australia on October 10, 1867. The voyage took 89 days and the Hougoumont arrived in Fremantle on 9 January 1868. The ‘Hougoumont’ was an 875 tonne ship which was built in Moulmein in 1852. This ship was employed as a convict transport and set sail from London in October 1867.

It carried the last of 37 shipments of the second attempt he was on the male convicts to Australia. According run for seven days before being to the Hougoumont shipping records recaptured. As punishment he was the following information was recorded about James Kiely. Surname: Kiely  Christian name: James  Prisoner number: 9797  Occupation: Labourer M/S: Married Children: 2  Height: 5’ 6”  Hair: Brown  Eyes: Grey  Face: Full  Complexion: Healthy  Build: Middling Stout Distinguishing Marks: Scares above both wrists  The Jackson family at Term: Life Age: 21 (obviously the Niche dedicate to incorrect)  James Keilley Trial Place: Dublin, 16 June 1866  Criminal Offence: Not informing of put in solitary confinement for seven a mutiny (Army) days and fined 30 shillings. This After he arrived he was taken to money was paid as a reward for the Fremantle prison where he would officers that had recaptured him. remain for eight years. Official policy After this, he was a model prisoner was that Fenians who had betrayed for seven years and in fact frequently the British Army were to be treated got privileges for good behaviour. the same as ordinary criminals. He During this time the chaplain of was a restless and desperate convict the prison, Fr Delaney, told James and attempted to escape twice. On that his wife Margaret in Ireland

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John Devine fo The Celtic Club presents Benedict with a Fenian Flag courtesy of Fred Rea from The Irish Scene

had passed away and his children had been adopted by her family. I think he would have felt shattered, desolate and very lonely. It was also around this time that he changed the spelling of his name from Kiely to Keilly in order to try and fit in and leave his past behind. This spelling was closer to the common Australian name of Kelly and the family has carried on the new spelling. In January 1873, James was made a convict constable in recognition of his good behaviour

and trustworthiness and was a servant to the acting Comptroller General, Fauntleroy. He was so friendly with him and his family he was permitted to stay at their house up to 9pm and longer. Perhaps he liked to stay there because it felt like he was a part of a family. In 1867, most of the Fenians were pardoned but there still remained a small band of prisoners serving life sentences, of which James was one. In the prisoners early appeals for help from the Irish and American Fenian organisations they included James in their secret meetings but they excluded him from all knowledge of the Catalpa Mission. The reasons for this were that he was so friendly with the Fauntleroy’s and that he had offered information about the Fenian’s in Ireland and they were unsure if they could trust James. The Catalpa Mission was a daringly executed plan that included Fenian Prisoners escaping from the Fremantle prison and heading to Rockingham to be rescued by the already secretly moored American Whaling ship, Catalpa. The mission was a success and the Catalpa made

it back to America, however they had left someone behind! John Boyle O’Reilly’s biographer, James Roach said…“There was one incident of this daring enterprise which completed its dramatic intensity. The soldier convicts in Fremantle numbered one more than those who were rescued. That one was purposely left behind, because of an act of treachery which he had attempted against his fellows ten long years before. He was tried with the others and found guilty of treason, but before his sentence received approval of the Commander-in-Chief, he had offered to divulge the names of certain of his comrades not yet arrested, though implicated in the Fenian conspiracy. This offer was not accepted. The Government punished him for his treason and his comrades, half a score years afterward, punished him more cruelly for the treason which he had contemplated against them”. On Easter Monday 1876, the Catalpa Mission took place. By Wednesday evening James retired to his cell bitterly disappointed that even his Fenian comrades had abandoned him. As punishment

Then let us be merry and taste the good cheer, And remember old Christmas comes but once a year. Merry Christmas from Paddy Malones

and article: CONVICTED OF HIGH TREASON A RELIC OF THE FENIAN RIOTS JAMES KIELY’S STORY Perth, November 23 “James Kiely, who has just been pardoned by the King in connection with the Fenian riots of 1866, is living in a weatherboard cottage in Mary Street, North Perth. In an interview today he expressed his gratitude for the pardon. He said “I was convicted of high treason in 1866 when I was a member of the 53rd Regiment. My regiment was stationed for some time in England, and then sent to Kildare, Ireland. We were transferred to Clonmel in 1868. Things were awfully bad in those days. The distress occasioned by the failure of the potato crop was terrible. Soldiers were continually being employed evicting poor peasants, and there was no one to help the poor people. Fenian risings were taking place all over the country, and while at Clonmel I was so persuaded by some American friends that I got mixed up with one of the Fenian societies. There was a proposal that the armoury at Clonmel should be broken into and a lot of keys were made for that purpose, but they were no good. I was handy at that sort of work, and undertook with another man to make pick locks or, as they are called nowadays, skeleton keys, so that the armoury and the magazine could be entered and 2000 rifles and ammunition taken out and distributed among the members of the different Fenian societies. I did it and opened the armoury, and I

went in by myself. But before all the arrangements were completed for the raid a detective got to know what was going on and gave information, and I and several others were arrested. After waiting for seven months for trial I was sentenced to prison for life, and after spending some years in various English prisons, I was, with 72 others, send to Fremantle”. James was moved to Sunset House for the aged in Nedlands. James at this time was very deaf, went on drinking binges and was hard to handle. He died in Sunset on 31 October 1918 at the age of 84. His grave has recently been discovered at the Karrakatta Cemetery and a small wooden cross erected above it. It is often said in the Irish community in Perth that James was the last Fenian transported to Australia. James Kiely came to Australia and endured unimaginable hardships but he has also contributed greatly to Australia and our family. I am grateful that James had an Australian family which is the reason I am here today. I am also grateful that James brought the Irish Catholic faith which is now the centre of my life. When I look at his face I can see his natural frown but I can also see his gentle eyes and if he were here today I would thank him for what he went through which has made me what I am today. Thank you Great, Great Grandad. Benedict

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for others escaping, James and a few others were locked away in a high security cell. Once again James became insubordinate and was warned three times for threatening language and disobedience. He became more settled in 1877 and was also granted a Ticket of Leave. He had limited freedom but the right to work for normal wages. He was a general servant/labourer until being conditionally pardoned in March 1878. Even after being pardoned he was still not allowed to return to Ireland, never to see his children again. A free man at last, James drifted from job to job. James met Maryanne Roach in Geraldton in 1883. Maryanne was an Irish girl who had come on the ‘Lady Louisa’. She arrived in Fremantle in 1883 at the age of 16 with a group of Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. Maryanne had decided not to become a nun and she married James in St Mary’s Cathedral Perth on 2 October 1883, by Fr Martelli. It is quite a coincidence that James’s daughter Maryanne would have been 18years old and the young Irish girl he was marrying was also named Maryanne and she was just 16. James continued his involvement with the church in Perth by leading the annual St Patrick Day parades. They had seven children, five of who died. Nora and Susan were the only ones to live. Susan is my Great Grandma. James and Maryanne’s marriage was not the happiest. One of the reasons for this was that James was 49 and Maryanne was 16 when they got married (a 33 year age difference). When their daughter Susan was 16, Maryanne and Susan moved to Melbourne leaving Nora with James. The church wrote to Maryanne and asked her to return to sort out James’s problems. The Celtic Club in Perth had found James living a lonely destitute life on the edge of a road in a tent. The Celtic Club rented a small cottage in North Perth which James was to share with two other Fenian Irishmen living in exile in 1904. On a happier note, James was a guest at the Perth banquet for the visiting Irish Home Rule politician, William Redmond MP. On the 24 November 1905 the Adelaide Advertiser Newspaper in South Australia ran this headline

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Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from All of Us to All of You! 35

By Lloyd Gorman

ISTEACH SA TEACH

Life is politics & politics is life

Isteach sa Teach expects Stephen Dawson will have a long career as a parliamentarian. He is good value and not afraid to talk about his Irishness in an Australian way. He was elected to the seat for the mining and pastoral region at the March 2013 for the Labor Party and, like the rest of the MoPs (members of parliament) he will be facing into another election in March 2017. So the Dublin born and raised deputy is about halfway through his first term and he has proved to be a vocal representative for his constituents and the Irish, Aboriginal and wider community. On October 15 he took part in a debate about the government’s intention to close community centres in Kununurra, Roebourne and Fitzroy Crossing. He was a young teenager when his family came here and he opened himself to the customs and language of the Indigenous people of the region he grew up in so he is competent and capable of speaking well on this subject. In this case he was talking about the risk of closure of the centre in Kununurra. “The centre is called Baya Gawiy Buga yani Jandu yani u Centre,” he said in parliament. “I will give Hansard (which records and prints debates in the House) the spelling later. Excuse my pronunciation, it sounds funny in an Irish accent. It should be said a lot faster, but I wanted to make sure of the pronunciation.” He went on to argue convincingly against the

closures which he demonstrated would hit the communities, particularly the Aboriginal communities that depend on them. Mr Dawson is the obvious face of an Irishman in parliament. But there are others of the same persuasion who we only learned about under sadder circumstances. On September 25, David Templeman (right), MoP for Mandurah rose to pay tribute to the late Carmel Hinchcliffe, who passed away on September 16. Both he and the MoP for Butler John Quigley had attended her funeral the day before. “Carmel was born in Ireland and. with her husband Brian, lived a full life, including running a dairy farm in Victoria, working in the hospitality industry for a number of years and always contributing to the communities in which she and Brian lived. Carmel was a shining light, a giver. Carmel was an energetic, compassionate and enthusiastic community member. She was a passionate Sydney Swans supporter, was proud of her Irish heritage and always met people with her beaming smile and friendly banter….Both the member for Butler and I appreciate the support that both she and Brian have given to us as members of Parliament…the world has been a better place because Carmel Hinchcliffe grace this earth.” MoP for Girrawheen, Margaret Quirk (Labor) told the House on October 16 of a cultural Irish experience she had witnessed, a Musica Viva in Schools program at Roseworth Primary School. (Musica Viva is Australia’s biggest and most popular school music program and started in 1981) “It was the last concert of 40

performed by the lively Irish dance music group Ógham Soup in metropolitan, regional and remote Western Australia,” said Ms Quirk. “With Ógham Soup, students became familiar with instruments such as the fiddle, guitar and vocals, hearing traditional jigs and reels. The band also combined instruments including a bodhran, mandolin and even an ancient Bronze Age horn called the Dord. The Emerald Isle has a long and proud musical tradition, and Ógham Soup brought a bit of good old Irish craic to Roseworth.” While it isn’t uncommon for Labor MoPs to bring up topics for

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Email: theessenceofireland@gmail.com Face Book: The Essence of Ireland Geraldton, during a debate on October 16, about the management of WA’s freight rail network, cited some political inspiration from Ireland. “Edmund Burke, was an Irish political philosopher and a Whig politician,” said Mr Blanyney. “He lived from 1729 to 1797 and is widely regarded as the father of modern conservatism. He is also generally regarded as the author of the expression “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Meanwhile, back in the Irish parliament (Dail) in Leinster House, in September the Claddagh Association in Perth was mentioned briefly - by foreign affairs and trade minister Charles Flanagan - as one of the Irish support services in Australia that had received funding through the Emigrant Support Programme - which between 2003 and 2013 had seen $2.4 million go to Australia.

Ireland twice. In one debate - about the Mental Health Bill 2013 - she was talking about changes being made to the WA mental health system. She spoke about having lunch with some speakers at a conference on the issue from Ireland who told her that Irish mental health laws are undergoing a similar review. On the same day she talked about the Signs of Safety child protection programme which had been developed in WA in the 1990s and was now introduced into 17 other countries and jurisdictions, including Ireland and Northern Ireland. On September 18, and in keeping with the earlier debate about the mental health bill, Morton said she had recently listened to a keynote address by Professor Pat Bracken who was visiting form Ireland about Electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) . The issue got quite technical but the minister ended up siding with MoP Stephen Dawson who said the jury was still out on this form of treatment. Meanwhile, Ian Charles Blayney, the MoP for

In a Northern Ireland small town there was a “Nativity Scene” that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. One small feature bothered me. The three wise men were wearing firemen’s helmets. Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, I left. At a store on the edge of town, I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets. She exploded into a rage, yelling at me, “You south’ners never do read the Bible!” I assured her that I did, but simply couldn’t recall anything about firemen in the Bible. She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage. Sticking it in my face she said “See, it says right here, ‘The three wise man came from afar.’” I thought, blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. 37

FMD more of a risk to our way of life than WMD In 2001 Ireland suddenly went into full scale lock-down. A state of emergency was rapidly declared when some sheep imported from England on a farm in Co. Louth were found to have Foot and Mouth Disease in February. Checkpoints around that part of the country were quickly put in place to control the movement of animals, in vehicles that were carefully disinfected by men in white protective suits with masks. Scores of animals were destroyed and burned. So seriously concerned about this outbreak were the authorities that as well as officials and experts from the department agriculture that officers from the Special Investigation Unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Gardai were all deployed to trace the source of the infection. But even as the state threw massive resources at the problem, the rest of the country was still descending into a near state of panic, or at least paralysis as movement and big meetings of people became severely restricted. The Six Nations rugby international between Wales and Ireland and multiple other major sporting events were postponed as part of a suite of measures to stop the

disease - that only affects animals - from spreading. The St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, and other parts of the country was called off, as were weddings, community fairs, schools closed, in fact any event where more than a few people would come together seemed to be in danger of being banned. Somewhere in the public mind it became the idea that lots of human feet in the same area (say a stadium stand or a crowded street) would pick up or distribute the disease and pass it on to another carrier. The measures must have worked because the disease was contained - in Ireland at least - to this one incident. There seemed to be no measure that the government wasn’t prepared to take to stamp out FMD but eventually the country returned to a state of normality as restrictions were lifted. Australia has only ever had four outbreaks of this animal disease, in 1801, 1804, 1871 and 1872. The country’s isolation from other countries and later its strict quarantine laws and checks have no doubt helped keep it at bay for 130 years. You might think then that the risk of an outbreak here would

prompt a moderate and calm response from the Australian department of agriculture. You’d be wrong. The department says that its ability to deal quickly and effectively with emergency animal disease outbreaks is internationally recognised and that it has a good track record in this area. It points to a large outbreak of equine influenza (horse flu) in 2007 as evidence of this claim. “However, an outbreak of FMD could have dimensions significantly greater than anything we have had to deal with in the past,” the department warns on its website. The site goes into some detail about how it coordinates with all the state and territory governments to manage animal health emergencies and how it continually reviews the systems in place. Even the Australian Defence Force can be deployed in the case of an FMD outbreak to back up existing services or provide help in areas such as transportation, the engineering of disposal pits and logistics. Contrast this with the Department of Health’s website on the dangers of an Ebola outbreak

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in Australia. In fairness to the site there is some good information and sound advice about the origins and causes of the deadly disease. But the section about ‘the public health response’ seems a bit lacking in detail. “There have been no cases in Australia, but special procedures to prevent the spread of EVD would be put in place in the event of a suspected case,” we are told by the health department. There is an element of ‘Trust me I’m a doctor” about the whole thing. The response and approach of the Australian government to the Ebola crisis abroad and at home doesn’t inspire confidence. Unless very tightly and very quickly contained an Ebola outbreak could potentially spread exponentially and overwhelm existing health protections and measures. It would be more of a threat to the Australian public than the Islamic jihaddists ISIS or maybe even weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which have been dangled like a carrot in the face of the community as a reason to go to war in Iraq. A recent recent UN Security Council Resolution said Ebola was “a threat to world peace” Australia could learn a lot from Ireland in how to deal with this type of crisis. Tony Abbott has made it clear that he is not prepared to send health care professionals to deal

Air, Sea & Road Transport Quick, Efficient & Reliable Contact our Sales Team (08) 9243 0808 sales@aiexpress.com.au www.aiexpress.com.au and Export • Import and Intrastate • Interstate Sea Freight • Air Freight • Road Freight • Remote Destinations • with the crisis on the ground in the affected parts of Africa. He seems to think that giving $18 million to fight the disease is more than enough to cover Australia’s contribution. Even this isn’t that much when you compare it with the $20 million plus pledged by the Irish government to help stricken African countries cope. Ireland is considering further financial aid and donations. Money alone isn’t the solution to this crisis and the Irish government is supprotive of Irish aid agencies on the ground battling the epidemic which has claimed at least 5,000 lives, and quite possibly many

to Door • Door to Port • Door Urgent • Prioritydeliveries • Economy • Hot shot services • more. It also sent 42 tonnes of vital supplies and necessities (blankets, tents, mosquito nets, soap and water tanks) to help affected communities. Some 12 aid agencies in Australia are calling on the Federal government to do more than donate cash. They say practical on the ground services are what is needed. (Editors note: At time of going to press there were unconfirmed media reports that Australia might send a small team of medical workers to West Africa to tackle the Ebola virus there.)

Dermot Byrne

The Irish Quiz Wiz!

a.k.a. Dermot from Lesmurdie on ABC radio Nightlife program. (1) If you were born on Christmas Day what would your star sign be? (2) Which Ocean is Christmas Island in? (3) What was the name of the Simpsons family dog? (4) Who was the author of the book A Christmas Carol? (5) Christmas falls on what day this year? (6) In what year was Darwin devastated by Cyclone As we approach the end of 2014, Tracy on Christmas Day? (7) What was the name of the film in which Bing Crosby I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy Christmas sung the song White Christmas? and best wishes for 2015. (8) Bethlehem is in which modern day country? (9) From the song The 12 Days of Christmas, what gift was received on the 7th day? (10) What day was it Good King Wenceslas last looked out?

(1)Capricorn, (2)Indian ocean, (3)Santas Little Helper, (4)Charles Dickens, (5)Thursday (6) 1974, (7)Holiday Inn, (8)West Bank Jordon, (9) Seven swans a swimming, (10) St. Stephen’s Day 26th December.

I was glad to see at least one person spotted my deliberate mistake in last quiz, I thought everyone knew the Giants Causeway was in Co. Antrim. This time the questions all have a Christmas connection?

a chorus of voices inside the bars in the prison ship that began in subdued tones, but soon swelled out to a hymn of praise to the Almighty, the beautiful Christmas hymn Adeste Fidelis was chanted by all the Fenians. It startled the other convicts from their rest and brought the guards to the bars, but all respected the incident and observed silence till the hymn was finished. Memories of a softened nature were brought to the hardened and a sigh or two was heard as the strain died away on the night air. All was soon again quiet, the chanters having retired after paying the only tribute they could to the festival. During night the wind freshened up and towards morning a stiff gale was blowing, the weather became intensely cold and the seas which towered and immense height were now and again shipped, the old vessel creaked all over as each succeeding wave danced her up and again dashed her into the valley of waters. It was a wild and a bleak Christmas morning as the exiles emerged through the trap door to come on deck after the bolts and padlocks had been removed. l prayed for the dear ones at home most fervently my Cod grant them a Holy Christmas. We breakfasted on sweet loaf rather a delicacy for convicts, no mass could be said as the ship was too unsteady. Later below deck under the lantern’s dim glare, the men gathered to hear as O’Reilly read aloud the Christmas edition of The Wild Goose (The Hougoumont’s convicts journal) The and his poem A Merry Christmas”.

CHRISTMAS ON THE HOUGOUMONT THE LAST CONVICT SHIP TO AUSTRALIA By Brendan Woods

The following was taken from Denis Cashman’s diary kept during the Hougoumont’s journey to Australia in 1868.

“My name is Denis Cashman, I was a convict on the ship the Hougournont on its voyage from London to Fremantle. My crime you might ask, I was a Fenian, a member of an organisation who aims were a free Ireland; free from British rule. Some of my fellow Fenian’s included, John Boyle O’Reilly, John Flood, Thomas Hassett and William Hogan. Some of these men had been members of the British army then stationed in Ireland and had been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for treason and for being members of the Fenians. They were sent on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia.

This is an excerpt from the diary I kept during my journey to Fremantle. INDIAN OCEAN, CHRISTMAS EVE 1867 After the usual exercises had been done the exiles gathered round their mess tables, which were shortly to be converted to sleeping bunks and recounted reminiscences of incidents which befell them on the green hills and the valleys of Ireland. The reality of the present was for a while forgotten in telling of stirring and pleasant scenes of the past. Gradually most of the men returned to their sleeping berths and quite reigned around the ship. The sea had somehow ceased its hoarse roar. Relapsing from angry breaking mountains into quiet rolling swells, squalling gusts, however shrieked through the cordage which was in harmony with the sentries sharp challenge of “Who goes there?” If one of the crew approached in the darkness, the quite of midnight approached, the sentries roared “Half past eleven and all is well” and pasted from post to post. A stifled scream, a smothered imprecation or a rattle of a chain now and again was faintly heard from the sleeping convicts who’s dreams where often frightfully disturbed, it maybe from visions of some terrible incident in their past lives. Peace seemed to fall upon the elements as the moments sped that brought nearer the fast approaching festival of Christmas. All was still, twelve o’clock toiled out from the ships bell, it was answered by

A MERRY CHRISTMAS by John Boyle O’Reilly A Merry Christmas each one sends tonight across the foam To all the loved ones all the friends who think of us at home. From them a Merry Christmas flies on angel’s pinions bright, Tis heard upon the breeze that sighs around our ship tonight. Though on our ears no voices fall, our hearts, our spirits hear A Merry Christmas to you all and a happy bright new year. Let’s banish sorrow, banish fears and fill our hearts with glee And ne’er forget in after years our Christmas on the sea Hear the song performed by Brendan Woods on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGruCburL1c

Charlie and Joan Smith’s

SCULPTURES TO THE SEA By Lloyd Gorman

Kings Park and Fremantle Prison made it into the top 10 Australian landmarks according to the world’s biggest online travel site, Trip Advisor. In the category for Australian museums just one WA attraction made the grade – the HMAS Sydney II Memorial in Geraldton. It commemorates the 645 crew who perished when the Australian warship was sunk off the coast of WA. Sydney had been expected in Fremantle on November 20 of that year but failed to show. A few days later later a British tanker discovered and rescued a raft of survivors from the German battleship Kormoran and a large scale air and sea search started. By the end of November 299 of the 318 crew of the German navy vessel had been found but apart from an empty lifeboat and lifebelt from Sydney no trace of her or the sailors on board was found. It fell to then Australian Prime Minster John Curtin – whose parents both hailed from Cork – to officially announce she was lost on November 30. Although Sydney had destroyed Kormoran in the battle, she too was lost and this was a major set back for the moral and military might of Australia and a veil of mystery fell over the missing ship. The wreck of the ship was eventually found in 2008, on March 17. With this breakthrough the Australian community was finally able to think about how it could permanently honour the memory of the Sydney sailors who were lost with their ship. There are different memorials to HMAS Sydney but the main one is at Geraldton, on top of Mount Scott. Indeed planning to make this site a memorial started in 1997 after a speech about the Sydney was given to the local Rotary club. About a year later a large boulder, flagpole and bronze plaque were set down as a tribute. While the Last Post was being sounded at the opening ceremony a large flock

of seagulls flew overhead the assembly, in formation and out to sea. It was against this background that husband and wife sculpting team Charles Smith and Joan Walsh Smith were asked to design a lasting and appropriate tributes to HMAS Sydney II and her crew. Charlie and Joan left Ireland in 1984 and made WA their home. What they envisaged and created for the Geraldton site was a memorial in four parts. It has a stele, a structure resembling the size and shape of Syndey’s prow, a granite wall inscribed with the names of the personnel who served on her at the end and a bronze statue of a woman looking out to sea waiting for the ship. The centre piece of the memorial is a dome – called the dome of souls – which is made up of 645 stainless steel seagulls, inspired by that special moment in 1998. The memorial was dedicated in November 2001 in time for the 60th anniversary and in May 2009 it was recognised by the Australian government as being a landmark of national significance. As impressive as it is the HMAS Sydney II memorial is it is not the couple’s only monument to the ship and crew. In fact, only last year they were also responsible for designing another memorial at Denham, Shark Bay in WA. Denham (right) has a long and interesting history, and relationship with the sea. It is the most westernmost town in Australia and was the first part of the Australian mainland to be discovered by European sailors and explorers in the early 17th century. The local council commissioned them to come up with a lasting tribute and they created a poignant image of the lost ship in a memorial wall made of glass and stainless steel with the names of the lost sailors etched into it. Wreckage from Sydney can be found in Shark Bay. Another upcoming project for the sculptors also has a strong naval and maritime association. The Australian Sailor Monument will be a unique public sculpture recognising the role of sailors in the discovery, settlement, development and defence of Australia, and in particular Fremantle. The $1.9 million project

The Australian Sailor Monument

the entry to Fremantle harbour will be scaled to be visible from below the horizon and, at 20m long, will be one of the longest in the world. Through this monument, Western Australia will salute the sailors who played such a significant part in the history of the state and who served their country in ships and establishments. It will forever mark their passage in shadow, steel and stone under the great Australian sun. In their forty years or so as sculptors Charlie and Joan have created many public works of art and some of the most iconic memorials in Australia, Ireland and beyond. In fact the more they create the more they seem inspired and through their works they are helping to define Australian identity and memory – with a touch of creative Irish flair. Visit http://www.smithsculptors.com for more examples of Joan and Charlie’s memorials.

to build this monument coincides with the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy, and the tradition of men and women going to sea in ships. It will be themed around a huge solar clock, a great ship-shaped shadow will soon inexorably trace the path of Australian maritime and naval history across the surface of the historic north mole at Rous Head. The great central gnomon of the monument at

80g brown sugar 250g butter 200ml double cream FOR THE BISCUIT BASE: 1. Melt the butter in a pan. Place the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pan to breadcrumbs. 2. Mix the melted butter and crushed digestives together and use the mix to line the bottom of a 30cm spring-form tin, pressing it in firmly. Chill for at least 10 minutes.

FOR THE FILLING: 3. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar. 4. In a separate bowl, semi-whip 775ml of the cream. 5. Soften the gelatine in the remaining 100ml of cream in a saucepan by warming it over a gentle heat. Allow to cool for five minutes. 6. Fold the cream into the cream cheese mixture, then mix in the gelatine mixture and the Baileys. 7. Pour the filling onto the biscuit base and place in the fridge. Refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours, until set.

with Marguerite O’Dwyer The Cure Tavern Irish bar & restaurant

Baileys Cheesecake INGREDIENTS: For the biscuit base: 125g butter 250g granita biscuits For the filling: 450g cream cheese 125g caster sugar 875ml cream 4 sheets leaf gelatine 125ml Baileys Irish Cream Liquor For the butterscotch sauce: 2 tbsp water 80g caster sugar

FOR THE BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE: 8. Combine the water, caster sugar and brown sugar in a saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar has completely dissolved and formed a golden brown caramel. 9. Add the butter and let it melt with the caramel until completely absorbed. Stir through the double cream. 10. Serve slices of the cheesecake with the butterscotch sauce. Marguerite O’ Dwyer The Cure Tavern Irish bar & restaurant

Martin Kavanagh Honorary Consul Of Ireland

Things at the Honorary Consulate are even busier than last year. The number of passports being handles by Perth is on a steep increase. If you are thinking of heading home for Christmas please ensure your passport is valid (preferably for six months if you are travelling to countries other than Ireland). Passports are currently taking six to eight weeks to process so please contact us as soon as possible. My thanks to Lynda, Yvonne and Stephen for their fantastic support of Richard and me in the busy job of running the Honorary Consulate. My thanks to H.E. Ambassador White and Sarah Mangan and the staff of our Embassy in Canberra

for their great help and support throughout the year.

Congratulations.... Congratulation to Sean Daly on his election as President of The Irish Club of Western Australia. To former president Alan O’Meara thank you for your service to the Irish Community as Irish Club President over many years.

Thank You... My thanks to the volunteers in the Claddagh, The Irish Club, the GAA, the St Patricks Day Team, the Ireland WA Forum, Irish Families in Perth, Shamrock Rovers and the Rose of Tralee (to name but

a few) who give of their time and commitment to making life for the Irish in WA more fulfilling and rewarding. A big thanks also to Fred Rea- a leader in the Irish community by any standard.

As Christmas approaches I hope you that you have a chance to relax and take stock. I also hope that whether your stay in WA is short or whether WA is home away from home that you enjoy your time in WA and become involved in the Irish community.

Happy Christmas to you and yours

Perth Office: 1/100 Terrace Road East Perth Western Australia 6004 - Tel: (08) 6557 5802 - Fax: (08) 9218 8433 Email: info@consulateofirelandwa.com.au - Website: www.consulateofirelandwa.com.au Office Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30 - 2.00pm by appointment only

Follow the Irish Embassy on Twitter: @irlembaustralia

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The light of the Christmas star to you The warmth of home and hearth to you The cheer and good will of friends to you The hope of a childlike heart to you The joy of a thousand angels to you Love and God’s peace to you. 43

Focus on learning or expanding on your “cúpla focal” in an interactive learning environment. Irish language classes for groups and individuals, young and old. Private classes taking place in your home or in Innaloo. Contact Caitríona Durham 0414 070 477 or visit www.facebook.com/cupla.focal.5

Local News of Interest from the Past

News Published Every Two Months RE SE ARC HE D

FRED

REA

A Cold, Cold Christmas amongst the Wicklow Hills!

RELAND’S past, rich in sorrow and deeds of heroic sacrifice, furnishes many a romantic retrospect. Let us go back to one of the most thrilling of its episodes connected with the great festival of Christianity. It was Christmas in the year of grace 1592. The crafty and cruel Fitzwilliam ruled the land of the Pale as Elizabeth’s Lord Deputy. All outside that line, however, the rule of another lord was known and felt. Hugh O’Neill (right), the paladin in the field, the sage at the council-table, had flung the banner of the Red Hand to the breeze, and stood confronting the foe whom he was shortly to o’ermaster and send to his long account the Marshal Bagenal. All over the island the din of preparation or the hush of expected conflict was discernible. And the hopes of the Irishry in their magnificent chief rose in exact proportion to the fears which seized upon the Palesmen as each new day brought them in tidings of the growth of O’Neill’s power and the pushing forward of his preparations. The buzz and hum of coming combat had been borne, like an evening susurrus even into the dungeons of Dublin Castle, and stirred it to its uttermost depths. Out of that commotion arose the event we are now going to chronicle. The snow was falling fast and blindingly on that Christmas Eve. In the teeth of the storm three wayfarers plodded manfully along the road leading past Rathfarnham towards the Dublin Mountains. Though the prospect was bleak, their hearts were light. For these travellers had just escaped from the gloom of the prison and the hideous discord of bolts and bars ; and the free air of heaven and the twitter of the few hardier winter birds upon the leafless tree-limbs were

a blessed contrast to these. The tallest and manliest of the three was none other than Hugh 0’Donnell— “the dauntless Red Hugh” of ballad and story — and his companions were Art and Henry, the sons of the ill-fated Shane O’Neill—Shane the Proud, whose gory head just then lay rotting on a spike in front of Dublin Castle. From that Castle the three youths had made their escape upon this Christmas Eve morning. The feat was one of extreme difficulty as well as danger, for the fugitives had had to traverse foul passages and subterranean sewers, the haunts of rats and other noxious things. Little, wonder, then, that their hearts felt glad as they stepped with the joyous tread of youth over the snow-covered road, and gave but little heed to the bleak prospect which lay immediately before them. Yet they were careful not to let their exuberant spirits betray them into any incautious levity. Vigilance was above all things necessary; for O’Donnell had had an experience already of the dangers of incaution. Twelve months before, he had attempted to escape, and had got into the Wicklow Mountains, but was surrendered to the English by the weak Phelix O’Toole, to be flung again into his dungeon and loaded with chains. The wayfarers rightly determined, therefore, not to venture near the O’Toole’s territory again. There was another Wicklow chief from whom they knew, if they could only reach him, they would have shelter and protection and a cead mile failte — the high-souled and heroic Feach MacHugh O’Byrne — he who had sheltered the fugitive Viscount Baltinglass and all but annihilated the English forces sent against him in Glenmalure. They therefore took the road leading up the Feather Bed

Photo credit: National Museums Northern Ireland

Mountain. To this course they had been advised also by Hugh O’Neill, with whom O’Donnell had managed secretly to correspond. O’Neill had communicated with O’Byrne on the subject; and the chieftain had agreed to send a guide to meet the fugitives and conduct them through the difficult mountain passes to the wild but secure retreat of Glenmalure. They had soon the satisfaction of being bailed by O’Byrne’s messenger, O’Hagan and under his guidance they proceeded with still lighter hearts to scale the snow covered mass of the mountain. But they soon began to realise the enormous difficulties of the undertaking. At ordinary times the crossing of the Wicklow Mountains is no light pedestrian teat; in the depth of winter, with a blinding snow-storm beating in one’s face, it would require almost super human strength and courage to accomplish it. Furthermore, to attempt it, as the travellers did, without the provision of food or drink, made the undertaking appear almost suicidal. Still they toiled on all that fearful night, making a little headway. Morning came, but

which overtakes men who succumb to its influence. O’Donnell, Henry O’Neill, and O’Hagan were with difficulty shaken up, but O’Donnell, it was found, was unable to stand, his feet being severely frost bitten. But poor Art O’Neill was beyond the reach of human aid. The shade of death was on his face, and the rigour of death in his limbs. After vainly endeavouring to restore animation, his rescuers had to leave his body there and hasten on with those in whom vitality was almost equally extinct. In the hospitable home of the O’Byrne however, they were quickly returned to health and spirits. Red Hugh was soon able to sit on his horse; tidings of his rescue, were conveyed to O’Neill; O’Donnell evaded all pursuing parties, crossed the Liffey and then the Boyne, met O’Neill in joyous greeting in Dungannon, and after, coming to an agreement as to the future campaign, made straight for his own country. With what mad delight he was received by his friends and clansmen it would be impossible to describe; and how the standard of O’Donnell was soon floating proudly in the breeze, bringing consternation to the English garrisons and courage and hope to Tyreconnell, our limits will not permit us to tell. But never surely did mortals spend a more fearful Christmas anywhere than did dauntless Baldearg and his young companions that memorable Yuletide in 1592 amongst the Wicklow hills.

its welcome light revealed no place where they could either rest their weary frames or procure food for their famishing bodies. They were forced to eat leaves and grass, says the chronicler, and their strength began gradually to give out. Evening fell, and found the poor fugitives still wandering helplessly about— for the guide appears to have lost his way — and, worn out with fatigue and hunger, the miserable party threw themselves down in a fissure at the base of a great cliff to sleep or to die, they knew not which. Benumbed and famished they awoke next day, and with tottering steps resumed a journey which seemed as though it would never end. All through this second woeful day they had to endure the same tortures for want of food, and when night came, and they again sought such shelter as a mountain recess could afford them, they knew that the end could not be far off. The dreadful anticipation was realised with regard to one of them, for when the morning dawned they all awoke not with it. O’Byrne, alarmed at their non-appearance, had sent out men to search the mountain passes. One of these parties fortunately came upon the prostrate forms of the travellers huddled together on the ground, half covered with the treacherous snow and sleeping the deadly sleep

From the Freeman Journal Sydney December 1885

Q&A WITH MARGARET BYRNE

Northern Ireland’s Margaret Byrne is CEO of Premiership club Sunderland. She tells John Hagan about her background, how she scored a dream job, and describes her role in a great soccer club. You were born in Northern Ireland. Describe something of your early life there. I had a lovely childhood. I grew up in Dromintee, Co. Armagh as one of four children. We didn’t have a lot of money when we were growing up but then again, neither did anyone at home. It was a simple, yet lovely childhood.

What led you to take up law? I initially wanted to do something with marketing or business; however, there are quite a few lawyers in my family, so it was inevitable that at some stage I would be drawn to it. After my initial degree in Consumer Studies, I did what is known as a conversion course (Post Graduate Diploma in Law). My plan was to return to N. Ireland and practice as a solicitor, but I enjoyed practicing in London and decided to stay on a while. How does a young Northern Irish solicitor get to be CEO of a Premier League soccer club? By a heck of a lot of hard work! When working in London I applied for the position of Club Secretary and In-house Lawyer at Sunderland AFC. After five interviews, I was offered the job and started in January 2007. I worked very hard and all legal work came my way, as well as the administration side of football operations. I was asked to be Company Secretary after six months and I was then invited onto the Board as Legal Director in December 2009. In May 2011, the Chairman asked if I would take up the position of CEO and I was delighted to assume the role.

What does your job as CEO of Sunderland Football Club entail?

we used to go to see Leicester at Filbert Street and I grew up playing football matches with all my cousins. I don’t think any of my extended family are too surprised that I am working in football.

How influential was Sunderland’s Irish connection in luring you to the club? I was intrigued with the position itself initially, rather than the Irish connection.

I oversee all aspects of the club – however, in each department we have specialists in position in the individual areas. The most important part is what actually happens on the pitch, where the Head Coach obviously coaches and selects the team. He works with the Sporting Director on the recruitment of players. I oversee the financial side of any transactions and ensure they are within the parameters of our budget. We have many different departments – accounts, medical, academy, communications, marketing etc and my job is easier as we have so many good people heading up the departments. We also try to be innovative and as such we have formed SAFC Global – with a worldwide outreach programme, we hold concerts at the Stadium of Light and we also have an external events company – 1879 Events Management Ltd. Have you always been interested in football? Yes, I have always been a bit of a “tom boy”. When I was younger

Why are links between Sunderland Football Club and Ireland so strong? There has always been a strong link with Ireland. Way back in 1936 John Feenan, a County Down full-back joined the Wearsiders [Sunderland] from Belfast Celtic, coincidently the same year that Charlie Hurley was born and of course Charlie was and still remains both a Sunderland and Republic of Ireland legend. Over the years there have been a large number of Irish players who have played for Sunderland and this has helped to build a strong connection between the club, the city and Ireland.

Manchester City recently established strong links with Australian club Melbourne City. Do you ever see Sunderland following this example? Each club has a strategy on where in world they want to be. Manchester City are developing links in Australia and New York at present. Our club has strong links in Africa and Washington DC. In due course, we want SAFC Global to grow, but we have to ensure we get it right first. As CEO of Sunderland and a

member of Premier League Advisory Board, are you ever made to feel like a token female member of what must be a predominately male executive? No, never. It is predominately male, but I believe I am well respected by my peers and I do a good job representing clubs on the Legal Advisory Board. What do you see as being the major problems facing English Premiership football clubs over the next decade? I see it being positive rather than having major problems over the next decade. The league is going from strength to strength and the interest across the globe is phenomenal – currently over 4bn people watch it worldwide and to be a part of it is great for the club and the city of Sunderland. Now that you live in the North East of England, what do you miss about Northern Ireland? I miss my family and the ability to see family members as much as I would like to. However, the North East reminds me of home. The people are friendly and enjoy a bit of “craic” as well.

What do you do to relax? I enjoy the odd glass of white wine and I love to read (especially Sheila O’ Flanagan’s novels). For more information on the Sunderland Football Club and SAFC Global, visit www.safc.com

WAGS

Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc.

The 13 Rs of Researching Your Irish Ancestors 1. Record what you and older family members know. Names, dates, places, occupations, migration dates, family stories, relationships. Old photos can help jog memories. Start with you, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on, working backwards carefully. 2. Realise that not everything you’ve been told will turn out to be true. People have imperfect memories (sometimes deliberately so). 3. Review what you have. Draw up a family tree. Genealogical software can help organise all the information you have. Some is free. 4. Reconfirm with official documents such as birth marriage and death certificates, census and other records. See 2. 5. Realistic targets: Much information about Irish families is fragmented, in many different locations, websites, archives. Some, but not all, was lost to the Four Courts explosion in Dublin 1922 and in earlier record destructions ordered by the authorities. Many people can find out more about their Irish ancestors by working at it patiently and following every lead. It will take time. More records are becoming available online every week. 6. Research the background - Not just the family, but social and political history at the time, the geography of the area. It brings your family history to life. And unless you understand the background well you’ll turn up 267 people with the same name as your ancestor and you’ll have no way of knowing which is yours. 7. Research the gaps between what you have confirmed about your ancestors and the next generation back. 8. Research sideways – get round a dead end “brick wall” by researching a brother or sister or cousin with a more distinctive name, birthplace or occupation.

9. Research systematically, not jumping generations to connect with someone famous or better documented 10. Resources: Access relevant websites, other digitised media, books, atlases, blogs, social media pages, e-news, local genealogical society, archives, libraries, cemeteries. 11. Reach out to others through blogs, websites, social media, especially to distant cousins who could be researching the same line 12. Respect other researchers and record keepers: Just because someone has a photo of great X 3 grandfather Joe doesn’t mean they have to share it with you - even if you are also a descendant. Just because an overseas archivist is in charge of a parish record you’d like to see doesn’t mean they can drop the job they are paid for to be your free research assistant. They may do if you ask politely, or they may suggest another way for you to see the record. 13. Revisit and review your tree regularly checking for gaps and obvious errors, like fathers born before their children. Join an Irish family history research group to get motivated and learn about the data sources available. In Western Australia the Irish Special Interest Group of the Western Australian Genealogical Society (WAGS) meets four times a year on a Sunday afternoon at WAGS in Bayswater. Dates for 2015 are 18 January, 19 April, 19 July and 18 October. Check out the Irish SIG’s webpage and the 100 Irish genealogical websites listed on the WAGS website.

More http://membership.wags.org.au/special-interest-groups-mainmenu-47/irish-sig http://membership.wags.org.au/membership-mainmenu-44/genealogy-links

A bit of Ireland in the bush DONNYBROOK - WESTERN AUSTRALIA By Lloyd Gorman

About 130 miles (210 km) south of Perth on the South Western Highway is Donnybrook, one of WA’s best known and attractive towns. As the name suggests there is an Irish story behind the origins of the town. In 1842 a party of five wealthy and educated Irishmen, accompanied by four servants (it is unclear if these servants were also Irish but it is likely they were), came to the district to try and establish farming in the area. The land the occupied was on the Preston River, about a kilometre away from where the modern town sits today. They are the first known Europeans to have lived there. The group included a George Nash and James Bessonett who came to settle on 320 acres (130 hectares) of land for which John Schoales, a former barrister from Dublin, had applied in March of that year. Before they made this expedition to find their fortune Nash and Schoales had operated a flour mill at Mt Eliza in Perth - the hill in Kings Park that overlooks the city - but his venture wasn’t a success so they sold the business. They planned to breed horses and cattle on the isolated holding which they named Donnybrook after Donnybrook Fair in Dublin - but quickly experienced problems. They had the horses and livestock but apart from one plough they did not have much in the way of equipment and tools to clear the bush. They then tried breeding sheep, and this proved to be even harder so by February 1843 they gave up on the settlement as a bad investment, one which had cost them hundreds of pounds according to records from the time and which was unlikely to ever make a return. The quality of the land varied between strong, arable soil and larger patches of poorer earth which couldn’t support agriculture or animals on it. But one of the group of Irish men James Bessonett - took over 700 acres (283 hectares) lower down the river, closer to what is now Boyanup, and started again. But within six months he walked away from this spot for

much the same reasons. Undeterred by these experiences Bessonett is known to have bought another two blocks of land (just over 700 acres again) in April 1845. Part of his holding would become known as “Old Donnybrook” and was the site of the first railway settlement in the area. Being an Irish story there has to be at least one twist in the tale of course. There is a competing claim for the naming of the town from another Irish man. In September 1937 a Mrs K Furlong of Wellington Street, Perth wrote to the West Australian stating that it was her father who had bestowed the name on the place – in 1878. Her father Nichola Veale was an Irish immigrant who joined the police force in 1867 who bought property in the South West region and built a house which he called ‘Donnybrook’ – again named after the village in Dublin. A historian who wrote about the origins of Donnybrook described the situation like this: “Whether the fact of Nash calling the place Donnybrook and Veale also calling his home Donnybrook over 30 years later is pure co-incidence or whether Veale was aware that the property was originally known as Donnybrook is debatable. But it is quite obvious that the location...is the place where the home originated and is the same location which had been acquired in 1840’s by Schoales, Nash and Bessonett and where the name Donnybrook originated.” What we do know for certain is that the name Donnybrook was gazetted (formally declared by the government) in 1894 and has proudly worn its Irish identity proudly ever since with an Irishtown added later to the western side of the town. Today Donnybrook is familiar with a new and different generation of Irish people. The apple producing region for example is a popular option for many young backpackers who earn the right to stay in Australia for a second year by doing their regional work there. So its perhaps not too much of a stretch to say that Donnybrook, was and is, a little bit of Ireland in the bush. 50

Donnybrook Food and Wine FEST 2014 Life in modern day DONNYBROOK is very much more comfortable than that lived by the ORIGINAL IRISH SETTLERS to the district. Today Donnybrook is a lively and rapidly-growing town and district whose many assets are increasingly attracting the attention of people looking for a relaxing and friendly country lifestyle with all the latest conveniences. The Donnybrook district is situated in the Darling Scarp, with rolling hills, forests and bush, rich and productive farmlands, beautiful orchards and vineyards, the Preston River and spectacular scenery in all the seasons. In winter and spring you could think you were in Ireland, it’s so green. Why not come on down to one of its most popular local events, the DONNYBROOK FOOD AND WINE FEST which is held on the grassed amphitheatre area by the banks of the Preston River in Donnybrook town. This year it’s on Saturday 29th November 2014 from 11.00am to 5.30pm – and it’s FREE ENTRY for all. It’s an easy day out from Perth, a very straight-forward drive down the Forrest Highway to Bunbury and then a bit further on down to Donnybrook via the picturesque South Western Highway. At most,

West folk/rock musician/band Latehorse.... http://www.latehorse.com/ “Blurring lines between whimsical folk tunes and edgy rhythms, this local singer songwriter plays all original music. A thought- provoking mix of percussive guitar and raw vocals.” He’s good! We also have The Bad Apples from Irishtown (just outside Donnybrook) our own fantastic vocal, rhythm & blues and pub rock group. Up tempo and lively music, so bring your dancing shoes. In 2013, The Bad Apples won the regional SW final of the ABC’s “Exhumed” competition. The display of vintage cars always attracts a crowd. There are free activities for kids at the Fest and also, in town, there is the very popular Apple Fun Park (free entry and the largest free fun park for kids in Australia.) Donnybrook looks forward to welcoming readers of The Irish Scene to the Donnybrook Food and Wine Fest. Warning - you may never want to leave! For more information, please visit http://www. donnybrookfoodandwinefest.com.au/ and follow us on Facebook.

about two and a half hours drive from most parts of Perth. Alternatively, make a weekend of it and talk to our Visitors Centre about accommodation options and other things to do in the district. http://www. donnybrookwa.com.au/ There’s plenty to please the taste buds at the Fest, with wine tasting (our prize-winning local wines of the Donnybrook subregion of the Geographe Wine Region) and a great range of carefully selected stallholders offering high quality food, wine and produce. It’s a terrific chance to buy some pantry-oriented Xmas presents and have fun at the same time! There’s no need to bring a picnic; the choices for lunch will be mouth watering. You can pick up some tips from the cooking demonstrations during the day by retired West Coast Eagle’s legend, restaurant owner and foodie, ANDREW EMBLEY. Become an instant wine buff and impress your friends with your new knowledge by joining in the free wine appreciation sessions in the big tent. But it wouldn’t be a good day out without live music. This year we will be starring the popular South

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Located on the first floor, the main Function Room can comfortably seat 125 delegates theatre style or 120 for a banquet.

The two function rooms have a comfortable sophistication that lend themselves to a variety of uses such as presentations, training events, Annual General Meetings, Boardroom Meetings. Fully fitted with Wi-Fi, ceiling fitted projectors and screen and speaker system.

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Our superb restaurant serves an a la carte style lunch Monday to Friday and the bar area, with separate lounge, features a number of speciality beers on tap, and is ideal for relaxing, a light luncheon or coffee.

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CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

It was just before Christmas and the judge was in a happy mood. He asked the prisoner who was in the dock, ‘What are you charged with?’ The prisoner replied, ‘Doing my Christmas shopping too early yer honor.’ ‘That’s no crime’, said the magistrate. ‘Just how early were you doing this shopping?’ ‘Before the shop opened sir’, answered the prisoner.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

As a little girl climbed onto Santa’s lap, Santa asked the usual, “And what would you like for Christmas?” The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: “Didn’t you get my E-mail?”

FLANN’S YE MAN By Danny Armstrong

Brother Barnabas. It is surprising with the bravado the young Flann displayed in his writing during his college years that his next move was to join the Civil Service. This was a key feature of Flann’s personal situation and was one of the reasons he used aliases throughout his literary career. Joining the Civil Service was not in keeping with the young man’s personality, though it is no surprise given the early death of his father and the obligation he had to support ten siblings along with the desperate poverty of Ireland in the 1930s to 1960s. Flann used the apprehensions he held about assuming the comfortable existence the Civil Service allowed by fictionalizing his doubts. An early piece written as Brother Barnabas titled “Scenes in a Novel” has the hero, Shaun Svoolish musing over this predicament, choosing the comfortable bourgeois life, rather than romance and heroics. ‘I may be a prig’, he replied, but I know what I like. Why can’t I marry Bridie and have a shot at the Civil Service?’ ‘Railway accidents are fortunately rare’, I said finally, ‘but when they happen they are horrible. Think it over.’ Then came “At-Swim-TwoBirds”, the book Graham Greene described as “a novel in a thousand.” Unanimously considered to be Flann O’Brien’s masterpiece, the novel was published in 1939. After a first reading of the book it is impossible to coherently articulate to your friends the reasons why they simply must read it. The dreaded question of what is it about invariably arises and this leaves first time readers perplexed. “Well, it’s about a writer whose characters will not behave and it’s a story within a story of a writer writing a novel”, I once stammered to a bemused friend who didn’t

take me up on the offer to read it. Ultimately “At-Swim-Two-Birds” is comedic writing at its very best, touched with the hand of literary genius, completely impossible to follow in any chronological sense, but unlike James Joyce’s sadistic “Finnegan’s Wake”, a sheer delight from start to finish, which will have you guffawing out loud on public transport and will have the poor soul

Ma’ Mooney

“I declare to God if I hear that name Joyce one more time I will surely froth at the gob.” In the great pantheon of Irish literature the name Flann O’Brien rarely figures. Neither for that matter does Brian O’Nolan or Brother Barnabas and mercifully… so to Myles na gCopaleen. What makes all this so intriguing is they all constitute the one man who for simplicities sake we’ll address from now on as Flann O’Brien. “You mean that because I have no name I cannot die and that you cannot be held answerable for death even if you kill me?” Reads the excerpt from Flann’s second most widely read novel, ‘The Third Policeman.’ There is little known about the personal details of Flann O’Brien, and this was no accident, it was exactly how he engineered it. However, there are inescapable facts dictated to us by birth that none of us can escape, and this is what is known of Flann. He was born in Strabane, County Tyrone in October 1911 as Brian O’Nolan. Flann attended University College Dublin and even at this early stage in life he possessed what all literary greats require, a fanatical dedication to his craft, he wrote prodigiously during his student years. He contributed to the student magazine “Comhthron Feinne” (Fair Play) already assuming the first of many pseudonyms, in this case

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sitting next to you shifting uncomfortably on the train. The mythological content of “At Swim” was inspired by O’Brien’s affection for early Irish literature. He grew up in an Irish-speaking home and although he claimed in later life he attended few of his college lectures, he acquired enough Old Irish to be able to compose in the language with reasonable fluency. The initial reviews for “At-Swim-Two-Birds” were not complimentary. The Times Literary Supplement said the only notable feature was a “schoolboy brand of mild vulgarity”, the New Statesman complained “long passages in imitation of the Joycean parody of the early Irish epic are devastatingly dull” and the Irish novelist Anybody who has the Sean O’Faolain stated courage to raise his eyes “it had a general odour and look sanely at the of spilt Joyce all over awful human condition it.” However, most of ... must realize finally the support for the book came from fellow that tiny periods of writers and not from temporary release from newspaper reviewers. intolerable suffering Dylan Thomas, in a is the most that any remark quoted on dust- individual has the right jackets in later editions to expect. of the book said “just Flann O’Brien the book to give your sister-if she’s a loud, dirty, boozy girl.” Between 1939 and 1940 Flann O’Brien wrote what was to become “The Third Policeman”, although he was initially unable to find a publisher and withdrew it from circulation claiming he had lost the manuscript. It remained unpublished until his death in 1966. In much the same way as “At Swim”, providing a plot summary of “The Third Policeman” is impossible. The story revolves around the narrator who is an academic on the works of de Selby, a scientist and philosopher entirely made up by O’Brien. By the time the protagonist reaches the age of 30 he believes he has written the definitive work on de Selby but does not have enough money to find a publisher. He then befriends John Divney who was left in charge of the family business and they plot to kill a local man named Mathers who according to Divney is worth “a packet of potato-meal.” In a letter explaining the book Flann O’Brien wrote, “When you get to the end of this book you realize that my hero has been dead throughout the book and all the queer ghastly things which have been happening to him are happening in a sort of hell which he earned for the killing.” As Myles na gCopaleen, Flann wrote short columns for “The Irish Times”, mostly in English but also in Irish, which displayed a manic imagination that still astonishes. His newspaper column, “Cruiskeen Lawn”, transliterated from the Irish ‘cruiscin lan’, meaning fullbrimming jug, has its origins in a series of pseudonymous letters written to the Irish Times, originally intended to mock the publication in the newspaper of a poem,

“Spraying the Potatoes”, by Patrick Kavanagh. O’Brien wrote the ‘Cruiskeen Lawn’ column until the year of his death in 1966 due to a heart attack possibly brought on from cancer of the throat and his well-documented alcoholism throughout much of his life. The Workman’s Friend Flann O’Brien When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of nightA pint of plain is your only man When Money’s tight and hard to get And your horse has also ran, When all you have is a heap of debtA pint of plain is your only man When health is bad and your heart feels strange, And your face is pale and wan, When Doctors say you need a change, A pint of plain is your only man When food is scarce and your larder bare, And no rashers grease your pan When your hunger grows as your meals are rare, A pint of plain is your only man In time of trouble and lousy strife, You have still got a darling plan You can still turn to a brighter life A pint of plain is your only man

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By Lloyd Gorman

Cinematic genius Quentin Tarantino was a guest on the Graham Norton Show (August 29) on 11. One of the more entertaining moments of an enjoyable interview was when Norton showed Tarantino a clip from Pulp Fiction which a bunch of film students in Co. Kerry had dubbed over and put on the internet. The legendary film maker seemed to get a real kick out of hearing his characters speak with what you might call bogger accents. The War that Changed Us was a

really excellent ABC documentary about the impact of World War 1 on Australia. The episode on September 2 looked at the Easter Rising in Ireland and the very real impact this had on the conscription debate which was raging in Australia at the same time. While it could not be claimed to be the deciding factor in the vote against conscription in Australia, it was only narrowly defeated and was influence by the vote of the Irish Australian community. Inspector George Gently was back on ABC1 on September 12, and on

following Friday nights. As well as being filmed in Ireland, this episode - The Burning Man - was about a murdered IRA mole and stolen weapons taken from an RAF base. The next day GEM showed the 1949 made Eureka Stockade, the story of Irishman and stockade leader

Peter Lalor (played by Australian actor Chips Rafferty) and the diggers of Ballarat. Later that night SBS News reported the news that Ian Paisely had died. Later still 7Two showed Dracula, written by Dubliner Bram Stoker. On September 15 aboriginal indigenous channel NITV showed Corp Agus Anam for a second time. A really good little Irish production worth a watch even if your Irish isn’t up to much. You might have seen Legend of the Bog before, but forgotten you

had. I think that’s what happened with me and this very average Irish horror set in the Wicklow mountains where everyone in the random group of people happens to have killed someone by accident and dumped the bodies to avoid complications. The story line isn’t great and the quality of the production isn’t up to much. Surprisingly enough this film has on screen tough man Vinny Jones in it, and Amy Huberman, the likeable Irish actress from The Clinic and the hilarious Threesome. If you only ever watch this movie once, that will be more than enough. The Count of Monte Cristo on 7Two (September 20) however delivered a great on screen performance from a great Irish and Australian actors, Richard Harris and Guy Pearce who played well off each other in this satisfying version of a story that has been told quite a few times on screen already. It as also one of - if not the last - film in which Harris had a lead role, he died the same year it was released (2002). On Ten that night Ripper Street made a return to our screens and I have to admit that this crime series which is set in turn of the century London but which is actually shot in Dublin has improved significantly in its second

season. A week later the story line involved a plot by the Irish Repulican Brotherhood that was foiled of course. On Sunday nights during September 7Mate also showed Gaelic football and hurling from home. SOS Titanic, a 1979 movie, about the story of the fated vessel and its passengers including the many Irish people on board - was shown on GO, September 27. That night ABC! had Foyles War, another brilliant police drama shot in Ireland. In fact, Ireland seems to be growing in popularity and frequency as the backdrop for more and more English shows. Ruth Rendells 13 Steps Down, which was made for the BBC for example, was also shown on ABC on September 28. As was Undeniable (October 2/ABC) - another crime based mini series - set in England but filmed in Dublin and Wicklow. Live at the Apollo on the same night

had Dara O’Brien and Scottish comic Danny Bhoy who both told funny anecdotes or jokes about Ireland and Australia. Parents in particular are big fans of the BBC comedy Outnumbered on ABC3, October 5. The daughter in this sit com about a mum and dad and their three children out of the blue wants to become a Catholic and a big discussion about the Irish ensues and the Troubles, all told in a lighthearted and whimsical way. Matching Jack, on Ten (October 10), saw another

great dual performance by two great actors - James Nesbitt who plays the part of a romantic Irish boat maker and Australian Richard Roxburgh. About once a year SBS screens

Hunger the unflinching film about Bobby Sands and the hunger strikes. This time it was screened on October 15 and was every bit as powerful as the first time I saw it. Not for the faint hearted but definitely worth a look if you get a chance. Some really brilliant and convincing performances. Stephen Fry’s Planetword, shown on ABC on Sunday nights, made two excursions to Ireland in its exploration of languages. On September 28 we saw Fry in the west of Ireland where he made a

study of the Irish language and its revival, with him even making a small appearance in Ross na Rún. Then on October 19, for the final show in the series, he returns to Ireland, this time to Dublin, where he explores the world of James Joyce in the exuberant company of Senator David Norris. Night Boat to Dublin, a 1946 black and white spy film has little about Ireland in it except the title, shown GEM October 19.

Cities of the Underworld on 7Two October 20 however had plenty of great insights into Ireland’s hidden past and history as it explored the

subterranean worlds of Dublin and beyond. As Irish Scene was preparing to go to press, SBS1 was to show two episodes of The Fall - a new Irish British crime drama about a serial killer in Northern Ireland - On Octxoer 23. The promos looked very promising.

Talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you, and at the end of your first season you will have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact. Oscar Wilde

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www.facebook.com/perthcomhaltas to camp with my mam’s Set Dancing because Maureen, my music teacher is there and she plays brilliantly for us at the night Ceili, soon I will be able to join in I just need to learn more Irish tunes. I know how to play the fiddle now I’m able to learn the flute and hopefully the piano”.

President of Comhaltas, Joan Walker asked the children at the Saturday classes what they liked about learning Irish music. “They come to us on Sundays at the RSL hall in Fred Bell Parade East Vic Park between 3 and 4pm. The children vary in age between six years to teenagers for instrument lessons”. Sean Doherty teaches the whistle and Maureen Walker teaches the fiddle.

Glen: “I don’t know why I love playing I just do, I love the tin whistle which I can play a few tunes now. I’m learning the mandolin and it’s cool”.

Some comments relayed to Joan from the students: Aoife… “When I can play a song really well it sounds great. I love the sound the fiddle makes. I really like Maureen and the way she teaches, it’s fun and easy to understand, Maureen’s teaching style”

It was Albert Einstein who said, “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Surely this is exactly what these Saturdays are all about, the right environment, the right teachers and Irish music, that’s why the children like it.

Other comments were, “I don’t know, just like it!

But... Oran and Tiarnan said they like Sean’s stories about where the songs came from. They will describe some of the new songs like “Mom we learned a really good song today, it has a lovely air but I wish I could play like Sean our fiddle teacher”. They are just in awe of Maureen’s playing and if they never learned anything they just want to “hear her play!” But Joan says that they are very proud of the fact that they can pick some parts of songs up by ‘air only’ (without notes) due to the lessons “We want to play like Maureen so we can play in a Irish Seisiun properly and it’s good that the teachers are not cross with us, they have good patience!”

As we approach Christmas and one is thinking about gifts, how about a musical instrument? Neuroscientists are discovering multiple ways that musical training improves the function and connectivity of different brain regions. Musical training increases brain volume and strengthens communication between brain areas. Playing an instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a wide range of sensory information, especially for those who start before age seven.

Comhaltas WA would like to pass on condolences to Janet Doherty on the loss of Mick, the last of the famous Doherty musician family from County Donegal. To Pat Ducey condolences on the loss of Maura, a great supporter of Comhaltas and many Irish traditional music events in Perth.

Mia says… “I like doing music because it is fun” as she listens to her aunties playing and wants to join in, she loves her teacher Maureen and loves coming to see her at her classes and making new friends too. Mia plays the fiddle.

For more information about Perth Comhaltas classes please call Joan on (08) 9397 5152, email perthcomhaltas@gmail.com or head to www.facebook.com/perthcomhaltas Session and classes every Monday at The Irish Club.

Alicia: Loves Irish music because “…it reminds me of my home in Ireland, my aunties and my mam’s friends come and play at our house and they played at my mam’s wedding which was very special, I love going

Dining Guide

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Something for everybody at Durty Nelly’s W hen it comes to Irish bars in the city, it is hard to look beyond Durty Nelly’s. Nestled in central Shafto Lane, the bar offers the best of both drinking and eating worlds. We went on a casual Monday night with the assumption that not many people would be out in the city. We were wrong – bars were incredibly busy and there was a great atmosphere as we walked to Durty Nelly’s. With a Monday special of $10 pizzas from 3pm, we were greeted with the very welcome smell of many pizzas as we walked through the alfresco. We also caught the end of the ‘happiest of happy hours’, which is from 5-6pm every weeknight. One of the things I most love about Durty Nelly’s is the range of ages, people and groups all fitting in well. Unlike some other bars where particular groups are privileged, Durty Nelly’s has a welcoming atmosphere akin to a traditional Irish pub. We sat down in our corner table, immediately reminded of a variety of bars back in Cork, Kilkenny and Dublin. The menu at Durty Nelly’s is extensive and reasonable. It

took us a ridiculously long time to decide from the standard and specials menu. Their selection both embraces and transcends traditional pub food; the variety and creativity of a number of dishes is quite impressive. For our entrée, we (over) ordered Beef Sliders – BBQ chilli beef with blue cheese and rocket along with Jerk Chicken Wings served with Coconut Rise and Pineapple Salsa. Without realising, these two starters could have been our entire dinner. The serving size was very generous, and the chicken wings were impressively presented. The pineapple salsa was the perfect compliment to the Jerk spices. The sliders were delicious too – but there was too much blue cheese for my companion (leading me to have more – I was not complaining!). For our mains, we could not decide between the Pressed Pork Belly and Black Pudding served with creamy potato and bacon mash, broccolini, red wine jus and remoulade or the Duck Gnocchi – potato gnocchi, shredded confit duck, kale, Portobello mushroom in a red wine sauce. Stuck between

these two dishes, we were swayed when we saw a variety of dishes leaving the kitchen. My companion ordered the traditional Chicken Parmigiana with house-made rich tomato and basil sauce, melted mozzarella, golden chips and salad. I’m not usually a fan of this meal, but I was convinced by the Durty Nelly’s version of it. My companion described it as ‘epic’ – its impressive size could have made it a dinner for two. I ordered the Pie of the Day – chicken, leek and asparagus pie with colcannon mash and buttered vegetables. The pie was hearty and delicious, and the colcannon was as good as you’d get in Ireland. The staff at Durty Nelly’s are everything you’d want in a pub – friendly, knowledgeable, and welcoming. We know it is the ideal place for a Christmas drink in the silly season, especially if you want to escape the heat and get transported back to a proper Irish atmosphere. We will definitely be back soon.

McLoughlin Butchers Malaga Proud Supporters of the Irish Scene Drop in and see our range of Irish prepared meats mcloughlinbutchers.com.au Like us on facebook

The Australian-Irish Heritage Association

MARY DURACK LECTURE, Sunday, November 16th, 3.00pm Speaker: Ray Omodei – distinguished man of Theatre Born in the Goldfields of Italian and Scottish parents, educated by Irish nuns, Ray Omodei started out as a teacher but was quickly steered into a career as a director of dramatic productions. He established himself as a prominent player in the National Scene including as an Associate Director and Director of the Writers Workshop at the National Theatre Company at the Playhouse, as the Resident Director of the Old Tote Theatre Company (precursor to the Sydney Theatre Company), which was the resident theatre company of the “nearly ready” Sydney Opera House, as an Artistic Director of the Mason Miller Theatre Company, as a long serving Artistic Director of the Hole in the Wall Theatre Company, and as the Foundation Artistic Director of the State Theatre Company of Western Australia. He has also undertaken artistic residencies at Adelaide University and the University of Western Australia, as well as being the State Director and National Workshop Director of the National Multi-Arts Project conducted by the Curriculum Development Centre, Canberra, across six states. Ray has produced more than 200 plays throughout his career, and directed about 130 of those. He has a love of Irish classics and has directed almost

30 major productions of Irish plays favouring O’Caseys’, ‘Juno and the Paycock’ and ’The Plough and the Stars’, and Synges’, ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ of which he directed six professional productions. What is the appeal of Irish Theatre to this non-Irish authority on theatre who could choose from a global body of works? What are his insights on the Irish character? Enjoy an erudite talk of Rays experiences and influences of the Irish dimension in his life filled with anecdotal reflections. Venue: Tannock Hall, Cnr Croke & Cliff Street, Fremantle Sunday, November 16th at 3.00pm. No charge. Non-members welcome. Afternoon tea provided Enquiries:Patricia Bratton 9345 3530 or 0417 099 801

Irish Heritage Trail Brochure AIHA have researched places of interest in the wider Perth region to map the Irish footprint in acknowledgement of the contribution of the Irish in the development of WA. It is intended to develop this research into heritage trail brochures for locals and visitors. The brochures will feature walkng trail maps. It is also intended to make the information available in a link to our website where greater detail THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB can be afforded. We are looking to attract persons who can Tuesday: 27 November Venue: Irish Club Committee Room, 61 contribute to this project in the collation and dissemination of this Townshend Road, Subiaco Time:4th Tuesday each month except research. Contact Vice-President Sally Ann O’Neill through our December at 8pm Free, all welcome. Light refreshments contact details below. provided excluding drinks Enquiries: Maureen 9279 2486 Vale BRENDAN AWARD NOMINATIONS - DEADLINE WEDNESDAY 31 DECEMBER Nominate someone who has made an outstanding contribution to Australia’s Irish Heritage. It may be someone in your community whose

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MAURA DUCEY

We were saddened at the untimely passing in September of our Board Member Maura Ducey who was a long time member and supporter of AIHA events.

Australian-Irish Heritage Association Non Political-Non Sectarian-Emphatically Australian PO Box 1583 Subiaco 6904. Tel: 08 9345 3530. Email: aiha@irishheritage.net Web Page: www.irishheritage.net Membership Due in 1st January. Family membership $65, Concession $55,Distant (200 kms from Perth) $45 Membership fee includes tax deductible donation of $20 The Australian-Irish Heritage Association was founded in 1993 as an inclusive organisation which encourages and promotes an awareness of Australia’s Irish Heritage and Culture. To this end, the AIHA creates opportunities for all to learn about, participate in and enjoy this distinctive heritage.

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Ireland

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DO NOT SEND AN EMAIL… I was having a cup of coffee last week when I heard a disturbing conversation, as you do, when tables are so closely placed! “Everyone is sending Emails this year instead of cards, I think I’ll do that too” said one lassie. “Oh definitely “ said her companion “way to go! Way to go!! I ask you, what is going to become of Christmas? I like Christmas cards. I get Emails from Telstra, ITunes, Amazon and Uncle Tom Cobley and all and I hate them. There is no way I want to search an Ipad or computer to see who remembers me. I want cards with Snowmen, Robins, Trees and even Kittens. I want beautiful ones with Stars and Three Kings and The Baby in the Manger. I want to put them all over my shelves and

hang them on things and read the little messages and think of times past. I have spent many a night at Christmas when things have quietened just reading cards and thinking “I remember that night when we danced and danced until dawn. Am I going to be able to get that lovely feeling from and Email? I think not… “God so loved the world that he didn’t send an Email. Just in case this intended evilness catches on I am planning on buying boxes of Christmas Cards to keep and if I don’t get lots in the

Mail I shall write them to myself from friends who should know better and hang them all over the shelves . I shall hope that they feel the waves of guilt I will be sending their way. I know things have to change but surely not everything. For all its rushing and frustrations I want that old fashioned feeling and I sincerely hope that The Magi are aware that they should now be starting their journey towards Bethlehem and watching the night sky for a Star.

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Mariner Kate Tyrrell

Paula Redmond profiles her great-grandmother, one of the first female Master Mariners and a member of a family synonymous with shipping and Arklow in Ireland.

RKLOW, Co. Wicklow, (An tlnbhear Mor in Irish meaning the great estuary) is a town steeped in maritime history. Stepping out of the Maritime Museum on the quay and looking out over the Nineteen Arches Bridge, with the Avoca River flowing below, one can imagine the vista of tall ship sails of yesteryear approaching this once thriving port. Arklow was Ireland’s premier fishing port by the turn of the century and had a fleet of eighty schooners, brigs and brigantines. My great-grandmother, Kate Tyrrell, was born in 1863. Her father, Edward, was a Master Mariner who owned several schooners and was involved in the ‘tramp’ trade, (carrying one cargo to its destination and hoping to pick up another at the other side). It wasn’t the norm for a girl to take over a shipping business in those years, but in the absence of a son - and with Kate showing a great interest in the business - she was the obvious choice. She spent hours in the harbour and at sea with her father learning how to sail, but

also remained in formal education studying subjects such as bookkeeping which she would later use in business. At this time tuberculosis (the consumption) was rampant in Ireland and in 1882 Kate’s fifteen year old sister died of this awful disease followed later in the year by her mother, Elizabeth, aged forty four. In 1885, Kate travelled with her father to inspect a new schooner, the Denbighshire Lass, in an area near Flint on the river Dee in Wales. She was a steamship sixty two ton schooner which had taken almost four months to build. Kate immediately took to the ship and her father bought it for her. By now, Kate was a well skilled sailor, able to chart courses, navigate and help on board with rigging, sails and steering. Despite her small hands she could tie knots as good as any man. Steam ships had started to make an impact by the years 1884/1885, but the thriving brick and tile trade meant there was plenty of business to go around. Although a heart complaint meant that Edward couldn’t sail

as much, he still went on some voyages until 1886 when he died aboard the ship at Garston, Merseyside, aged fifty six. Kate, now aged twenty-three, was head of the house and business. As a woman, her name was not allowed on a lot of the paperwork relating to the ship. However, Kate was determined that someday she would be named as outright owner on every document relating to the vessel. It took her until 1914 to achieve this ambition. Life and work on board ship was hard and often dangerous, but crew were plentiful and readily available at ports. The Denbighshire Lass paid crew £2 a month at the time and Kate is said to have treated them well. Although the ship was registered in Dublin, all vessels were under the auspices of the Crown and had to fly the Red Ensign (Union Jack). All shipping levies were also paid to the Crown. Kate resented this fact. In 1886, Kate married her long-time friend and confidant, John Fitzpatrick. He was Master of the ship on many journeys when Kate had to remain at home to deal with the administrative side of the business. In 1900, Kate gave birth to her first child, James, followed in 1905 by the birth of her daughter, my grandmother, Elizabeth. Apparently after the birth of her daughter, her

of peritonitis in Garston, Merseyside the same port Kate’s father had died in back in 1886. Following the death of their father, and with the declining coasting trade, James and Elizabeth had to sell the much-loved family schooner. They took some souvenirs from the ship before they sold her, which remain in the family, and some can be seen in the Maritime Museum in Arklow. On 16th March, 1926, the Denbighshire Lass travelled down the Severn River for the Irish Sea. Near an area known as the ‘Smalls’ she sprang a leak. Due to severe weather conditions the crew were forced to abandon ship. The three crew were rescued by the GWR steamer Reindeer. Elizabeth died in 1979 before I was born and unfortunately her brother James died in 1947 aged forty-seven. From listening to my mother’s stories shipping life remained ingrained in my grandmother until the day she died. My uncle John Mahon brought the story to life in 1995 when he published a book about her. The quays in Arklow are still a magical place for me where I imagine the once vibrant port and the magical vista of tall ship sails.

health disimproved and she never returned to the same active life she had once known. The Denbighshire Lass continued to sail to Britain throughout World War 1, despite the danger and the inability to gain insurance for the ship during this period. The Kynoch munitions factory in Arklow had brought great business during the war until 1917 when an explosion, killing twenty-seven employees, occurred. Both Kate’s children were now regularly on board ship sailing with their father on voyages. The main cargo for the ship at this time was coal. Kate was finding it harder to get around, but still managed to board ship occasionally. HOWEVER, by 1921, she had become almost entirely housebound and Elizabeth had to remain at home to care for her. On 4th October, 1921, Kate finally passed away at home with her husband, son and daughter by her side. Kate was one of the first ship owners to acquire the Irish tri-colour national flag, which she had kept on board ship in the skipper’s cabin waiting for a chance to fly it. During a trip to Swansea, Kate’s children finally got to hoist the flag she had always wanted to. It caused quite a stir on the dockside and Italian sailors mistook it for their flag. The authorities began an investigation into the matter. In June 1925, John collapsed aboard ship and died

Editor: This wonderful story was passed on to us by John Mahon who was visiting Richie Doherty with Richie’s mother.

Lorraine McCormack

Tony and Veronica McKee

Our heartfelt sympathy to Paddy McCormack, (former President of the Irish Club of WA), Phil, Linda, Laura and all extended Family. With fond memories we will hold dear in our hearts and remember with a smile a loving lady who is now resting in peace.

PO Box 994 Hillarys WA 6923

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, May the Lord hold you in the palm of His hand.

info@mckeefamilyfunerals.com.au www.mckeefamilyfunerals.com.au

Tel (08) 9401 1900 • Fax: 9401 1911 • Mob: 0413 337 785 62

Executive President: Eileen Ashley TCRG Vice President: Teresa McGorry TCRG Secretary: Siobhan Cummings TCRG Treasurer: Deirdre McGorry TCRG School Contacts Ceide Samantha McAleer TCRG Subiaco & Woodvale 9405 6255 / 0414 188 784 Delany Jane Goddard TCRG Forrestfield & Parkerville 9295 2447 / 0407 085 237 Eireann Siobhan Cummins TCRG Como/Jandakot/Rockingham 0422 075 300 Kavanagh Teresa McGorry-Mathers TCRG 9371 8400 / 0412 155 318 Deirdre McGorry TCRG (Hon) 0400 077 892 Osborne Park & Melville

O’Brien Rose O’Brien TCRG/AGCRG Butler, Kinross, Subiaco 9401 6334 / 0423 382 706 O’Hare Jenny O’Hare TCRG Wembley Downs & Os Park 0422 239 440 Saoirse Sinead Hoare TCRG Carramar 0414 647 849 Trinity Eileen Purtell-Ashley TCRG Morley 0413 511 595 WA Academy Glenalee Bromilow ADCRG Malaga 9276 3737 / 0410 584 051 Sue Hayes TMRF 9377 5600 Hilary McKenna TCRG 0404 730 532

Australian Irish Dancing Association Inc. WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WA DANCERS FIND SUCCESS IN CAPITAL

Canberra was transformed into the capital of Irish Dancing last month as the 2014 Irish Dancing Championships unfolded in a week of tremendous dancing and strong success for WA dancing schools. Over 1,000 competitors represented in this year’s event, many for the first time, from as young as six years up to seniors in the twenty years and over section. Accolades were awarded to dozens of WA dancers and teams, in a year of positive results for many Perth schools. Many appeared in top places, but none higher than Caoimhe McGuigan and Caoimhe McAleer from Scoil Rince ni Ceide Upton and Luke Hanson from WA Academy who took out the Girls 9 and 11 Years Championships and Boys 13 Years Championships respectively. The prizes continued for Scoil Rince ni Ceide Upton, taking out the Under 18 Girls 4-Hand Championship in the team competitions. “It was a momentous week for WA”, said AIDA WA President, Eileen Ashley. “Congratulations to all WA dancers, their teachers and parents on a week of beautiful dancing and sportsmanship. They are an inspiration to our up and coming children back at home.” WA’s final meet for 2014 will take place at the Morley Recreation Centre on 8 and 9 November. Last edition, we forgot we forgot to list some of our champions from the 2014 WA State Championships. We’ve added these dancers below and congratulate them on their wonderful successes: Championship 2014 Champion’s Name Sub-Minor Girls 7 Years & Under: Ceilidh McKeague (Ceide/Upton) Sub-Minor Girls 8 Years Hayley Brooker (Kavanagh) Sub-Minor Boys 8 Years Josh Johnson (Kavanagh) Minor Girls 9 Years Caoimhe McGuigan (Ceide/Upton) Minor Boys 9 Years Joel Brooker (Kavanagh) Minor Girls 10 Years Medbh Flanagan (Ceide/Upton) Minor Boys 10 Years Lachlan Moroney (WA Academy) Junior Girls 11 Years Caoimhe McAleer (Ceide/Upton)

Shadow Minister for Mental Health; Disability Services & Child Protection PO Box 2440, SOUTH HEDLAND WA 6722 stephen.dawsonmp@mp.wa.gov.au (08) 9172 2648 • 1800 199 344 (toll free)

SUPPORT IN THE WA G

IRISH COMMUMITY

Irish Seniors

WA Seniors Card

Western Australia was the first state to introduce the Seniors Card in 1988 as a mark of the community’s care and respect for seniors, and in recognition of the contribution seniors make to the community. Today, approximately 345 000 senior Western Australians are getting a better deal with the WA Seniors Card – one of the most generous in Australia. It is a lifelong card that does not need to be renewed, as long as you continue to meet the eligibility criteria. You can enjoy the benefits of a WA Seniors Card if you are: • • •

Aged 60 years or more A permanent resident of Western Australia (include holders of the sub class 410 or 405 Visa who have lived in WA for a minimum of 5 years and reside in WA for a minimum of 6 months each year) Not in full time employment (i.e. I work 25 hours or less per week, averaged over a 12 month period).

Seniors Card holders are entitled to a range of government concessions and discounts of 10% to 50% off the price of goods and services from over 500 businesses listed in the online WA Seniors Card Discount Directory.

The Seniors Card Hotline number is (08) 6551 8800 or 1800 671 233 (country free call) between the hours of 8.30am - 4.30pm weekdays.

Peter McKenna retires

Founding member of the Claddagh Association Peter McKenna has retired from the committee. Peter has given many years service to the welfare group and the Irish community thanks him sincerely for his contribution. Maith an Fear agus go raibh mile maith agat.

Irish Club Senior’s Christmas Party Friday 5th December 2014 • 12 noon Presents for everybody! Lots of Entertainment and Christmas Goodies! Book Early 9381 5213

Congrats to Noel and Kieran At the 2014 Independent Theatres Drama Fest in Western Australia, Under Any Old Gum Tree received 3 awards. Best Production, Best Actor: Kieran Garvey and Best Writing: Noel O’Neill. The play tells the story of Tipperary man and WW1 Victoria Cross winner, Martin O’Meara. The following is taken from the Drama Fest website

A S S O C I AT I O N

BUNBURY WESTERN AUSTRALIA

John Boyle O’Reilly Association is proud to present the award winning play ‘Under Any Old Gum Tree’ written by award winning scriptwriter Noel O’Neil at ‘The Cube’ theatre in Bunbury as part of the JBO Celebration Weekend Sat April 11th and Sun 12th 2015. Weekend events will also include Irish music and guided tours on the JBO Heritage Trail followed by a gathering of the JBO faithful on the beautiful Leschenault Peninsula (Buffalo Rd) at Australind on the Sunday morning. For more information phone Peter Murphy on 043 997 6507 or go to www.jboreilly.org.au or www.facebook.com/jboreilly

and the reviewer is Richard Hyde.

…..lastly, and fittingly, the final production of Dramafest was Noel O’Neill’s superb Under Any Old Gum Tree. Beautifully written and brilliantly performed by Kieran Garvey (with Rex Gray in support), this was powerful, moving, insightful, occasionally funny and a blistering exploration of the devastation the Great War caused on those who survived No Man’s Land. Garvey plays real life Martin O’Meara VC who came to Collie from Ireland then went to the trenches of France where he survived that most brutal of wars only to end up in a mental institution. This is a powerhouse 50 minute monologue that was emotionally-affecting such was the craft on display in all facets. Simply staged, well-paced, with Garvey truly outstanding, this will no doubt rightfully feature in next year’s 100 year ANZAC commemoration. This play was a highlight of the festival, written and directed by Noel O’Neill for the Old Mill Theatre. Well deserved Noel and Kieran, roll on Bunbury!

and Endeavours Financial for their continued support.

Irish Families in Perth

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Western Australia

Please check our Facebook Page for more details or email Eimear on irishinperth@hotmail.com

“Irish Families in Perth” is a voluntary, non-profit organisation with almost 8,000 members. We provide Irish emigrants with advice on how to best assimilate into the Western Australian culture and lifestyle. We communicate with our subscribers through a social media where topics such as housing, jobs, visa enquiries and social events are covered. It is a vibrant, active forum that provides a wealth of knowledge to young families and single individuals emigrating to Western Australia. Irish Families in Perth (IFIP) contribute to a cohesive Irish community by working in conjunction with the many wonderful groups in Perth that support Irish culture & heritage.

EVENTS FOR NEW EMIGRANTS

We also have meet ups for new emigrants and even our own Singles Club. Please check our Facebook page for more details on these. Irish Families in Perth would like to thank all those who helped and supported us in any way throughout the year. Nollaig faoi Shean agus faoi Mhaise daoibh uilig. Eimear Beattie President

IFIP aims to:

• Co-ordinate Irish family events around Perth Including a weekly playgroup • Support Irish families along with The Claddagh Association • Develop Irish culture & heritage: Gaelic Games, Irish Dancing, Irish Language & Irish Folklore • Help Irish families with any problems that might arise by providing a link to Australian & Irish support services You can find our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/irishfamiliesinperth/

• Irish Pork Sausages • Breakfast Rolls • Chicken Fillet Rolls • Homemade Jambons • Sausage Rolls • Fresh Salad Bar • Black & White Pudding • Boiling Bacon • Irish Small Goods • McDonald’s Curry • Chef Sauce • Taytos & Kings

Upcoming events:

PLUS... All the drinks, chocolates and favourites from home!

WEEKLY PLAYGROUP

Our FREE Weekly Parents and Young Children playgroup under Debbie Cashman is still going strong with new faces each week. It is held in Karrinyup Sports Centre, 2 Nerita Way , Karrinyup NOR and we have an outdoor playground as well as tea/coffee facilities, toy storage as well as Baby Changing Facilities. It is a great way for new mothers to catch up with others going through a similar situation for a chat over tea and biscuits. It caters for Children up to school age but some are just a few days old on their first meet up.! We would like to thank our generous sponsor Sheamus Walshe

STILL ALL YOUR FAVOURITE IRISH TREATS!

Drop in and say hi to our friendly staff The Mezz Shopping Centre Scarborough Bch Rd, Mt Hawthorn (Entrance off Flinders St - Opp Woolworths)

Phone: 9242 5521

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ULSTER

Rambles with David MacConnell

BUS TOUR IN BELFAST

Hey, and how’s about ye! Happy Christmas! Well it is getting closer! It should be the time when we start thinking about what we will do in the holiday, who we will do it with and where we will do it. When I roamed around the province in the sixties and seventies, I had no idea you could celebrate Christmas in the sun AND on the beach but for the last thirty years or so, I have managed to do just that. I know many of you return “home” at this time of year and from what I hear you all enjoy yourselves; even the colder weather. I might try it sometime though not in this century. Ah but I am reminiscing and that brings me back to my bus trip around Belfast; yeah the hap on hap off bus. Well I already told you all about the first half of the trip out to the Titanic Quarter, the Sydenham Road and Stormont. The second half of the trip proved to be much more daring. We set off from Castle Place towards St. Anne’s Cathedral and the City Hall which like most buildings in Ulster has an interesting history. Plans for the City Hall began in 1888 when Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria. This was in recognition of Belfast’s rapid expansion and thriving linen,

rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries. And where have they all disappeared to over the years you might well ask? During this period Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the most populous city on the island of Ireland. Interesting enough, (for all my South African readers) the city hall in Durban, South Africa is almost an exact replica of Belfast’s City Hall. It was built some 20 years later in 1910 and designed by Stanley G. Hudson, who was inspired by the Belfast design. The Port of Liverpool Building, designed by Arnold Thornley and completed in 1913, is another very close relative. I am not sure this will help you all on quiz nights but you never know.

Our next stop was the Ulster Hall. Built in 1859 and opened in 1862. The hall’s purpose was to provide the expanding city of Belfast with a multi-purpose venue of sufficient size to accommodate most acts. It was designed by William J. Barre for the Ulster Hall Company and was opened on 12th May 1862. Obviously many famous artists entertained the Ulster public there but for me Bob Dylan was one of my favourites, followed closely by The Dubliners and The Clancey Brothers (not forgetting Tommy Makem of course). We then continued on to Shaftesbury Avenue and Queen’s University. We passed the Crown Bar Saloon where I remember having a decent pint before boarding the train for Dublin;

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once upon a time. Eventually we headed up Divis Street towards the Internal Peace Wall with its 50 cultural murals.

And so onwards to the peace line situated between the Falls and the Shankill Roads.

As our well informed guide told us sarcastically; “All is well

www.dan-dooley.ie 67

here in Belfast”. It is one of the safest corners in the world. The peace treaty was signed some 15 years ago. Yet the peace wall was constructed 4 years ago!” Well maybe they were trying to make up for the infamous Berlin Wall. We then travelled down the Shankill Road complete with more murals. Hey we really have some fine artists in the province.

And so back to the centre and the famous Albert clock. Belfast’s most prominent timepiece was built from 1865-1870 in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who died in 1862. Apologies are due here as I had actually forgotten who Albert was.

The 43m-high landmark is famous as Belfast’s very own leaning tower. Like many structures in the city, it was built on reclaimed land on the River Farset’s somewhat marshy foundations and the clock tower currently leans 1.25m to the left or the right if you look at it from the other side! A two-year £multi-million restoration project saw craftsmen working ‘round the clock’ to spruce up its sandstone, polish its two tonne bell and add gold leaf to its four faces. I always thought that two-faced was bad enough.

It certainly was a whirlwind tour and I am sure if you had ever lived in Belfast and you took this tour, it would bring back many memories. I do hope most of them would be good ones. And so to my sad end. The guide was genuinely humourous and entertaining but was also somewhat pessimistic. “We are just one bullet away from it all starting up again” he smilingly informed us. I am so glad to report that so far he has been wrong. By the way, I only haped off once and no points for guessing where that was. My favourite picture I took at the end of the trip in a friendly shop window opposite the famous Europa Hotel; the most bombed hotel in Europe. Must be the only country in the world you can get a free Guinness when you

buy a loaf of bread.

Ah sure we’ll never lose our sense of humour. Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2015. David MacConnell.

The Passing of Ian Paisley

Ian Paisley served as Northern Ireland’s first minister in 2007 and 2008, representing the DUP, the country’s largest unionist party. Dubbed “Doctor No” for his hardline stance towards the Catholic community, the Protestant minister helped the sectarianismscarred province start a new era by agreeing to share power with former arch-enemies Sinn Fein in 2007. Paisley became Northern Ireland’s first minister in a powersharing government. Paisley’s deputy at the Belfast assembly was Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein. The partnership - which eventually grew into an unlikely friendship - would have seemed unthinkable just a few years earlier after three decades of bombings and shootings, known as “the Troubles”. The pair were even dubbed the “Chuckle Brothers” for their joviality. “If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this,” he had said as he was sworn in as first minister in May 2007, McGuinness at his side, “I would have been unbelieving.”

OLIVER McNERNEY

with Synnott

DJ on Longford Radio for 20 years. DJ on Capital Radio every Saturday 6pm – 8pm. Only came to Australia six years ago, got married and back to singing and being a DJ again!

Oliver, what is your first memories in life? My first day at school. Would you rather like life in the country or a city? I love the country life. Where is home, where you live or where you left? I love where I live, but my heart is where I left. Do you remember your school days? Yes, they were the best days of my life. What is your favourite mode of transport? Trains, for their safety. Are you a pub or a club man? No doubt, I’m a pub man. What was the best film you ever saw and why? Gone with the Wind, a great American history and love story. If you could have one famous person in your home, what would it be? Pope Francis. What would you do if you won lotto? Buy two houses, one in Eire and one in France. Who is your favourite singer, and what is your favourite song? Frank Sinatra, any song he sings. What is your sport of choice, and player? Tennis and John McEnroe. If you could have one wish, what would it be? I pray that we could have world peace. What was the best book you ever read? James Joyce’s Ulysses. What is your worst fear in life? World war III.

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Phone: (618) 9477 1080 Fax: (618) 9477 1191

Tim Hawdon

Mob: 0421 884 999 & 0411 081 311 tim@exportair.com.au

Every Saturday Evening 6-8pm Enjoy Irish Ballads and Showband Hits www.capitalcommunityradio.com

www.exportair.com.au

For all your favourite musical memories 69

Around the Irish scene... Compiled by Fred Rea A very young Stephen Dawson pictured with one of his heros, the late Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. Happy ????? birthday to Sharon of Hetty’s Bakery. shhhhhh!!!

Reminising about the the old days in An Oige back in Cork, Fred Rea, Liam Barry and Tim Mullins. Tim lives in Newcastle, NSW and was visiting Perth and took the opportunity to visit Fenian historian, Liam in Bunbury.

Jim McKiernan recently celebrated his 70th birthday at The Irish Club and had surprise visitors for the event, brothers Noel from UK and Sean lives in Cavan.

At the Irish Race Day these young ladies knew talent when they saw it and Tony Synnott fits the bill we say!

A young dashing former Irish Consul Michael Nolan at at Corkman’s Dinner back in 1984.

At the recent Irish Club of WA Annual General Meeting, Fred Rea was awarded Honorary Life membership of the club by outgoing President Alan O’Meara. Fred also received Honorary membership of the Celtic Club earlier this year.

Terry O’Leary convalescing in Royal Perth Hospital after a recent operation. The fags are gone!

The Young Wolfe Tones were performing recently in O’Hallorans Cork and pictured, Tony OSullivan, Sean Roche, Derek Warfield, Lynne Roche and Sean’s son, Ciaran Roche.

Happy Birthday Mick! Jimmy Rogers (above) telling us about the one that got away and Chris Green (below) showing us the one that didn’t!

What is Lena Costello Thinking? Keady Upton School of Irish Dancing at the St Lukes, Woodvale Church. The church was celebrating St Luke’s Day.

Send your photos to fred@irishscene.com.au

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Lonely Planet says it’s got to be Ireland in 2015 Lonely Planet has named Ireland one of the best countries in the world to visit in 2015. The prestigious accolade was bestowed by the influential travel guide’s Best in Travel 2015 publication, which looks at the hottest global trends, destinations and experiences to anticipate in the year ahead. According to Lonely Planet, Ireland is “the real deal” and “stunningly scenic, its traditions firmly intact and the cosmopolitan, contemporary Irish are just as friendly and welcoming as their forebears were known to be.” The hospitable nature of the people of Ireland is also cited as one of the destination’s greatest qualities. The bestselling yearbook explains how “the Irish themselves are inevitably at the heart of the best the country has to offer” and describes Ireland as a welcoming place where one could “strike up a conversation over a pint with a gang sitting next to you in the pub.” The world’s leading travel guide publisher also lists the Wild Atlantic Way – at 2,500km, it’s the longest defined coastal touring route on the planet – as one reason

to visit, as well as incredible cuisine and the eclectic range of festivals on offer. Lonely Planet spokesperson Nóirín Hegarty said: “With the Wild Atlantic Way now fully open and a new sense of optimism surging through the country, 2015 really is the time to go to Ireland.

“The country’s stunning landscape and incredible hospitality is on par with the globe’s top tourist destinations, Ireland should be on everyone’s must-visit list.” Ireland featured fifth on the list of top 10 countries, ahead of the Philippines, Serbia, St Lucia and Morocco, while Singapore took the top spot. According to Diane Butler, Tourism Ireland Manager for Australia & New Zealand, “Official figures from the CSO (Central Statistics Office) show strong growth of eleven percent in visitor numbers from Australia and New Zealand to Ireland for the first eight months of 2014. We are determined to ensure that growth continues”.

A Irish Christmas toast for Fathers:

May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous wife! 71

Ireland-Western Australia Forum

Promoting business, professional and cultural links between Ireland and Western Australia

Join us for our upcoming

Breakfast Event on Monday November 24 “Perth, Open for Business” This event is being run in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland on the occasion of its Engineering and Construction Trade and Investment mission to Western Australia.

With keynote speakers:

Dr Mike Nahan The Treasurer of Western Australia, Minister for Energy, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs

Marion Fulker

CEO of The Committee for Perth

Mr Jimmy Deenihan TD

Irelands Minister for Diaspora Affairs

Ireland’s Ambassador to Australia HE Mr Noel White and will also be in attendance. Dr. Mike Nahan and Marion Fulker will discuss some of the challenges facing Perth and the development of a vision for the city as it grows to a regional hub, Australia’s 3rd largest city and transitions towards a less cyclical economic environment. Date: Monday November 24th Location: Parmelia Hilton, 14 Mill St Perth, WA 6000 Time: 07:20am - 09:00am Tickets$50. Places limited to the first 100 responses. Enquiries and Bookings: dawson.neilr@gmail.com The Forum is keen to lift our overall footprint and activities to a new level. If you are keen to be involved or wish to recommend speakers please do not hesitate to contact Marty Kavanagh on 92188422 or email: marty@kavlaw.com.au

The Irish Scene would like to express our gratitude for your continued support and encouragement over the past year. To our advertisers and story writers Go raibh míle maith.

Nollaig faoi shéan is faoi shonas duit. (A happy and a prosperous Christmas to you!) 72

COLIN MERREY

Hello, and welcome to the Christmas edition of our wonderful Magazine. Before I begin, I was wondering if any of you managed to notice my new logo (introduced a couple of issues ago) – I decided to go against the tradition of using a photo of me and instead decided to use this. It was designed for me over 40 years ago by my good friend, Graham Fletcher, when he and I used to run a folk music club in Northampton at the Green Man Pub in that town. He used me as a model for the advert for the Singers Nights that we held there – so thanks Graham for this lasting memento. Again, I have spent many happy hours reading on both my own and your behalf and I hope you like what I have prepared for you with this issue and so without further ado, I’ll continue with my favourite booksellers - don’t forget that if you should have problems finding a good new- or second hand bookseller, you can try any/all of the following – Stefen’s Books in Shafto Lane in Perth City. Stefen is very helpful and a good supporter of the Irish Scene Corona Books shop at Warwick Shopping Centre – ask for Mark. Dymocks at Whitford City – ask for Tracey (and other locations throughout the State and Metropolitan Area) In the realm of Second Hand booksellers I generally visit Pulp Fiction – who have stores (again) at Whitford City and also at Floreat Forum Shopping Centre Elizabeth’s Bookshop chain, which has shops in Fremantle, Perth City (Hay Street), and Subiaco to name but a few branches. Guildford Book Exchange on the front in old Guildford Warwick Second hand Books at

Warwick Shopping Centre Please remember to let the various stores know who pointed you in their direction. The feedback is great for them and it shows me that you are actually taking the time to read what I have prepared for your enjoyment with each issue. Then my work will not have been in vain, as it were! And so, to my book of the month – absolutely no contest this time ABATTOIR BLUES – PETER ROBINSON Hachette Paperback $32.99 At last – a new DCI Banks novel. Ever since I read my first DCI Banks book so ably crafted by the brilliant Peter Robinson I have been hooked. Banks is a great character and one who is emotionally flawed but more than able to get to the bottom of any crime scene that he is confronted with. This time, two boys disappear under very mysterious circumstances, a very valuable tractor is stolen and traces of blood are found in a barn on a deserted airfield. The cases appear to be separate from one another but are they? This is crime solving at its absolute best – I recently heard Peter’s books described as “Agatha Christie on steroids” – not too much gore and mayhem – just enough. Keep up the good work Peter – we must meet up when you visit Oz again and have that glass of red we talked about during our telephone chat a while back. If you like crime stories then you will absolutely LOVE this one. And now to continue with one or two quick reads for the children in our/ your lives.

DORK DIARIES: ONCE UPON A DORK – RACHEL RENEE RUSSELL Simon & Schuster Paperback $16.99 Here’s yet another recommended to me by my granddaughters. This is the latest best seller in waiting for Ms Russell and follows hot upon the heels of the “DORK DIARIES : TV STAR” that I told you about in a previous issue. This time, Nikki has a wild dream in which hr friends all end up as characters from her favourite fairy tales! A lovely little tale that is perfect for its intended audience – the 8 to 11 year old girl. This would be a great one for a Christmas gift for your little one – I know that’s where my copy will probably end up in the long run! GUS AND ME – KEITH RICHARDS Orion Hardback with CD $20.99 Now, you all know who Keith Richards is, I will assume. NO? Well he is the lead guitarist and co-songwriter with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. BUT – this is one for the children in that it tells the story of Keith’s grandfather Gus, who gave him his first guitar. It is a lovely little picture book, the pictures therein being drawn by Keith’s daughter, Theodora Richards, and I found it utterly enchanting. This is a great way to get your littlies into reading for themselves and in the process finding out a bit about the musical beginnings of a rock and roll icon. Again, a great Christmas gift. UNBORED GAMES – JOSHUA GLENN & ELIZABETH FOY LARSEN Bloomsbury Paperback $19.99 Last one for the littlies (and some of the slightly biggies, too) is this one which is a collection of children’s games to keep them entertained during the “I’m bored, Daddy/Mummy – what can I do?” season. You’ll find some great games in here – I had a good scan through them and found one or two that I can play with the grandkids this year – there are a lot

of different sorts of games and ones that will keep them entertained and outside in the FRESH AIR – and hopefully off of those pesky I-pads for a while. That said, there are a few that can be played indoors and on the internet too – but I think you get my drift! Great fun – get a copy for your appropriate littlies and have a great Christmas (and any day really) break with them. Another quick read, for adults this time, is TWO MORE PINTS – RODDY DOYLE Random House Hardback $19.99 This is the follow up to “Two Pints” that I told you about last year. In that book, as indeed in this one, two old mates meet up in a Dublin pub on a regular basis and have the odd pint or three and put the world to rights in the process. Subjects touched on (amongst others) are Jimmy Saville, David Beckham, the Obama family, horsemeat in your burgers, and so on and so on. Equally as funny as the first volume (although the swearing in its pages is more than a little strong at times) I enjoyed it immensely and, at a little over a hundred pages, it makes a great short read. Loved it – enjoy! On a more serious note, here is one that I found most informative FIFTY WEAPONS THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY – JOEL LEVY Allen & Unwin Hardback $35 I thought that this would be a fascinating book to add to my library – I wasn’t wrong. Here, Joel Levy examines and explores the history of the weaponry that has been employed by mankind over many millennia – from the stone axe to robots (via rifles and handguns and ICBM’s). This is a brilliant chronicle and a great addition to your libraries too. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Go on – treat yourselves! BELLES AND WHISTLES – ANDREW MARTIN Allen and Unwin Hardback $29.99 I have some great friends amongst

our readers who are avid railway buffs – so I thought that this would be a good read for them. It is a collection of tales about five classic British railway trains and their respective journeys – they include the wonderful Royal Scot, the Golden Arrow and the Brighton Belle to name but three thereof. Loved this trip down memory lane – very well told and evocative of the golden age of rail in Great Britain. If you, too, are a lover of steam railways, trains, et al then you are going to enjoy this – I found it fascinating and most informative. THE VIRGIN WAY – RICHARD BRANSON Random House Paperback $34.99 I recently told you about a great autobiography from the pen of the revered Mr Branson. Well – this fascinating little book is another from his own pen which, this time, is a book on leadership for all you budding entrepreneurs out there and is presented to you by a man who by his own admission has never read a book on leadership in his life! I found it a most informative and entertaining read and commend it to you for your further edification – the book, in its blurb, promises to teach the reader how to listen, learn, laugh and lead – and I enjoyed it immensely. Won’t tell you any more about it – I’ll let you enjoy it for yourselves and let’s see if you agree with my opinion of it. Enjoy. THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMISTS CLUB – JEAN-MICHEL GUENASSIA Allen and Unwin Paperback $29.99 Set in the Paris of 1959, this is the coming of age story of a 12 year old boy who is an amateur photographer and compulsive reader. In a local bistro, he encounters a group of eastern European men gathers on a regular basis to talk about their lives before France, particularly about the families that

were lost to them behind the Iron Curtain. So is born the Incorrigible Optimists Club of the title. I was caught up with the interwoven tales set forth in this powerful book and the things leaned by this young boy who was to witness it all – loved the book – enjoyed every page. A bit of a different read – but a good one nevertheless. Hope you like it too – I urge you to give it a go for yourselves. COURTING TROUBLE – KATHY LETTE Random House Paperback $32.99 When she is sacked from her job at her barristers’ chambers’ Tilly has the proverbial “day from hell”. Especially when she goes home early to find her husband in bed with her former best friend! She continues on her “new” career path with the aid of her mother, another solicitor, and becomes involved in a new case that brings her into conflict with her nemesis in the form of a smooth talking, politically incorrect barrister. And so the story progresses in the inimitable way that we have come to expect from the wonderfully erudite Miss Lette. For what is undoubtedly a book aimed squarely at the ladies amongst our readership, still I quite enjoyed the read and the journey. A good read and one for the beach over the Christmas holidays –have a good “veg” and get yourself this little gem. RELUCTANTLY CHARMED – ELLIE O’NEILL Simon & Schuster Paperback $29.99 This is the first book to come from the pen of Geelong based Miss O’Neill and again this one is aimed squarely at the female market (dare I say the realms of “chick-lit”! This is the story of Kate McDaid who is, on her birthday, trying to kick start her love life and career. The she finds that she is the legatee of an ancestor, also called Kate McDaid, who was a witch. So she searches through the realm of Irish folklore to find the

truth about her ancestor and also her suddenly improved personal status. This is quite an interesting little book that I am sure will appeal to its intended audience. I urge you to give it a read if this is your favourite genre – I know you won’t regret it if you do. Incidently, in the next issue we will be having a competition for this book and a surprise prize together with an interview with Ellie O’Neill... WATCH THIS SPACE! And so to my favourite genre – be aware that I do not make a habit of delving too far into story and plotlines as I believe that to do so might be a spoiler for you all. MURDER MYSTERY AND MAYHEM…….PLUS Firstly, a few Australian authors to whet your appetites. THE SUN IS GOD – ADRIAN MCKINTY Allen and Unwin Paperback $27.99 Adrian, as you all must know, was born in Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland but he now calls Australia home – he lives in Melbourne where he found the inspiration for this novel – which is indeed based on true events from the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The story is based around a bunch of cocovores (people who eat only coconuts) who lived on an island in the South Seas. Will Prior is asked to investigate the mysterious death of one of the visitors to the island and gets himself mixed up in some VERY tricky circumstances. If you have read any of his earlier books, then you will know the quality of his writing. This is similar in style to his early work but very different in nature. I enjoyed it immensely – as I have all of his other books. I urge you to read this one – it’s a bit different but MOST enjoyable. I was fortunate to be asked to do a telephone interview with Adrian a while back. He is a very interesting man – very easy to talk to and a great raconteur as you will find out for yourselves if you read my notes on our little chat. LIFE OR DEATH –

MICHAEL ROBOTHAM Hachette Paperback $32.99 I have read a good few of Michael’s books and I must say I have enjoyed them all. This one is no exception as it weaves its tortuous tale of a man who escapes from prison the day before he is due to be released. This is a great twisted tale and a psychological thriller to be reckoned with. I won’t tell you any more – you will need to read it for yourselves. I know you’ll enjoy it. Incidentally, Michael was in Perth in October this year to attend a special weekend seminar on murder and forensic crime. Unfortunately I was unable to attend but I understand it was an overwhelming success. Perhaps next time. ALREADY DEAD – JAYE FORD Random House Paperback $32.99 To my chagrin, I hadn’t heard of Jaye Ford, although she has written several other books, until I saw this book in the latest brochure – so I thought I’d give her a go, being Australian and all. I an so glad I did – this is a great thriller with a novel premise and a great storyline. Jennifer and her car are highjacked in Sydney – the highjacker, when asked his name, said I’m already dead! Then the story/chase is on – and with a vengeance. This is a very taut thriller and I loved it. A little bit different but that’s fine by me – I know you’ll enjoy this one. CHASING THE ACE – NICHOLAS J JOHNSON Simon & Schuster Paperback $29.99 This is a debut novel for Nicholas and I must say I found it extremely entertaining as the story meanders through the lives of a con-man and his “appointed” apprentice conman. Set in and around Melbourne, this is a tale of swindle after swindle carried out by a master of the con

craft and the youngster who would like to be as good as the Master is at swindling. There are lots of plot twists and red herrings and the style of writing is very humorous in nature. Loved it altogether. DISHONOUR – GABRIELLE LORD Hachette Paperback $29.99 Gabrielle isn’t called “Queen of Australian Crime Fiction” for nothing. This is a very convoluted tale of Debra Hawkins, a Detective Inspector who is in charge of a new police incentive on domestic violence. All goes well for her until she gets mixed up in the world of terrorism and arranged marriages and Sydney’s Eastern European underworld. Fast paced and very entertaining – I loved this one and I’ll certainly look out for her back catalogue and future stories as they emerge on the Australian market. WHEN SORROWS COME – MATT McGUIRE Allen and Unwin Paperback $19.99 I am a great lover of books set in Scotland and in Ireland – this is one that fits snugly into the latter category in that it is set in Belfast. This is the second in this series featuring DS O’Neill and I must look out the first because this is a real humdinger of a mystery story. This is a brutal expose of the criminal underworld that exists in Belfast and begins as a young man’s body is found in an alleyway. It is set in the era surrounding the final death throes of the Troubles and takes us on a very tortuous journey through many subplots and twists until we find out who is sending death threats to DI Ward and why. Great story – great literary journey – great read altogether. Enjoy!! And now a few from our friends from the US of A PERSONAL – LEE CHILD Random House Paperback $32.99 By now, you’ll all be familiar with the Lee Child books with his wonderful protagonist, Jack Reacher (yes, in spite of the obtuse miscasting of Tom Cruise in the film adaptation of “One

Shot”). This great story continues the saga of the loner ex-US Military Policeman who conducts a crusade against injustice and wrongdoing – sometimes with ordinary US citizens and sometimes with the US Army. This time, Reacher is recalled to the Army to identify and capture a sniper who has shot at and, this time, missed the French President. But that is only the premise of this taut and terrific tale. Brilliant tale brilliantly told with a superb climax to bring the story to its conclusion. Read and enjoy. PRIVATE INDIA – JAMES PATTERSON with ASHWIN SANGHI Orion Paperback $32.99 This is the latest in the “Private” series of novels – this time James collaborates with Ashwin Sanghi, an Indian author on this tale of ritual killings in Mumbai. We are introduced to Santosh Wagh, the head man of Private India and we follow his progress through a very intricate tale of murder and the like to its inevitable conclusion. I love these pot boiler/page turner tales and quite often find it hard to predict their eventual outcome. This one is no exception – Loved it. FESTIVE IN DEATH – J.D.ROBB Hachette Paperback $29.99 Here we have Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb the incarnation she uses when writing the Eve Dallas series of futuristic crime novels set in the near future. This time, Eve, and her husband Roarke, are confronted with a dead body that has a kitchen knife through its heart which affixes a cardboard sign to the corpse that reads “Ho Ho Ho – You’ve Been Bad”. There follows a very twisted problem case that Eve has to solve before the Christmas period and its attendant delays can prevent her from doing so. Lovely tale with an ending I must admit I didn’t see coming until quite late in the piece. Enjoy!

ALL DAY AND A NIGHT – ALAFAIR BURKE Allen and Unwin Paperback $29.99 If you are not already aware, Alafair Burke is the daughter of the noted US author James Lee Burke – this is a wonderful pedigree to have and as I have already gleaned from her previous books, this fine reputation is richly and rightly deserved. Here we have a new case for one of Alafair’s earlier protagonists in the form of NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher – this time Hatcher has to discover who has murdered Helen Brunswick, a noted psychotherapist and why. She gets an anonymous letter with what purports to be vital clues to solving the mystery – but can she believe them? And can she solve the case before the release from prison of a dangerous killer who wants to trade what he knows for his freedom? Read on – this is a brilliantly constructed tale and convincingly told. Loved it. THE INSIDE MAN – JEFF ABBOTT Sphere Paperback $29.99 Jeff Abbott is a new author to me – and again I will be looking out for his earlier novels now I have read this one. Here we have the murder of Sam Capra’s best friend and customer. Sam runs a bar in Miami and is forced to go undercover in a local crime family to work out who killed his friend. A brilliantly written and contrived book from an author who has in the past won awards for his books and who has also had two of them optioned for film. Loved it – every minute of it. THE BROKEN PLACES – ACE ATKINS Allen and Unwin Paperback $19.99 This is the latest in the Quinn Colson series – this time, it is one year after Colson’s appointment as Sheriff of Jericho town in the US. Colson is confronted with a prison break, a dangerous vendetta and an impending tornado that threatens to destroy the ton of

Jericho and everyone and everything in it. A difficult one for him to solve but one that he does solve with his usual tenacity. How, you ask? Well. You’ll just have to read this wonderful book to find out – and I know you won’t regret doing so – it is a goodie, this one. THE THIRD GATE – LINCOLN CHILD Allen and Unwin Paperback $29.99 After I read “Deep Storm”, Lincoln’s last book, I vowed to read more of his work – so you can imagine my delight when this one came through my post box! In this one, Jeremy Logan is brought in to investigate what or who is interfering with an expedition to find the lost tomb of an early Egyptian pharaoh. Logan is a psychic investigator and we delve into the realms of people who have been brought back from the dead – from the bright light at the end of the long tunnel and the effect that these events have on the “normal” world. This is a wonderful little book and one from which I learned a lot about an area of the mind that I have always held a fascination for. Hope you enjoy this one. BONES NEVER LIE – KATHY REICHS Random House Paperback $32.99 I have always enjoyed Kathy’s books that feature Dr Tempe Brennan, the Canadian forensic pathologist and her adventures. This is another great one for your libraries where a girl vanishes, a killer returns and a cold case comes back to haunt Tempe when she least expected. Brilliant book from Ms Reichs as always. THE DIRECTIVE – MATTHEW QUIRK Hachette Paperback $32.99 This is the eagerly awaited follow up to Matthew’s previous book “The 500” which I told you about a while ago now. The hero

of that story, Michael Ford, has finally come good and escaped his chequered past – that is until his brother Jack, a world class con artist, comes back into his life. Jack tells Michael he is in serious trouble – he needs Michael to help him with one last heist to get him out of the firing line. Then – all hell breaks loose and we are taken through a maze of escapades and near death confrontations as we reach the inevitable conclusion. How does it all pan out? You’ll have to read it to find out – I am not going to tell you any more than this – I loved it and I know you will too. Treat yourself for Christmas – go on – you know you want to! And so to some notable British writers THE SILKWORM – ROBERT GALBRAITH Hachette Paperback $32.99 Before I read this one, which is the second to feature Cormoran Strike, I was lent the first in the series “The Cuckoo’s Calling” to set the scene for me and to familiarise myself with the characters. Loved that one and really enjoyed this one, too. Strike is the illegitimate son of an ageing rock star and he is a decorated veteran from war in the Middle East – he runs a private detective agency. Here, he is asked to locate a missing author who has penned an allegorical book that thinly disguises many of the people in his personal world. Then he is found murdered in extremely unusual circumstances. An unusual and twisted case to say the least and one that gives Strike a lot of head and heartaches. Didn’t see the ending coming at all – very well done. Incidentally, you may or may not be aware that Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of Harry Potter creator J K Rowling. And it is extremely well written, researched and constructed. Loved it.

NO SAFE HOUSE – LINWOOD BARCLAY Hachette Paperback $29.99 Ever since reading my first Linwood Barclay book, I have been hooked on his stories. I have now read them all from his back catalogue and they grace my personal private library. This one is the sequel to his book “No Time for Goodbye” and it picks up seven years on from where that story ended. Cynthia, who has now separated from her husband Terry and her daughter Grace because of the traumas that she suffered in the earlier novel. Now, Grace believes her parents are being over protective of her – she wants to live her own life – and this is where their lives all implode and bring back into play various characters and events from the earlier story. Very dangerous people, very dangerous games being played by all concerned. You don’t have to have read the earlier book to enjoy this one because all of the implications are fully explained to the reader of this one. Great tale and again brilliantly told. I enjoyed it – it is a gripping read with a really nail biting conclusion. THE CORNERS OF THE GLOBE – ROBERT GODDARD Random House Paperback $32.99 This is the second book in the Wide World trilogy – the first “The Ways of the World” I told you about in an earlier issue of the Magazine and I hope you took my advice and read that one because THIS one starts exactly from where the last left off. The series is set in the Europe immediately after the First World War and Max Maxted, a WW1 Flying Ace, set out to find the person or persons responsible for the death of his father. At the end of the first in the series, Max set out to go undercover in the organisation that was responsible for his father’s death to destroy

it and bring it to justice. At the beginning of this the second book, Max is now undercover for the Lemmer organisation in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland to obtain secret papers relating to the captured German fleet that is at anchor there. There are some brilliant chase sequences in this tale – and you never really know who is on whose side or who, in fact, may be a traitor to the British cause. Loved this one and can’t wait to the final chapter when it arrives – hopefully I haven’t got too long a wait for that! SLEEPING CRUELTY – LYNDA LA PLANTE Simon & Schuster Paperback 19.99 ROYAL FLUSH – LYNDA LA PLANTE Simon & Schuster Paperback 19.99 These two books represent a reissue for the current market of two books that I read a while ago on their first release. I thought that you might like to read them. The latter is set in the horse racing industry and is well worth a read – I will be hanging on to them for an eventual re-read as it has been a few years now since I first read and enjoyed them in 2000 and 2002 respectively. The first concerns Sir William Benedict who longs to be accepted by the British aristocracy, having dragged himself up by the bootstraps from a working class background. Then a Tory MP enters his world and William achieves his acceptance by making large donations to the MP’s campaign for election. A political scandal erupts which catapults him into a world where he is no longer accepted as an elite and eventually becomes embroiled in a web of deceit and revenge. How can he get his life back? The second concerns “The Colonel” who is a criminal mastermind who is believed to be behind several of the most successful robberies in UK in recent

times. But who is he? Woven into the story is Edward de Jersey who owns a very successful racing yard and stud farm. His hopes for winning the Derby are pinned fully on one horse – Royal Flush – then he finds that his financial advisor has lost all of his money for him in an internet company that goes bust. How can he regain his fortune? Can he emulate the Colonel? Read these and enjoy – I loved them both as I said when I read them before and look forward to reading them again quite soon. BLOOD WHISPERS – JOHN GORDON SINCLAIR Allen and Unwin Paperback $29.99 This is the second book from this excellent writer who, prior to that had been an award-winning actor in his native UK. Set in Glasgow, this is the story of Keira Lynch (who is not your typical Glasgow lawyer in the least) who becomes involved with a client who is caught up in the Eastern bloc crimes of people smuggling, money laundering and the like. Soon the CIA takes an interest and the story takes off on several twists and turns to, again, a very different and unnerving conclusion I won’t tell you any more about this one – I would spoil it for you – suffice it to say – I know you’ll enjoy this if, like me, you enjoy British crime thrillers – as I am sure you do!

Well that’s it for books this issue. Remember, if I haven’t heard of an author before or if it is a new author, I hope you will take my recommendations into consideration when selecting your reading matter and give them a good go. I will say no more at this juncture and wish you happy reading, and see you all in the next issue. I hope you enjoy my recommendations as much as I have enjoyed reading them on both your and my own behalf. I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and make lots of New Year Resolutions to keep (or aim to keep or neither as the case may be). Here’s wishing you all the compliments of the season(s) – see you again next year.

COLIN MERREY

MUSIC & MOVIES

while ago. A really good chat with a great bloke. As a brief note before closing this section of my reviews, I thought I’d revisit a CD I told you about in the last issue – that is the eponymously titled CD by Sparrow. I said at that time that while I enjoyed most of this recording, as a traditional musical purist, I was not totally “grabbed” by the arrangements of the instrumental tracks. I must admit that I feel I rather missed the point in that regard as, on reflection, I realised that they were in fact the Bluegrass variants of the particular tunes that I originally had in mind. I have had the CD in my car playing virtually non-stop over the last few weeks and I must say that I can now see where the musicians are coming from. Charlie and John are brilliant instrumentalists particularly in these bluegrass items – the CD is a great representation of how the band performs at sessions and I am really starting to come to terms with them as a band. If you haven’t caught them in person at one of their sessions, then I suggest you rectify that omission immediately – you are missing a real treat by not doing so. If you can’t get to a session, then I suggest you get the next best thing – a copy of their CD – if you can’t find it in your local record shop, then you can always contact the ban through the Sparrow website or by contacting our editor, Mr Fred Rea who can put you in touch with the Band via his musically gifted daughter, Fiona.

I have just received in the last week or so a wonderful CD from Australian music legend Mike Brady – you may remember him from his massive AFL tribute song “Up There Cazaly” – this is something completely different. The CD is called “Bloodlines”. All of the songs were written by Mike and cover many areas of the Irish – Australian heritage. There are songs about the life of William Buckley (you may recall the expression “Buckley’s Chance”) which sit amongst some wonderful tales that emanate from the annals of our historical times. There are some wonderful songs here – my personal favourites are “Song of Whispered Sighs” and ‘Say it While You Can” – excellent CD and one that is well worth adding to your collections. It was launched in Melbourne on 22nd October 2014 and it was extremely well received. He is accompanied on the CD, which was recorded in Ireland, by such musical stalwarts as Steve Cooney, an Australian ex-pat now living in Ireland who has worked with the likes of Mary Black, Sharon Shannon and Stockton’s Wing in Ireland and the Bushwhackers (with our good friend Dobe Newton) in Australia to name but a few (he was also married to Sinead O’Connor for a brief while not too long ago). Also present are fiddle player Martin Hayes, accordionist Dermot Byrne, his son Christian (who now lives in Ireland too) and his brother Doug Brady. Loved this one – will treasure it and keep it indefinitely in my personal collection – hope you enjoy it too. Incidentally, David MacConnell elsewhere in this Musical Entertainer Issue you will find Phone: 9409 9572 an account of a telephone chat that Mob: 0413 259 547 Email: wdmacc@bigpond.net.au Fred Rea and I had Web: www.maccdouble.com with Mike a short

Irish Old Time Music plus original songs

NotFadeAway By COLIN MERREY

I am again saddened to have to tell you about some more notables who are no longer with us. On 4th September this year, we lost a lady who was one of the World’s funniest comediennes when Joan Rivers passed away at the age of 81 years as a result of complications following a routine throat operation. Joan was a well respected actor/ personality by all who knew her and was famous/notorious for her “red carpet” interviews of various stars at movie premieres and the like. She did not suffer fools gladly and possessed an acerbic wit and was wont to use a very colourful turn of phrase when the occasion demanded! She will be greatly missed. We also lost that wonderful character actor and director Richard Attenborough recently – you may remember him as the romantic lead in a lot of British war films of the 1940’s and ‘50’s – I remember him best as Pinkie in the first movie adaptation of Graham Greene’s “Brighton Rock” – excellent performance and drama at its best. He was also featured in “The Great Escape” with Steve McQueen and James Garner but the youngsters among you will recall him in the “Jurassic Park” trilogy as the owner of the Park. He was also an acclaimed film director who, in particular, made a brilliant and Oscar winning movie of “Gandhi” starring Ben Kingsley. Brilliant worker altogether. He died on 24 August 2014, five days before his 91st birthday after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of almost 70 years, Sheila

Sim, their two surviving children, six surviving grandchildren and a great-grandchild The music scene lost one of its early songwriting pioneers, Gerry Goffin at the age of 75 years a short while ago. He will no doubt be best remembered as the long time songwriting partner of Carole King with whom he wrote a multitude of hit pop singles, particularly in the 1960’s. Probably his best known works were “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” – a hit for the Shirelles and Mike Berry, “It Might As Well Rain Until September” and “the Locomotion” which was a 1960’s hit for Little Eva but more recently was the breakthrough single for Australia’s own Kylie Minogue. On the home front, we said goodbye to our good friend Maura Ducey on 12th September 2014 – who passed away suddenly at the age of only 72 years. On a personal note, I have always counted Maura and Pat amongst my personal friends – they came to a lot of the Sunday Sessions that I played at the Irish Club over the years with various groups and I saw her often at many productions staged by the Irish Theatre Players. I will say no more here as I am sure that this sad event will be covered in a much more thorough and erudite manner than yours truly could achieve. My thoughts and prayers are with Pat and his family at this time. I will also briefly mention the passing of Dr Ian Paisley - but this has been covered in other areas of the magazine so I will leave it at that at this time! May your Gods go with you.

ADRIAN MCKINTY

MELBOURNE MEETS CARRICKFERGUS By Colin Merrey

As you all know by now, I am a great fan of crime thrillers – in particular those set in an around Ireland and also those by Irish authors. One of my all time favourite authors is Adrian McKinty who was born in the North of Ireland in Carrickfergus. So you can imagine the thrill I got when I got the chance to have a chat with Adrian, albeit on the telephone. First up, he apologised for his voice which was deteriorating rapidly following the usual Melbournian cold! I asked, as he now lived in Melbourne, why he chose to live there. He said that at the time he was given the opportunity, he was living in Colorado in the USA and although it was a beautiful place, no-one told them it snowed continuously from October to April each year. He suffered this for nine years and then got the chance to take up a job in Melbourne – “we jumped at the chance – no question!” And here they have been ever since. I asked if he had been anywhere else in Oz and in particular Perth – he said he was at a writers festival a while back and wanted to see more of Perth and Fremantle – so he went to Fremantle and got as far as the Little Creatures Brewery – where he stayed until it was time to go back to the festival. He hopes to see more of us on his next visit. We talked about his new book “The Sun Is God” (of which I have said more in my book review section) and he said it was a true story that he had embellished a little but which had been on his mind to write for some time after he heard the story. I asked about his back catalogue of novels and he said he

preferred to write trilogies of stories rather than have a protracted series of books around a single character. I asked him about the Sean Duffy trilogy – you may recall these are books about a Catholic RUC officer in the Protestant RUC living in a predominantly Catholic area of Carrickfergus and his exploits in the 1980’s. He explained that Sean Duffy’s character lived in the same house and the same street where Adrian himself was born and lived prior to his leaving home. I asked him if he thought that

Sean Duffy was too good a character to leave in a trilogy – he said that, strangely enough, he had just completed a book which in the planning stages seemed to be a good vehicle for Sean Duffy – so Sean has been resurrected for the new book “Gun Street Girl” which is due out in 2015. I shall look forward with baited breath to that one – great character and equally great author to boot. We talked for over an hour about his literary roots and his likes and inspirations in regards music and

other novelists etc to find that he and I share very similar interests in that field. Adrian is a very easy to talk to person and probably as approachable as anyone I have had the pleasure to chat to over the years. I thanked Adrian for his time and wished him well for the future and with his new Aussie book and the new Duffy in the New Year. I really look forward to catching up with him on his next trip to Perth. God Speed, Adrian.

DREAMS CAN COME TRUE By Colin Merrey

“Dreams Can Come True” is a song that was written and recorded a while ago by one of my favourite singers, Mike Berry. It could well be a motto that could be adopted by the Perth Shadows Music Club if you think about it. The club was formed several years ago as a tribute to the Shadows group and its leader, the wonderful guitarist Hank B Marvin (who is the Club’s patron). The Club’s aims were to keep alive the wonderful music of the Shadows and their contemporaries and also to raise money for charitable causes (such as Telethon and the PMH Foundation) and thus ensure that at least a few dreams could come true for the recipients of the various donations from the Club. At the end of August this year, the Club organised a major fundraising event at the Austrian Club in Orange Grove at which three of the Club’s in-house bands (The Shad Lads, the Drifting Shadows and the Shadowmen with Ron Fisher on vocals) entertained the assembled multitudes. We were further favoured by an appearance of Hank Marvin who came along to meet and greet the Club’s members and guests who attended the event and to sign autographs and have a generally good time with them. As you can see from the attached photo, a great and memorable time was had by all – Hank made most of our dreams come true – I know that he did for me personally!

We had an attendance of about 130 people and we were made really welcome by the Austria Club – we raised in excess of $4,000 for our charities and Spiro and the Committee (and of course all of us members and musos) would like to thank all of you who came along for helping us to raise this wonderful sum. If you would like to come along to the Club’s monthly meetings (held on the last Tuesday of each month from

March to November annually) you can find us at the Market City Tavern in Canning Vale. The festivities generally start about 7.15 pm and carry on till we are exhausted – generally about 10.00 to 10.30 pm. Why don’t you come along and join us? You will certainly have a great time of you are in to 1960’s music in general and Cliff and the Shadows in particular. Love to see you there.

Lost and (we hope) Found!

Someone broke into Hilary Johnston’s car and stole his beloved C/G Anglo concertina. He has looked at every avenue to recover it, without success. Maybe someone will be offered it to buy and might recognize it? If so, please call Hilary on 0438 644 150

CAZALY’S CELTIC CONVENTION By Colin Merrey

As I have said in my review of Mike Brady’s new CD “Bloodlines”, Fred Rea and I had the opportunity to chat with Mike on the telephone recently as part of the promotion for his CD and operations in general. Fred was especially keen to chat because he is a self-confessed football tragic and to chat to the writer/creator of the Aussie anthem “Up There Cazaly” was too good a chance to pass up! Now, most of you will know that I am not a great lover of sports of any kind but, having given a listen to the CD, I was keen to chat to its creator. Mike told us that he had been born in London to Irish parents and migrated to Australia at the age of 11 years – and immediately felt at home and settled into his new life here. Over the years, he has been involved in writing, performing and recording music of all kinds having spent many years writing jingles for TV and radio. We asked how the CD came about and he said that his son, Christian, has been living and working in Ireland for some long time now and performs around Ireland with his partner Aoife Dermody as Drowning Leaves. Mike said he went to visit Chris and caught up with Steve Cooney, an expatriate Aussie who is recording and singing around Ireland too these days – they got to talking and one thing led to another and Steve asked Mike why he didn’t write a few Irish Australian songs. Inspired, Mike did just that – he came back to Melbourne, wrote an album full of material and flew

Who was Cazaly?

Roy Cazaly (1893-1963), footballer, was born on 13 January 1893 at South Melbourne, tenth child of English-born James Cazaly and his wife Elizabeth Jemima, née McNee, midwife and herbalist from Scotland. In 1909-20 Cazaly played for St Kilda Football Club, (without pay like the GAA players), winning the club’s ‘best and fairest’ award in the last two seasons.

back to Ireland where he proceeded to record it with Steve, son Chris, brother Doug and a multitude of noted Irish musicians (see my review elsewhere in this Issue). Fred asked him about his Irish lineage and Mike said that his parents had been born in Co Cavan – his mother’s family, The Murphys, were horse owners and his father’s, the Bradys, were horse thieves! – but his dad grew up in Dublin before moving to London in due course and eventually on to Australia. Fred asked Mike how he saw Australia after carrying out all of his research into the culture after he had completed the CD project. Mike said that he felt that the Irish and Australians had a great deal in common although he felt that Australia being a younger country, the Aussies don’t have such a great sense of tradition as the Irish do. We discussed at some length the way that the history of England, Ireland and Australia had been sanitised largely to show England in a somewhat better light than probably it deserved. This has happened in each of these countries and has tainted the learning experience of people growing up in them. Mike said that the response to the album had been very

In 1921 he transferred to South Melbourne, where he formed ‘The Terrible Trio’ ruck combination with ‘Skeeter’ Fleiter and rover Mark Tandy. Though only 5 ft 11 ins (180 cm) and 12½ stone (79 kg), Cazaly was a brilliant highmark; he daily practised leaping for a ball suspended from the roof of a shed at his home. He could mark and turn in mid-air, land and in a few strides send forward a

positive and encouraging so far and that the official launch was held on 22nd October in Melbourne. We had a very entertaining, positive and fulfilling discussion with him and said that we would love to catch up with him if and when he comes to Perth again. Mike said he would keep in touch and looked forward to catching up with us at some stage in the not too distant future. We said we hoped the CD and launch went well and thanked him for his time – rock on Mike Brady – although “Cazaly” is your “superannuation fund” – keep up the good work and keep on turning out such wonderful songs. Photo Mike Brady

long accurate dropkick or stab-pass. Fleiter’s constant cry ‘Up there Cazaly’ was taken up by the crowds. It entered the Australian idiom, was used by infantrymen in North Africa in World War II, and became part of Australian folk-lore.

Ambassador White congratulates Tom Keneally on receiving the Presidential Distinguished Service Award

reland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, T.D., has announced the ten recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for 2014, which include Tom Keneally, the well-known Irish Australian novelist, playwright, author and commentator. Announcing the recipients, Minister Flanagan referred to the debt of gratitude owed to these remarkable people, for their individual contributions to Ireland, to the Irish abroad and to Ireland’s international reputation. Referring to the inclusion amongst this year’s recipients of Tom Keneally, Ireland’s Ambassador to Australia, Noel White, said: “I am particularly pleased that Tom Keneally has been included amongst this year’s recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award. I congratulate Tom on this signal and well-deserved honour. Through his distinguished career Tom has been an articulate and persuasive voice for Ireland here in Australia. This award is a fitting acknowledgement at the highest level of that important contribution. The Irish community in Australia will take great pride in the decision to bestow this honour on their fellow countryman”. The awards will be presented by President Higgins at a special ceremony in Áras an Uachtárain later this month. Full details of the recipients of the Award are available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website. If Thomas Keneally’s contribution to writing and historical based books is recognised with the President’s Award, then it would be remiss of us to exclude another of his honours, as a winner of the Man Booker Prize.

As it happens this esteemed prize was scooped by another Australian with strong Irish heritage in the same week Keneally was getting his Irish award. Richard Flanagan, (left) 53, won the prestigious 2014 Man Booker prize in mid October, for his latest novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, about prisoners of war forced to work on the Burma railway by the Japanese army. The story was inspired by his father’s experience of being one of

the POW’s pressed into murderous conditions to build the rail line for the enemy. Flanagan was one of 14 writers shortlisted for the award, which also carries a $90,000 prize. Irish writer Niall Williams, was one of the finalists, with his book History of the Rain (A good name for a book written by an Irishman you might agree) and an Irish Aermcian writer, Joseph O’Neill for The Dog. The Man Booker Prize is until this year something which Irish and Australian writers have been able to compete against each other for. For 45 years it was restricted to British, Commonwealth and Irish writers, writing in English but this condition of entry was opened up to American writers only this year. Flanagan comes from good ‘Irish’ and Australian stock. His descendants came to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1840’s and his family have remained in Tasmania ever since, putting down strong roots in the community. He was one of six children and was even born in a place with an Irish name, Longford. Peter Carey, 71, is the third Aussie writer to claim the Booker, in fact he has won it twice - one of only three writers to have done so, first in 1998 for Oscar and Lucinda and then again in 2001 with True History of the Kelly Gang. True History won a swag of other literary awards. It is written in the style of a biography by the famous Australian bushranger himself. It opens up with a description of his father - Irishman John “Red” Kelly - and his transportation to Van Diemen’s Land and imprisonment and death when son Ned is just 12 years old and goes on to tell his life story. A must read. In fact, all three Australian winners of the Booker have written about Ned Kelly and his gang, a common theme it would seem in the identity of the Australian Irish psyche.

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IRISH MUSIC • INTERVIEWS • LOCAL & IRISH NEWS

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Bridie Cunningham

(nee Hanlon) Born 261h May 1927 Died 9th September 2014 For the good are always the merry Save by an evil chance And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance (W B Yeats)

Bridie was a much loved member of the Irish Community. She was, in fact, “The wife of the Piper” but of course, a lot more than that. When you heard the skirl of the pipes at any big Irish celebration you knew Tom Cunningham would come marching in and where Tom was there too was Bridie. Bridie’s story was one of achievement, faith and love. She came from a secure and loving family and when she finished her education she took the road to Coventry in England to train as a nurse. This was in late 1940. Those were the days when training for nursing was hard work, long hours and strong dedication.

Matron was akin to God and rules were set in stone. There was very little free time and what little there was supervised. Dancing was allowed weekly and at one of those dances in Coventry Bridie met Tom and there started the love story that lasted a lifetime. They came to Australia and reared their family here. They loved Australia but never stopped being intrinsically Irish and Bridie still loved to dance. I remember people in our Parish who had to take a trip to Bentley Hospital always hoped that Bridie was “on shift “ while they were there . She was optimistic, life affirming and competent. Good old

Matron training. She was one of those nurses who got up on bicycles and pedalled to houses - shades of “call the Midwife”. At her funeral her daughter, Carmel, told a lovely story of driving up to the house one day to see her when she wasn’t well - hearing music, she looked in and there was Tom playing the accordion and Bridie gently dancing. That is a nice way to remember someone. Teir slan abhaile anoise Bridie agus fe brath na mha idhne go mbeid tu go siorai. By Sally Desmond

A word from the President of the Irish Theatre Players (Perth)

It has been a year of change for the Irish Theatre Players. Consistent with the group’s evolution it is fitting that the closing production for 2014 takes our audience on a new journey all the way to 1960’s London to the dark underworld of a group of hoods. The Big Casino written and directed by the talented Noel O’ Neill is set to challenge our actors as they strive to perfect the cockney lingo and accent, but equally our audience, as we ask them to take a different track and embrace the realism of Noel’s work which, through this play, captures the rough and uncouth ways of a wayward English gang who attempt a kidnap that ends is chaos. The gang’s goal is to make their way to The Big Casino in Monte Carlo; the Irish Theatre Players are aiming to develop this storyline off stage and to literally bring the audience to The Big Casino. To do this, we have called on Elysium Functions who will assist us in transforming the lounge area of the Irish Club Theatre where the audience can look forward to the red carpet, croupiers and a little bit of glitz and glam as we endeavour to make this show a unique theatre experience. In a period of changing times it was with great sadness that the Irish Theatre Players learnt of the loss of its lifelong member Maura Ducey. Maura made a wonderful and significant contribution to the Irish Theatre Players over many years and our front of house will not be the same without Maura’s big heart and bubbly personality. Maura was blessed with that beautiful gift of being able to engage with both young and old alike and over the course of many years she positively influenced many people who came through the doors of The Irish Theatre Players. I personally only came to know Maura in the last three years through my involvement with the Irish Theatre Players but her impact was immediate, her welcome to me was with open arms and her love of life was inspiring. The Irish Theatre Players and its friends and family will miss Maura dearly. The Irish Theatre Players plan to come full circle. To get 2015 underway we will bring our audience back to its roots as we undertake a modern Irish classic (stay tuned for more details!). Having launched a recruitment drive earlier in the year the

Irish Theatre Players are currently considering submissions of interest received from a number of local directors and writers. The Irish Theatre Players are keen to use its stage as a platform for local talent and to showcase work from Perth’s diverse range of gifted directors, writers and actors. Noel O’ Neill is a case in point, Noel recently swept the boards at the Perth Drama Festival where his play Under Any Old Gum Tree won The People’s Choice Award and The Jenny McNae Adjudicators Award. The Irish Theatre Players were also delighted that its committee member Rory Buckley was awarded a certificate of merit for acting at the South West One Act Festival in Bunbury for his characterisation of Andy in Brian Friel’s Losers directed by Bobby Greaney. The Big Casino will be performed at the Irish Club Theatre in Subiaco at 8.00 pm on 5,6,7,8,12,13,14, and 15 November with a Sunday matinee taking place at 3.00 pm on Sunday, 9 November. Tickets are $20 (concessions $15) and include a light supper with refreshments. Book now online at www. irishtheatreplayers.com.au; by email to itp@irishtheatreplayers.com.au; or by phone on 0406085620.

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