THE IRISH DIASPORA

A collection of  Irish journals built up   in  North Queensland  for  family research  has  come our  way. It  has    resulted in  bursts of rapid  reading,  in the process  turning  up  interesting  content   related  to  Australia,  New Zealand , America, South Africa  , England . The  above  image , displaying part of an  l886 map of the  British Empire  , is on  the front cover of  one  2015   volume ; the back cover ,  the  other part of the  map, below , the overhead  motto   FREEDOM   FRATERNITY   FEDERATION  .     

 When you read  about the  appalling   treatment of  the Irish by the English  ;  the  horrendous   potato  famine  deaths and  dispersal of   so many overseas ; shipwrecks with colossal  loss of life on voyages to  Australia , Africa ,Quebec and Australia in search of a better life ; being  treated like slaves  in the Pennsylvania coalmines;"The Troubles ",   it  is   hard  to believe that  any  Irish eyes  ever  had  cause  to  be  smiling .  

The  derogatory description of  desperate  Irish immigrants in  England  is  similar  to   terms   heaped  on   boat  people   in  Australia  and   Europe .  

Dealing  with  convicts in Australia , an article  explained how  Governor Lachlan Macquarie   of  the New South Wales   colony  had become unpopular due to his   enlightened  attitude  to  the  Irish .  

 

Other items of interest :

• An  article about  Australian Irish  Anzacs in WWl, with a wealth of information - the demographics , state enlistment  statistics and  the influence of   Catholic  Bishop Mannix  on   conscription .
• Prime Minister  Paul Keating  receiving  a  copy of   The Orhan Girls Educational  Kit .
• Patrick O'Farrell's Letters  from  Irish Australia   1825-1929. 

Astronaut Colonel James B. Irwin, who used the lunar rover in the Apollo 15   August  1971  mission , said to  have been the  only man who quoted scripture on  the  Moon  (Psalm l2l:l ), traced his  ancestry back to  County Tyrone .

 

 

John Duffy and Sons truly  gigantic  and wonderful   circus  which included  Wild West content , changed to  Wild Australia in 1927 ;  a New Zealand magician , the Great Benyon (Edgar Benyon  1901-l978)  got  involved with  the  very colourful circus outfit , which  had  family bust ups  along  the  way and  a vast herd  of  horses .

 

Between 1848 and 1870 more than 44,000 Irish men, women and children arrived in  NSW under  various assisted  immigration schemes  run by the  Land and Emigration  Commissions in London   funded  by colonial governments.