The Irish Scene Nov/Dec 2023

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VOL 25, No 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

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Email: irishsceneperth@gmail.com Lloyd Gorman 0479 047 250 Email: irishsceneperth@gmail.com Canal Walk Media

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed by contributors in articles, reproduced articles, advertisements or any other printed material contained in Irish Scene magazine or on www.irishscene.com.au are those of the individual contributors or authors and as such are not necessarily those of Canal Walk Media. The publisher and editor reserve the right to accept, reject, edit or amend submitted material in order to make it appropriate or suitable for publication. Irish Scene welcomes submissions, ideas and suggestions for articles and features as well as photographs of events happening around and within the Irish community in Western Australia.

by Lloyd Gorman

T

hey are both enormous political projects but the Albanese government could help achieve a United Ireland before Australia becomes a fully fledged Republic!

At its national congress at the Brisbane Convention Centre in August, the Australian Labor Party – the party currently in government – the innocuous sounding Amendment 170A was introduced as a motion.

Delegates at the event – attended by more than 2,000 Labor members from across the country – carried the motion “Supporting the Reunification of Ireland”.

The motion also called on both the British and Irish governments to “honour the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to allow all the people of Ireland to democratically decide their future in the spirit of freedom and justice.”

The importance of that vote was not lost on those back in Ireland (or the UK) and it was eagerly welcomed by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald in particular. Of course the reunification of Ireland is the core objective of her party and she is fully aware – having

PM and Labor Party Leader Anthony Albanese addressed the conference

4 | THE IRISH SCENE

travelled her on more than one occasion – of those in power here who support that cause.

Sinn Féin’s popularity as a political party at home is on the rise and they were only kept out of forming government in the last general election by the state’s two main parties – Fianna Fail and Fine Gael – going into coalition.

It looks almost inevitable that SF will win government sooner or later and when they do it is on their agenda to hold a border poll.

There are many significant hurdles and issues that need to be tackled and inclusive answers would need to be found, but there is growing momentum for the idea of restoring Ireland as one country and talk in some quarters of its potential to happen is being measured in years, not decades. Meanwhile, the prospects of Australia pursuing its independence to the point of splitting with the British monarchy could be slipping away.

Prime Minister Albanese – who claims to be half Irish and half Italian – is a self confessed champion of the Republican model of democracy. The passing of the highly popular

Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 cleared the way for mainstream Australia to respectfully distance themselves from the Royals and towards having an Australian head of state. The march towards creating a Republic was slow but steady but may well have ground to a halt in October. The outcome of the referendum for the Voice has the potential to kill the Republic stone dead!

This writer hoped for a Yes vote, but that was not to be. A majority of Aussies and states rejected the vision put forward by Anthony Albanese that had been asked for in the Uluru Statement from the heart. Enough has been written and said about that now, but there are other consequences to consider. The shellacking has weakened the PM’s authority and position and undermined any confidence of taking another big ticket item to the people. Referenda are risky proposals at the best of times. Since the Australian states came together as a Federation in 1901 there have been 45 attempts to alter the constitution.

Just eight have gotten up in 122 years. As it happens the last referendum before the Voice

Mary Lou McDonald, right, at Kidogo Arthouse in July 2022 was in November 1999 and called for the establishment of a Republic. On that occasion the electorate was asked what it thought about a proposed law: “To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.” Just 39.34% voted Yes while a majority 60.66% voted No. The Voice referendum happened 24 years later but the results were almost identical, with 39.9% in support and 60.1% against. Just looking at these numbers it would either be very brave or reckless to press ahead with a referendum on any issue, never mind one that most Australians have shown do not think is a high priority.

Several media and political commentators have suggested that the Voice referendum may be the last time this model of trying to change the constitution is used. And coming up with an alternative system is likely to be painstakingly slow. Rusted on Republicans are facing a very long slog to reach full independence.

Irish speak up for The Voice Of all the groups that came out to support the Voice, the Irish community in Australia was most active and vocal.

The heart of that support in Perth was organised by Kidogo Arthouse owner Joanna Roberston – who has staged the Hand in Hand Irish Aboriginal Festival at the beautiful Bathers Beach venue – mobilised many local Irish, Australian and aboriginal leaders and figures to support the #irish4yes campaign (check out kidogo.com.au). Those who openly spoke up for the Voice included retired Supreme Court judge Michael Barker, Aboriginal man of Irish descent William Hayward, Fiona Stanely, Irish poet Declan Stanley O’Rourke who

has visited Fremantle to attend cultural events at Kidogo and Irish musician Eddie Sherlock.

At the national level,the Irish for The Voice, was a network of Irish Australians, both Irish born, and from among the 10% of Australia’s population who claim Irish heritage who came together to mobilise a resounding yes vote at “this historic crossroads”. A common theme running throughout these and similar campaigns was Ireland’s historical experience of colonialism at the hands of the British Empire and the long path it took for the Irish people to secure their freedom and the right to a say in their own affairs!

Joanna Roberston, middle, with Yes supporters THE IRISH SCENE | 5

Joondalup Police Academy gets an Irish trinity

by Lloyd Gorman

T

hree former “Guards” are in training right now at the Police Academy in Joondalup, close to the Edith Cowan University campus. The trio of ex-Gardai are amongst the very first batch of overseas recruits from the ‘Lets Join Forces’ WA Police (WAPOL) recruitment campaign launched last October (Gardai fit The Bill as ready to go cops!, Irish Scene, November/December 2022), specifically targeting experienced officers in Ireland, England and New Zealand.

They are expected to graduate and jump into action by the end of December/early January.

Monday 25th September was day one of a shorter than normal training programme for about thirty recruits who were swayed enough by the head hunting exercise to call it a day at home and make their way to Perth for a total change of scene, but not of occupation.

“Only a week or so ago I was at the academy welcoming the very first squad of transition officers,” police minister Paul Papalia told parliament on October 10. “Of the 27 internationals, 23 are Brits, three are Irish officers and there are a couple of Kiwis.

We also got a couple of New South Wales officers—I will not say “men” because there were women as well—and one Western Australian returning police officer. That is the first transition squad. They are all experienced, with a minimum of three years, but many of

Recruits take the oath

6 | THE IRISH SCENE

them have done far more than that. These are experienced officers who will bolster the experience of our Western Australia Police Force. They require only half the length of training. It is transitional training. They will be finished by Christmas and out on the streets serving the Western Australian population in the new year.”

Mr Papalia led a delegation of serving WAPOL officers on the recruitment drive earlier this year, which included information sessions across three UK cities and in Dublin where the Ely wine bar – just around the corner from the Australian embassy’s offices in Stephen’s Green – became their temporary base of operations. WA Governor General Chris Dawson – himself a former Commissioner of the WA Police Service – dropped in and lent his support to the cause.

According to police minister Papalia, the push has exceeded expectations. “Unlike many other jurisdictions, Western Australia is doing incredibly well in attracting police recruits who are interested in applying to join our police force,” he added in parliament. “The campaign in the United Kingdom and Ireland earlier this year was extraordinarily successful, to the extent that we had some 1,438 applicants from across the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.”

The 3% Factor Of those 1,438 applications would you care to hazard a guess at how many came from Ireland?

There has certainly been a lot of discussion and media interest back in Ireland about recruitment and retention problems facing An Garda Síochána, with the strength of the force at an historic low and new members hard to come by. Morale amongst existing Gardai is also said to be at an all time low. A motion of no confidence in Garda Commissioner

Drew Harris was passed by a 99 per cent majority vote at the Garda Representative Association annual conference in mid September. It was the first time a ballot of this nature was carried in the more than 100 year history of the force. The GRA represents the 11,000 rank and file members of the 14,000 strong police force. The Commissioner described the vote as a “kick in the teeth” and “a bitter blow” but insisted he will not resign as their leader.

With these and several other things to be unhappy about, and given there is a fairly well beaten path between Ireland and the Western Australia, you might think a substantial number of Gardai would be strongly tempted by the promise of sun and shiny new opportunities offered here.

Irish Scene can reveal the number of Gardai who have gone to the trouble of applying to WAPOL in the last 12 months is “more than 50”, according to Police Media, WAPOL’s communications department.

More may come forward in the future but that is where the tally stands right now.

The recruitment campaign for Irish, UK and Kiwi officers is set to run over five years, so there are still 4 more to play out. There is a target of 150 of these officers for every year of the programme, a total of 750. If they fulfil that annual allowance over five years that will translate into something like 25 different groups (of 30) recruits passing through Joondalup every few months. It will be interesting to see if the first crop of these ready to go cops will be typical of the ratio of future recruit groups.

The first crop of international recruits The numbers from New Zealand seem to be more on a par with those from Ireland which means the vast majority of those enlisting are from the UK. Some of their numbers may well include former Police Service of Northern Ireland officers, but it is unclear if they can be specifically identified as a group from within that overall number. But it is probably fair to assume there are some. “When we went to Dublin, people drove down from Belfast just to find out information at the event,” Minister Papalia told the Parliament in March, upon his return from the expedition.

“That was a police information session.

It was incredibly successful.”

The state government may have had its big sugar hit from the campaign. Between October 2022 when it launched and June 2023 there were 1,309 applications by police officers overseas to become cops here. And between July and September there were 129 more, so it appears the impact of the campaign is already waning, but they may have the numbers they need, topped up by a trickle of candidates until about 2027.

Police officers on parade at Joondalup Police Academy

THE IRISH SCENE | 7

Is D.O.B a state of mind?

S

uch is the need for new Gardai at home that the government is basically ripping up the traditional recruitment rule book. At the passing out ceremony for 126 new Garda in Templemore (Ireland’s national training centre) in late October Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee announced the age limit for joining An Garda Síochána is being pushed back from 35 years of age to fifty. This was to open up the field to as many people as possible to join the force she told them. Before this batch of new officers graduated An Garda Síochána numbers dipped to their lowest in years, falling to 13,900, but the new bloods will push it back above the 14,000 mark.

The age change is a major policy shift in its own right but is even more interesting because of the fact that the mandatory retirement age for members of the force is 60.

The age at which a guard must leave the force and can claim their pension is something the

New Garda recruits are getting older not younger these days 8 | THE IRISH SCENE

minister is actively looking at with a view to delaying their exit in a bid to hang onto more of them for longer.

WA Police on the other hand do not have any cut-off point for new recruits. “There is no age limit to apply for the WA Police Force,” letsjoinforces.wa.gov.au states. “You must be 17 years and 6 months or older to apply for a Police Officer (Entry-level) and over 17 to apply for Cadet or Police Auxiliary Officer roles.” And at the other end of the spectrum there is no mandatory or fixed age at which WA officers must retire.

Could Ireland go Down Under in hunt for new Gardai?

While WA Police are trying to poach members from the Irish police force to supplement their own Australia could prove to be a rich breeding ground for potential recruits to An Garda Síochána, recruitment website Back4Good.ie states.

‘Government must look to Australia for new Garda Recruits’ a recent article on the site – which claims to be “a unique concept which is a lifestyle platform supplying independent information on a range of services required by mobile skilled professionals” in 135 cities worldwide.

“Back 4 Good have received significant interest from our subscribers to take up roles in the Garda with strong interest from our base in Australia and New Zealand,” the article states.

“However the current recruitment approach by the Garda is unsuitable for many people currently overseas and cannot travel home for interviews or fitness tests.”

It said it was asking the government and justice minister to change the current recruitment process and “working with us we want to carry out a recruitment campaign based in Australia and New Zealand”.

“We are proposing a full cycle recruitment campaign from advertising the positions to shortlisting to interview and fitness tests to contract offer. All of which will happen

over a 4 month recruitment campaign with Garda and civilian staff based in Australia. The Government had provided funding for 1000 new Garda in 2023 with only 300 recruited this year and with over 750 Garda retiring Ireland needs to look at new methods to recruit. Our innovative proposal will ensure that a key pool of talent can be recruited from our diaspora with potential numbers to be recruited in the hundreds.”

The website service – based in Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 – said this “fresh thinking” would allow the recruitment process to present an opportunity for people who might want to come back to their village, county or town.

“With the Garda facing the biggest ever recruitment crisis it is now time to look at the way that the Gardai recruit and innovative solutions such as those proposed by Back

4 Good can make a real difference and more importantly deliver,” it added. “Back 4 Good are looking to meet the Minister and Commissioner to outline our proposal and to advise them on how Ireland can increase the number of Gardai at this critical time.”

Earlier this year An Garda Síochána Commissioner Drew Harris launched a 550,000 promotional campaign on TV, radio, print and online, with the slogan “Its a Job Worth Doing” (Gardai go multi-national, Irish Scene, May/ June 2023).

“The campaign will also target Irish people living in countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” Commissioner Harris said at the time. At the time it was not clear how the Irish government might go about doing that, but it looks like Back4Good think they know the answer.

Gary’s Gawler Gong

W

A is not the only Australian state actively open and encouraging of police officers from Ireland. In mid September Senior Constable Gary Wills was named as South Australia’s 2023 Police Officer of the Year, according to the following article from weare.sa.gov.au.

Senior Constable Wills was recognised for his ongoing support of young people north of Adelaide by the Rotary Club of Unley. A police officer for 31 years he moved to SA in March 2008, became an Australian citizen in 2015 and is based at the state’s oldest country town of Gawler. But before this the 59 year old served with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland.

“In all honesty, I was a wannabe Aussie for years and years. I’d never been, but I liked what Australia was about,” Senior Constable Wills told the website weare.sa.gov.au. “I flew over to London to do SAPOL’s entrance exam and thought I had no chance, and told my wife Janice not to buy the sunscreen, but fortunately I came through. All I knew about South Australia was what I’d seen of Adelaide Oval from watching The Ashes, and I thought it looked pretty good to me. To now be named South Australia Police Officer of the Year has blown me away, and never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen. I was actually nominated for a similar award back in Northern Ireland, which I thought would be the pinnacle of my career, but this is off the charts.”

THE IRISH SCENE | 9

Before moving to Australia, Senior Constable Wills worked during ‘The Troubles’, a 30-year violent conflict that took thousands of lives in Northern Ireland from about 1968 to 1998.

As the province moved out of conflict with the implementation of the Peace Process, Senior Constable Wills worked in this changing policing landscape up until he left in March 2008.

“My family certainly embraced the move (to Australia) and I was first based at Elizabeth where my daughter, Carly, works as a police officer today,” he said. “My son-in-law is also in the service, so we are a policing family.”

He has worked frontline since coming to South Australia, at Elizabeth, Gawler, back to Elizabeth briefly working alongside his daughter, and then a nine-year stint at Two Wells. A health scare in 2020 involving an emergency triple bypass saw Senior Constable Wills return to policing at Gawler, where he now leads a special assignment.

Since 2021, the Blue Rose Project pilot focused on youth intervention in the Gawler area has bloomed, reducing the number of local missing person’s reports involving young people by around 62 per cent.

“Blue Rose isn’t a job, it’s a goal. Out of my 31 years of service I have had more rewards in the past two years from seeing results of the project,” Senior Constable Wills added.

“It is about listening to these young people, hearing what their problems are and teaching them how to problem solve. I’ve developed many relationships with young people and the real reward is when you

have someone who doesn’t become a statistic.” Commissioner Grant Stevens congratulated Senior Constable Wills on his award, and recognised his ongoing work with Gawler’s Blue Rose Project.

“This award acknowledges police officers who have demonstrated exemplary courtesy, courage, kindness, understanding, compassion and devotion to duty in the eyes of the community,” he said.

“It recognises an outstanding and committed police officer who has created trust with countless young people in the northern community and encouraged many to turn their lives around.”

“Gary is held in high regard by his peers, superiors, Department for Child Protection members, educators, the wider Gawler and districts communities and, in particular, the young and vulnerable people of the community,” Gawler Rotarian Brian Burt said.

“He has the rare knack of being able to diffuse dangerous and difficult situations and to encourage and mentor young people.”

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THE BIZARRE CASE OF ‘GPO GIRL’

by Lloyd Gorman

T

en years ago the Guards in Dublin were confronted with a high profile and highly unusual case that they were only able to crack with the help of their counterparts in Australia.

The Gardai discovered a young woman distressed and dishevelled wondering aimlessly outside the GPO in O’Connell Street, Dublin in October 2013. “[She] presented in a distressed state, crying and looked a little bit bewildered, as if she was lost or if she was confused,” Superintendent David Gallagher, said in the four part TV documentary series Con Girl, that aired on Seven on September 17.

“She didn’t speak…didn’t verbally communicate, she indicated she was 14 years of age, numerically with her fingers, but wouldn’t provide any details of herself or why she was upset, what adults were with her or why she was there. Fearing for the wellbeing of the child, they decided to invoke the Childcare Act and take her into protective custody until we established who she was and what her situation was.”

Then a Detective Sergeant Supt Gallagher headed up the investigation into the mystery person. “She was brought to Temple Street children’s hospital, she was uncooperative there with the medical people there with regards to examinations.”

Efforts to establish her identity through

A Garda displays a photo of the mystery woman at a press conference in Dublin Pic: PhotoCall Ireland 12 | THE IRISH SCENE

Interpol and the Missing Persons Bureau searches failed to produce any clues. She herself remained so evasive and elusive that the authorities had to employ some unusual methods to make any progress.

“We managed to obtain a partial set of fingerprints from a plate that she held and circulated them internationally. She wouldn’t agree to pose for [a photo]. I knew we needed [one] so we engaged in a sort of a ploy where we moved her from one room to another and I had one of my team there with a covert camera. In Ireland children are protected under the Childcare Act for release of their identification, so it’s not something that’s done lightly.”

Indeed, Gardai took the exceptional and unprecedented step of seeking the permission of the High Court in Dublin to publicly release the image of the girl.

Dave Taylor, a retired Superintendent who was the head of the Garda Press Office was also interviewed for the telly series. If their efforts to identify the girl through Interpol and the Missing Person Bureau had failed then they needed to take exceptional steps.

“I have never seen such a response to such a media appeal. It was international media, obviously local media,” he said. “The coverage was instant, it was vast, it was top of the news. “We were starting to get some calls in from Australia, from police stations and police officers, all saying the same name...

Samantha Azzopardi. None of it was real, it was a complete scam. Her whole demeanour was an elaborate ruse. She was good.”

Despite the 25 year old’s elaborate deception and the fact she tied up an estimated €350,000 in a month long police probe and health resources she did not face criminal charges. Instead she was put on a plane and sent back to Australia in November, with the Irish taxpayer picking up that cost as well. It transpired later that she had family

connections in Clonmel, Tipperary.

Indeed it was investigators from Perth who identified Azzopardi. Three years earlier she had enrolled in a school at Perth and befriended a female student who she convinced she was a 15 year old Russian gymnast who had lost her family in a terrible tragedy. Her teenage friends family were so taken in by the story that they tried to adopt her. Suspicious documentation for that process raised the alarm.

“Serial Australian con woman, Samantha Azzopardi used more than 75 false identities in a globe-crossing career of deception that began when she was just 14,” promotional material for the true crime series states. “Yet in all that time she never assaulted anyone or stole their money. Her motives were a mystery.

This documentary series explores the many lies & lives of Samantha, primarily through the compelling accounts of her victims – many

Former Detective Sergeant David Gallagher

of whom are telling their stories for the first time. Their powerful testimony reveals the incredible depths of Samantha’s decades of deception. Why did she do it? How did she do it? Who is Samantha Azzopardi?.”

One review called it “an astonishing story of faked identities and manic gas-lighting”.

Called GPO Girl episode 1 begins in Dublin and explores the many lies and lives perpetrated by the con artist. Con Girl made is Australian debut in mid September but was first shown in Ireland back in February, where it is available on Paramount+. Earlier this year RTE made its own programme about Azzopardi as a Documentary on One production. ‘Girl at the GPO’ is available on the RTE website – https:// www.rte.ie/radio/doconone/1328730-girl-atthe-gpo – or as a podcast.

Retired Superintendent Dave Taylor

THE IRISH SCENE | 13

Paddy Hannan’s head hunters!

by Lloyd Gorman

S

ome crimes are quick and easy to solve while some mystery’s can drag on for years.

The former was true for the recent beheading of the Paddy Hannan statue in Kalgoorlie, which was pretty much an open and shut case. News of the act of vandalism against the local landmark first emerged on the Rumour File on 6PR (Knick knack Paddy Whack), on October 12. It had been deliberately detached the night before, between 11pm and midnight police stated. An hour before the breakfast show finished there was an update from a well placed source on the ground.

“It was picked up very early this morning when some passerby’s noticed the head had been taken from Paddy Hannan’s statue,” Glenn Wilson a councillor and mayoral candidate for the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder told the show hosts Steve Mills and Karl Langdon.

“They were St John Ambulance officers, so we thank them very much, they put the head away and that has now been delivered to the (council) offices, so we have his head.” Mr Wilson – who went on to win the election – confirmed there was CCTV of the incident and that police were investigating.

WA Police inspector Geoff Desanges described the act as ‘heinous’ and warned the perpetrators could face charges of criminal damage.

“That statue is iconic to the community of Kalgoorlie and surrounds,” Inspector Desanges told reporters.

“It’s a part of the fabric of that town and the history of it, so we are hoping

14 | THE IRISH SCENE

to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”

His discovery of gold – along with two fellow Irish prospectors Thomas Flannagan and Daniel O’Shea – sparked the biggest gold rush in Australian history and led to the foundation of Kalgoorlie. Just before 10am the council issued a press release, stating that it had been notified of the incident in the early hours of the morning against what it said was: “a key figure in the discovery of gold and an important part of our city’s heritage”. “The City has requested a police investigation into the incident including a review of available CCTV footage of the area,” the release added. “We can confirm that Paddy’s head has been returned to the City. The City is deeply disappointed by this act of vandalism which not only defaces a significant piece of our city’s history but also disrespects the memory of Paddy Hannan and the hardworking prospectors who played a vital role in shaping our community. We take pride in the presentation of our city and value our beautiful historical streetscapes and monuments, as we work to ensure their historical significance is preserved. The 41-yearold vandalised statue on Hannan Street is a replica of the original 1929 statue which is safely located inside the Kalgoorlie Town Hall. The City will continue to assist the police with this ongoing investigation, and pending an outcome will commence planning restoration works.”

Within hours there was another update in the

media. A woman who was allegedly handling Hannan’s head lost three toes when it dropped onto her foot and had to be flown to Perth for medical attention. Around the same time it emerged that a 38 year old man had been charged with unlawful damage and due to appear in court at a future date.

With much of the criminal side of things wrapped up there was still the question of what needed to be done next. “ABC Radio contacted us regarding the vandalism of the Paddy Hannan sculpture,” said Charlie Smith and his wife and fellow sculptor Joan. “They wanted a professional opinion on what might be involved in repairing it. We offered, on air, to make the repairs free of charge.”

The show’s producers said they would put the offer to the ‘Kal’ council but to date there has been no response. A query from Irish Scene about the offer also went unanswered.

Originally from Waterford in Ireland but based in Giggiganup for many years Charlie and Joan are professional sculptors with a special connection to Paddy Hannan.

They have created and built many statues and artworks, including a life size bronze sculpture of Paddy Hannan pushing his wheelbarrow to

(6PR) Mary Annadair and Glenn Wilson Kalgoorlie as one of the ten installations in the Burswood Park heritage sculpture trail, created between 1989 and 2002.

The Hannan sculpture is described as being: “symbolic of the ebullience of the late 1890s and the discovery of gold which put Western Australia on the map. Epitomising the sense of determination to overcome the odds which enabled the ‘barrowmen’ to conquer their hunger, thirst and weariness ahead on their 600-kilometre journey east to Kalgoorlie, he demonstrates the qualities of the ‘Aussie battler’.” The heritage trail led them to being commissioned some years later by Burswood

THE IRISH SCENE | 15

Paddy Hannan’s head hunters!

Casino to create another sculpture of Paddy Hannan for their Irish pub, named in his honour. “We did him standing at the bar, with a bag of gold in his hand, as if he was standing everyone a round of drinks,” said Charlie.

As part of their research into this new piece Charlie and Joan visited Paddy Hannan’s family descendants who are still living in the same house as he did in Quin, West Clare.

Joan Walsh Smith and daughter Joanne pictured with the Paddy Hannan sclupture at the opening night of the Paddy Hannan Bar

“They were lovely people who were thrilled to hear

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Paddy Hannan’s head hunters! that we were commissioned to create yet another statue to their ancestor in Australia,” said Joan. “The big disappointment was that we couldn’t talk with their very ancient grandfather who was ill in bed upstairs. When we were leaving and saying our goodbyes at the front gate I happened to glance up at an upstairs window and there was the grandfather looking down at us. What a shock, he looked exactly like Paddy!.” While the sculpture stood at the counter of Paddy Hannan’s Bar the large bronze ‘bas relief’ they also created was placed over the entrance to the pub. Paddy Hannan’s Bar closed down about 14 years ago and sometime after that the Smith Sculptors duo tried to find out what had happened to the sculpture and relief. After they made contact with Burswood they were later told Paddy was in storage somewhere in East Perth until it was decided what would be done with it. That was the last they heard about it until very recently.

As a new arrival in Perth Irish Scene editor Lloyd Gorman sometimes frequented Paddy Hannan’s Bar in Burswood and was aware of

the sculpture but not the backstory so out of curiosity approached current casino owners Crown to enquire about its whereabouts.

Their media department were busy getting ready for Charlie and Joan’s Telethon weekend in sculpture of Paddy late October, but once Hannan at Burswood that was out of the way a representative got back with some encouraging news – Paddy was not forgotten. “Crown confirmed the statue remains in a warehouse and a new location on the Crown property is being considered as part of planned renovations.”

So after being hostage to fortune and a prolonged absence we know ‘Paddy’ is not lost in time and is waiting to strike lucky on his next golden opportunity, whatever that may be!

To all our clients and supporters, we wish you a Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year - from all of us at Vibe Legal LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR YOUR FAMILY & BUSINESS GIVE US A CALL TODAY (08) 6111 4980

Lawyers@vibelegal.com.au www.vibelegal.com.au

18 | THE IRISH SCENE

Suite 6, 2 Hardy Street, South Perth 6151

THE IRISH SCENE | 19

Crown ‘head’ Irish

O

perating three casino complexes in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Crown Resorts is Australia’s largest gaming and entertainment group. With some 6,000 employees Crown Perth is Western Australia’s largest single-site private sector employer. Since September 2022 the whole corporation has been headed up by Dublin born chief executive officer Ciarán Pearse Carruthers (The Chieftains of Corporate Australia, Irish Scene, July/August 2023).

over east will be spending more time here in the west and maybe – with some luck – Irish Scene might get a few minutes with him on one of those trips to find out more about his Irish roots.

On September 29 the West Australian reported that Mr Carruthers – and the company’s chair Bill McBeath – “plan to resuscitate” the Crown brand and the Perth site specifically. That might mean that Mr Carruthers who lives in Adelaide and is based

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Time to end 103 year old “injustice”

T

wo Federal Labor politicians recently stepped up their campaign to clean up a black mark on the official record of the Australian Parliament against a Kalgoorlie Labor MP from Ireland.

Fremantle MP Josh Wilson put forward a Private Members Business (PMB) motion in Canberra on September 4. It read: That this House: (1) recognises that: (a) prior to the passage of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 the Houses of the Australian Parliament had the power to expel a Senator or Member of the House of Representatives;

Hugh Mahon was born at Killurine, near Tullamore, Co. Offaly (then King’s Hugh Mahon County) who spent some of his childhood in New York (b) the expulsion of a Member of this House before returning to Ireland where is the most drastic of sanctions; he would become a journalist and an (c) on 11 November 1920, the Honourable activist. For his part in the Irish land war he Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was spent two months in Kilmainham gaol, Dublin, expelled from this House; and in 1881, alongside Charles Stewart Parnell and other leaders of the Irish National Land League (d) the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie but was released because he had suspected is the only Member to have ever been tuberculosis. Within 12 months he was on his expelled from this House; way to Australia with a new alias and as a paid (2) acknowledges that the Honourable agent for the Land League and was involved Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was in organising the fund raising tour by the expelled: League’s leaders John and William Redmond. (a) by a motion brought on hastily and with He would become a prominent political and limited time for debate; journalistic figure on the Australian scene, but (b) by a vote of the House on party lines; and also remained true to his convictions about Ireland’s plight under British rule, views that would earn him a controversial and notable place in Australian political history.

22 | THE IRISH SCENE

(c) without the due process and procedural fairness that such an important issue deserves; and

(3) further recognises that:

Hugh Mahon, right standing, and other members of the Hughes Cabinet

(a) it was unjust, on the limited evidence, for the institution to which Hugh Mahon had been democratically elected to reverse the decision of his constituents; (b) the expulsion of the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was a misuse of the power then invested in the House; and (c) for over a century the Mahon family has endured this injustice and it is time that the Parliament revisit the matter of the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie, Hugh Mahon’s expulsion.

Mr Wilson spoke to the issue, saying there had been only two occasions in the 122-year history of the Australian parliament where the government of the day has won a seat from the opposition at a by-election.

“It happened earlier this year when Labor’s Mary Doyle* won the seat of Aston after the resignation of Alan Tudge,” he said. “It also happened 103 years ago when Hugh Mahon lost the seat of Kalgoorlie after he was effectively dismissed from parliament through a disgraceful and antidemocratic process. It was odd to observe that he was expelled on 11 November 1920, exactly 40 years to the day after Ned Kelly was hanged and 55 years to the day before the dismissal of Gough Whitlam.

They were two Australian parliamentarians, in any case, with Irish heritage, Mary Doyle and Hugh Mahon, and two very different sets of circumstances”.

Mahon’s dismissal more than a hundred years ago was “a great injustice” he added. “Hugh Mahon was dismissed as a representative through a partisan process according to a vote on party lines when the conservative government of the day took issue with Mr Mahon’s views in relation to the question of Irish independence. He’d given a speech at an event in Melbourne in which he expressed sympathy for the circumstances of the people in Ireland who wanted to be free of British rule, and he supported calls for an Australian republic. At the public meeting, support was provided for three motions or propositions, the last of which read:

That this meeting of Australian citizens, in view of the policy of oppression and tyranny pursued by the English Government in Ireland, and which has brought eternal disgrace upon the whole British Empire, of which Australia forms a part, pledges its support to any movement for the establishment of an Australian republic.”

At the first sitting of the parliament after Mahon’s speech, on November 11, 1920, Prime Minister Billy Hughes moved a motion of his own to banish the firebrand MP. That, in the opinion of this House, the Honorable Member for Kalgoorlie, the Honorable Hugh Mahon, having, by seditious and disloyal utterances at a public meeting on Sunday last, been guilty of conduct unfitting him to remain a Member of this House and inconsistent with the oath of allegiance which he has taken as a Member of this House, be expelled this House.

The vote on Hughes motion were cast purely on party lines, and Hugh Mahon, who was not even able to be present for the vote, was expelled.

THE IRISH SCENE | 23

Josh Wilson MP

“It would seem absolutely extraordinary to Australians today to think that a member of this place would be expelled for noting and endorsing the aspirations of people elsewhere, in terms of their self-determination, or that a person would be expelled for expressing support for the concept of an Australian republic,” he added. “Of course, a recent prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was not just a supporter of the Australian republic; he was a founding member of the Australian Republican Movement in 1991. Hugh Mahon, having been expelled, lost the subsequent by-election and the injustice done to him has never been officially acknowledged. The dangerous partisan expulsion that was inflicted on Hugh Mahon, and effectively inflicted on the people of Kalgoorlie who had elected him, was a harm that was never specifically cured.

Thankfully, the process by which Hugh Mahon was so badly mistreated can no longer occur, so at least it has been cured as a general ill.

I say ‘dangerous’ because it should never be the case that the government of the day can expel properly elected members from this place simply because they choose to express opinions with which the government disagrees.

That is profoundly antidemocratic. In truth, the expulsion of Hugh Mahon was a disgrace. The then Leader of the Labor Party, Frank Tudor, said at the time: “Parliament is not a proper tribunal to try a charge of sedition arising from the exercise of civilian rights of free speech at a public assembly of citizens”. It’s also a reminder that we should take great care with respecting the rights of all Australians, including parliamentary representatives, to hold and express views that may not suit the prevailing or ruling position, providing, of course, that we participate in debate without descending to incitement, threats, accusations or other kinds of speech that cannot be considered responsible.”

Josh Wilson’s partner in the bid to correct the

record for Hugh Mahon is House of Representatives MP Graham Perrett, the member for Moreton, Queensland. He believes that as a PostmasterGeneral, a Minister for Home Affairs and a Minister for External Affairs Mahon did great service to this nation.

Last year he spoke about the need to “make amends” for the fact Mahon is the only person to have ever been expelled from this parliament. “He was expelled for making ‘seditious and disloyal utterances’ about the British Empire. I know the member for Fremantle supports me in this endeavour of trying to make right what occurred 100 years ago.”

His interest in the Mahon affair and cause of Irish independence is more than academic or fleeting.

During her tour of Australia last year Mr Perrett had dinner with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald on at least one occasion, during which “we talked about my support for a united Ireland”.

Soft spot for the Irish: Graham Perrett MP

*There’s something about Mary!

A

s her name suggests Mary Doyle, has Irish ancestry and still has relatives in Ireland. In fact Irish Scene understands she was in Ireland not long before her surprise election as the MP for Aston, Victoria. She is pictured here – a photo posted on her own Facebook page – celebrating St Patrick’s Day at Paddy’s Tavern Ferntree Gully, Melbourne just two weeks before she was elected.

24 | THE IRISH SCENE

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Stirring speech by Mr Mahon

The Tribune November 1920

The Black and Tans

I was reproached the other day that the police were being shot in the back – if they are shot in the bak they must be running away.

But anyway, there are no police in Ireland, they are spies, informers and blood cut-throats.

It is a satisfaction to know that the rotten Irish Government cannot get its uniformed soldiers to do its dirty work, and is force d to import into Ireland the off-sscouringsof English gaols, now known as the ‘Blac k and Tans’. (Groans) Some of these thugs , the murderers of innocent men, women and children, have been sent to account. Their souls, if they had souls, are probably in hell, so it is fitting that their carcasses shoul d ‘go whence they came’. I would not have the sweet pastures of holy Ireland poisoned by their carrion clay. (Applause)

Sections of Mahon’s speech were widel y reported in Australian newspapers at the time. This report by the Tribune in Nove mber 1920 appears to be the fullest account of all of them.

“The chairman in his opening address said; There is one whose absence from this meeting will be greatly missed, and that is his Grace, the noble Archbishop of Melbourne (Cheers). I take it that the outrage upon that eminent cleric will never be forgotten by the Irish people of Austr alia (Hear, hear) The action taken against him by the British Government was one of the most damnable outrages ever committed upon a free man in an alleged free country. (Hear , hear). The very hypocrites who pleaded The Presidential Election with us to right for the liberty of small natio ns We have a splendid signal from Amer are virtually gaoling the Archbishop of ica which is a severe blow to Ireland’s enem Melbourne, refusing him the right to visit ies.

The treach erous and cowardly Democratic his native land and his venerable moth er. I Party has gone to the wall and, thank God, ask you: “Was there ever such black-hear ted the Irish in America rallied to the suppo hypocrisy as this? (Cries of ‘No’) What rt of ever even an indifferent person in the Repu the Germans did in Belgium and Polan blic d, candi date rather than the return of the remember that they are at war; but this gang Democrats. The late democratic President of of vile hypocrites, led by George, has proclaimed self-determination, the rights in time of peace committed an infinitely of small nations and all this sort of cant greater outrage upon Archbishop Mann ix, at the Paris Conference, but turned a deaf than was ever offered by Germany to the to the representatives of Ireland; and this Cardinal Archbishop of Malines. (Hear ,hear) man, who assumed to speak on behalf of And these people have the audacity to rail democracy of the world, is at and reproach young Australians for not now out; and so, thank God, is sacrificing themselves to uphold a rule of his bastard League of Nations, this kind. I consider it a sacred duty to hand which has come to an end with down to your children the memory of the him – (Cheers) – a spurious unparalleled indignity on our Archbisho p of international body which took which this infamous gang has been guilty ”. no account of the wrongs of An Infamous Despotism one of the most ancient and Honorable countries in the We have met here today to express world. Really, when you come sympathy with the widow and family to think of it, we have a right of the late Lord Mayor of Cork – a man to thank God that this rotten irreproachable in domestic and private life, gang in America has gone to the trusted and beloved by his fellow citize ns, wall and that no more is to be and the chief magistrate of an ancient and heard of the League of Nations important city. What sort of a governmen t with the hypocritical English is it that has only a felon’s cell for a man politicians sitting in the chief of his attainments and intellectual gifts, his positions. self-sacrifice and his patriotism? Why, there never was in Russian history during the The Vile Tactics of time of the most bloody and cruel Tzars Hughes a government of a more infamous chara cter The other day I moved a motion – to subject a lingering and painful death in the House of Representatives a man of the type of Terence McSwiney.

– (Hear, hear) – a harmless one, When we read in the papers that his poor to call attention to the infamous widow sobbed over his coffin, I said; “if murder of the Lord Mayor of there is a just God in heaven, these sobs Cork, but the renegade rats will reach Him and will one day swell into of the Labor movement and a volume that will shake the foundation s of the vinegar-visaged wowsers this bloody and accursed despotism. backing up Hughes, put on the

gag. They were afraid to hear the truth about Ireland. One impudent and ignorant perso n said; What is this to do with Australia?

My rejoinder is: What the hell did the war have to do with Australia?

(Cheers) If these are not proper subjects to debate in a national parliament, in the name of heaven what is?

Have we no soul? But we have a direc t and very deep interest in what is going on in Ireland (Hear, hear) Even these Imperialis tic bullies, if they had any sense, would now, what a danger to the Empire it is to have Ireland in such a state. A disconnected Ireland is always a danger, but a free and contented Ireland would try and forge t the accumulated wrongs of eight hundred years and not be a menace to England. Thus , those jingoes who pretend to be the best friend s of the Empire are really its most damn able enemies. (Hear, hear). The nation, which survived Cromwell – a decent man comp ared with Lloyd George – which outlived the infamies of 1798, is not the one to go down before this gang of false hearted hypo crites, who only occupy the Treasury benches in the House of Commons by conspiracy and fraud.

(Cheers)”.

Former WA Senator and ‘working class hero’ honoured in Irish birth place

A

plaque has been unveiled in Cavan, Ireland to commemorate the life and legacy of former Wanneroo-based WA Senator, the late Jim McKiernan (1944-2018).

McKiernan served as a popular member of the Senate for 18 years. Cavan County Council commissioned the plaque to honour McKiernan’s remarkable journey growing up in challenging circumstances, leaving school at 14 and becoming a respected member of the Australian Senate for 18 years.

The plaque, which is located on a gable wall near his childhood home, bears the inscription: “Jim was the son of Maisie and James McKiernan and grew up in Owen Roe Terrace. He left school at 14 and became a tradesman and trade union activist in England before emigrating to Australia, where he served as a popular member of parliament for 18 years. He was a great champion of the underdog and a proud Cavan man.”

It also contains a tribute from the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins: “His life, his commitment to justice, his courage and internationalism represented something that can only be

described as Ireland and Australia at their best.”

Speaking following the unveiling, the Chair of Cavan County Council, Cllr Philip Brady said, “Senator Jim McKiernan was a passionate and principled advocate for the underprivileged and the disadvantaged. I am proud to be here today with his family to celebrate the life and achievements of one of Cavan’s most distinguished sons”.

In a statement, the Chief Executive of Cavan County Council Tommy Ryan said, “Jim McKiernan made a significant contribution to Ireland and to Australia. This plaque is a fitting tribute to his memory and will serve as a reminder of his many achievements.”

Jim McKiernan’s formal education ended at the age of fourteen. He worked various jobs, including as a petrol pump attendant, abattoir worker, and messenger before moving to England at 16 to join his older brother and sister. There, he started an apprenticeship as a fitter and became involved in the trade union movement. At 22, he took advantage of the assisted passage scheme and emigrated

Jim McKiernan.

28 | THE IRISH SCENE

to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Arriving in the sweltering heat of the Australian summer, McKiernan walked around Fremantle’s shipyards looking for work.

He eventually gained employment and lived for two months in a migrant hostel with his family.

He soon after joined the Australian Society of Engineers (ASE) and later the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union (AMWU) before becoming their first full-time education officer for Western Australia. His union activism intensified, and he later became involved with the Australian Labor Party. In 1984, he was elected to the Senate and re-elected three times, serving until his retirement in 2002.

His first speech to parliament, delivered on March 25, 1985, highlighted his deep concern for issues like Aboriginal land rights, nuclear proliferation, uranium mining, and access to healthcare. McKiernan became known for his passionate speeches, great sense of humor, and trademark colorful ties. He championed causes such as campaigns against privatization and Australia’s involvement in the Gulf War. McKiernan never forgot his roots and was also a passionate advocate for Ireland in Australia and acted as secretary for the Australian-Irish Parliamentary Association for many years. During this time, he met with

The McKiernan family

President Mary Robinson, President McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and numerous Irish delegations that visited Australia. He was a major supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process and helped secure a $7 million contribution to the Australian Ireland Fund. He also promoted tourism and trade links between the two nations and worked to support Irish people who found themselves in difficulty in Australia.

In 1991 he received the Irish Australian of the Year Award.

McKiernan’s experience with being forced to take an oath of allegiance to the Queen was a major factor in his helping to lead a campaign to end the practice, successfully resulting in the passage of the Australian Citizenship Amendment Bill 1993. He also was a dedicated campaigner in the movement for Australia to become a republic.

At the ceremony, Jim’s wife, Jackie, a former member of the WA Legislative Assembly and a dedicated partner in his work, expressed her gratitude to the County Council for commissioning the plaque. “It is a beautiful way to remember my husband and his legacy.

He was so proud of his Irish roots, and it is great to see him honoured and remembered in this way.”

McKiernan plaqu

e.

County Cavan.

THE IRISH SCENE | 29

E

mma Cole – who retired as the mayor of Vincent council at the local government elections in October – has had a lot to do with the Irish in her private and public life, past and present.

She always knew about her great grandmother from Co. Clare who came to Western Australia by ship, met her husband on that voyage and that they opened a general store in Francis Street, Northbridge.

An overseas trip of her own in the 1990’s when she was 21 would bring her to the man she would marry. “John is from Armagh and grew up there, his mum is from Nenagh, Tipperary and his dad is from Dundalk. I met him when I was 23 and while we were both working for a teachers union in London. He was extremely chatty and I immediately responded to his warmth. At the time I was trying to get my head around Northern Ireland politics and what was going on there so I took a six week night course about it. When I met John he was astounded I had done that and I think that impressed him a bit.”

Perth is home, but Ireland is home away from home for Emma and John and their two ‘spirited’ sons Conor and Eddie and their dog Seamus.

“John grew up in Armagh and while we never lived in Ireland together we have visited there a lot, that connection with Ireland is very important for us,” she said. “So when COVID hit and we couldn’t travel there – like a lot of other Irish families – we really felt that distance and longing to get back and see family. We were able to get back for the first time since the pandemic in April this year and it was really lovely.”

She would also see COVID wreak havoc much closer to home. Emma was first elected to the council ten years ago as a councillor when Alannah (Joan Geraldine Cecilia) MacTiernan 30 | THE IRISH SCENE

BY LLOYD GORMAN was mayor. When MacTiernan – whose parents had Irish heritage – made the jump from local government into federal politics in 2013 John Carey became the mayor of Vincent. When Mr Carey became a minister in the McGowan government in 2017 Emma succeeded him in that position. After ten years on council, six and a half of which were as mayor she decided not to contest her seat as mayor.

Her first year on the council coincided with the introduction – thanks in no small measure to the support of mayor MacTiernan – of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival through Leederville and onto Leederville Oval. It had been a long hiatus for the March 17 festivities, which were previously staged in Fremantle but which had fallen away many years earlier.

“It was incredible that it came to Leederville and was within walking distance of my house,” she said. The Cole family revelled in the celebration of Irish culture and customs while Emma enjoyed being able to dress the boys up in green outfits and cute costumes.

“Every time we went back to Ireland we’d get them tops and outfits in the next size up so they always had something to wear for the occasion. I even made the boys wear shamrock head boppers one time but they are teenagers now so I can’t get away with that kind of thing anymore,” she laughed.

“The parade and festival is really a great spectacle, to see so many people coming together, everyone dressed in green and happy, the build up and excitement, its such a wonderful atmosphere and great spectacle.

Its a fantastic thing for the local and Irish community but also for visitors coming to Perth.

In 2020, on the brink of delivering the St. Patricks Day parade and festival on Saturday March 14 in Leederville, drastic action was taken. COVID19 was just making its presence felt Emma Cole

Former mayor Alannah MacTiernan at the launch of the St Patrick’s Day Festival in 2013 in Western Australia for the first time and everyone was nervous about the pending threat. “That (Friday 13th March) was a huge day, we had to make significant decision,” she said. Ms Cole and the city’s CEO held a crunch meeting with Olan Healy, chairperson of St. Patrick’s Day WA Inc. about the rapidly looming risk posed by the Coronavirus.

“There was a lot at stake,” Emma added. “All the infrastructure and facilities were in place, everything was set up and ready to go, kegs of beer had been delivered. We were worried.

We knew that for a community group, a not for profit group, that this was a huge call to make.”

In previous years crowds of around 10,000 people turned out to watch the parade, packed shoulder to shoulder in the streets of Leederville. “This event had the potential to kick start COVID in Perth. Technically speaking it could have gone ahead as restrictions on public gatherings were not due to come into effect until two days later. Olan and the committee showed so much leadership. They were devastated but they didn’t hesitate to call it off.

Olan then had to go before the TV cameras and break the bad news to the community. It was a really difficult thing to do and I felt immense respect for him for doing that.”

In those very early

Emma and Olan Healy on the day they had to break the bad news days of the pandemic there was a glimmer of hope the St Patrick’s Day festival could return the next year when things might return to normal. “If making the decision to call off the festival in the first place was hard then it was absolutely heartbreaking later on because we had three years in a row of cancellations,” she added. “For some reason even when things did sort of get back to “normal” there always seemed to be an outbreak of cases around that time of the year. It was a real line ball situation.” So when the parade and festival were finally able to happen again in March of this year the now ex-mayor had extra special reason to celebrate. “It was amazing to see all the people come back to the city, enjoying themselves and supporting local businesses” she added. “We hadn’t had any events for such a long time and people cherished it. People really missed it. I missed it.” Olan can joke now that he got to know her really well “for all the wrong reasons”. “We were very unlucky with our event over the last few years and Emma, as well as David from the City of Vincent, and I were the trifecta of decision makers that shared the burden of multiple cancelled events,” he told Irish Scene. “It was a pleasure to work alongside Emma through those tough times and she supported our decisions all the way regardless of the pubic backlash. Emma showed us so much empathy as organisers and stood by us until we got back on our feet.

The committee will miss Emma as mayor and are forever grateful for her support.”

Family fun: Emma with sons Connor and Eddie and husband John, left, and Mick Quirk then Director of Community Engagement at Vincent Council, and his kids Tadhg and Sinead. On the left is husband John and I am on right with Conor and Eddie (Eddie the little one). In the middle is Mick Quirk, who was the Director of Community Engagement at City of VIncent but now is a Director at City of Stirling, with his two kids Tadhg and Sinead.

THE IRISH SCENE | 31

New Vincent mayor is Green to the core

F

our heavyweight candidates contested the position left by Emma’s retirement.

The mayoral candidates included Vincent councillor Suzanne Worner, who some might better know as the general manager of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.

Ron Alexander , who started as an AFL player and later became the directorgeneral of the Department of Sport in WA (and who co-chaired the project to build Perth (Optus) Stadium) also put himself forward. Financial guru and long term Vincent resident Amanda Madden also had a go. But in the end the top job went to Alison Xamon, a former Greens MP in state parliament for the North Metro district, who got 40% of the vote. Ms Xamon lost her position as an Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in the 2021 state election but follows in the footsteps of high profile figures and pollies in the role, like Alannah MacTiernan who were attracted to the role as mayor of Vincent.

Thanks in no small part to the fact that MacTiernan became the mayor of Vincent the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival was able to get up and running in the first place. And the support of every mayor since – through the bad times and the good – has helped make the traditional Irish event a major fixutre in Perth. “It’s good to hand the chain on to a progressive, experienced and highly committed person like Alison and I am wishing her every success in the role,” Emma said about her successor. “I am sure Alison will continue to foster the many community connections and partnerships formed, like the special relationship Vincent has with the Irish community and Olan and the St Patricks Festival Committee.”

Molly meets Vincent The City of Vincent is about to get a delivery from Dublin in the very near future. A brand new Irish pub called Molly’s is set to open in the heart of the Highgate’s vibrant bar and hospitality precinct in November. At time of writing tradies were busily renovating the former Beaufort Tavern premises to get it ready for the big occasion. Like all the best Irish pubs it promises to offer a warm welcome, banter by the bucketload, outstanding service and plenty more besides. Molly’s takes its name from the iconic Dublin fishmonger Molly Malone.

We will have to wait to see if Cockles and Mussels will be on the menu but no doubt they will be well stocked with Dublin’s even more famous export – the black stuff from St. James’s Gate.

Leading the charge at the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day parade 32 | THE IRISH SCENE

‘Rock’ Reunion It’s that time of year again. Blackrock College ‘Old Boy’ Ashok Parekh has once again organised the annual reunion of ‘The Rock lads’ and friends at the Irish Club in Subiaco on Tuesday 21st November, from 5pm. Ashok – who owns the Irish Pub in Kalgoorlie – graduated from the iconic school in

"Rock boys are we..."

On 1st November 1930, a concert was held in the College during which one of the songs performed by the orchestra was Le Rêve Passe by French composer Charles Helmer.

It was an important milestone for Blackrock. It was the first time the music which would inspire the College anthem was played. Four years earlier Blackrock adopted Fides et Robur as the college motto. Now an appropriate anthem was needed. At the time other schools had their anthems which they sang with gusto at rugby games.

Fr Mackey with the help of his former mathematics teacher, Mr Hugh Holohan, set to work choosing a suitable tune for the anthem, writes blackrockcollegehistory.com. In the early stages, they tried and tested extracts from Handel’s Messiah.

However, Mr Holohan came to the belief that Blackrock owed too much to its French origins and that the anthem should be formed around a French composition. An excerpt from Le Rêve Passe was eventually selected and was met with enthusiastic approval. Mr Holohan was asked by the College to compose the lyrics for the anthem although he had trouble in doing so. Fr Mackey stepped up to the task and wrote

the early 1970’s and has proudly kept up the connection with his alma mater and its former students, including those in Western Australia. The nosh for the evening will be courtesy of Ashok.Partners, family and friends welcome.

No reunion is complete or properly celebrated until a rendition of the school anthem “Rock boys are we”. Pictured here doing just that is Ashok and other ‘Rock lads’ at the Irish Club in November 2020.

the words which embody the ideas of the school motto and have been sung with pride and enthusiasm by students ever since.

Rock boys are we, Our title is our glory!

Fearless and bold, Whatever the danger be.

Onward we go, to flinch or falter never.

Rock boys together, The blue and white for ever!

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Dara’s big night out in Northbridge

BY LLOYD GORMAN

A

surreal night out in Northbridge six years ago gave Irish comic Dara Ó Briain one of his favourite memories of Australia and inspired an entire stand up show, he told Irish Scene. The Mock the Week host first came Down-under twenty three years ago and instantly took a shine to it. “I came over in 2000/2001 and thought this is fantastic, I love this place, I’m buying a flat here in Melbourne,” he told Irish Scene. “But then I wasn’t able to go back because RTE blocked me essentially for the next two years and then life took over, with kids and everything.

Its very difficult to say to your wife when you are starting a family that I need to go to Melbourne for a month, its really important for my career, to hang out at a festival on the other side of the globe.”

Originally from Bray, Co. Wicklow Ó Briain was originally a children’s TV presenter with RTE and went on to cultivate a successful career as a performer on stage and screen in Ireland and the UK. Australia beckoned to him again in 2017 when he did shows at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne and the Riverside Theatre, Perth.

It was on that tour he was introduced to life in the WA capital. “I’ve been to Perth once before and I thought ‘Oh God, there’s nothing happening in Perth! And then you turn one corner and ‘Holy Shit Perth is insane’”, he said. “Perth comes across as 98% sleepy and 2% Northbridge. I walked down Northbridge and it was like the fall of Saigon, a lot of it was Irish kids, getting photographs with police horses and things like that, it was very benign but also insane, that was about 3 or 4am in 34 | THE IRISH SCENE

the morning and this is where the whole thing with the guy from Dublin happened, my absolute favourite story. I met a bloke from Tallaght, who was repairing bikes for the motorbike gangs who said “I’m doing Tequila in this strip club with the guys from the motorbike gang and he said do you want to come in?”. I said that is the greatest sentence I have ever heard in my life, of course I want to do that! A dancer who was wondering past saw me and stopped and said “Oh My God, I saw your show in Glasgow”, and I said you are kidding me? She said she had to go on stage right then, and while on stage she did a bit of my material that only I got and no one else got and it was like a private joke. It was hilarious!

So I then turned that into the entire next show when I was there in 2019.”

That was his ‘Voice of Reason’ show and audiences in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne got to join in on the joke! Perth wasn’t on the itinerary for the 2019 show but features prominently in the So...Where were we? Tour, which sold out in Perth before anywhere else in Australia.

“Perth sold out immediately,” he said. “I may have to do it (retell the Northbridge story) again while I’m in Perth, just for the hell of it!” Dara added. “Perth will be cool, it will be amazing”.

He is set to play the Astor Theatre on Sunday 12 November and also to be a special guest at the JB Forever 27 Gala Ball in aid of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and Claddagh Association the night before in the Hyatt Regency, Perth.

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VALE

ALAN WALSH

Alan was from Limerick and passed away in Western Australia.

A much-loved family member, loyal friend and work mate.

Alan passed away suddenly from a medical episode on the mine site he was working on.

He was 26 years old, surrounded by the best group of mates on-site and living his best life, with the world at his feet.

Alan was so well thought of by everyone who knew him, he just had one of those infectious positive attitudes.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam Condolences to his family and friends The Claddagh Association of WA.

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Wishing all our clients, and their families, a safe and happy Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

40 | THE IRISH SCENE

G’day from Gary Gray AUSTRALIA’S AMBASSADOR IN IRELAND Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Australian Embassy, Ireland by following:

@ausembire

Australian Embassy, Ireland

@AusEmbIre

Deputy Head of Mission Tim Farewell bids farewell and welcomes new Deputy James Hazel, with the Embassy Team.

42 | THE IRISH SCENE

Reflections on a year of change…

And so, another year has come and gone on the beautiful Emerald Isle. The windows of the Australian Embassy in Dublin look out across the treetops of St. Stephen’s Green, their changing colours informing us of the impending arrival of Winter.

Indeed it has been a year of much colour for the team here with Ministerial, Parliamentary and other notable dignitary visits from Australia coupled with exciting events including the Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. We also played host to the Australian ‘Voice” Referendum, conducting in-person voting which saw more than 2,000 Australians come through the Embassy in Dublin to cast their vote. Just like the changing Autumn weather, this year we also said a sad farewell to departing Deputy Head of Mission, Tim Millikan and welcomed our new Deputy, James Hazell. James has served in Australian missions in Nepal, South Korea and the United States and has hit the ground running since his arrival in September.

It was a year of great sporting achievement with a record thirtythree Irish players, across sixteen Irish counties taking to the field in the AFLW These athletes have taken the Australian Football League by storm and showcase not just the linkages in culture and sport between our two islands but also how incredible they are as athletes. Sport took centre stage more generally with both the Women’s World Cup and the Rugby World Cup taking place.

There was great competitive banter in the Embassy between the Australian and Irish members of staff. Sadly, as is often the case, neither of us were doing much laughing in either competition towards their inevitable conclusions! Of course, between these moments of fun was the political work conducted on behalf of the Australian Government. Ireland and Australia enjoy a similar understanding of the world in that we are both open and welcoming places who respect the rules-based order. This interconnectedness is strengthened by the people-to-people links that have been present ever since Australia’s early years and continues with ongoing migration

G’DAY FROM GARY GRAY in both directions. In this regard, we have much to learn from each other’s experiences and we enjoyed hosting Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell MP; Minister of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick MP, Senator Deborah O’ Neill and finally Australia’s Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services which included Julien Hill MP and Rebekha Sharkie MP as they collectively built on their respective bilateral relationships with Government and Industry stakeholders.

All of these visits, events and changes have marked a particularly busy but immensely enjoyable 2023. It is also a time of year to reflect on developments both at home and across the world. At the time of writing, we’re still coming to terms with the fallout of our No vote in the Australian ‘Voice’ Referendum. Though I was unable to speak openly in the lead up to the vote, I speak now from a position of disappointment and sadness. I hope that as a nation we can find a way to impress upon our Indigenous communities that we recognise the historical hurt that has been caused to them and to celebrate their enduring connection to the land and sea which we too now call home.

Internationally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains a constant sore in the international rules-based order of diplomacy and we continue to fly Ukraine’s national flag here in Dublin in solidarity with their heroic defence of their nation. In Israel/Palestine too, we are seeing the dreadful results of a decades-long inability for the international community to resolve a conflict which has, and will continue to, take more and more civilian lives. The unprecedented and contemptible massacre of civilians by Hamas on October 7 has resulted in a response from Israel further deepening the human cost of this conflict. Australia stands ready to play its part in restoring order to the region and creating a permanent resolution so that the people of the region can finally live in peace. The people of Ireland know as well as anyone how a seemingly intractable conflict with an historical adversary can be resolved and we must never lose hope that such a future can exist for everyone.

This season we look forward to embodying that spirit of reconciliation and as we always do at this time of year, the focus now turns to Christmas. The Australian Residence, Abbey Lea, will play host to Christmas Carols once again this year where fireworks, mulled wine, The Supertones (Dun Laoghaire based Children’s Choir) and Dublin’s Gay Men’s Choir will be joined for a quick visit by Mr. Claus who has kindly agreed to drop in to say hello to the children

present. This is always a beautiful time of year in Ireland with cold dry mornings often the order of the day as we prepare for another year of engagement with stakeholders and friends across Ireland. Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir! (Happy Christmas to you all!)

The Hon Gary Gray AO Australian Ambassador to Ireland

Gary & Voters, Alison Coates and Peter Beard.

Bill shorten Mp with Ambassador Gray

Don Farrell with Ambassador Gray.

Gary with TD Catherine Murphy and Australian Senator Deborah ONeill

Gen Football blitz.

THE IRISH SCENE | 43

Irish Race Day

Irish Race Day

McLoughlin Butchers McLoughlin’s Premium Free Range Hams Our famous Christmas hams, prepared with the finest Linley Valley pork legs. Made following our traditional recipes and jarrah

Boneless Leg Hams

One of our most popular hams, these are fully boneless and smoked with jarrah wood chips.

Ready to glaze or serve cold.

Half legs (2.5kg approx)

$27.99kg

Full legs (5kg approx)

$25.99kg

Free Range Berkshire Hams

Often known as ‘the wagyu of pork’, the Black Berkshire breed has a unqiuely higher fat composition that results in delicately tender Full legs in 6-8kg sizes

$21.99kg

Half legs in 3.5-4.5kg sizes

$22.99kg

Free Range Bone-in Leg Hams

Our best-selling Christmas ham on the bone, ready to glaze or serve cold. Available in half and full leg sizes.

Free Range Turkeys All natural, with no additives to ensure frozen or semi defrosted. Please allow enough time to fully defrost when selecting a pickup date.

Whole Turkeys

Numbers are limited so please order early to avoid dissapointment.

McLoughlin Butche McLoughlin Butch McLoughlin Butchers Chr McLoughlin Butchers Ch Turkey Crowns

Full legs in 6-8kg sizes

$17.99kg

Half legs in 3.5-4.5kg sizes

$18.99kg

3-10kg sizes

$15.99kg

turkey with the wings and legs removed, Free Range Ha McLoughlin Turkey - A Free Range leaving the breast meat still attached to the Free Range Champagne Hams All turkey products will be frozen please allow ALL OUR HAMS ARE PRODUCED ON SITE AND McLoughlin Free Range Hams TurkeyLeg - Free Range Linle enough time tobone. defrost. For those who prefer all white ARE GLUTEN FREE meat.

A semi-boneless ham Allthat has the leg bone turkey products will be frozen please allow HAMS ARE PRODUCED ON SITE AND Western 4235 Leg Ham Full 7 – 9kg 3244 TurkeyNumbers $ 11.99/kg 4 -10kg ALL OURare limited so please order early. time to defrost.

ARE GLUTEN FREE taken out, leaving onlyenough the shank at the top.

1673 L 6235 Leg Ham Half 3.5 – 4.5kg 3223 Turkey Breast Roll - Small 4235 Leg Ham Full 7 $19.99/kg – 9kg $12.99/kg 3244 Turkey 4 -10kg Has the same great taste as our bone-in ham, $ 11.99/kg 1687 L 2031 Leg Ham Half 5kg plus 4-7kg sizes $18.99kg 6235 Leg Ham Half 3.5 – 4.5kg $13.99/kg 3227 $19.99/kg Turkey Breast Large $19.99/kg Turkey Breast Roll - Small just easier to carve and3223 serve.

1578 P 2480 Champagne Ham 5kg plus 2031 Leg Ham Half 5kg plus $11.99/kg 3227

3217 Full legs in 6-8kg sizes

3217$19.99/kg $19.99/kg Turkey Breast Roll - Sage And Onion Small 2480 Champagne Ham 5kg plus $19.99/kg Turkey Breast Roll - Sage And - Sage 3228 Turkey Breast Roll $19.99/kg Onion Small 7234 SplitAnd Champagne Ham 2.5 – 3kg Onion Large Turkey Breast Roll - Sage And $19.99/kg Onion Large 3234 Turkey Breast Roll - Cranberry & $19.99/kg Pine Nut Small Turkey Breast Roll - Cranberry & $19.99/kg Pine Nut Small 4241 Leg Ham & 9.1kg – 10kg 3147 Turkey Breast Roll - Cranberry $19.99/kg Pine Nut Large Turkey Breast Roll - Cranberry & $19.99/kg 5356 Smoked Leg Ham 10kg plus $ 12.99/kg Pine Nut Large kg Double Smoked 3226 Turkey Crown 3-8 604 Maple Ham $ 12.99/kg Turkey Crown 3-8 kg Boneless 3238 Turkey Ballantine (± 5kg) $ 21.99/kg (Boneless whole turkey stuffed Turkey Ballantine (± 5kg) Extra Large Champayne Hams $ 21.99/kg with duck breast and chicken(Boneless whole turkey stuffed 5695 Leg Ham Half – 5kg plus breast) with duck breast and chickenTurkey Breast - Large

3228 Half legs (split lengthway) in 3-5kg sizes 3234

3147

Traditional Leg Hams 3226

3238

$22.99kg

$23.99kg

Made from 100% West Australian pork, all our hams are cooked on breast) site to maximise freshness. Gluten free (GF).

Turkey Breast Rolls McLoughlin Traditional Le

McLoughlin Traditional Leg Hams McLo Leg rolled Ham 9.1kg – 10kg Juicy boneless turkey breast 4241 meat 3830 R $10.99/kg 5356 Smoked Leg Ham 10kg plus and strung in netting, ready for the oven.

7042 R $8.99/kg 604 Double Smoked Maple Ham Sold frozen or cooked.

Boneless

Sage and Onion

$16.95/kg

3143

Extra Large Champayne Hams $12.99/kg 5695 Leg Ham Half – 5kg plus 3141

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$10.99/kg York Ham 5632 Filled with our homemade stuffing mix of Champayne Style Semi Boneless 5632 York Ham Champayne Style $10.99/kg breadcrumb, herbs, sage and onions.

Semi Boneless Dry A

Cooked Turkey Breast Roll approx) Medium (1.5kg Cooked Turkey Breast Roll A Taste of Ireland

Bone-in Leg Hams Just heat and serve.

7234 Split Champagne Ham 2.51595 – 3kg P $16.99/kg 0100 P $17.99/kg A

Just heat and serve.

$32.99kg A Taste of Ireland A traditional taste of Ireland.

5603

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0418

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2 traditional taste of Ireland. $ 25.99/kg 3247 Turkey Roll withASage and Onion Large (2.3kg approx) 5262$32.99kg Raw Gammon Loins 1 – 3kg Raw Our butchers special, ready to glaze serve $ 25.99/kg 3247 Turkey Roll with or Sage and Onion Stuffing 5262 Raw Gammon Loins 1 – 3kg Raw $17.99/kg Please n Stuffing 0605 Gammon Leg 2 – 8kg - Boneless cold. Available in half and full leg sizes.

0605 Gammon Leg 2$25.99/kg – 8kg - Boneless $18.99/kg as we w (unseasoned) 3237 Turkey Breast Roll $32.99kg 3237 Turkey Breast Roll (unseasoned) $25.99/kg X-Large (3kg approx) 0753 Spiced Beef smaller 0753 Spiced Beef $17.95/kg • Irish Po 2096 Gammon Leg Boneless - Slow X-Large legs (10kg approx) $10.99kg 2096 Gammon Leg Boneless - Slow $20.99/kg • Bacon Homemade Stuffing Cooked, Cooked ready to serve or $44.99kg Cooked Homemade Stuffing • Puddin reheat (2.5kg approx) • Steaks 7391$13.99/kg Sage and Onion Suffing $13.99/kg Large legs (9kg approx) $11.99kg 7391 Sage and Onion Suffing A Taste of South Africa Confect A Taste of South Africa 5431$15.99/kg Crandberry and Pine Nut Stuffing $15.99/kg 5431 Crandberry and Pine Nut Stuffing some lin 7021 Gammon Leg 9kg 7021 Gammon Leg 9kg $13.99/kg Half legs (5kg approx) $11.99kg Apple and Rosemary Stuffing $15.99/kg 3384 Apple and Rosemary Stuffing 3384 $15.99/kg 2421

Gammon Leg Halves - Cold Smoked - Bone In

2421 Gammon Leg Halves - Cold $14.99/kg Smoked - Bone In

www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au 58 6090 58 Road 58Westchester WestchesterRoad RoadMalaga Malaga 6090 58Westchester Westchester RoadMalaga Malaga609 609

Christmas Menu 2023 West Australian Chicken

Cranberry and Pinenut Filled with our homemade stuffing mix of breadcrumb, chopped cranberries, crushed pine nuts, herbs, sage and onions.

Medium (1.5kg approx)

$32.99kg

Large (2.3kg approx)

$32.99kg

X-Large (3kg approx)

$32.99kg

Chicken Roll

Juicy boneless whole chicken rolled and strung in netting, ready for the oven. Available with sage and onion stuffing or unseasoned.

Available in 1.4kg size approx

$16.99kg

West Australian Free Range Pork

Unseasoned Medium (1.5kg approx)

$32.99kg

Large (2.3kg approx)

$32.99kg

All our pork is free range and sourced from local WA farmers, ensuring best quality and taste.

X-Large (3kg approx)

$32.99kg

Porchetta Boned and Rolled

Cooked, ready to serve or reheat (2.5kg approx)

$44.99kg

Famous Italian style pork roast, a boned and rolled pork belly still attached to the loin, then seasoned with salt, pepper, fennel and rosemary.

ers Specialty Christmas Menu 2020 hers Christmas Menu 2020 Irish Meats ristmas Menu Pork Scotch and Crackle Roast hristmas Menu 2020 2020 All items are made on site, following our traditional Irish recipes. Gluten free (GF).

Linley Valley Pork

ams

2-4kg sizes

$19.99kg

3kg size approx

$18.99kg

Order Information

Western Australian Pork HOW TOPork PLACE YOUR CHRISTMAS ORDERS

BY PHONE Gammon ey Valley PorkBoneless Raw Loin Boned and Rolled Order Ham Information 1673 Leg Roast Half 3 – 4kg $11.99/kg OR EMAIL: Made in small batches, prepared just likeORDERS they BY PHONE n Australian Pork $12.99/kg Available with apple and rosemary stuffing • Call our store 9249 8039 or email: HOW TO PLACE YOUR CHRISTMAS 1687 Leg Roast 6 – 9kg $10.99/kg Leg Roast Half 3 – 4kg $11.99/kg sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au. Staff will be OR EMAIL: are back home.

Ready to boil and bake. $13.99/kg or unseasoned.

• Call our store 9249 8039 or email: happy to assist in making the right choice for your

Leg Roast 6 – 9kg $11.99/kg Pork Scotch & Crackle Roast $16.99/kg Pork Loin - Boned and Rolled $17.99/kg

1578 Pork Scotch & Crackle Roast $16.99/kg $10.99/kg sales@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au. Staff will befestive meal.

happy to assist making the $16.99/kg right choice for your 1595 Pork Loin - Boned andinRolled Avaialbe$16.99/kg in 2-5kg sizes $19.99kg festive meal.

Pork Loin Boned and Rolled Apple and Rosemary Stuffing

2-4kg sizes

• You will be required to pay a deposit of $50.00.

0100 Pork Loin Boned and Rolled $16.99/kg $16.99/kg Orders will only be processed when deposit is paid.

Apple and Rosemary Stuffing • You will be required to pay a deposit of $50.00. $16.99/kg Orders will only be processed when deposit is paid.

• If you are ordering by phone or email please ensure

Boneless Cooked Gammon Ham

Spit Pigs

credit card details are ready – we will require the eg Hams McLoughlin Weber Meats • If you are ordering by phone or email please ensure credit card number, date of expiry and. the three digit Slow roasted in our cookers, ready to serve credit card details are ready – we willcold require the oughlin Weber Meats Available inthe12-32kg range CCV number at the back of card.

3830 Rolled Blade Roastnumber, - ± 4.5kg $17.99/kg credit card date of expiry and. the three digit $10.99/kg or add a glaze and reheat in your oven at home.

CCV number at the back of the card.

Rolled Blade Roast - ± 4.5kg $8.99/kg

$17.99/kg • Your email address will be required for us to send a 7042 Rolled Blade Roast Pieces $18.99/kg copy of your order and the deposit we process.

• Your email address will be required for us to send a $18.99/kg 3143 Chicken Roll with Cranberry copy of your order and the deposit we process. Please keep this copy in a safe place as we will need $14.99 ea and Pinenut Stuffing you to bring this in with you when you come to collect Please keep this copy in a safe place as we will need your order. $14.99 ea you towith bringSage this in with you when you come to collect 3141 Chicken Roll and $14.99 ea your order.

Onion Stuffing $14.99 ea

Available in 2-3kg sizes

Rolled Blade Roast Pieces $16.95/kg

Chicken Roll with Cranberry and Pinenut Stuffing $12.99/kg

$25.99kg

Same great taste asOrder our gammon leg ham, just Order Terms & Conditions Terms Dry Aged Beef - 28 Days & Conditions Sage, Onion, Cranberry and

• $50.00 deposit required for all orders. Your order will made Aged Beef - 28 Days using the loin so we can portion cut to Pinenut Stuffing 475g • $50.00 deposit required for all orders. Your order willbe processed when deposit is paid. only 5603 Sirloin Roast 2-2.5kg $38.00/kg smaller sizes. only be processed when deposit is paid.

Sirloin Roast 2-2.5kg $38.00/kg • Last daySage, for orders to be placed is Thursday $48.99/kg 0418 Standing Rib Roast - Minimum Onion, Apple and16th • Last day for orders to be placed is Thursday 16th Standing Rib Roast - Minimum $48.99/kg2.5 Piece December 2021. Christmas meats and all other Available in 1.5-2kg sizes2021. Christmas $19.99kg December meats and all otherproductsRosemary 2.5 Piece Stuffing 475g will be available on our counters with

$17.99/kg products will be available on our counters with stocks replenished daily.

Please note orders will not be taken for the following stocks replenished daily. note orders will not be taken for the following $18.99/kg as we will have our counters stocked with these • All orders must be collected by 23rd December will have our counters stocked with these smaller food items: • All orders must be collected by 23rd December $17.95/kg r food items: no- refunds will be given for orders not collected. no refunds will be given for orders • Irish Pork Sausages & Irish Pork Sausage Meat not collected. ork$20.99/kg Sausages & Irish Pork Sausage Meat • Bacon - Short Cut and Streaky • Please bring your receipt, order number and name n - Short Cut and Streaky bring your receipt, order number and name • Pudding Black• Please and White the order was placed under on the day of pick up. ng Black and White the order was placed under on the day of pick up.

• Steaks and Some Roasts s and Some Roasts Confectionary •If will bewish available but due Covid you to change yourto pick up date or order•If you wish to change your pick up date or order tionary will be available but due to Covid please contact us on 9249 8039 and have contact us on 9249 have some be in shortplease supply.

Unfortunately no8039 andquantities, nes will be in short supply. Unfortunately nolines willquantities, your order number ready. your order number ready. $13.99/kg

Spiced Beef

A cured beef silverside prepared in a traditional spice blend, a staple of Irish Christmas.

Available in 1.3-2.5kg sizes

$14.99/kg

uu 90 90

$19.99kg

Price on request

Specialty Christmas Sides Sage and Onion Stuffing 475g

Boneless Raw Gammon Loin

Chicken Roll with Sage and $10.99/kg Onion Stuffing $10.99/kg

$19.99kg

$7.80 ea $8.75 ea $8.25 ea

Pork Sausage Meat 500g

$7.95 ea

Pork Sausage Meat 1kg

$14.95 ea

Pigs in Blankets 12x

$14.95 ea

Pigs in Blankets 24x

$28.95 ea

Call place your Call 9249 8039 Call 9249 9249 8039 8039 and and place your Call 9249 8039 and and place place your your Christmas Christmas Christmas order order today! today!

Christmas order order today! today!

Vale Tommie Kearns

GAA WA, the Claddagh Association, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and the Australia Irish Heritage Assocation were just some of the many groups and friends who paid tribute and their respects to Tommie Kearns (Thomas Joseph Kearns) after his passing recently, 19 September 1932 – 30 October 2023. Tommie’s outstanding dedication to the Irish community, his involvement with the GAA in WA, @Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, and his instrumental role in founding the Claddagh have left an indelible mark.

He was not only an active member of various Irish organisations but also a tremendous worker in the wider community, supporting

charitable initiatives and organisations such as St.Vincent De Paul Society and the Knights of the Southern Cross. All of this leading to his acknowledgement as a recipient of the The Australian Irish Heritage Association’s Brendan Award. He was not just a community leader; he was also renowned as a great singer of traditional songs with a vast repertoire. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Kathleen and the entire Kearns family during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as we remember a man whose legacy will forever inspire us. Rest in peace, Tommie. Your contributions to the Irish community will always be cherished and remembered. We are blessed to have recorded some of your stories in our Oral History Project.”

THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB Meets fourth Tuesday of the month, with exception of December (Christmas Gathering). At 7.30pm Nov 28 To be Confirmed Dec Annual Christmas Social open to all. Details will be in December Newsletter Venue Irish Club Committee Room, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco Admission Free. All welcome. Light refreshments provided. Tea and coffee from the Bar $2 Contact Convener Mary Purcell, m.purcell@telstra.com

Mary Durack Memorial Lecture

Launched in 1995 the annual Mary Durack Memorial Lecture honours the pioneering work in Australia on many fronts by the Durack family and our founding member and first patron Dame Mary Durack AC DBE Australian author and historian, (1913 - 1994). This year’s lecture is titled “The Third Act” and will be delivered by Michael Malone, founder of iiNet, who was born in Co Clare. iiNet was the first Internet Service Provider in WA, starting 30 years ago in the Padbury garage of Michael’s parents, Moira and Patrick. iiNet grew to employ 3,500 people, provide Internet access to a million Australian homes, and revenues of a billion dollars per year.

Michael will tell us what led him to start iiNet, some of the key events during its growth, and how to approach the third act.

Date Sunday 19 November at 3pm Venue Irish Club Theatre, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco Bookings $20 non-members, $15 members. https://www.trybooking.com/CMTAT Includes Irish afternoon tea, moderated Q&A segment open to the audience

Of Interest The Journal is our quarterly book publication edited by Teresa O’Brien. September edition was mailed to members in mid-October. Correspondence may be emailed to journal@irishheritage. com.au IT website and Facebook - if you know of someone who can assist with Wordpress for an hour a month we would love to hear from you. Celtic Rambles, Radio Fremantle 107.9fm, Sat 8-10am. Hosts Heather Deighan, president AIHA & Eoin Kenna Future Planning for AIHA meeting Sunday December 3. Enquiries or suggestions to secretary@irishheritage.com.au PO Box 1583 Subiaco 6904. Tel: 08 9345 3530. Secretary: 08 9367 6026 Email: secretary@irishheritage.com.au or admin@irishheritage.com.au Web Page: https://irishheritage.com.au/.

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50 | THE IRISH SCENE

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Due 1 January, 2024 Family membership $65 Concession (Centrelink and unwaged students with ID) $55 Distant (200 kms from Perth) $45 Membership fee includes tax deductible donation of $20

Originally brewed in WA Thomas Carroll Breheny was head brewer at the Redcastle Brewery - Perth, Avon Brewery - Northam and Morris Thomas Breheny was head brewer at the Castlemaine Brewery - East Fremantle.

BREHENY FAMILY ORIGINALLY FROM TYNAGH, GALWAY.

AVAILABLE ON TAP AND IN CANS. Contact Lorcan Keane, Lorcan@drinkwellbev.com.au 0449 261 122

A Stirling performance

Irish dancing always goes down a treat at events and gatherings. Audiences at functions – be they public or private – enjoy watching a display of traditional dancing and so it was for the local community and crowds at the

Wembley Downs District Fair in the City of Stirling on Saturday October 26. Students from the O’Hare School of Irish Dancing thrilled fete goers with two great sets and did their teacher proud.

Celtic dancers put event on a good footing There was plenty of fancy footwork on show at the Carlisle Hotel back in July.

The Victoria Park establishment was the venue for the rolling out of the Breheny Bros Breweries range of drinks in Western Australia. In the July/August edition of Irish Scene (From Brehons to Brewers) we saw how the Breheny story could be traced all

52 | THE IRISH SCENE

the way back to Tynagh, Co. Galway in the last century. As it happens the opening game in the FIFA World Cup between Ireland and Australia in Sydney played out on big screens at the launch. Adding a touch of Irish culture and entertainment on the night were a group of brilliant dancers from the Celtic Academy from East Victoria Park.

THE IRISH SCENE | 53

LOOKING BACK...

T

he years have slipped by like water in a stream seemingly gaining speed as it becomes a river and then suddenly ends in the vast ocean. I began writing articles for this great little Irish mag some fourteen or more years ago. Thanks again for being a “reader”. I hope you have enjoyed some if not the majority of the articles. I tried desperately to keep away from religion and politics. Those subjects were for former times. I think and hope we have moved on from that. My first article was about ‘The Ulster Fry!’ I began with this poem and a tribute to Pat Mooney who was the previous writer of the column.

The Red Hand of Ulster The Red Hand of Ulster’s a paradox quite To Baronets ‘tis said to belong If they use the left hand, they’re sure to be right, And to use the right hand would be wrong.

For the Province, a different custom applies, And just the reverse is the rule.

If you use the right hand, you’ll be right, safe, and wise, If you use the left hand, you’re a fool.

“Sticking out” was the remark Pat made to me after my concert in a retirement village where he has recently settled himself with his good wife Mary. After 5 years and lots of articles, the Ulster Reciter himself claims that his pen has run dry.

Yes, Pat a big thank you for all those marvellous articles you gave us over the years. Ulster was not neglected as far as you were concerned.

When one sings predominately Irish songs, it is really uplifting to see a few Irish people in the audience. When I started this gig Pat was not there but, on his arrival, I felt at home again. I knew that at least ONE member of the audience would understand the songs.

After the gig we had a great chat. Very few people in this world could give me their life history complete with anecdotes in a few minutes, but Pat was able to do this and included not only stories about his immediate family but about his father’s grandfather. I just love that Belfast accent.

54 | THE IRISH SCENE

And so back to the present. I have written about many of the famous people who were part of the province over the last century. I was fortunate enough to meet a few personally, when as a student, I worked for the Belfast Festival.

The Belfast Festival in the Seventies Agreed there is a lot of confusion regarding Ulster and Northern Ireland. Even those that should know (newscasters, for example, frequently mistaken, refer to something which happened in Northern Ireland as having happened in Ulster.

It is not incorrect geographically, but misleading, nonetheless. Ulster is one of four provinces of Ireland and lies to the north. The remaining 3 provinces are Leinster to the east, Munster to the south and Connacht to the west. Ulster is comprised of 9 counties (Londonderry (Derry), Antrim, Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanagh, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. Northern Ireland was created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from 22 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended. It was subsequently abolished under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. In 1921, the 6 counties of Northern Ireland were partitioned (separated politically from the other 26 counties of Ireland). The 6 of Northern Ireland are: Londonderry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, and Fermanagh. Some people refer to Londonderry as Derry for political reasons. Ireland is now made up of two separate countries: 1) The Republic of Ireland Republic and 2) Northern Ireland.

Most people whether in Northern Ireland or The Republic of Ireland refer to themselves as Irish, some people in Northern Ireland refer to themselves as British. The roots/history of some organizations go back to before partition and have Ulster in their name. The parliament of Northern Ireland is based in Stormont and the parliament of The Republic of Ireland (or Irish Republic) is based in Dublin.

It is easy to forget that Ulster consists of nine counties, and I confess that I often forget about the Counties from the Republic.

I am aware of Donegal (as I spent many great holidays there) and Cavan (as my aunt and uncle are farmers there) but Monaghan I have trouble with. I will try to correct this by writing about these counties in the coming year.

This time around I would like to tell you about the Belfast Festival. It is held annually, usually in late September or November (just shortly after the Edinburgh Festival where many of the acts/artists are poached) and is primarily run by Queen’s University. It was founded by a student called Michael Emmerson in the sixties and I was lucky enough to help in a small way during my time there and later in the seventies when I returned for a year or so. I was the “dog’s body” man. In other words, I got all the jobs that no one else wanted or that no one else had the time for.

I remember trying to get Ralph McTell (singer, composer, jug band guitar player) a bottle of brandy before his Sunday concert. Most parts of Ulster, in those days, had no pubs open on a Sunday, never mind an “Off Licence”. So, I had to book into the Wellington Park Hotel, buy the brandy and then phone the hotel to tell them I had changed my mind (about the booking not the brandy!). They were obviously quite concerned and earnestly requested the reason for my abrupt change of mind. I told them I had to return to England on …… at this point I hung up. Fibs did not come so easy in those days!

I remember one particular act that was unknown in Ulster but was popular with the London set.

“Instant Sunshine” they called themselves and it was just what we needed in Ulster around November in the mid-seventies. I think there were four of them in the satirical set-up complete with their double bass and other instruments.

I was asked to meet them at the airport but was warned they did have a fair amount of equipment. Of course, it was the weekend, and I was too late to hire a van or whatever. I phoned my sister who I could always rely on to solve whatever “younger brother” problem I had. “I can help you” she said much to my relief. Now my sister was a top Occupational Therapist at the time, and she ran the whole centre for Handicapped People in Belfast and

LES ULSTER RAMB had access to their vehicle. It was she who met them at the airport in this large van with “Handicapped” plastered all over it. This was how the encounter was reported in “Punch Magazine” a few weeks later.

They were sponsored (strangely enough) by the Belfast Milk Marketing Board if my memory serves me right. Now to show a bit of Ulster hospitality, they (Instant Sunshine) were invited out to dinner at a restaurant some ten miles outside of town. Only restaurants ten miles out of the city were deemed to be the ”IN” restaurants in those days. In fact, they were the ONLY restaurants as the ones in the city were either dreadful or Chinese or both.

I was invited along as an afterthought (I hung around until they thought I was part of the group) and we all piled into three cars all driven by members of the board. Well, they did us proud. Nothing was spared and the beer, wine and whiskey flowed. It was only on the return journey that it became obvious that the drivers had indulged a bit themselves. When we came to a large roundabout, the car in front of the one I was in decided it was quicker to go via the straight route and forget about the roundabout.

He did not observe that there was an island in the middle of the road to prevent just such a manoeuvrer. Well, the group thought this was great fun and just part of the entertainment.

Here’s how this incident was reported in Punch.

Yeah well, a lot of us had a good time in Belfast in those days despite what all the media suggested or may have told you. So, it’s “How’sa-bout-ye” from me and hope you all have had a fantastic year so far and of course best wishes for the future which looks more horrendous with each passing year. As always, may your God go with you. David MacConnell

Playing to their Corr strengths

P

erth fans of the Corrs – and there are a lot of them – were thrilled at the performance given by the ‘Runaway’ group at a sold out RAC Arena on Wednesday, 26th October.

It was 20 years since they last played here and the audience were first to get a look at the sensational siblings as they launched their 2023 Australia and New Zealand tour from Perth. Each member of the family act is an accomplished musician and performer in their own right but playing in sync together and with such an extensive repertoire of big hits to deliver it was always going to be a good night. Lead singer Andrea Corr told the full house that their parents were strongly considering moving to Australia at one stage, but then the Corr babies started arriving! In any case they were here and fabulous.

If the fans had a great night then Aisling McCarthy had a particularly good time of it, having had the chance to get backstage to meet the sisters and brother Jim. The Tipperary woman is a midfielder for the West Coast Eagle’s women’s team and presented them with an Eagles home guernsey, an Indigenous Round guernsey and a football.

“The concert was amazing, there was a great atmosphere, and it was an unreal experience to be able to go backstage and meet the band personally,” McCarthy told Westcoasteagles.com. “It’s always great to build connections with Irish people, especially when I’m so far from home. Sport and music bring people together and I’m so grateful to have been able to meet The Corrs last night and build more connections.

The majority of the audience was Irish too

and it made me feel closer to home being immersed in a sea of Irish.” McCarthy is one of 33 amazing Irish female GAA players currently taking part in he AFLW league.

Irish Scene ran into Theory for Hair saloon owner Dave Lee at the Corrs concert.

Originally from Cork, Dave stood in the local government elections in October for the City of Perth and featured in the September/ October edition of Irish Scene. There were 12 candidates for four council seats and while he didn’t get elected this time around there is every chance he might go again at the next elections in 2025.

Anyhow, always one for a chat Dave had a good yarn about the last time the Corrs played in Perth. He was in front of the stage when Caroline Corr threw a set of drumsticks into the audience. Dave caught one and the lady beside him caught the other one. She immediately offered him a thousand dollars to sell it to her, but he declined and took his prize home. He woke up the following morning to find his cat had mutilated the stick by chewing on it during the night. He still has the drumstick now but might be hard pushed to get such a good offer again!

More power to you guys!

Following on from the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia in July and the World Transplant Games in Perth in April, the FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup was held in Sydney, from October 15 to 20. In a tournament that pitched teams from Europe, America (North and South), Japan and Australia against each other the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland both fielded teams.

COINCI DENTAL CHIEFTAINS

Two interesting things happened on September 4. Alan Joyce prematurely pulled the plug as CEO of Qantas – two months earlier than anyone expected – plunging the airline and Australian media and political worlds into a turbulent tail spin. With $24m in salary and bonuses stowed away Mr Joyce – the highest paid CEO in Australia – avoided the drama by flying back to Dublin, where he could enjoy a relative degree of anonymity not available to him in Australia.

On exactly the same day that Mr Joyce hit the headlines the federal government reappointed another Irish born CEO of a major Australian corporation. The five year contract of Stephen Rue – also from Dublin – to lead the NBN in September 2018 was extended. With a salary of more than $3m – Mr Rue is the highest paid CEO in the public sector in Australia – and earns five times more than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Under Mr Rue’s watch the NBN’s revenue for the 2023 financial year rose to $5.2bn, eclipsing the $2.5bn profit made by Qantas in the final 12 months of Mr Joyce’s tenure.

What’s in the pipeline for Pat? Another Irish CEO to keep an eye on in the very near future is Pat Donovan, who like Mr Joyce and Mr Rue is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. Mr Donovan, originally from County Offaly and a former Bord Gais engineer, has been the CEO of the Water Corporation, headquartered in Leederville, since January 1, 2019. That contract is due to expire at the end of December. What his next move will be, remains to be seen, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he could stay on in the job, just like his predecessor Sue Murphy did when she served a second term.

The cost of war!

Announced in July, Dublin born Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Stephen Dawson was to head up a trade mission of WA companies to Israel from October 21 to 29, organised with the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce WA branch. The visiting business group were due to met their counterparts and leaders “from sector-based accelerators and incubators, venture capital funds, tertiary institutions, research institutes”. That was until October 7 when Hamas launched an all out attack against Israel in which more than 1,400 ordinary Israeli’s were brutally murdered, more than 200 people were abducted and held as hostages and ignited a new war in which has claimed at least 8,0000 Palestinians lives – a great many of them children.

THE IRISH SCENE | 57

THE ‘GERO’ ROCKY La’ maith from the Midwest Irish Club. As the club moves closer to the festive season, we are preparing for some of our final events to close out a busy year at the club. Since last edition, the club held its AGM on Sunday 24 September 2023 whereby Peter Vanderpol stepped down from his tenure of President and now remains on the committee to support John Regan in the role of President. John is following in his parents’ footsteps who were founding members of the club and served numerous terms on the executive committee. The following members were voted in to serve on the executive committee for the next 12 months: President: John Regan Vice President: Adam Wilson Secretary: Mike Kendrick Treasurer: Grace Griddle Committee Members: Peter & Kerry Vanderpol, Derek McShane, Adam Kearns & Glenn Wilson

We wish them well and look forward to seeing the club continue to move forward with fresh ideas.

Wednesday 25th October saw myself and Vice President Adam Wilson travel down to Perth (9 hour round trip) to represent the club at the Corrs concert. Stopping in at Durty Nelly’s for some refreshing pints of Guinness and a meal, we were then ready to dance the night away.

The concert was fantastic with pre act entertainment by Germains, Toni Childs 58 | THE IRISH SCENE

and Natalie Imbruglia before the Corrs took to the stage.

The musical display from the Corrs was amazing with them playing all their greatest hits and throwing in some traditional jigs and reel arrangements. Let’s hope one day they make the trip up to Geraldton. The club hosted two Halloween events over the weekend of the 27-29th October. Friday night was Spookfest at the club and members were entertained

by Johnny David who yet again put on a magnificent performance for the members.

This event was followed by Scary Sunday where members were again treated to live entertainment from Geoff Udy. At both events, members and their families dressed up in their scariest costumes with many going to great lengths with face paint and make up. We had everything from scary clowns, evil nuns, witches, and an inflatable pumpkin.

Needless to say, the adults indulged in some liquid acholic potions whilst

HORROR SHOW

the kids were inundated with lollies and sweets. A big thanks must go out to Peter and Kerry Vanderpol who put their art and craft skills to use and built a wooden coffin and numerous other decorations. A big thanks also to all our members who came down the Thursday night prior to help decorate the club.

Moving forward, the club will be hosting our final two Saturday night events for the year with the first one being on the 18th November. Travelling musicians Ronnie & Colly will be entertaining members with hits from the 60’s, 70’s and beyond. Details and ticket prices can be found on our Facebook page. The club will then be hosting a free Christmas event on Saturday 16th December which kicks off at 5pm with Santa himself making an appearance

to hand out presents to the kids. Solitary Sounds (Peter & Kerry Vanderpol) will then be providing the entertainment with Christmas carols into the evening.

Although we are coming to the end of 2023, the committee are hard at work planning the entertainment schedule for 2024 which will yet again be a busy year for the club.

Continue to keep up to date with our upcoming events and live music programme by visiting our Facebook page and remember, if you are passing through Geraldton, don’t be a stranger.

Until next time.

Regards Simon Miller Committee Member

THE IRISH SCENE | 59

G’DAY FROM MELBOURNE Mike Bowen and Caitriona Twomey from Penny Dinners.

A

lot of water has gone under the bridge since my last article. Since then, my son Jonatan and I had another trip back to Ireland plus France this time. The trip started off with the normal delays, plus long stopovers to test one’s nerves. Smiling faces and greeting hugs on arrival made up for the frustration of the delays. The wonderful welcome we receive every time from the manager Joe Kennedy and his staff at The Maldron Hotel at Shandon makes up for the delays in travel. It’s 49 years since I migrated to Australia, I’ve travelled back and forth to the old sod more than 26 times from Australia plus another 24 times while working with the European Broadcasting Union in Geneva- revamping and reconstructing the Eurovision Song Contest from 1994 to 1997. It’s always a pleasure to be able to put my feet on home soil, even if I must put up with the inconvenient delays caused by airlines. My first task after meeting up with friends and family was a visit to City Hall in Cork, organized my long-time friend Charlotte O Byrne to meet with the Lord Mayor of Cork. Cllr Kieran McCarthy, who is also an author and local historian, has written more than 20 books. He is an independent member of the Cork City Council and a member of the European Committee of the Regions.

I invited some of the volunteers who do amazing work at The Penny Dinners, to join me in meeting with Lord Mayor Kieran. Penny Dinners was established during famine times as a soup kitchen. It’s one of Corks oldest caring organisations. Unfortunately, Caitriona Twomey, who is the Penny Dinners Trustee Volunteer Coordinator and the driving force behind Corks Penny Dinners was stricken with Covid19 and understandingly unavailable for the meeting.

On arrival at City Hall, I was given a welcome fit for a

Mike Bowen in Paris for the Ireland V Scotland rugby World Cup game.

Mike with the Lord Mayor of Cork Kieran Mc Carthusian king as were the Penny Dinners volunteers. I was most impressed with Kieran’s generosity in the time given to me and my guests. He spoke and listened unlike many other politicians, who don’t listen and then only speak gibberish. Kieran has a wealth of local and historical knowledge. He is a hands-on Mayor out and about, always on the go and will never suffer from cramps from sitting behind a desk, that’s for sure. He invited all for photo shoots and to sign the City’s guest book. Before we parted, he and I signed and swapped, each other’s books.

Later in the week I spent some time with the volunteers at Penny Dinners and I must admit, I cried for the first twenty minutes in their presence.

I was and still am overwhelmed with the enormous amount of work that they do. Their task continues to grow, with the passing of every day. I am still in shock as why there is still such a shortage of funds badly needed by this organization. Yes yes I know there are many contributors, sponsors and givers and that helps but there I say from my expat situation, much more is needed now as the influx of refugees from war-torn Europe into Cork will only make the burden of work on the volunteer organization much harder to bear.

If there is anyone as moved as me about the Penny Dinners plight, please look on their website and help if you can.

My reason for going to Ireland and France was to watch Munster V The Barbarians in Thomond Park in Limerick on Saturday Sept 30th. I can tell you it was worth it for all the trouble of delayed flights and jetlag to attend this brilliant rugby game. Munster came up trumps to make it a special day. Next day Sunday I had another super experience when I attended the Cork Opera house with my long-time friend Charlotte

George Furey and Mike Bowen.

A few on the green.

60 | THE IRISH SCENE

Francis Black & Mike Bowen.

G’DAY FROM MELBOURNE This is only a small portion of hand out packages that Penny Dinners hand out daily.

The Cork City Lord Mayor Kieran McCarthy, Mike Bowen Charlotte O Byrne and some of the Penny Dinners volunteers O Byrne for one of the best shows that I ever had the pleasure to see. All my prayer were answered when I found myself in the presence of great artists such as Francis Black and her daughter Aoife Scott, Mary Coughlan, and Sharon Shannon. It capped off a brilliant weekend.

As always, when I return to Ireland, I made my customary pilgrimage to Co Kerry and stopped into Tralee to catch up with old friends The Bulman’s and Houlihan families. Karl and Sheila Bulmans son James, his wife Fleurie and their children Itta and Jimmy recently relocated back home from Sydney.

It was a plus to be able to catch up with them to see how they were readjusting; they are very happy with their move back. I found time, while back in Cork, to drop in for a few beers with another long-time friend Barry, in Pa Johnsons Bar. Barry is a wealth of knowledge on just about everyone in the music scene in Ireland. Then it was off to Dublin by train to catch up with my friend of many years George Furey, there is never a shortage of conversation when he and I meet up. We were joined by one of Irelands best uilleann pipers Tommy Keane, a man of great talent and generous heart. I did say there is never a shortage of conversation when George and I meet up, when Tommy was added to the conversation, it took the restaurant owner to tell us they were closing shop to get us out!

I connected with Jonathan later that day as we would be traveling to Paris the next day.

Arriving in Paris was something else, extraordinary is an understatement. Nothing compares to Paris when its covered with a blanket of green shirts as it was. I could have sworn that St Patrick must have dropped in a few days previous and sprinkled the place with

Just two of the Penny Dinners volunteers.

Volunteers at Penny Dinners. packing up parcels for the needy. shamrocks. There was an amazing atmosphere about the place, after all it was World Cup rugby time.

Jonathan and I arrived at the stadium for the Ireland V Scotland, lost in a sea of green shirts, with Irish voices echoing out The Fields of Athenry, Dirty old Town, with everyone on their best behaviour and full of good humour. You couldn’t imagine things getting any better. Well, they did when the Irish team had virtually finished their work by halftime and cruised on to a comfortable win. With the win under their belt so to speak, the Irish voices virtually lifted the roof off the stadium with nonstop songs. The team did a circle of the stadium to thank fans for their support. None of the Irish fans left the stadium for a further half hour as they continued to sing and it didn’t stop there either, as they sang all the way back to the Gare du Nord station. Oh, what a night, never to be forgotten. All fans in perfect harmony not even the slightest sign of a disturbance.

Next day, Jonathan and I returned to Dublin for a well-deserved restful night. Then it was back to Cork next day to meet with Caitriona Twomey from Penny Dinners who had recovered, somewhat from Covid19, to check with her as to how I might be able to help Penny Dinners with their ongoing struggle for funding.

Then it was time for another night’s rest, before the long journey back to Melbourne. On leaving my home away from home in the Maldron Hotel, Jonathan and I were given the royal treatment from Joe Kennedy and his amazing staff who told us that the Maldron would always be home to Jonathan and I on our return.

Now its time for me to recover from jetlag and get back to my normal routines and look forward to the approaching summer. Until next time be good to those who love you and slainte from Melbourne.

Mike Bowen

Mike and Barry inside the Bar at Pa Johnsons.

One of the hundreds of restaurants serving up the beer for the thirsty lads and lassies in green.

THE IRISH SCENE | 61

Turning Back the Showband Clock The Music of the Irish Showband’s Night will be one of nostalgia, rhythm, and pure Irish soul as we journey back in time to the enchanting era of the Irish showbands. Irish DJ Oliver McNerney will play the music and pay tribute to an era that brought forth an unmatched wave of musical talent and unbridled passion when dance halls and ballrooms were the epicentre of entertainment across the Ireland (and the UK).

The Irish showband era, spanning from the late 1950s to the 1970s, marked a period of unbridled musical innovation. It was a time when the classic performers like Brendan Bowyer and Joe Dolan took centre stage creating a sound that resonated with hearts and feet alike. Join us as we immerse ourselves in the songs that have defined generations and revel in the magic of a night steeped in the spirit of Ireland’s Showband musical legacy. So, sit back and relax, or get GAELFORCE

One For ght Ni ly On

Reid Eileene Cadets and th

S PROMOTION

SPECIAL GUEST

60s and 70s dress

PRESENTS

PERFORMER

Bring you dancinr g shoes Tickets

Kitchen Open

from 5.30pm

) m (Irish Menu

to 7p

FREMANTLE WORKE

$25pp

available from

Trybooking

RS CLUB TLE

• FREMAN

30PM TH NOVEMBER 2023 @ 7.

18 AY RD TU SA REET 36 ELLEN ST

KERS CLUB FREMANTLE VW20OR 23 @ 7.30PM TH NO

SAT 18 FREMANTLE 36 ELLEN STREET available Tickets $25pp oking from Trybo

ready to dance, for we will celebrate the essence of the Irish showband era, where the melodies of the past come alive once more.

Jim Harte will be our special guest performer.

Jim Harte has been singing and playing since a very early age in Showbands in Ireland. He was the original Lead singer with the famous Miami Showband, Arrans Showband and Johnny Flynn Showband. He had a number of top 10 hits in Ireland and now lives in Western Australia.

Jim has performed in most parts of the world alongside some great artists including: Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Dusty Springfield, Van Morrison, Val Doonican, Albert Lee, The Drifters, Cilla Black, Frank Ifield, Hank Locklin, Roger Miller, Jerry Reid, Rufus Thomas, Ben E King and many more during his years entertaining the troops during the Vietnam war.

He has appeared on television in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and played on television and radio shows in Ireland.

Meals available at the club from 5.30pm to 7pm.

Have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from all of us to ALL OF you

We can provide all your

Christmas meat AND poultry needs!

CHRISTMAS TURKEY & HAM: ORDER EARLY!

Please place your order in store or by phone as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

We supply an extensive range of products including: Irish Pork Sausages • Irish Pork Cocktails • Irish Pork Sausage Meat • Irish Bacon

Black Pudding • White Pudding • Fresh Free Range Turkeys • Turkey Breast Rolls Turkey Crowns • Gammon Joints - raw & cooked

please visit us anytime or phone with any queries Shop 14, Woodvale Boulevard Shopping Centre 931 Whitfords Avenue, Woodvale WA 6026 P: (08) 9309 9992 E: meatconnoisseur@bigpond.com facebook.com/MeatConnoisseur

THE IRISH SCENE | 63

CHRISTMAS APPEAL - WE NEED YOUR HELP! Embrace the spirit of giving this Christmas with Claddagh! Join us in making this holiday season extra special for those who need some extra support at this time of the year.

As we embark on our exciting move to a new office in Morley, your support is more vital than ever. Your generous donations will help us transform this space into a vibrant hub for the Irish community in WA. To contribute, visit https://claddagh.org.au/support-our-work/make-a-donation/. If you want to make use of our new office facilities, please reach out to us at the office, details below or via social media.

Thank you for being a part of the Claddagh family this Christmas. #DonateForCladdagh

CLADDAGH SENIORS ENJOY SOME GREAT DAYS OUT!

CLADDAGH SENIORS ENJOY A COUNTRY OUTING TO YORK

On Tuesday 12 September 2023, our Seniors headed into the country for a lovely drive to York and a delicious lunch at the Settlers Tavern.

It was a great chance to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and head to the peaceful countryside.

They got to enjoy the beautiful scenery including the start of our wildflower season, good company, and mouthwatering food as we come together for a day of relaxation and connection.

PARKERVILLE TAVERN DOESN’T DISSAPPOINT! Our Claddagh Seniors had a fantastic time at the Parkerville Tavern on Wednesday 18 October 2023.

Beneath the warm sun, we shared delightful meals, engaging conversation, and enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings. A heartfelt thank you to all who attended and made the day memorable. Your adventurous spirits were the key to our fantastic day! We also want to extend a special thank you to our dedicated volunteers for making this day possible. Your hard work and enthusiasm ensured a great day out for all.

UPCOMING SENIORS EVENT LUNCH AT FREMANTLE HARBOUR - Then join us on Tuesday 14th November for a delightful day out to Fremantle. We’ll enjoy a lovely drive to the harbour and a delicious lunch at Cicerellos!

CHRISTMAS LUNCH FUN! Wednesday 13th December at The Mighty Quinn. Christmas is just around the corner. The annual Claddagh Seniors Christmas Lunch is not one to miss. See the details below.

Book now by calling the Claddagh Office on 08 9249 9213 or 0417 099 801. If you need transport or have any dietary requirements please let us know when you book.

provides help and support to members of the Irish community in WA who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

Unit 13/15 Bonner Drive, Malaga WA 6090 T: 08 9249 9213 M: 0403 972 265

provides help and support to members of the Irish community in WA who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

Unit 13/15 Bonner Drive, Malaga WA 6090 T: 08 9249 9213 M: 0403 972 265

Join us for Our Seniors Christmas Lunch at Proudly sponsored by

112 Wanneroo Rd, Yokine

On Wednesday 13 December 2023 Starting 12pm

EE

FR

CLADDAGH SENIORS TRIP TO CICERELLO'S FREO Tuesday 14 November 2023 Pick up from The Mighty Quinn - 10.30am sharp

Fill up on Turkey, Ham. roast potatoes, fresh vegetables and gravy Finish with a homemade apple crumble

Returning to The Mighty Quinn at 3pm Be entertained by the

CHOICES A. Seniors Special

B. Seniors Upgrade

C. Seniors Grilled & Chips

Fish basket

Fish basket, small seafood

Grilled fish (220g) & chips

chowder, coleslaw

All the above come with dessert and tea/coffee

MEMBERS $20

NON-MEMBERS $30

Members $25

Non-members $35

Bookings close Friday 8 December 2023 Call 0417 099 801 or 9345 3530 to secure your seat.

Sponsored by

Bookings Close Friday 10 November Call 9345 3530 or 0417 099 801

Please let us know your choice from the above menu Know of anyone who would like to join us please let us know

If you need transport or have any dietary requirements please let us know at time of booking

Let’s continue to embrace our heritage and create memories together.

If you require transport or have any dietary requirements please let us know at the time of booking.

Claddagh Report

SENIORS DIGITAL TRAINING WORKSHOP – SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2023 Would you like to become more tech savvy? Let us help you embrace the digital world we live in!

Join us at our next workshop on Saturday 25 November 10am – 1pm.

Workshop 7 will focus on current scams to look out for, especially through email, and on Gumtree and Facebook advertisements.

All Workshops are designed especially for Seniors and endeavour to provide a fun and supportive learning environment that teaches practical skills in using today’s technology.

Call our office now and book in!

The Seniors Digital Training Project is sponsored by the Emigrant Support Program Grant.

FREE VISA CLINIC – TUESDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2023 The Claddagh Association hosts FREE Visa Clinics for the Irish community here in WA. Our next Clinic is on Tuesday 21st November 9am – 2pm.

Patricia Halley (MARA 1383611) from Visa4You - a registered and experienced Migration Agent is available for face to face and telephone appointments. If you need advice about Visa’s or citizenship, please make an appointment with our office for the next clinic by contacting - The Claddagh Association 08 9249 9213 or email our Co-Ordinator: Geraldine at admin@claddagh.org.au.

Appointments are available to anyone in the Irish community and is a great opportunity to get advice from a professional. We’ll look at how we can make these sessions more interactive in future and potentially look at some group face to face sessions or webinars so people who work remotely or in the evenings/weekends can join. Book in now as time slots are filling fast!

VALE – PHILIP JOSEPH LEONARD (11.09.1949 - 19.06.2023) Anne & Catherine Leonard would like to express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Claddagh Association and members for the many expressions of support and condolence provided to us during our recent bereavement. We also thank those who attended Philip’s Requiem Mass and Crematorium Service on 5 July 2023.

It was humbling to see the high esteem and affection in which Philip was held.

May God bestow many blessings upon you all.

Anne & Catherine Leonard

THE CLADDAGH ASSOCIATION - THERE WHEN YOU NEED US The mission of the Claddagh Association is to provide help and support to members of the Irish community who find themselves in difficult circumstances.

To support these needs of both individuals and families Claddagh must fundraise throughout the year.

If you would like to support Claddagh’s work in 2023 you can donate at our website: claddagh.org.au or contact the office or come to one of our events mentioned above.

If you or someone you know needs Claddagh’s support, please contact the Claddagh office via admin@claddagh.org.au/08 9249 9213. If your need is urgent, you can call Claddagh’s Crisis Line on 0403 972 265.

13/15 Bonner Drive, Malaga WA 6090.

Enquiries: 08 9249 9213 admin@claddagh.org.au

Crisis Support: 0403 972 265

Comhaltas Membership and Lessons Perth Comhaltas welcome and encourage aspiring musicians of all ages and levels to get in touch.

Members of our committee will be able to assist in the many areas of Irish music, song, dance and language, whether that be learning the bodhran, to gain an understanding of sheet music and common tunes played at the Irish sessions, the basics of Irish language and set dancing, and more.

Membership Benefits • Discounted Tuesday Night lessons (at the Victoria Park RSL); • Discounts for Perth Comhaltas Camps.; • Discounts for Perth Comhaltas Events (Céilí Dances, Dinners); and • Access to Comhaltas instruments and gear.

Membership Costs • Pensioner: $20 • Child: $20 • Family: $65 • Adult single: $40 • Adult (couple): $55

Tuesday Sessions This is our main gathering with a beginner’s lesson starting at 7:30pm, and a free open session from 8:30pm. We meet most Tuesday nights with the exception of public holidays. Lessons are for Music and Irish Language which take place at the Vic Park RSL, 1 Fred Bell Parade, East Victoria Park.

Fees for Lessons: Members: $10 / Non-Members: $15 (there is no charge to attend from 8:30pm and join in the open session).

Sunday Sessions On the 3rd Sunday of the month, we have an afternoon session in the Victoria Park Centre for the Arts, 12 Kent St, East Vic Park. This is suitable for beginners and for those who cannot make the Tuesday night lesson. The Sunday session takes place between 2pm and 4pm.

Contact Information - Perth Comhaltas, Sean Doherty Branch Website: https://perthcomhaltas.com.au/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ perthcomhaltas Email: perthcomhaltas@gmail.com

66 | THE IRISH SCENE

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Tom Bateman Reserve Corner Bannister & Nicholson Rds (entrance off Wilfred Rd) Canning Vale

TALES OF A YOUNG ANGLER ‘I remember, many years ago now, heading off with my fishing rod to a stream in the woods on the night before my first exam in the Inter Cert (now Junior Cert) in 1974. I was saturated from studying and wanted to do something completely different. My parents were puzzled as to why I would still not be studying and my Father was duly dispatched to the river bank to ensure that I wasn’t going through a mental breakdown! It was just the therapy I needed and as my body relaxed and fished I was subconsciously lining up the information in my brain for the next day. It was a night I will always remember and as an extra bonus I hooked a nice brown trout on a red spinner fly! I sailed through the exams afterwards and was glad I took the time out on that particular night’.

By the time I started Secondary School in Lismore CBS during the autumn of 1971 I was getting fairly experienced at stream and river fishing. It all started for me back in the mid 1960’s when my father, Charlie Daly, took me fishing with him on Sunday afternoons. I was probably about eight or nine years old at the time. I may have slowed him down a little bit but being the kind of man he was, he never seemed to mind. Our rods were fairly rudimentary at the time; he was using an old aerial from an armoured car (don’t ask me where he got it) and he made a fishing rod for me out of bamboo.

We fished in the Ballinaha River (now called Abhainn Fioruisce) in the woods behind the townlands of Ballyhamlet/ Ballyfuinseog at a location which I think he called ‘pollamhairle’.

At this particular location the stream ran over some large rocks, and then opened up into a fairly

70 | THE IRISH SCENE

large dark pool. It looked big to me anyway as a nine year old! The main bait we used were garden worms and these would have been freshly dug at home in Tircullen earlier that morning. He also showed me a few tricks, like lifting up the rocks to search for caddis and creeper which could also be used as fishing bait. Then, if the fishing was a bit slow he would go a small distance upstream to muddy the waters. By all accounts, when the trout sensed that the water colour had changed they would immediately think of rain waters bringing food downstream to them. And it certainly worked for us!

After a few years, Dad upgraded his gear to new state of the art; fibre glass rod, spinning reel and mepps and minnows as bait. I had never seen this kind of technology before.

Nothing fancy for me though as I only inherited his telescopic rod! This new gear demanded a new river, and we would now spend time with Harry Willis from Chapel Street in Tallow in his boat on the River Bride in and around Janeville. It was amazing for me to be on a big river, I never caught anything but then again there is more to fishing than catching fish. Harry was an old style fly fisherman and I would gravitate this way myself in adult years. Occasionally, Dad and I would fish off Janeville Quay at high tide and a flat fish would land on the hook now and again. I had never seen these before, and I doubt if they lived in the Ballinaha River.

Charlie was a great mentor to me in my early days and the practical use of his great wisdom and knowledge stood to me in the years and decades to follow. While I was researching this article I found a hand written note of fishing flies in one of his books, and it was quite emotional to see his handwriting once again.

‘Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after’ – Henry David Thoreau.

At the ripe old age of twelve I felt that I had now served my apprenticeship and was ready to strike out on my own. At this stage I also had a thriving after-school Greyhound walking business with wonderful clients such as: Eugene Allen, Michael ‘Bonzo’ Tobin, Denis Wade and Tom Goulding – so I had the necessary funds in place to purchase some equipment. I bought a new rod and spinning reel from Dan Delaney and a range of other necessary gear at The Bride Valley Stores in Convent Street. The Ballinaha River was once again my go to river, except this time I wanted

Bill Daly to see if there were any good fishing spots not too distant from both sides of Ballinaha Bridge. And there was.

On the left-hand side of Ballinaha Bridge, as you journey down the hill, I found a perfect spot about a quarter of a mile upstream. It looked like nobody had been there for many decades and it was inaccessible and overgrown. After a bit of focused landscaping I could now fish from the side, but better still, I could sit on some large rocks above it and fish down into the dark and deep pool. I don’t think anybody knew it was there and I always had the place to myself. I caught my very first brown trout there, and also a large amount of eels which were a bit of a nuisance. A short time later, my younger brother Tom-Joe expressed an interest in fishing so I started to bring him along with me. I bought some new equipment and gave Tom-Joe my old gear to start him off. He didn’t manage to reduce the trout population in the pool for the first few visits, but he was certainly showing great promise as I watched him go about his business.

One particular night, as we were fishing from the rocks over the pool, I stood up to fix something but my feet got caught on his fishing line. Seconds later I lost my balance and plunged into the deep pool and up to my waist in cold water. Unfortunately, also at this very second, Tom-Joe was putting a fresh worm on his hook and my falling feet pulled the hook right through one of his fingers. I couldn’t get the hook out on account of the barb so we had to head back up Ballinaha Hill, me soaked to the skin and himself with a bleeding finger. Dad sorted it out anyway, snipped the barb off the hook, and normal transmission returned once again. Shortly after this episode Tom-Joe landed his first brown trout, he was absolutely over the moon and I was delighted for him. In time to come Tom-

Joe went on to become a most excellent trout and salmon fly fisherman, and this is where it all began for him!

I decided to try the right-hand side of Ballinaha Bridge as well, this was called ‘Callaghan’s Wood’ at the time where the river ran towards Kilwinney and Janeville, and where it would lose its individual identity by entering into the larger expanse of the River Bride. I found a nice spot not too far down where I could float the line around a bend and into a deep pool on the far side. I had great success here with flies and worms and I landed some lovely trout. Again, as with the other side of the river, I had the place all to myself. About this time (I was still only 12 years old) I decided to temporarily move away from worms and breed some white maggots. I read about this in a fishing catalogue called ‘Tight Lines’ and decided to give it a shot! We normally fished with a number 10 hook and this process entailed moving down to a 16 in conjunction with the use of a pencil float.

My journey began by getting a sheep’s head from Seán O’Donoghue in Tallow. Seán knew me well from being in the Butcher’s shop, so he didn’t pursue a very hard line of questioning. I would hang it on a tree near my favourite bend on Monday after school. By Thursday, if the weather was reasonably warm, the maggots started to fall into the river and the trout got used to seeing and eating them.

On Saturday night I would take the sheep’s head down from the tree, put the maggots in a container with a sprinkle of sawdust, then on to the hook and the brown trout just couldn’t resist them. Apologies to any vegans who may be reading this article, but we were living in simpler times!

‘There is certainly something in fishing that tends to produce a serenity of the mind’ – Washington Irving.

Ballinaha Bri dge Charlie Daly

THE IRISH SCENE | 71

Book Reviews

Books reviewed by John Hagan LOVE ME FIERCE IN DANGER ANNA MCGAHAN / STEVEN POWELL / BLOOMSBURY $32.99 I’m racking my brains to think of another major 20th century novelist with a track record of such deviance to match that of the subject of this book, crime writer, James Ellroy. In his teens Ellroy was arrested more than 70 times for theft, public indecency, drunk driving, shoplifting, vagrancy and perhaps most dangerously of all, serial burglary. As might be imagined, home life at the Ellroy’s was turbulent, unstable and grim.

His mother was murdered when Ellroy was 10 years old (the killer was never apprehended), while James’ father was abusive, dismissive and often absent. After taking a job with the Salvation Army, Ellroy weaned himself off drugs and alcohol taking refuge in the LA Public Library where, while devouring thousands of books, he decided to become a crime writer. He soon scored a job as a well-paid caddy around the elite Hollywood golf clubs with the ensuing flexible hours allowing him to write his first three novels. All were hard-boiled detective fiction, no doubt benefitting from his previous criminal experiences. Dubbing himself as the ‘Demon Dog of Crime Fiction’, with his notable trademark ‘telegraphic staccato’ style, Ellroy’s best sellers include ‘LA Confidential’ (later made in to a film starring Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce), and ‘Hollywood Nocturnes’. On penning one of his first books, ‘The Black Dahlia’ (published in 1987), Ellroy renounced his advanced payment on the condition that the publishers spend it on publicity and marketing, a strategy which added to his fame and helped propel him into the top rank of American novelists. While he was born in the United States and all his books are set there, Elroy claimed his heritage as ‘Irish Presbyterian’, the name Ellroy being derived from McIlroy, but ‘my grandfather changed it as he didn’t want to be associated with the Shanty Irish’, he states. From countless interviews with friends, family, peers, former lovers, literary and film collaborators, as well as extensive interviews with Ellroy himself, author Steven Powell pulls back the curtain on the

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life of this enigmatic, often bombastic, charismatic and complex author. The tale he reveals is every bit as gripping, twisted, dark and provocative as any of Ellroy’s dozen novels. Oh yes; that clunky title, ‘Love Me Fierce in Danger’, comes from one of Ellroy’s short poems to Helen Knode, his new obsession, soul mate and (erstwhile) bride.

ON BEING UNREASONABLE KIRSTY SEDGMAN/ ALLEN & UNWIN $32.99 With today’s conventions, manners and ideas in a state of constant flux, how do we define, and accept, what is reasonable and what is unreasonable behavior? Is it ok for women to breastfeed on the bus? How about eating Asian takeaway in the cinema, taking your socks and shoes off in the theatre, or engaging in sex in public?

What’s ok, what’s not ok?

In her wide ranging, well researched book, Kirsty Sedgman examines how our common-sense ideas and actions about what might be deemed as correct, have fashioned our social norms. This is a book about behavior, about how we act within a whole range of social circumstances. How do we determine what is good and what is bad; what is acceptable and what is unacceptable? When is it ok just to break the rules? Sedgman points out, according to Irish author George Bernard Shaw, ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.

Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man’. Looking back through history, from the moral philosophers such as Confucius and Aristotle to the present day, Sedgman traces the development and evolution of what is considered as being reasonable in societies around the world. She outlines the power dynamics and social biases which have resulted in a wide acceptance of what we should and shouldn’t do. What people need to ask themselves, says Sedgman, is who gets to set the rules, whose pleasures and needs are considered, and who disproportionately gets investigated, prosecuted and ultimately excluded. Throughout this compulsively readable book, Sedgman deftly combines, humour, engaging anecdotes and illuminating insights

Book Reviews from a wide range of artistic disciplines, including theatre, film, visual arts, history and literature, to illustrate her arguments. She encourages us ‘in the name of reasonableness, to reclaim the right to be unreasonable where we need to be. And if making things better means breaking the rules once in a while? Maybe that’s an acceptable price to pay’. For someone whose lifelong credo has been, ‘If they give you lined paper, write the other way’, I can only say ‘Amen’ to Sedgman’s exhortation.

THE UNEARTHED LENNY BARTULIN / ALLEN & UNWIN $32.99 As I write, it looks like Tasmania is ‘flavour of the month’ in both TV and publication media. On the small screen is the blockbusting, best selling, Netflix production, ‘Deadloch’ (filmed in Tassie within 250 metres of my home) together with the outstanding ABC TV series, ‘Bay of Fires’, shot on Tassie’s wild west coast, produced by, and starring Hobart’s, Marta Dusseldorp. Recently released in print, is Meg Bignall’s ‘Angry Women’s Choir’ (set in Hobart), ‘Mole Creek’

by James Dunbar, the mesmerising ‘Moon Gate’ by Amanda Geard, and now Lenny Bartulin’s brooding, Tasmanian noir, ‘The Unearthed’.

Hobart forensic scientist, Antonia Kovacks, finds herself back home in Queenstown to investigate the discovery of a pile of human bones found in the forest by a group of hikers. The trip also gives her the chance to visit her father, Dicky Nolan, a retired police inspector living in nearby Strahan, who is, despite the passage of time, still linked to the gruesome finding.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne, Tom Pilar receives the surprising good news that he is the sole beneficiary of Slavko Cicak’s will, bequeathing him an abandoned house in Queenstown and $45,000 in cash. Pilar barely remembers Cicak, but recalls him being a friend of his father’s when the two fossicked for gold together on Tasmania’s west coast. In need of a financial boost, Pilar sets out for Tasmania to claim his bounty. But, there is a condition. Pilar must bury the ashes of Cicak’s daughter who was killed in a 1950 hit-and-run accident in Queenstown. With deft skill and clever plotting Bartulin tantalisingly weaves together the arc of these two seemingly disparate events as the narrative jumps between timelines from the present to the 1950s. Tasmanian born Bartulin, himself the son of Croatian immigrants, has obviously undertaken detailed research paying great care and attention to historical facts and locations. He cleverly reveals fragments of the mystery, while illuminating the lives and aspirations of the frontier hard men - those piners, miners, prospectors and foresters, who suffered

such privations on the west coast of Tasmania. This intriguing and outstanding novel has prompted me to seek out two of Bartulin’s previously acclaimed books ‘Fortune’ and ‘Infamy’.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK EMILY O’GRADY / ALLEN & UNWIN $32.99 Such exhilaration as the gaggle of excitable girls from Appleyard College, led by Miss McCraw, venture out for a summer picnic on St Valentine’s Day, 1900.

Following a short carriage ride they arrive at the base of the monolithic rock formation which is to be their picnic site. As they begin to climb, four of the pupils, Irma, Miranda, Edith and Marion discard their boots, corsets and hats as they ascend to the summit. Three of them will be lost for ever. Such is the grist of a film that has enticed and captivated film goers for over 40 years. I now read that one of the streaming services is to produce a new six-part TV series of ‘Picnic’ which will go to air next year.

Surely, it’s not possible to improve on perfection, but perhaps a new slant on the 1975 masterpiece will be revealed. Let’s see. By any standards, ‘Picnic’ is a movie that revolutionized Australian film and helped our industry claim international status by being boxoffice to a global audience. In stark contrast to the surfeit of contemporary ‘ocker comedies’ (Barry McKenzie etc.), the beautifully shot ‘Picnic’ brings to the screen a tale of psychological terror that takes place in broad daylight. Backman Rogers has produced a beautifully constructed analysis of this complex, visually haunting, film as she leads the reader through aspects of its background, musical score, casting, shooting and marketing as it becomes the third highest grossing film in Australia (after ‘Jaws’ and ‘Towering Inferno’) in 1975. In a male dominated industry, it was only the steely resolve and fortitude of producer, Patricia Lovell which ensured Joan Lindsay’s original novel (published 1967) could be brought to the screen. Central to the success of the film is the exacting calibration between sound and vision. The movie’s ethereal quality and languid images were created by cinematographer Russel Boyd who used ‘a piece of golden-yellow wedding veil over the camera lens’. And who can forget the melodic refrain of Gheorghe Zamfir’s evocative panpipes as the girls slowly climb Hanging Rock on that fateful day.

Backman Rogers carefully explores all aspects of the production (shot in six weeks on a miniscule budget of $433,000) as she reveals many of the conflicts and problems of eventually bringing it to the screen. This beautifully illustrated short book is part of the BFI (British Film Institute) classics series which introduces, interprets and celebrates landmarks of world cinema.

THE IRISH SCENE | 73

Book Reviews PENALTY KICK? PENALTY SHOOT – OUT? BLAME AN ULSTERMAN JOHN HAGAN

‘I felt I was stepping off the edge of the world into silence’, declared Chris Waddle after missing his penalty for England against Germany in the 1990 World Cup. ‘The penalty is with me every day, but the nightmare in myself is all about the long walk to the spot’, confessed Italy’s Daniele Massaro on missing a penalty against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup Final.

There is no doubt the penalty kick plays a significant part in the game of football leading to either elation or abject misery for the players and teams involved. This now well accepted, if traumatic, part of the round ball game was introduced to the world on 2 June 1891, as Rule 13 of the ‘Laws of the Game’ thanks to Ulsterman, William McCrum, from Milford, County Armagh, thus changing the game forever.

‘Master Willie’, as he was known around Milford, was born on 7 February 1865, the son of linen millionaire R.G. McCrum, founder and owner of the famous linen manufacturing business McCrum, Watson & Mercer which owned Milford village and its linen factory.

While ‘RG’ was authoritarian, thrifty, hard working and God-fearing, Master Willie enjoyed gambling, amateur theatrics, singing, traveling and playing sport. After attending Armagh Royal School and Trinity College, Dublin, for many years Willie played as goalkeeper for local club, Milford Everton, including the very first season of the formation of the Irish Football League (1890-91). Unfortunately, during that season Milford finished rock bottom, with no points from 14 games, scoring only ten goals while conceding 62. Maybe Master Willie was not such a crack keeper. During the nineteenth century, football was something of a free-for-all with players often shunning even the game’s most rudimentary rules. One of the ploys used by defenders involved jumping up and kneeing opponents in the stomach while manslaughter charges arising from matches were not unusual.

Anything to stop the opposition from scoring seemed to be in order.

As goalkeeper, Willie McCrum had a ring-side seat to any such foul play as the drama of the contest unfolded in front of him. In order to curb ‘over enthusiastic’ defending, McCrum developed the idea of the penalty kick which was introduced initially for local Milford games. McCrum’s new ‘kick of death’ (as it was initially known) would be awarded if a defender deliberately tripped, grappled with an opponent or handled the ball within twelve yards of the goal. The keeper, often a bystander for much of the game, was now thrust centre-stage, something which

74 | THE IRISH SCENE

Books reviewed by John Hagan

would have appealed to McCrum’s penchant for amateur dramatics. Soon McCrum persuaded the Irish Football Association (IFA) to submit the idea to the International Football Board (IFB).

The new innovation was not warmly received as it was feared that the ‘Irishman’s motion’ might reduce the play to gridlock and impede the game’s ‘freedom of expression’.

Some leading players such as the legendary CB Fry, captain of English football club Corinthians and cricket international, shunned the idea as a slur on sportsmen believing it would encourage players to ‘behave like cads of the most unscrupulous kidney’.

At its June 1890 meeting, the IFB resolved, following much acrimonious debate, to adjourn the motion for twelve months. However, the mood soon changed after the controversial climax to the English FA Cup quarter-final. Non-league giant-killers Stoke City found themselves a goal down against favourites, Notts County. During an attack near the final whistle Stoke had a shot punched off the goal line by an outfield player and were awarded a free-kick. Notts County players simply stood on the goal line in front of the ball and blocked the resultant kick. Four months later, on 2 June 1891, Willie McCrum’s penalty proposal was accepted as ‘Rule 13’ forcing the goalkeeper to stand on the goal line while a spot kick was taken from twelve yards out and directly in front. Initially, some keepers protested by standing beside the goal, some penalty takers deliberately shot wide or high while a few, such as CB Fry and his associates, showed their disdain by leaving the pitch for a quick smoke while the kick was taken. Despite all his education and wealth, McCrum’s personal life was something of a disaster. In 1891 he married Maude Squires and the couple had a son, but Maude seemingly preferred other men and was implicated in a number of local scandals before eventually, in 1903, eloping to the French Riviera with a Major Heard. McCrum continued to enjoy his travelling and gambling and, in 1915, on the death of his father, he inherited the village of Milford and half the shares in McCrum, Watson & Mercer. But Willie proved a poor businessman, and in the wake of the 1929 great depression, the firm collapsed with the village and business seized by the Northern Bank. Willie McCrum, inventor of the penalty kick, died in 1932, penniless and alone in an Armagh boarding house. His grave in Milford Cemetery was restored in 2015, thanks to funding from the International Football Association (FIFA).

Paula from Tasmania

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

The Willow Tree Wharf

BY PAULA XIBERRAS Leonie Kelsall’s books are uniquely inspired by the plants of the states they are set in. Leonie jokes that she will eventually run out of ‘vegetation’ for her novels! Luckily, she will never run out of imagination.

This novel with its allusion to willow trees is a reminder that the willow tree can symbolise many things, in the Buddhist belief system it symbolises compassion, while in English folklore it symbolises the more sinister idea of stalking, where it can uproot itself and follow Travellers. The novel gives us both suggestions but ultimately it is compassion and love that wins over.

Set in the rural location of Settlers Bridge, her protagonist Samantha works at her cafe ‘Ploughs and Pies’. Leonie’s counsellor background gives the reader some exploration of the dark underbelly of a relationship in the gaslighting of Samantha by her husband Jack, stalking his wife and little by little depriving her of her confidence.

Meanwhile, in the city, the male protagonist, restauranter Pierce de Angelis, is put in a difficult position when his brother Dante (yes, named after the Divine Comedy author and hinting at punishment) who has done his time in prison returns triumphant as the prodigal son, to take his place in the family business. Pierce disturbed by what is happening takes time away and serendipitously meets Samantha.

The protagonists, together, with compassion, begin repairing their damaged lives. Leonie uses the metaphor of their restoring a paddle steamer back to sea worthiness, as Samantha and Pierce, like the paddle steamer’s new life as a destination restaurant, flow to their own destination freedom,

leaving the low ebb of their lives in their and the paddle steamer’s wake.

A princess, a puppy and a pixie (not quite)

BY PAULA XIBERRAS In Lian Tanner’s latest novel ‘Spellhound’ a Queen, a Minch Wiggin (like a Pixie but not) and a Spellhound “large pup’ go in pursuit of a dragon that has impacted their lives in Hallow. Hallow is a place of three secrets that it is held not to divulge, unless tempted by green jellybeans of course!

Just a hint, Lian tells the reader, dragons are said to be completely trustworthy, except when they are not!

Confusing? Yes, even the narrator is both charming and in Lian’s words ‘snarky’. If you don’t know what ‘snarky’ means, then look it up. Lian would approve!

I was lucky enough to chat with Lian about the book and she told me she likes to write about misfits or people who don’t fit in or aren’t what they are expected to be (there’s some definition there so, you don’t have to look ’misfits’ up!)

One of the characters who is not what is expected is the Spellhound. A loveable giant pup who lacks the ability to ‘thunder and lightning’ which his parents can do, and with the help of his friends he is eventually able to master this ability. There is a good message here for young and young at heart. We are not always perfect but with help and determination we can overcome some of the barriers in our path.

There are some big reveals in this book that will really thrill you.

THE IRISH SCENE | 75

Lian has an amazing imagination and tells me the original idea for this novel was formed when she saw a photo of a beautiful great Dane pup who looked frightened.

It was a lightbulb moment for Lian and led her to writing this novel. It’s not only photos of beautiful and frightened great Dane pups that illuminate Lian’s inspiration, sometimes it’s a dream, or something that inspires her from other people’s books and even an old World War II submarine she saw in Chicago.

The novel also touches on some crucial issues, because, says Lian, her readership of young people genuinely care about injustices and inequalities in the world. In this novel the Queen who is unexpectedly sent out from her castle into the kingdom sees poverty and vows to do something about it. When I ask Lian if we can expect a line of Spellhound toys on the market she says ‘no’ she is not commercially minded. Much preferring visiting schools to engage with children about her books.

Lian did attend the Queensland writers adaptable program, which looks at adapting books into films. Although she would love her books turned into films, Lian says she thinks you need contacts to do that!

Half plotter and half planner is Lian’s desired approach to writing. She wrote Spellhound during lockdown and thought a humorous, lighthearted fantasy would be a book for the time bringing some levity to a difficult period.

‘Spellhound’ is out now published by Allen and Unwin.

Bandstand, Blackboard and Broadway, these brothers have done it all!

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Del Shannon, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Bee Gees, The Beatles, The Monkees, The Hollies, Australia’s Johnny O’Keefe and more!

Performed by the award-winning Williams Brothers, carrying on the tradition of their father, music pioneer Warren Williams. The brothers capture the harmonies that only genetics can do.

While it might be considered a difficult task to cover all those number one hits, plus more, it is possible, with the power of the three brothers and a little delegation. The brothers grew up with the 50’s and 60’s era of music. Their dad, Warren Williams was a regular on Bandstand, with the younger Warren also guesting on the show.

It is Warren, I spoke to recently about the upcoming tour. He told me that the boys continuing their father’s tradition was a natural progression for them, as they also love the music and they gravitated to the brother groups of the era. The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys and particularly the Bee Gees are inspiration to the sibling songsters.

They also like The Beatles and singular artists like Elvis and Johnny O’Keefe. Songs that stand out are also ones by brothers, The Righteous Brothers “To Love Somebody” and “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling”. Warren joined his dad on Bandstand after high school but in the 80’s had a stint as an art teacher for a couple of years before returning to music full time.

On the upcoming shows, Warren said they will involve audio visual display including old footage and a bio of the artists and even some of dad Warren on Bandstand, as well as audience participation in the form of singing along and dancing. Requests are welcome but occasionally some of the older songs from the 50’s may be unfamiliar and in this case, brother Andrew, the band’s lead guitarist is the go-to man, with a wealth of musical knowledge. Middle brother Darren is another talent, having spent some time on Broadway.

It will be the brothers first fully public performance in Tasmania although Warren told me they have given corporate shows in Tasmania over the years and are looking forward to returning.

An interesting piece of trivia is how the brothers backing band got their name of the “Shy Guys”.

Johnny O’Keeffe gave dad Warren the name of “The Shy Guy” when the two, were represented by the same label. So, the name of their backing band is a tribute to the brother Williams dad.

Twist and Shout, a Salute to 50s and 60s Rock ‘n Roll, will be coming to Tasmania for the first time this October. The show celebrates Rock and Roll hit makers and all of their number one hits (and more) of the 50’s and 60’s, including; Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, The

76 | THE IRISH SCENE

You can see The Williams Brothers in “Twist and Shout a Salute to 50s and 60s Rock ‘n Roll’ on: Friday 27th October, 2023 - LAUNCESTON COUNTRY CLUB TAS - Bookings: 1800 635 344 Saturday 28th October, 2023 - WREST POINT CASINO SHOWROOM, HOBART TAS - Bookings: 136 100 Ticketmaster

THE TRIALS OF JOHN BOYLE O’ REILLY.

B

unbury resident Lachlan Kelly grew up hearing stories about John Boyle O’Reilly.

He worked for many years, alongside Peter Murphy, as a tour guide at O’Reilly’s escape site in Australind. Perhaps this is why he was able to totally immerse himself so brilliantly, in the character he was asked to portray in Noel O’Neill’s one-person play, The Trials of John Boyle O’Reilly, at the Bunbury Museum on 12 and 13 October.

The show was produced by Peter Murphy, directed by Norm Flynn with music by Fred Rea and costumes by Sally Coulson.

It was a magic night. Lachlan’s performance was spellbinding as he brought to life the many aspects of O’Reilly character from the proud young Hussar, to the tortured convict, to the passionate lover of life and freedom.

Review by Margo O’Byrne

Director Norm Flynn’s flair in interpretating of O’Neill’s play, together with the skilful sound, lighting and costume and Fred Rea’s haunting ballad, Down By the Glenside, added to the enchantment.

But it was Lachlan Kelly who stole the night, captivating the audience as he led us through the life of O’Reilly as a young man, the deprivation he suffered in the English prison system, into the harsh treatment in Australia and finally, to escape.

Perhaps producer Peter Murphy choice to have the play performed on the very site of the old convict depot, and open on the anniversary date of the Hougoumont leaving England, contributed to the magic. But it was evident that the audience were captivated.

Well done to all involved.

THE IRISH SCENE | 77

News clipping from the Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, 17 January 1868, announcing the arrival of the Hougoumont in Fremantle

J

ohn Boyle O’Reilly and 61 of his Fenian comrades were transported to Australia on board Hougoumont. The vessel – originally owned by Duncan Dunbar who had the largest sailing fleet in the world at the time – arrived into Fremantle in January 1868 and would have the distinction of being the last ship to carry convicts to the colonies. In the following article – first published in the Maritime Heritage Association Journal (Volume 15, No. 4, December 2004) and reproduced here with the kind permission of the MHA journal’s editor Peter Worsley in Mandurah – Ross Shardlow writes about the last ship Phoebe Dunbar to carry convicts directly from Ireland to the Swan River Colony some 13 years earlier. She made that final voyage 170

78 | THE IRISH SCENE

years ago in August. Records show that the prisoners on board were mainly guilty of petty crimes of survival, carried out in the context of the Great Irish Famine.

In her article ‘The Phoebe Dunbar, 1853’ Eimear McCarthy argues that final voyage was “a prime example of mistreatment and misconduct in regard to the Irish convict experience on their journey from Ireland to colonial Australia. “As a case study, it challenges and assesses popular opinions and historical narratives which attempt to frame the image of the Irish convict. Although this is a prime example of the treatment toward Irish convicts, it is one of many voyages which occurred over the vast period of transportation from Ireland to Australia. While these transports resulted in many convicts dying on the journey or following disembarkation they also marked the beginning of new lives for many in Australia.”

Phoebe Dunbar – the last ship to carry convicts from Ireland

By Ross Shardlow

O

f the thirty-three ships that brought convicts to Western Australia between 18501868, renowned British shipping magnate, Duncan Dunbar, owned twelve. One of these ships, the Phoebe Dunbar, was built in 1850 to replace one of Dunbar’s earlier vessels, the 578 ton Phoebe, built at Sunderland by James Laing in 1842. Laing also built the replacement full-rigged Phoebe Dunbar - in fact, he built one or more ships for Dunbar every year for twelve years. At 704 tons, the new Phoebe Dunbar was a little larger than her predecessor and measured 131.1 feet by 29.4 feet; about the same as the Leeuwin; but considerably deeper, with a depth of hold of 21 feet. A square stem, quarter galleries and a guiding figurehead of Phoebe herself, made for a perfect model. Phoebe Duncan Dunbar was the daughter of Duncan Dunbar the elder,

Phoebe Dunbar

T

he drawing depicts the Phoebe Dunbar in Gages Roads hove-to to receive the pilot the luckless Henry Goss commanding the Harbour Master’s reefed down yawl; with the Union Flag at the main and the white-overred pilot flag at the peak. The Phoebe has her pilot jack at the fore to call a pilot, the Dunbar house flag at the main (though she was under charter to the Admiralty at the time) and from the mizzen, she is flying the code flags 6-84-2 over a second distinguishing pendant Marryat’s code for Phoebe Dunbar.

Phoebe Dunbar (lovingly referred to simply as Phoebe by the Dunbars), left Dunbar Docks in London on 4 July 1850 on her maiden voyage, bound to New Zealand with emigrants. Her next run to the Antipodes was to Port Adelaide arriving 7 June 1852. It was in 1853, however, that she earned the title of being the last ship to carry convicts directly from Ireland.Leaving

sister to Duncan Dunbar the younger, wife to Edward Dunbar-Dunbar, the regimental captain, and heir to the Dunbar estate of “Sea Park”. Sea Park, coincidentally, was the name given to another of Dunbar’s ships - he had seventy-five ships all told, and all sailing ships.

Sea Park was built in 1845, also by James Laing, and transported convicts to Western Australia in 1854.

Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) near Dublin, on 2 June 1853, Captain Forbes Michie made a fine run of 89 days direct to Fremantle, arriving at Gages Roads on 30 August 1853. Phoebe had on board 93 passengers (all Pensioner Guards and their families) and 286 male convicts - including the nefarious malefactor, John Lahiffe, transported for seven years for robbery and larceny. Of the thirty-seven shipments of convicts to Western Australia, it appears Phoebe Dunbar had the highest death toll. Sixteen deaths were recorded on board during the voyage with another three more dying soon after arrival. Typhus, cholera and a fractured skull were given as causes, and not all the deaths were confined to the convicts, as attested by the passing of Phoebe Dunbar McKay, born at sea to Margaret and John McKay of the 26th Regiment, and buried on arrival at Fremantle.

THE IRISH SCENE | 79

Run-in with the Pilot

W

hen Rottnest Island pilot Edward Back was suspended for a month for “inattention”, Henry Goss was examined and assigned Second Pilot to stand in for him.

Having to use the Fremantle Harbour Master’s large sailing boat (Back had recently capsized and “very much damaged” the Rottnest whaleboat - with the loss of two men), Pilot Goss soon found himself in difficulties, collided with the Phoebe and carried away the bowsprit of the Harbour Master’s boat. When Mr Goss grounded the barque John Panter on Scotts Ledge a few weeks later, the Harbour Master felt it prudent to discharge Goss from service as a pilot. The Phoebe wasn’t doing a whole lot better; she ran onto the Success Bank but managed to get off without too much concern.

Phoebe Dunbar’s next run was from Plymouth to Melbourne with 270 Government Emigrants and a cargo of spirits, arriving Christmas Day 1854. In 1856, she made her next emigrant run, again from Plymouth with 268 emigrants and four passengers, but this time to the Moreton Bay Settlement in Queensland (Brisbane), where she arrived on 23 May 1856. Happily; Phoebe Dunbar Marshall, born at sea on this voyage lived until 1941. Not so lucky was the Phoebe Dunbar: Coming into Moreton Bay in hazy weather, the captain mistook Point Lookout for Cape Moreton and was obliged to attempt the hazardous South Passage,

80 | THE IRISH SCENE

inevitably running ashore before making Amity Point. Local steamers ‘Breadalbane’ and ‘Sampson’ refloated the Phoebe and transferred the passengers to Brisbane; but Phoebe was so badly damaged, including the loss of her rudder and two anchors that her pumps could not sustain her and she was deliberately run ashore inside the Bay near Dunwich. In the attempt to refloat her, one seaman was drowned and another had his arm broken. Patch-up repairs eventually allowed her to be refloated enabling her to make her way down the coast to Sydney where thorough repairs could be effected. On the 7 March 1864, Phoebe was lying in Newcastle harbour (NSW) when the awful call of “fire on board” was reported. Desperate efforts by the fire brigade to stem the blaze proved futile and the steam tug Tamar was brought in to tow her out towards Scotts Point with the hope of scuttling her: but so ferociously was her wooden hull consumed, she was soon razed to the waterline. Several injuries were sustained in the determination to save her but no lives were lost. Her remains were sold off for £97.15s shortly after - so ended the Phoebe Dunbar.

Not so Mrs Phoebe Duncan Dunbar-Dunbar she lived to 9 May 1899.

This article was originally published in the Quarterly Journal of the Maritime Heritage Association in Western Australia.

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THE IRISH SCENE | 81

The Wren

By Gerry Gannon

The wren the wren the kings of all birds, On St. Stephen’s Day it was caught in the furze Up with the kettle and down with the pan Give me a penny to bury the wren.

W

hen I was a kid in Co. Galway the celebration of Christmas was a joyous time, a time I’ve written about before. But another day of celebration of sorts was Boxing Day, or St. Stephen’s Day as it’s better known in Ireland. This was the day that households would be visited by groups of people dressed in rags or colourful clothes, many often in drag and they would play music and generally create mayhem. It was traditional for the owner of the house to make a small donation to the “wren boys” or “Mummers” usually for a charity, though I think the charitable donation was often exchanged for bottles of black stuff!

It was a day to celebrate the wren, or the “wran” as it was known in our locality.

The wren itself had an unfortunate past, if it is to be believed. The story predates Christian times and the legend is that the wren betrayed Irish soldiers, who were fighting Norsemen, by beating their wings on the shields of the Irish soldiers.

The wren is also believed to have betrayed St. Stephen, a Christian martyr though the exact way this happened is shrouded in the mists of time. St. Stephen’s day is December 26th and it is believed that this was the day that Christians exacted a revenge by hunting the wren.

Our farmhouse in rural Co Galway would be visited many times in the day and night of December 26th and as a kid of 10 or 11, I was fascinated by the colour, sounds, music and carnival atmosphere that accompanied the wren boys (and girls, it has to be noted) I’d always had a hankering to be in showbusiness of some sort and many years later I fulfilled that objective and, indeed, I continue to do so. The Clancy Brothers were a huge influence on me having discovered them in no less a place that the pages of The Farmer’s Journal. Each Friday my

82 | THE IRISH SCENE

father would buy what in our house was invariably referred to as “The Journal” Each week, the paper printed the words of a song by the Clancy Brothers which would be played on Ireland’s one and only radio station around lunch time on Saturday.

I would learn the song after hearing it just one time and over the weeks I built up quite a good “program”. So the wren boys/mummers on St. Stephen’s night further stimulated my interest and I resolved that next year I would not just be a spectator, I’d be a participant in this great tradition!

It was almost a three-month battle to convince my father that I should be allowed to take to the highways and byways of the locality to entertain the masses. He eventually relented and I began to make plans. My dad’s great mate, Watt Martyn, loved to tease my father and he was a great source of encouragement in my quest.

He convinced me that solo act was the way to go and that he would do what the others couldn’t do: HE’D FIND ME A REAL, LIVE WREN! That would put me ahead of the pack, I thought.

No one else will have a real, live wren! It’ll be a big drawcard.

A lovely box was created. I can’t remember by whom, but it was about the size of a CD case and about 15cm deep with a Perspex lid a couple of holes for air and it also had a handle for ease transport. Into this lovingly crafted box the wren was placed and we were set to go.

Now, I’m no ornithologist and I can’t tell the difference between a sparrow and a wren. But in hindsight I rather suspect the imprisoned and frightened bird in my carefully crafted box was something other than a wren. Indeed, when I think about it, if it was a sparrow he must have been mightily indignant to find himself the subject of mistaken identity.

At around 10am on the morning of St. Stephen’s Day, I set off on my bike and headed off towards the townland of Ganty to make my first call.

The door opened…….. A woman appeared at the door and with bird box in hand, I launched into the poem.

“The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, Saint….”

“What’s that you have there, young fella?”

“It’s a wren, missus” She laughed loudly…. I have no idea why.

“Wait there,” she said, and went indoors.

She returned a few minutes later with a lovely, crisp, red 10-shilling note!

Still laughing, she closed the door as I walked back down the driveway to my bike.

What a great start! A ten-bob note! Big money.

The day was going swimmingly. My confidence rose as I called on a few more houses. The money kept coming in, I was cycling to places I’d never been to before. Tea and biscuits were offered in many places.

People were very friendly, though the laughter continued and I didn’t know why but the money kept rolling in.

And then I noticed that the bird had metaphorically and literally fallen off the perch!

He was no more. To paraphrase Monty Python, he was an ex wren or sparrow.

What to do?

There were many other places to visit. But could I knock on a door hoping to get money when all I had was a dead bird?

What’s the worst that could happen? Told to go away? I reasoned that it was worth a try.

At the next house, I adopted a slightly different approach. I played the sympathy card.

“My bird was fine up until a while ago and now he’s dead” (Sniff) It worked until my Catholic guilt took hold and I decided to head home. My mother was so relieved to see me (she’s a worrier) but I had a significant sum of money to call my own.

But that ended my foray into the world of St. Stephen’s Day and the wren boys. Once was enough and I wasn’t going to be responsible for the death of any more birds.

The wren boys tradition is all but gone now. I don’t even know if happens at all anywhere in

Ireland. It was a strong tradition in Co Kerry but times have changed and traditions are forgotten.

However, the upside is that wrens and sparrows no longer fear the arrival of St. Stephen’s Day.

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Join us at a new venue for 2024, with some familiar faces, and even more networking opportunities.

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THE IRISH SCENE | 83

Season’s Greetings

from your WA Labor Irish-Australian Team

Jessica Stojkovski Member for Kingsley

Jodie Hanns

Member for Collie-Preston

Caitlin Collins

Member for Hillarys

David Michael

Member for Balcatta

Stephen Dawson

Member for Mining & Pastoral

Jackie Jarvis

Member for South West

Alanna Clohesy

Member for East Metropolitan

Margaret Quirk

Member for Landsdale

walabor.org.au Authorised by Jessica Stojkovski MLA, 4/923 Whitfords Ave, Woodvale WA 6026

A Father for Christmas

I

t was Christmas Eve. We had emigrated from Ireland and were living in London in the early sixties in a squalid run-down family house.

I remember the agent telling my father it was an old Victorian to which he replied this must have been where Victoria kept her horses. My father had a dream one night of Blessed Martin and the next day he got a job in the butcher section of a grocery and provision shop so he would be supplying the Christmas ham for dinner. My mother used her magic, she wallpapered and painted the living room and kitchen. In no time at all it was our home away from home. For Christmas we all pitched in, the five of us, myself my brother and three sisters. We decorated the tree with garland and lights and ran an accordion of colourful decorations across the cracked ceiling. The floors were scrubbed. The fireplace was cleaned out and lit with the wood off an orange crate, newspapers and lumps of coal.

Bing Crosby was singing White Christmas when there was a knock on the door. We never had visitors so this was unusual. The radio was turned off and my mother answered the door. It was a tall policeman. He removed his helmet and said Misses O’Neill? My mother nodded her head and I could see a look of fear creeping into her eyes.

Is it okay if I step in for a moment?

Is there something wrong?

I’m afraid there’s been an accident. Is your husband ‘James, or Jack O’ Neill?

Yes Well I’m very sorry to have to tell you this but he has been struck by a car. Unfortunately he didn’t survive.

Do you mean he’s dead?

Yes Mam. My ma’am collapsed on top of the five of us standing behind her. The policeman left the house and returned with a small bottle of brandy. He knelt down next to her, patted her on the back of her hand as her eyes opened. He then applied the brandy to her lips. The policeman said he would have to go back to the station to write out a report, wished us a goodnight and left us all in

by Noel O’Neill

tears. My mother was in convulsions wondering what to do next. Well, she didn’t have to wonder long because the back door flew open and my father appeared face flushed from Guinness and a shoulder of ham under his arm. Without considering the fact that we were all crying, he put the ham on the table.

I just stepped into the pub for a pint when I started talkin’ to this fellah and he was from Cork!

Not only that, he was from Ballyphehane like us!

What are the bloody chances of that?

So, I wrote my name and address on a piece of paper that I tore off the ham and gave it to him. I thought it would be nice if he came around over Christmas!

He stopped suddenly noticing the tearful scene around him.

What’s wrong? I only had a few pints, that’s all!

My older sister Phil told him what happened as my mother lit a woodbine.

Your name and address were the only identification he had on him I suppose, Dad. Sure, God love him on this Christmas night.

We thought it was you that was dead, Dad, Well I don’t look dead now do I? My mother finally spoke but there was no bitterness in her voice.

You’re going to wish you were dead before this Christmas is over!

The radio was put back on. Nat King Cole sang Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

My father lit a candle under the statue of Blessed Martin for his friend who passed away. My mother eventually got over her grief and her china blue eyes found joy again. She whistled and sang along with Frank Sinatra, Have yourself a very Merry Christmas. We all stayed up until the fire went out in the hearth, wished each other a Merry Christmas and went to bed.

As I lay in my bed could hear my father in the other room.

The house looks lovely Milly, Goodnight and God Bless!

THE IRISH SCENE | 85

Australian Irish Dancing Association Inc.

The Australian Irish Dancing National Championships were held from the 26th - 30th of September in Sydney Olympic Park‘s Quaycentre. WA had 111 dancers from multiple schools travel to compete in solo and team competitions throughout the week, and were lucky enough to walk away with some wonderful results. WA returned with 5 National Champions along with many other podium and top 10 placings.

We would like to congratulate our champions: • Minor Boys 10yrs Champion: Tiernan Beattie, The Academy • Intermediate Girls 13yrs Champion: Georgia Western, Trinity Studio • Junior Mens 18yrs Champion: Vaughan Cooper, WA Academy • Ladies 20 & 21yrs Champion: Caoimhe McAleer, The Academy • Senior Ladies 22 Years & Over: Dara McAleer, The Academy All of the dancers that represented Western Australia danced beautifully and should be very proud of themselves.

After the National Championships a couple of dancers from the WA Academy flew straight to Glasgow to compete in the All Scotland Championships. A very big congratulations to Vaughan Cooper who won his competition and Emmeline Summers who placed 17th in her section.

We would also like to congratulate the dancers from The Academy and WA Academy who are competing in the Great Britain Championships in London this week. Best of luck to Dara, Ciara, Caitlin, Koral, Sinead, Vaughan and Emmeline.

Well done to each of these dancers on this fantastic achievement, and congratulations to their teachers for their success.

AIDA WA are looking forward to our final Feis of the year taking place in November. The Bun & Tus Feis is a wonderful opportunity for our more junior and novice dancers to take to the stage. We can’t wait to see them all shine and have fun!

As the dancing year starts to wind down for WA we would like to take the opportunity wish all of our dancing families a wonderful Christmas and safe New Year. Looking forward to another successful 2024, celebrating Irish culture and dance.

86 | THE IRISH SCENE

Irish Dancing AIDA WA EXECUTIVE 2023 President: Teresa Fenton TCRG Vice Presidents: Katherine Travers TCRG & Eileen Ashley ADCRG Secretary: Shannen Krupa TCRG Treasurer: Martina O’Brien TCRG Registrar: Jenny O’Hare TCRG WA Delegate: Caitriona Slane TCRG

SCHOOL CONTACTS: CELTIC ACADEMY East Victoria Park www.celticacadmeyperth.com Siobhan Collis TCRG 0403 211 941 KAVANAGH STUDIO OF IRISH DANCE Mt Hawthorn www.kavanaghirishdance.com.au Teresa Fenton TCRG 0412 155 318 Deirdre McGorry TCRG Avril Grealish TCRG

Caoimhe McAleer 20&21yrs Champion

Celtic Academy team

Dara McAleer - Senior Ladies National Champion

Emmeline Summers All Scotland Championships

O’BRIEN ACADEMY Joondalup www.obrienacademy.com Rose O’Brien ADCRG 0437 002 355 Martina O’Brien TCRG 0423 932 866 O’HARE SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCING Doubleview, Wembley Downs & Craigie Jenny O’Hare TCRG 0422 273 596

Georgia Western 13years Girls National Champion

SCOIL RINCE NI BHAIRD Fremantle & Lynwood Tony Ward TCRG 0427 273 596 Kavanagh Studio Team dancers

Kavanagh Dancers

SCOIL RINCE NA ÉIREANN Rockingham Megan Cousins TCRG 0411 452 370 THE ACADEMY MID AMERICA & WESTERN AUSTRALIA Wangara, Kalamunda & Bicton Samantha McAleer TCRG Dhana Pitman TCRG Lara Upton ADCRG 0409 474 557

O’Hare Dancers

WA National Champions

Vaughan Cooper - 18yrs National Champion and All Scotland Champion

WA Academy junior dancers

Tiernan Beattie - 10yrs Boys National Champion

Stephen Dawson MLC Minister for Emergency Services; Innovation and ICT; Medical Research; 12th Floor, Dumas House 2 Havelock Street, WEST PERTH WA 6005 Email: Minister.Dawson@dpc.wa.gov.au Telephone: (08) 6552-5800

WA Senior Dancers

TORC IRISH DANCE Subiaco & Maylands Caroline McCarthy TCRG 0437 073 744 Caitriona Slane TCRG TRINITY STUDIO OF IRISH DANCING Morley, Midland & South Lake trinitystudiowa@gmail.com Eileen Ashley ADCRG 0413 511 595 Katherine Travers TCRG Nell Taylor TCRG Siân Fitzgerald-Cain TCRG Taryn Owen TCRG WA ACADEMY OF IRISH DANCING Malaga www.waacademyofirishdancing.com Shannen Krupa TCRG Stephanie Leeder TCRG Glenalee Bromilow ADCRG Sue Hayes TMRF

THE IRISH SCENE | 87

CARRAMAR

SPONSORED AND SUPPORTED BY INTEGRITY PROPERTY SOLUTIONS

SHAMROCK ROVERS FC CARRAMAR SHAMROCK ROVERS

@CARRAMAR _ SHAMROCK _ROVERS

CONTACTS: MARTY BURKE 0410 081 386 • MARI PARKINSON 0427 171 333 Carramar Shamrock Rovers would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. As the 2023 season has ended, I would like to thank all the hard-working committee, coaching staff, players and volunteers for their efforts throughout the season.

As we look forward to the challenges of the 2024 season, the work has already begun with preparations for trials etc. There is no rest for the committee or anyone else involved with the club.

Congratulations to Sam Lawless who took out the Football West under 18 Golden Boot award and also was in the hunt for Player of the year, finishing in the top 3.

And another golden boot, for Erin Hunt in the Div 3 Ladies, streets ahead of the competition with 21 goals.

Also congrats to the girls under 17 team, who took out the Bunbury carnival title for 2023 after a closely contested final, that went to a penalty shoot out. They are also off to the Malaysian Cup tournament in December. We wish them every success. Finally, we are also starting up an All Abilities Football team in 2024. Follow us on Facebook for lots more information, news and photos!

A massive thank you to our major sponsors for the current season: • Gay Collins, Pipeline Technics • Declan McDermott, Integrity Property solutions • Dave Madman Muir, Madman Motors • Chris Williams, Muscleworx group, and • Frankie Atkinson, Muntz partners.

We would also like to welcome the CFMEU who have just come on board as sponsors of our junior football. Again, special thanks to Nicky Edwards for his ongoing work in getting sponsors on board. Thanks also to our loyal banner sponsors and various teamwear sponsors, several of whom have been with us for a number of years now.

If you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member – please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com IPS provide property maintenance services to residential

and commercial properties in the Perth Metro area DO YOU NEED Carpentry • Electrical Work • General repairs • OUR PROPERTY Landscaping • Locksmithing • Painting • Plumbing & SERVICES Waterproofing • Kitchen & Bathroom Renovations • MAINTENANCE? INCLUDE: Gutters & Roof Maintenance

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88 | THE IRISH SCENE

Irish Golf Society

Captain P J Kenny presenting our winner Allan Rowland at our August outing at Maylands.

Secretary Allan presenting the winner Tom Downey at our September outing at Seaview.

Winner of the Gross Jashon Whelahan and overall Net winner Davy Doyle.

Captain P J Kenny presenting to the Gross Winner Jason Whelahan.

Our proud team of players with the two Cheques showing the amount of funds raised back in March on our Saint Patricks Golf Day held at Maylands Golf complex.

Next outing is the 19th November.

Course TBA.

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IRISH FILM FESTIVAL

Naoimh Healy & Nick Pribilovic (Working with the IFF)

Nick Pribilovic, Enda Murray & Naoimh Healy

Anne McKeon, Enda Murray & Collette Healy (from the Healy/McCann clan from Drogheda)

Fiona Rea (musician performing on the night)

Hilary McKenna & Sheila Bowe

John & Phyllis Flood

Hilary McKenna (pretending to take someones picture taking a selfie instead)

Ger Neylon & Kate-Lynn Vaughan

Una Henderson & Martina Marsh

Imelda, Enda Murray & Lloyd Gorman

Enda Murray & Joanna Robertson (Kidogo Arthouse Fremantle)

92 | THE IRISH SCENE

IRISH FILM FESTIVAL

Tadhg Lawrence & Partner Maree with Enda Murray

Festival folk

Connor McBride, Arlene Frances, Xavier Morris, Collette Healy & Anne McKeon (ready to watch the film)

Fiona Rea

Hilary Mckenna & Joanna Robertson

The Cinema

Enda Murray (Introducing the Festival & Film)

The Cinema

Fiona Rea

Clare Wynn (Irish Theatre Players) & Enda Murray

The Cinema

THE IRISH SCENE | 93

Mike Anthony Sheehy and brother John The usual suspects enjoying the session Tony Quigley and Gerry Lyng at ITP visiting their beautiful mother Marita in at Fibber McGee’s in L eederville One Act Season. Gerry has just retired as Clare Ireland. L ovely reunion.

Matt and Paul manager of Falvey the Barrack StreetMullins Bell Tower.

Happy 90th birthday to Aidan err also having a pintthe in Cork s ore raf e during r e Matt’s McGovern with son Sean. recent world tour. Beamish or Great milestone. Roll on 100 and Murphys? the drinks will be on Tuesday Club Irish weekly ParTee Boys Golfers Sean. enjoying a drink at the Woodvale Tavern. “ Oh dear what can the matter be three Y OU NG ladies.... at the Irish Club

Grandad Mick O’Connor with Caroline and John McCarthy’s son FIONN on a recent visit home to K erry Wonderful Lincoln Park reunion recently.

Phil, Splinter and Sean were in great voice. ast o e the sa ot sure a out that Paul North enjoying life with Speaking of milestones, nine month old grand-daughter congratulations to Tom and Naoise (means ‘old Irish warrior’). Julie Kilkelly on their 48th Daughter of Paul’s first Deva. wedding anniversary.

Phil Regan enjoying a drop with Frank Kelly (Finbar) at Midwest Irish Club in Ciaranoin sIreland... eral to . s e eatha freel Great to see Ciaran Gallagher Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary doing face-to-face Noel and Brenda Neff! Australian consulting in Mayo to and Irish family joined them those seeking advice when they renewed their vows on Visa options to and commitment to each other in Australia. No better Ireland. Congratulations. man, as they say!

At the Maria Forde Concert at Fremantle Workers Club: Corkonians, Noel Neff, Brenda Neff, Ann Cooney, Maria Forde, Frank Murphy, Fred Rea and Tommy O’Brien

Frank Glackin and Mary Carroll family and friends enjoying the D ublin win over K erry in Lois and celebrated the ll Gerry rela Crowley foot recently all fi al.

Du stheir u30th Fred Rea with Gillian O’Mara.

Wedding Anniversary. Stalwarts of the Irish Community who have, over many years, put a mountain of work into the Gillian is a wondeful historian Junior GAA Academy. What better way to celebrate but with and a great help to the WAIFC the man himself, Paul North on his birthday. Congratulations in their research of the Irish in Concepta and Liam Healy enjoying Happy WA. Get well soon Gill. the Rugby World Cup at JB O’Reilly’s.

Brendan Kenny, Tony Sheehan, Bob Tom Quinn 80th No doubt theO’Shea shoutingand of support was If you have a special event Michael e o g hurl g a reheard s back g fi inalsthe highlands. orle When you would like on this page Manning the singing of the Fields of Athenry youtow.... have a special event would like ontothis celebrated in D ublin with please Ifsend started you that was something behold.

Irish visitors Tony & Carmel his family and friends page please sent to irishsceneperth@gmail.com Onya Concepta, one of the best! irishsceneperth@gmail.com McCabe at D urty Nelly’s session.

94 | THE IRISH SCENE

Great turn out for the Christening of Maeve Claire O’Brien in Christ the K ing Church ea o sfiel . o gratulat o s e ar e a o a at e .

Welcome back Gerry Grogan and Frank Murphy. It was great they caught with Joan and Billy Ross in D arwins in D ublin. Following their trip on social media, it sounds like Frank and Gerry had one mighty trip. Nex t trip I suggest might be a wee bit longer?

Before his recent passing Tommie Kearns’ loved ones and friends held a good old fashioned fashioned hooley for what was his 91st birthday. See page 50. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

THE IRISH SCENE | 95

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9249 8039 58 Westchester Road Malaga WA 6090 www.mcloughlinbutchers.com.au @mcloughlin.butchers