The Irish Scene May June 2019 by Fred Rea

Registered with Australia Post PP100003914

Vol 21 Number 4

May/June 2019

In This Issue • Irish Club Special Meeting • Andy Keogh at Seniors • Around the Irish scene • Billy McNeill Tribute • Catalpa Commemoration • Famine Commemoration • GAAWA • Minister’s FIFO Visit • Sinn Fein TD in Perth • St Patrick’s Parade

Mike Anthony Sheehy as John Boyle O'Reilly in 'The Trials of John Boyle O'Reilly' at the Catalpa Memorial in Rockingham

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22 Durty Nelly’s, Perth Tel: 9226 0233 Fenian’s/Novotel Tel: 9425 1634 Five 6 Eight Tel: 9325 4341 59 Irish Club of WA, Subiaco Tel: 9381 5213 15 JB O’Reilly’s, Leederville Tel: 9382 4555 Masonmill Gardens - Tel: 9293 5112 33 Paddy Malone’s Joondalup Tel: 9300 9966 2 Rosie O’Grady’s Northbridge 9328 1488 21 The Mighty Quinn, Tuart Hill Tel: 9349 9600 42 Woodbridge Hotel, Guildford Tel: 9377 1199 REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY MAINTENANCE: Limnios Property Mike Moore 9328 3866 Professionals Kelly Team Tel: 9344 5544 28 Integrity Property Solutions Tel:0423618506 ROOF PLUMBING Mick’s Maintenance 0418 917 050 SEALING (WATER): Megasealed Tel 9248 3588 SELF HELP / HEALTH: 71 Achieve Your Dreams 0408 025 650 Mindsight Clinic 1300 501 843 SHOE REPAIR / NEW SHOES: 51 Reids Bootmakers: Tel 9361 5301 SOLICITORS & LEGAL: 11 Kavanagh Lawyers - 9218 8422 SPORT - CLUBS AND INFORMATION: 90-93 GAA - 0458 954 052 95 Irish Golf Club - Peter 0447 258 000 94 Shamrock Rovers THEATRE: 79 Irish Theatre Players TRAVEL & TOURISM: 34 British Travel Tel: 9285 8182 TRUCKS & BUSES: WA Hino Paul McGovern 0418 927 460 TYRES, BATTERIES, BRAKES WHEELS:

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THE IRISH SCENE

Advertising: Imelda Gorman 0450 884 247 - Email imelda@irishscene.com.au Editor: Lloyd Gorman 0479 047 250 lloyd@irishscene.com.au Publisher: Canal Bank Media www.irishscene.com.au 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 Gaelforce Promotions. 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.

Page Index Andy Keogh at Seniors 70 Around the Irish scene 88 Australian Irish Heritage 29 Billy McNeill Tribute 14 Bob 50 years an Aussie 42 Book Reviews 80 Can Government do better? 8 Catalpa Commemoration 16 Claddagh Association 68 Colonel John Bruce 38 Comhaltas Perth 51 Darkness into Light 49 Fairbridge Review 26 Family History WA 82 Famine Commemoration 28 For whom the BELL tolls 32 G’Day from Melbourne 46 GAA Junior Academy 93 GAAWA 90 Gaelic with Brid 35 Guardian of the Souls 30 Guinness in Australia 23 Irish Club Special Meeting 4 Irish Consul 53 Irish Dancing 64 Irish Diggers 56 Irish Golf Club 95 Irish Theatre Players 79 Irish Whiskey 84 Isteach sa Teach 36 Land of Milk and Honey 43 Marguerite’s Recipes 50 Matters of Public Interest 66 Minister’s FIFO Visit 6 Minute with Synnott 78 Over-Rated 47 Paula from Tasmania 87 Police Boot Style Camp 17 Quiz 34 Restoring Canada 44 Rottnest Parish Church is 50 40 Shamrock Rovers 94 Show Reviews 72 Sinn Fein TD in Perth 76 Siobhan Na Spag Poems 52 St Patrick’s Day around OZ 9 St Patrick’s Day Parade 75 The First Stone with Marie 13 Ulster Rambles 54 Welcome Lloyd & Imelda 58

What option awaits The Irish Club? by Lloyd Gorman

agreed to give the committee more time to consider the options. They did, overwhelmingly. "We hope to come back to you in June with a more detailed analysis of the options we have and hopefully be able to tell you about the new one as well," he added. The Club would not have survived this long without the support of the GAA, Shamrock Rovers, Australian Irish Heritage Association and other "affiliated" groups he continued. But the club needed more input from the membership base of 900 people. "There is a core group who come here and support the Club every Alan O'Meara night but 30, 40, 50 people will not supply enough income to keep the club afloat, we need more support from other members, even if a couple of pints twice a week, that's all we need," Mr O'Meara added. A fall off in patronage meant the Club was losing about $2,000 a week, sometimes more. The kitchen was also a problem and a new caterer - one who was prepared to support the Club for the use of the kitchen - had to be found. Telstra has approached the Club offering up to $18,000 a year rent to have a tower on top of the building. Mr O'Meara said the committee needed to be careful dealing with new proposals. "[It] sounds like a lot of money but its only really two months trading." The president said the options had been assessed

Staying in Subiaco could still be a viable option for the Irish Club, but so too does the possibility of moving to another location. But in either scenario, 61 Townshend Road, the building that has been the home of the Club since the 1970's may have to be sold to facilitate whichever option the members of the Club decide is what they want to happen. Close to 200 members filled the upstairs bar at the Club for a special general meeting on Sunday May 5 to decide its future. It followed on from an open community forum in February at which the Club's financial woes were laid bare. Suggestions on how the Club might move forward were also proposed and adopted by the meeting, which authorised the committee to go ahead and explore them further. "To be honest we haven't had sufficient time in the six weeks that were allotted," Alan O'Meara, Irish Club President told members at the special meeting. "The reason for that is there is so much assessment and analysis needed for the options discussed today. We had a sub committee appointed and they did a lot of work to help the committee and they came up with virtually the same two options we did as well." He said there were two options available to members, with a third course of action that was very much a concept, and more likely to run in parallel with the other options rather than replace them. "There are ongoing conversations with people that we can't discuss today because there's nothing concreteâ&#x20AC;Śbut once they are concrete if you allow us an extension today we will bring you back but whatever happens it fits within the guidelines of the first two options anyway," Mr O'Meara added. A short time after he started speaking, the president asked members to vote by a show of hands if they

against a number of criteria of Club members and users such as the affiliated groups. Each had its pros and cons. Option one is to stay in the current premises [which has been valued at between $2 million and $2.2 million]. "That is, sell and leaseback and clear debt and upgrade via funding," he said. "It is an option that is close to everyone's hearts but the cost of selling and then staying on a lease basis, or any other way, the Club will still cost about $100,000 a year to keep open even if we don't meet here." "To stay, we have to find a way to pay off the debt $400,000 and the option there would be to explore looking at selling and leasing back or seek a lower interest rate on loan of $400,000 but its still a debt. It requires a plan to chain revenue sources beyond bar sales, club services will change, how do we do that, it will require a capital investment of somewhere between $300,000 to $500,000 just to improve items to building now, fire alarms, electrical and plumbing, furniture and decor, to attract more people in you can see its a huge investment. "Option two, sell and move to other premises, we sell and clear the debt and find a right sized premises, there's no guarantee the club will be sold quickly, we have to have a ready buyer to make that one work and it

Marty Kavanagh means selling this building and moving away from 49 years of tradition and going somewhere else where we can do what we want to do, has sporting fields, club premises that suits all our needs, families, sporting groups." Whether the Club leased, bought or built new premises these would all cost money and while there was the potential to co-locate with another club in need of increasing its membership this was not always straightforward or suitable. The third option came up in discussion and looked into the future but could be run in conjunction with the way the Club operates now. It would take advantage of the 4,000 people who currently follow the Club on Facebook. "So if you have 4000 people on Facebook you get them to join the Club on an internet basis and meet on a monthly basis and all those people have different opportunities to go to different pubs to celebrate and have functions and with 4,000 followers all being young generally it gives you a huge opportunity."

This idea led to a cry from one Club member that they would become 'gypsies', with no permanent base. "I'm not talking about a separate club," he replied. "I'm talking about in conjunction with the existing club, so older people still have a bricks and mortar business like this one, while younger people have an internet based one as they do these days on Facebook, concept only. This is what we are now considering, 1 and 2, they're the major points…there's a huge amount of opportunities we can still pursue as I said time has been a problem we haven't had the time to pursue all these options mainly because of the constraints of the number of members on the committee and the problem of trying to keep the Club afloat." There were wide ranging questions, suggestions and debate from the floor for about an hour. One man suspected there was a hidden agenda to sell off the Club building and follow a particular option. Speaking in his personal capacity Honorary Consulate Marty Kavanagh said he had been working closely with the committee to try and help save the Club. "There is no agenda to sell the place or go with option A or B or C, if there was, I wouldn't be associated with it for one second." However, Tony Bray suggested that selling the building and approaching the Celtic Club to consider a merger could be the way to go. Lena Costello, one of the original founders of the Irish Club, said they had previously suggested this to the Celtic Club - which she said was founded by Irish people but then taken over by business people - and they weren't interested. Several speakers suggested ways the community could raise funds. These ranged from an on the spot whip around, increasing the price of drinks at the bar, hiking up the cost of membership for the Club to $100, fund raising events and even 'debentures'. Mrs Costello said: "We rebuilt the Club some years ago and had to rent a place for 12 months in Nedlands. We asked all the members to give an interest free loan and they did and lots of people didn't want the loan to be returned and gave it to the Club." The question was also asked why anyone would want to come to the Club when it had no kitchen and very little to offer. Now was a time for the Irish community to stand together as it had done in the past one woman said. Mr O'Meara was asked to provide an update about the Irish Theatre Players, who had left the Irish Club last year. "I don't think there's a problem getting them back if we do the right thing by them," Mr O'Meara said. The problems facing the Club were complex one person said. Since AFL had stopped being played at Subiaco Oval bar sales had gone down by 40%. At least two speakers said they recognised the good will in the room and the desire to save the Club. When the president asked the members to indicate by a show of hands who wanted the club to stay where it is the vast majority of people wanted this option. Some members called for the meeting – which had been scheduled for 1pm to 3pm – to be closed early (about 1.20pm), which was agreed. A collection was also taken up by Pat Gaffney after the meeting ended.

Minister’s FIFO visit to Perth By and large Perth has in previous years featured prominently as a stop over for one - of the two Irish government ministers – dispatched to Australia for the traditional St. Patrick's Day global charm offensive. During their trips these visitors have taken part in a wide range of events and activities, ranging from the parade and festival in Leederville, meeting local groups, individuals and families and even other Perth politicians and paying their respects to the Irish history and characters of WA. This year's visitation was something different, shorter and quicker than normal, more of a courtesy call. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys began her Australian tour on March 13 in Sydney, heading up a trade mission 71 Irish companies from the construction, technology and other sectors in tow. The mission was to convince Australian firms Ireland is a great place to invest and to find local customers to buy Irish goods and services.[Australian business website CIO.com.au reported on March 19 that the firms on the trade mission sealed deals worth $10 million, and that a new Enterprise Ireland office was opened in Melbourne.] Over three days in Syndey she was busy attending and speaking at various trade and business events - including the Lansdown Club's St. Patrick's Day lunch which is the biggest of its kind in the world – opening offices, holding dozens of face to face meetings and posing for photographs with people, while also tweeting everything she was doing. But there was also time for some non-business related activity, including cutting the ribbon on the new offices of the Irish Support Agency, a visit to the "beautiful and moving famine memorial". Ultimately she took part as a guest of honour at the city's St. Patrick's Day festivities in The Rocks on the big

By Lloyd Gorman

Minister Humphreys at Civmec's Plant in Henderson

day itself, where she tweeted "not even the torrential rain can dampen our spirits here in Sydney". Later that day the minister and a small entourage flew to Perth where shortly after landing that night she "had a very interesting discussion with Alanna Clohesy MLC [at Parliament House] about the many bonds that connect our two countries and how we can further strengthen those bonds". The next morning she visited the "impressive" Civmec facility in the manufacturing heart of Henderson. "Thanks to Rod & Co for showing us around," she tweeted. "Great to see another example of Combilift boosting the competitiveness of top-class firms on the world stage!". Combilift are an Irish firm who specialise in making customised multi-directional lift trucks, based in Co. Monaghan. After this field trip he then travelled to the CBD tower block offices of Honorary Consul Marty Kavanagh for a late afternoon event. She sat in on the signing of two commercial 6

contracts. Emydex - whose head office is in Blandchardstown, Dublin, penned a contract with WA's biggest beef processor Harvey Beef to upgrade its food processing software. Dublin based specialist HR and employee firm Eppione squared away a contract to license its software to HR consulting firm Talenting International Perth. With the ink still drying on the paperwork the minister then spoke to the assembled group of people from different groups and organisations assembled in the room. She thanked Marty for picking her up from the airport and for all the help he provided the many Irish people who knocked on his door. "I'm delighted to be here, my first trip to Australia,” she said. “I've been to Sydneys and here I am now in Perth...Australia has become home to hundreds of thousands of Irish people over the last two centuries and there is a particularly strong sense of community and solidarity in the Irish community here in WA. Irish people moving down here for the first time are welcomed with open arms, not only by Australians but also by the Irish Diaspora, who have come out before them.”

Minister Humphreys with Alannah Clohessy MLC at Parliament House

She paid tribute to the Irish community groups and organisations and individuals who work hard to keep that community spirit alive and promote Irish music, dance, arts and sports in Australia. “I'm also very mindful of the great support you give those Irish who find themselves in difficult situations, or in times of illness and indeed bereavement,” she added. “I want to say we deeply appreciate and take pride in the services and support you have provided... I've seen first hand how important that support is at home in Ireland when you are sitting with a family who have had a bereavement or a tragedy that has happened so far away here in Perth and the work you do here really is so important. I want to say thank you and I know you work very closely with the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and again thank you for what you do.” She went on to say the main reason for her visit to Australia was to promote Irish businesses and trade in the region. Ms Humphrey congratulated the companies from Ireland and WA whose contracts she had just witnessed being signed. The Irish companies taking part in the trade mission in Sydney were “on top of their game” and that later that night she would be in Singapore where she would lead 45 Irish companies over two more days of trade talks. “I've been taking every opportunity to remind Australian companies that Ireland is a great place to invest, our economy really is growing very very strongly and has been for the past number of years. There is a lot of opportunity there, we are very focused on innovation and looking at new technology and how to embrace them as we go forward. So there's a lot of exciting things happening in Ireland and I honestly believe there are great opportunities between our two countries to do business together." The minister also gave special mention and a personal thanks to the officials from IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland who organised and accompanied her on the trade mission for their professionalism

Minister Humphreys witnesse's two contracts being signed by Irish and WA companies

and hard work. "No task is too big or small, they always get the job done,” she said. St Patrick's Day is an opportunity for Irish companies – and people with Irish ancestry or a passion for Ireland – around the world to come together to celebrate the country's rich cultural heritage and identity. She said the governments launched a plan last year to double the impact and scope of Ireland's footprint in the world in the near future. “Global 2020 will support and diversify Ireland's export markets, inward investment and tourism from key markets, including Australia,” she added. “But it's also about developing stronger links with our Diaspora and friends. So the government of Ireland wants to work with you, the global Irish to strengthen our growing economy and trade links and your support and solidarity as members of the Irish Diaspora and friends of Ireland has never been more important with Brexit on the horizon. Your work as advocates for Ireland in Australia is invaluable and on behalf of the Irish community I want to say thank you and its a great pleasure to represent the Irish government this evening.” Minister Humphrey – a Teachta Dála for the Cavan–Monaghan – rounded off her speech by saying that she had discovered some personal connections in the room. Not only was Jackie McKiernan married to “a well known Cavan man” - the late Senator Jim McKiernan who died last year – but “I discovered I know her sister in-law extremely well, all her nieces and nephews .” And while talking to Donegal native Eimear Beattie it turned out that she had played Gaelic football with a girl who worked in Humphreys elecorate office.

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porate knowledge of the personalities and issues at play in a place, There will always be room for the new and unexpected on these tours, but an understanding - even an appreciation - of local conditions for companies and communities on the ground would be valuable. A visiting pollie, for example, may not have time to include the Irish Club on their itinerary in a single tour. But if they return on more than one occasion the likelihood

Can the Irish government do St. Patrick's Day visits differently? You don't have to be Irish to know that every year around St. Patrick's Day, the President of the United States is presented with a bowl – made of Waterford Crystal – of shamrock by the Irish Taoiseach (PM) in the Oval office in a friendly ceremony in front of the world's media. The custom actually pre-dates John F. Kennedy's presidency by about a decade and was one that started almost by accident but is something that has been embraced by the two country's highest ranking politicians for decades. The outing to the Oval Office however is the exception to the rule for how the Irish government deploys its ministers and representatives around the world for St. Patrick's Day. While it is cast in stone the Taoiseach will be in Washington DC on or close to March 17 meeting the supposed leader of the free world quite where the rest of the cabinet and gov reps end up is a guessing game. In March each year the Department of Foreign Affairs issues a list of which ministers are going where, but the process behind that list is a mystery. We don't know if ministers lobby for their choice of destination or if they are told in no uncertain terms, or if its a free for all, with the 'best' locations snapped up first by the early worms. In any case the junket process should be transparent and open to reform and the Oval Office model where largely the same personalities are involved over a period of time probably has something to recommend it as the way things can be done elsewhere. Like almost everywhere else in the world, over the years Perth has seen a procession of different ministers and junior ministers fly in for the occasion. Every year a new face comes to town on tour and partakes in a number of events and activities during their visit but there is little in the way of consistency. It is impossible to know how much of what they experience in each place sticks. If this year they are in Perth, then next year they could be in Moscow, Bueno Aires or Riga. But what if the policy was that they came back the next year, and the year after that? It would change the nature and quality of these visits significantly. Politicians on these type of trips will always operate to a tight time-frame, but instead of just sailing through once they might actually start to get to know the place, and its people. Within two visits they could build up a cor-

JFK meets with Thomas J. Kiernan, Ambassador of Ireland, March 17, 1961.

of visiting the Club increases significantly. If they knew the club they might take an interest in what happens to it, it would be on their radar and if there was a role the government could play, then the efforts of our consulate in Perth, and others, might have a sympathetic ear in the Irish parliament. Democratically elected politicians represent constituencies and they generally support the idea of towns in their political patch twinning with other parts of the world, so why not have some arrangement – even an informal one – where they adopt or take a special interest in the place they visit for St. Patrick's Day? Pursuing better business and trade links with international markets is a legitimate and necessary part of these trips by visiting ministers should be about. But perhaps they also need to talk about more than just the economy and let people know what the government is doing in relation to the civil and social needs of the Diaspora, or migrants thinking about returning home. The issue of voting rights – starting with the Irish presidential election - for Irish people living overseas for example has been in the pipeline for some years now and no doubt many people would be interested to learn where it is at. After all, on May 18, Aussies living in Ireland will be able to walk into the Australian Embassy in Dublin and cast their vote in the May 18 Federal election. Why can't we do the same here? Red tape and bureaucracy at government and private sector levels – such as recalcitrant insurance firms – are also major road blocks to people returning to Ireland after long periods away. The government has promised to do something about these issues, are they living up to

Greening of Australia

that commitment?

St Patrick's Day around OZ

Celebrating St Patrick’s Day in Australia is easy. Most public houses (bars) turn on the Irish charm for what is one of the busiest days in the vintners trade. Lots of other places such as yacht clubs and student clubs also break out in a green rash for the day for their members. For the ten years that it has been running now landmarks such as Council House in Perth or the sails of the Sydney Opera House as well as hundreds of other landmark buildings around the world have been bathed in green lights for the occasion, as part of the Greening Global initiative. And wherever there are pockets of Irish people chances are there will be some kind of hooley, parade, festival and even mass to help honour the occasion.

Queenslanders were also able to celebrate Irish culture in another way over the weekend of March 17. Starting on March 15 dance group Heart of Ireland staged three performances at The Majestic (Nambour), The Star (Gold Coast) and finally the Kedron-Wavell Services Club (Chemside). Promoters give this description of the show: “Let us take you on a trip a wonderful cultural trip through Ireland. Through the Glens of Antrim, to the Ring of Kerry, we will have heartfelt sing-along ballads, fiery traditional Irish music and dance, delivered by internationally acclaimed Irish band Sasta, a spectacular all star dance troupe, choreographed

• NEW SOUTH WALES •

St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Sydney happened in the shadow of the city’s world famous Harbour Bridge. On March 17 The Rocks precinct was transformed into an Irish village for the day. The parade started at First Fleet Park and ended at Dawes Point Park where the festival was staged. The family friendly event had something for everyone and saw a large number of activities on the day including Irish dancing and language sessions, live bands and DJs, Irish themed crafts, food trucks, bar and a first for the occasion, a citizenship ceremony.

• QUEENSLAND •

The Governor and Premier of Queensland were guests of honour at The Queensland Irish Associations St. Patrick’s Eve dinner at the Pullman Hotel in Brisbane (formerly Crest Hotel) on March 14. Brisbane also had a St Patrick’s Day parade on the Saturday, March 16.

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by former two time world champion Irish dancer Stephen Carolan from Ireland.” Cork Seanachai Irish Joe also gives audiences a taste of old fashioned Irish story telling. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

More than one way to skin a cultural cat

Heart of Ireland claims to be the only cultural group of its kind in Australia but it is not alone. Another

lar stage show has now returned to Australian stages for a limited tour, bigger and better than ever. With incredible new choreography, spell binding magic, heart-racing music and a sensory experience like no other, audiences will be keep on the end of their seats and left wanting more. Since its premier in 2011 the show has performed to sell-out audiences across Australia and New Zealand, with audiences blown away by the combination of scintillating dance and illusion.” Across 22 dates in April Celtic Illusion hit multiple venues in the states of QLD, Victoria and New South Wales. The places they played include; Caloundra, Gympie, Emerald, Charters Towers, Cairns, Innisfall, Bundaberg, Maryborough, Ipswich, Taree, Gold Coast, Dubbo, Orange, Griffith, Wagga Wagga, Leeton, Albury, Benalla, Healesville, Wyndham and Karraklyka. Some of the dancers are veterans of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. “The show is led by Australia’s very own Anthony Street, the first Australian to perform leading roles in Michael Flately’s widely acclaimed Lord of the Dance, including the very role that Michael Flatley originally performed himself.” ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Bendigo also celebrated an older St. Patrick’s Day tradition about a month earlier, on February 16 the 2019 Phil Palma Bendigo Ford Marong Cup at the Bendigo Jockey Club. This cup was once the fixture for the St. Patrick’s Day race meeting, and while the date may have changed, its purpose has not. It remains a fundraiser event for Catholic schools in the region. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• SOUTH AUSTRALIA •

Unlike some other parts of Australia - including Perth - which held their official St. Patrick’s Day festivities on March 16, the Adelaide Irish Club and community celebrated the occasion on March 17 itself. With a seating capacity of 53,500 and grassed area of 2100 square metres Adelaide Oval provided the venue and facilities for locals there to have a good time, starting at 11am and going until late. “We welcome all friends and families to come along and enjoy a day of fun, including a great mix of traditional food, drinks, music and

• VICTORIA •

‘unique’ dance troupe has been on the road recently, but a bit late for St. Patrick’s Day. 'Celtic Illusion' is a dance and magical illusion sensation that has been taking Australian audiences by storm,” the show’s own promotional site says. “Cleverly fusing electrifying modern Irish dance with mind-blowing magic and grand illusions, the spectacu-

The aptly named Hotel Shamrock in Bendigo provided the main venue for their St. Patrick’s Day activities. The craic began on the Staurday with live music but really ramped up several musicians and groups, including dancers, performing to what looked like a busy pub. According to the Central Victorian Irish Association’s Facebook site, Hotel Shamrock is also home to regular Shamrock Sessions where musicians can come together and belt out a good trad tune or two. The CVIA also organised a St. Patrick’s Day mass on the big day itself at St. Therese’s, Kennington. “Attending this Mass would be an ideal way to commemorate this most important Irish and Irish Australian feast day,” the association said. 10 10

dance,” said Irish Australian Chairperson, Kevin Neeson (in the run up to the event). Festival co-ordinator Geraldine O’Reilly said there was something for everyone, young or old, to enjoy. “The event is now more like a community festival, with opportunities for patrons to learn an Irish jig, try an Irish instrument, play Gaelic football, plus be in with a chance to win some amazing prizes.” Just 400 metres from the city’s CBD and well connected to public transport the Oval makes a good venue for a big event like this and looks like it was well attended. It also has a little bit of form. Adelaide Oval was also the

TERRITORY • If

venue for the first series between Ireland and Australia in November 2017, a week before the second game of that competition was played at Subiaco Oval. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL

you wanted to pull (and then drink) a pint of Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day in the ACT the Irish Club there was the place to be. The club has some 5,000 members but like the Irish Club in Perth is going through very tough financial times and fighting for its existence. Despite the problems facing them, the Clubs (here and there) were no doubt the ideal place to mark the occasion. The Canberra club organised a full day of Irish song, dance, fun and frolics, including a “Perfect Pint” competition in which for $2 punters get to pour their own stout and the chance to win $50. Doors opened at 8am and kicked off with Irish fry from Molly Blooms bistro at the Club and good Irish fare all day long. ––––––––––––––-----------------------

• TASMANIA •

Wesbury in Tasmania might be called a “quintessentially English village in Northern Tasmania” but it was distinctly Irish for St. Patrick’s Day this year. It is named after Westbury, south of Bath in the UK, and and its origins date back to the early 19th century and was as a British army garrison village. It is claimed that the Westbury Village Green, with its elms, oaks and chestnut trees, is the only true village green in Australia. But the picturesque spot has for many years also been home to celebrations for the patron saint of Ireland. Planning reasons prevented it from going ahead last year apparently but organisers successfully pulled off the event in 2019. “We want it to be a family friendly festival,” said secretary Amanda Taylor. “The event’s new steering group is working hard to recreate a village festival that celebrates Westbury’s Irish heritage with an emphasis on folk tradition and rural activities.” Westbury was settled by many

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Irish immigrants and convicts such as Richard Dry. The first settlers were mainly Irish ex-convicts, retired soldiers and free settlers. By 1850 it was the latest military community in Tasmania.. Richard Dry was the largest landowner in Westbury. An ex-convict through political exile, he helped many Irish people set up in Westbury. His son became the first native born Premier of Tasmania. –––––––––––––––--------------

• NORTHERN TERRITORY •

About 6% of the population of Darwin identified as Irish in the 2016 Australian census, so the place has a resident Irish community. The NT Irish Association got together for the occasion at the city’s Trailer Boat Club by the sea. A gang of Irish and their friends got together for a beach party and the Associations AGM, complete with live Irish music and entertainment. The Rince na hÉireann Darwin Irish Dance Association was very busy on the day. The troupe started the day by performing for the residents of three nursing homes and then during the day for multiple shows at the Precinct Tavern and Shenannigans Irish Pub as well as at the annual St Patrick’s day races held at the Darwin Turf Club.

CEILE AND SET

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fervour of angels. On Sunday morning during mass we stood tall as we sang. Each week after choir practice we would pour out on to the street and since it was summer the long bright evenings meant we still had some time to play our usual games before going home. All of us kids lived within walking distance of the church and school in crowded conditions in inner city Dublin. One bright summer evening just a few weeks after the choir was formed, when we left practice, a group of us congregated outside a local dairy a short distance from my home. A couple of children had some pennies to spend so we all trooped into the shop to help the buyers make a selection of what goodies to buy. As we were a large group this did not endear the shop keeper to us but in an area with such a large population of children this was not unusual. Once the purchases were made, we returned to our position outside the shop. As we stood there several members of the group were laughing and exchanging childish taunts. I have no memory of what was said but suddenly a boy on the outer edge of the group stooped down picked up a stone and threw it, aiming at me. Although this took me by surprise, I quickly moved to avoid being hit by the stone which landed on the pavement at my feet. Just as quickly I picked it up and threw it back. It caught the boy on the forehead and blood began pouring from the small wound. He started to cry as those closest to him tried to stop the flow of blood. I stood on the outer fringes of the group shaking with fear; this was not good I would be in big trouble. I was not mistaken; no modern-day electronic media method could have outdone the speed with which the news spread; Marie had thrown a stone at Peter and slashed his head open. By the time I arrived at school the next morning everyone knew what had happened. My mother was distraught and believed she would never again be able to hold her head up in the local community. My fate was sealed, I was not allowed to return to the choir. The fact that it was Peter who threw the first stone was ignored by all.

By Marie Moloney It was a day that began just like any other day, it was also the day that started the ball rolling toward a memory that would stay engraved in my mind for a lifetime? I was about eleven years old at the time and it was midmorning during our English class that one of the priests from our parish church next door came into the classroom at our school. After being greeted warmly by Miss Holey, our teacher, he informed us of plans to start a children’s mixed choir to sing at mass on Sundays and asked for expressions of interest. My heart jumped for joy as my hand shot up to volunteer. Both my parents could do justice to a good song, their voices often heard singing Galway Bay, I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen or my mother’s favourite Loch Lomond. Singing had always been a love of mine, often I would sing as I walked along the streets around my home. I knew that I was not blessed with a good singing voice, but I was not prepared to allow that little detail prevent my being in the choir. Along with several other girls I was accepted and told to be at the church the following evening for the first practice. Overjoyed that my place in the choir was secured, my next task was to persuade my mother to allow me to take part. I did think of not telling her about my involvement, but of course this was not an option as in a community such as ours keeping anything secret would be impossible. My mother was nervous about me being in the choir, which of course was not surprising as she was nervous about everything. I persisted as this was my chance to belong, to be like my friends, she finally agreed. We met in the church where we were joined by a number of boys from the boy’s school next door the priest was our choir master. With hindsight I am sceptical about his experience in this area, but his enthusiasm was beyond reproach. Our efforts sounded reasonable in this beautiful old church with its thick grey stone walls. We practiced To Jesus Heart All Burning, I’ll Sing a Hymn to Mary, Hail Queen of Heaven and many others with the

Dublin Saunter

I've been North and I've been South I've been East and West I've been just a rolling stone Yet there's one place on this earth I've always loved the best Just a little town I call my own Oh Dublin town be heaven with coffee at eleven And a stroll on Stephen's Green There is no need to hurry, there is no need to worry You're a king and the lady's a queen You're off to see the wonderland there's magic in the air There's diamond's in the lady's eyes and daisies in her hair If you don't believe me come yourself to meet me There in Dublin on a sunny summer morning 13

Billy McNeill Tribute

Photos from Perth Celtic Supporters Convention 2008

VALE Billy McNeill William McNeill MBE passed away on 22 April 2019. He was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic FC, spanning more than 60 years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained the 'Lisbon Lions' to their European Cup victory in 1967 and later spent two spells as the club's manager. As a player and manager combined, he won 31 major trophies with Celtic.

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A defender, McNeill (The One Team Player) played for Celtic for his entire senior career, and holds the club record for most appearances, a total of 822 games over 18 seasons. He was captain during their most successful era in the 1960s and 70s. Celtic won nine consecutive Scottish league championships and thirteen other major domestic trophies in this time, and in 1967 became the first British club to win the European Cup. He also played 29 times for Scotland.

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Billy managed Celtic for nine seas-ons, from 1978 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991, winning four Scottish league championships. This included a league and cup double in 1987–88, the club's centenary season. He also managed Clyde, Aberdeen, Manchester City and Aston Villa. In 2015 Celtic installed a statue outside Celtic Park of McNeill holding aloft the European Cup, an iconic image in their history.

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Billy visited Perth back in 2008 for the Perth Celtic Supporters Convention. The photos on the opposite page will show that Billy was a man of the people and was loved by Celtic supporters worldwide. The Rangers supporters acknowledged Billy at a recent match by giving him a standing ovation.

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I had the pleasure of seeing Billy play in Cork in the late 60s, when the Lisbon Lions were in their prime. I reminded Billy of this during his Perth visit and was delighted to give him my Aboriginal design tie which he took a fancy to. He was an absolute gentleman and to have met him is a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life.

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Catalpa Rescue COMMEMORATION tapped into something special By Lloyd Gorman The irony and symbolism of the Premier Mark McGowan and Governor Kim Beasley joining the Irish Australian community at a AIHA event in Rockingham on April 22 to mark the historic Catalpa escape of six Irish Fenian prisoners was not lost on the sense of occasion. “If as they were pulling away from the shore in that whaling boat by some cosmic means they could look into the future and see that in the future there would be an Easter Monday in 2019 and what is now there where we have left, a monument, to us?,” Australian historian Peter Fitzsimons said. “And what is this, the Irish flag, this is the flag we’ve risked our lives for…and…is that the premier - the most powerful political figure in the state - honouring us…and the thing that would probably most stun them is that the governor of the state that we have fled from is here, because 143 years ago he wanted soldiers and muskets to blow them out of the water is here today 143 years later honouring us.” The entertaining idea tickled the very large crowd that had gathered for the annual occasion, which also doubled up this year as the official launch of Mr FitzSimon’s latest offering, ‘The Catalpa Rescue’. “I’ve had a few book launches in my life, 31 or 32, but I’ve never remotely had anything like this , there’s never been a greater sense of history for me for any book launch I’ve been a part of and I invite you to think of the six brave men who raced down that little track as it was, got into that whale boat and pulled away to freedom, breathing the fresh air of freedom for the first time in well over a decade.” The importance of what happened at that spot in April 1876 was highlighted by one of the guest speakers, Premier Mark McGowan. He said that when he was abroad he liked to visit places where historically important events happened, particularly involving Australians. But here was one that was of world class significance just down the street from the houses of many people gathered there for the remembrance, including his own. Mr McGowan said he had literally spent the entire Easter break reading a copy of The Catalpa Rescue that Peter Fitzsimons had given him. He was minister for tourism in the mid 1990’s when he attended the unveiling of the Wild Geese sculpture - by WA based Irish sculptors Charlie and Joan Walsh. “If a story had developed in Dublin, gone to New York, United States, involved the authorities and Prime Minister in London and involved the escape of six political prisoners in an international incident that could have caused war between two of the greatest nations of the world, if that happened in Sydney Harbour, everybody would know about it…but now

people will know about it because Peter has written this marvellous tale in his book.” The story of 'The Trials John Boyle O'Reilly' was brought to life by a vivid re-enactment by Mike Anthony Sheehy, working of a script penned by local playwright and writer Noel O’Neill. Ormonde Og Waters - the son of the late historian and Fenians historian Ormonde Waters - invoked an atmospheric mood with his uilleann pipes, Sean Roche performed 'The Catalpa', a song that is still banned in Western Australia today, while a passionate reading by Frank Murphy and comments from Heather Deighan of the Australia Irish Heritage Association also added to the unique feeling and impact of the day.

Training recruits at the academy isn’t quite the same. “When you are doing it in gyms or for yourself you have paying customers and you are looking for member retention. But with the police they are paid to be there and there is a turnover of recruits every six months, so its a bit different. We see them from when they come in and take the test to apply and we see them right through their journey.” The academy is a gym junkies paradise. Campus facilities include a social club, indoor sports hall with two squash courts and separate handball alley, a 25-metre swimming pool, fully equipped gymnasium and associated leisure facilities. Conor is responsible for a squad of recruits, which typically has 20 people in it. From time to time an Irish face will go through the academy but as it happens his current squad has a particularly strong Irish make up. “I have three Irish, two from Dublin and one from just outside Belfast. The Irish guys are generally pretty good,

Police Academy BOOT CAMP STYLE By Lloyd Gorman

Northern Ireland man Conor Quinn spends his working days whipping new police recruits into shape. Conor is one of five physical trainers (PT’s) at the Western Australia Police Academy in Joondalup. On any given day he will be putting the men and women in his squad through their paces, jumping fences, giving chase trying to catch him and doing exercises. Making sure they are fit to hit the streets and meet the demands put on them is not just physical Conor said. “It varies what we do but there’s a lot of mental stuff attached to it too, about keeping them on their toes, about getting them mentally stronger as well,” Conor said. “It's getting them into that mindset that they are going to be called into situations where they have to know what they are doing mentally - even though they are potentially exhausted from a foot chase and have jumped a load of fences - and can read somebody their rights and get everything right.” They do this in part by putting the new recruits through practice runs of typical crime and emergency scenarios they are likely to face in a ‘mock village’, a replica suburban village setting. As part of the exercise officers are sent into a situation - such as arresting a shoplifter - which includes them trying to catch Conor, and the other PT’s, who take the place of a fleeing suspect. After a good run the officers are then expected to finish the scenario correctly and competently. “Its a bit of a laugh as well,” said Conor. He has been doing it for nearly five years now but is ten years living and working in Perth. He studied sports science at University of Ulster Jordonstown and has always enjoyed sports, having played Gaelic with St. Enda’s in Glengormley, near Belfast, and “a bit of soccer”. His first job was working for Subiaco Council in its sports and fitness centre, Lords. He then spent four years working with the Step into Life gym franchise.

you find the Irish are maybe a little more streetwise than the Aussies and they have the ould gift of the gab so they are good at the talking scenarios.” Conor and his PT colleagues were all on hand at the Police Expo at the academy on March 22. “It was a matter of showing the public what’s involved with the fitness side of things - such as agility test, strength component, grip strength etc - and answering questions but we didn’t do the ‘big test’ because there were too many people.” A whopping 15,000 people turned out for the day to get a look behind the scenes at the training centre. Units including the mounted police, canine unit, public order and even the police helicopter were pressed into action for the public event. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

MARATHON MAN ON A MISSION

Conor practices what he preaches, inside and outside the academy. As well demanding a high standard of fitness of himself and others in the workplace he puts himself to the test in his personal life. In the last few

QUIET AS YOU CAN PLEASE

years he has taken part in 28 marathons and five ultras in different countries. Next on his list is an extraordinary event, the 2019 777 marathon. “Basically I’ll be running seven marathons in seven states in seven days, starting in Perth,” he said. “I’m running to raise awareness and funds for Bravehearts, the Australian charity dedicated to preventing the crime of child sexual abuse. With this challenge I hope to raise funds to support BraveHearts to educate, empower and protect Australian children from sexual assault as well as raise awareness as others follow my journey. I believe we need adults to step up and prioritise the safety of our most vulnerable members of the community. I was fortunate to have been brought up in a household that never suffered any form of abuse. This journey is for those that have suffered and continue to do so.” The gruelling challenge takes place between July 1-7 (starting in Perth on July 1, then travel to Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney before ending at the Gold Coast Marathon on July 7) with a maximum of 30 runners. Each one of them commits to raising at least

$10,000 for the prevention of child sexual assault. This amount means that 833 children get into Bravehearts personal safety program, or 133 crisis calls to a help line are responded to professionally or 66 kids get a counselling session or 200 people get online or a combination of these services. Conor is looking for sponsors (can be any amount/ in kind support or take the form of a bronze, silver or gold sponsorship package. Further details at https://sna.etapestry.com/fundraiser/ Bravehearts/777national2019/individual. do?participationRef=1225.0.1280046925 or conorquinn1@hotmail.com or 0404202555. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Joondalup was chosen - and announced - as the location for the new Western Australia Police Academy which was formerly based at Midland because it had West Coast College of TAFE and Edith Cowan University on its door step by the state government on May 17, 2000 as an “open educational campus”. It officially opened on February 15 2002. The academy cost $47 million and was built by the same builders of the nearby Lakeside Shopping Centre, which opened in 1994. When full the academy has a population of 500 people - staff and students -and sits on an 8.7 hectare site and its facilities include a 25m firing range, chapel, fake court, swimming pool, ‘scenario village’ - complete with a service station, bank, fast food outlet, single and two-storey houses, retail shops, a police station and a park - and parade grounds. At time of construction and opening the only nearby neighbours of the academy about 70 metres away - were student blocks at Edith Cowan University but construction of houses in the area had begun (also about 70 metres away). Because people would be living in such close proximity to the training centre planners said there would be a need to try and lim-

it the amount of noise coming from the facility, but in particular the gun range, parade ground and scenario village. The firing range was acoustically designed to control noise emissions but the parade ground where recruits are drilled and the mock suburban village with its real life scenarios and crime situations and all the activity that goes with that were a different story. As well as the police other agencies would also use the village for their purposes, so it was going to be busy and often noisy. Each time the village is used WA Police have to have a noise management plan in place. Nearby homes and premises considered to be “noise sensitive…resulting from activities at the Scenario Village” where noise levels are likely to be above normal acceptable standards had to have monitoring checks put in place, and checked by an independent consultant. It might surprise many to learn that WA Police are one of the biggest employers of actors in the state and has spent at least $3 million buying their services since the academy opened. Last November, for example, WA Police signed a $1.5 million five year contract: “for the provision of actors for scenario based training for the

WA Police Academy. The actors are required to provide ‘real life’ scenario training to police recruits.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------

THE GARDAI FACTORY

Around the same time the WA Police Academy was starting to take shape at its new home in Joondalup, the main training facility for Irish police also resembled a building site. Templemore in Co. Tipperary has been the ‘Garda College’ since 1964 (before then recruits (police) were trained at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park (the Depot). According to the Templemore website on 14 February, recruits and staff left the Phoenix Park Depot, which had been used for training recruits since 1842, and marched to Heuston Railway Station and boarded a train called the ‘Templemore Special’. On 21 February, the Garda Training Centre was officially opened by then justice minister Charles J. Haughey, and Commissioner Dan Costigan. Templemore was originally an army barracks which was used to hold thousands of German Prisoners of War during World War 1 - built in 1815 (when Napolean was making a nuisance of himself in Europe). The historic institution underwent major development

Tyrone take you home Let

built by craftsmen

which finished in 2001 to make it one of the most modern in Europe. The Garda College sits on eight hectares and can accommodate 520 people. As well as the lecture theatres and other educational facilities you would expect to find at any training academy Templemore also has has three tennis courts – designed and floodlit to international championship standards and a sportsfield complex for full size Gaelic games, soccer and rugby pitches and changing rooms, first aid room, weights room and facilities for officials. Campus facilities include a social club, indoor sports hall with two squash courts and separate handball alley, a 25-metre swimming pool, fully equipped gymnasium with accompanying leisure facilities. Templemore doesn’t have its own scenario village, but it does have a mock Garda station, courtroom and scenes of crime room for real life situation training. Just in case you were wondering, Garda cadet training takes 34 weeks while their WA law enforcement counterparts take a 28 week course. 19

OLD COP SHOP GETS THE CHOP

Hundreds of retired and serving Gardai gathered about this time last year in Dublin to witness the closure of a Garda station with a remarkable history. The Last Post was bugled and the Irish flag lowered as Ireland’s longest operational station - Kevin Street shut its doors for the final time on May 15. Kevin Street had been a Garda station since the foundation of the Irish State but had been used by the Dublin Metropolitan Police before them. In total its cells had been filled with criminals for 200 years. The incredible thing is that it's two centuries as a police station came after its 600 year history as the official residence of Archbishop of Dublin’s, a palace with a grisly and medieval secret. In those times the Archbishop was also a judge and had the power of life and death

his mind with worry my father burst through the main doors of the reception area about to burst out a frenzied message that he had lost his small child. But even before he could get the words out the Garda behind the counter did some quick detective work about his plight. “Is this what you are looking for?,” the Garda said, as he bent down behind the desk and hoisted a five year old boy onto the counter. I was too young to remember of it, but it was an incident my father will never forget.

"The Final Inspection"

The policeman stood and faced his God, Which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining. Just as brightly as his brass. "Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To My church have you been true?" The policeman squared his shoulders and said, "No, Lord, I guess I ain't, Because those of us who carry badges can't always be a saint. I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my talk was rough, and sometimes I've been violent, Because the streets are awfully tough. But I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep.... Though I worked a lot of overtime When the bills got just too steep. And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place Among the people here. They never wanted me around Except to calm their fear. If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, But if you don't.....I'll understand. There was silence all around the throne Where the saints had often trod. As the policeman waited quietly, For the judgment of his God. "Step forward now, policeman, You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in hell."

over those who appeared before him. Condemned prisoners were hanged on the grounds and their bodies thrown into a sixty foot deep well that carried their bodies into the River Poddle. But not every story associated with the place had an unhappy ending. If readers can forgive a personal indulgence, this writer has a little childhood association with this particular Garda station. I was born and lived in the Liberties for my early years. My family lived in a little mews (converted stable) in Marks Alley in the Coombe and one day as a toddler I

went for a spin on my trike. Whatever happened I escaped my parents attention and went awol, causing an understandable panic for a young mum and dad. They must have been desperately concerned. My dad ran as fast as he could to the Kevin Street station. It was close enough, but still at least a few hundred metres away and on the other side of the busy junction between Patrick Street and The Coombe road. By now probably out of

Author Unknown

20 20

Photos: Tony Synnott 2121

A black and white history of Guinness in Oz By Lloyd Gorman Rod does some serious research for

Perth enjoys at least two notable the book at St Jame's Gate Dublin milestones - about a hundred years apart - in the long history of Irewith the crew lucky to be rescued. land’s best known beverage in AusAccording to the WA Maritime Mutralia, which is explored in some seum - which has more details and detail in a fascinating new book, information about the shipwreck Guinness Down Under, written by “Heavy seas were breaking over the former Evening Post reporter Rod vessel and the cargo had begun to Smith. burst through the hatches.” It is interesting but perhaps One of the illustrations in Guinnot totally surprising to learn that ness Down Under is of a bill of the black stuff has been coming to landing for the Sepia from 1891 Australia for a very long time now including a cargo of beer, probably and has always been highly sought Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. “A after. The yarn of one of those early similar cargo was on the Sepia shipments illustrates the point when it sank off Fremantle eight perfectly. The Sepia was a A diver recovers a relic three-masted barque was a from the Sepia. well known trading vessel on the London to Fremantle run Image courtesy of WA in the late 19th century. It left Maritime the UK - on what would be its Museum final voyage (is there a name for the opposite of a maiden voyage?) - to the Western Australian colony on 14 September 1898, with a crew of 12 and a mixed cargo of 1,200 years later,” the book states. “The tonnes, worth up to £1,400. The boxes of Guinness were recovjourney went as it should, right up ered after six months underwater, until the final minutes of the three checked and released onto the marmonth long haul. The Sepia was ket. The product is reported to have just 2.9km offshore from Fremantasted good.” tle when the barge struck a subThis remarkable story highlights merged rock between Carnac and how far people at the time were Garden Islands. The vessel sank prepared to go to get a Guinness. to the seabed within ten minutes, We know for example – thanks to 23

an underwater site survey of the ships cargo stowage area carried out by the WA Maritime Museum – that much of the commodities it was carrying are still there. They say when a resource becomes rare its value – and demand – increases exponentially. The story of a team of divers – who would have worked in those old fashioned brass diving helmets – going in to save bottles of Guinness from a watery grave sounds like the kind of scenario the drinkers maker would feature in one of its iconic TV advertisements. Interestingly, all consignments of Guinness would continue to come to Australia in bottles for nearly the next hundred years. When things changed, they changed right here in Perth, in the Irish Club in Subiaco to be precise. Guinness Down Under tells us that bottled Guinness was was distributed through liquor merchants and in 1982 Tooheys opened a warehouse in Melbourne and introduced draught to the local market. “In Western Australia one keen publican offered to buy his own kegs if Tooheys would just fill them up for him. By 1981 the demand in Perth had intensified to the point where the Irish Club arranged for two 18-gallon kegs to be supplied through local liquor merchants Johnson & Johnson. It seems the club didn’t have the best dispensing equipment, without which the product would not perform to requirements after about twenty-four hours. The first pints were pulled for a trial the night before St. Patrick’s Day in March 1981, much to the delight of club staff. The next evening there was a queue outside the door and the kegs were empty within four hours. Regular shipments were soon arranged. Local bars were also supplied kegs, which took three days by road from Sydney, and despite concerns about heat the product arrived in good condition; however a good deal on freight was essential to make the business work.” It must have been quite a night

in the Irish Club. If you were there please get in touch, it would be great to get a first hand account of that time. The 1980’s were a time of steady sales for Guinness and for a time most of the Irish stout sold in Australia came under the control of one of WA’s greatest businessmen. “In March 1980 Tooheys merged with Queensland’s Castlemaine brewery, to form Castlemaine Tooheys,” Guinness Down Under says. “Meanwhile 4000 kilometres away on the other side of Australia an ambitious entrepreneur Alan Bond was expanding his empire. In 1982 he bought Swan Brewery in Perth and three years later mounted Australia’s largest corporate takeover to that date, putting up $1.2 billion to buy Castlemain Tooheys. In September 1985 the deal was done and Bond controlled virtually half of the Australian beer market - WA, QLD, and NSW. name was changed to Bond Brewing Ltd.” Just as a good pint of Guinness should be given time to pour and settle, Guinness Down Under the book has taken Rod 15 years to research and write. It started out as a research project into his wife’s connection to the Guinness family, starting with her great grandmother Sarah Anne Guinness, who travelled to Melbourne and stayed, but expanded into an all encompassing chronicle of the Guinness family and their famous stout who came to Australia and New Zealand, the first of its typo ever to be attempted. A thoroughly good read and informative from start to finish.

“Ta Siad at Teacht”

Irish Scene readers of a certain vintage who lived in Ireland during the 1980’s might remember a famous TV Guinness commercial. The 49 second ad – called The Island – shows a Currach being rowed across the sea while a bunch of island men sit pensively in a small cottage pub waiting for the precious cargo of a keg of the black

stuff to arrive. The only words spoken in the whole clip are “Ta Siad at Teacht” [They are coming] as the men rush out the door to the beach to meet the new arrival. [The commercial is easy to find online, Google “The Island and Guinness”]. As it happens there was a similar scene here in Perth about twenty years ago. JB O’Reilly’s pub in

NO PLASTIC, THAT’S FANTASTIC Bob Katter enjoying a pint with Paul at JBs Cambridge Street, West Leederville, is packed with Irish and sporting antiques, memorabilia and curious. The biggest of them all is a currach that hangs from the ceiling in the main bar area. It was one of two JB’s owner Paul North made with the help of a friendly customer from Canadian maple, pine, hessian and tar. Paul recalled the adventure to Irish Scene. “We took the first keg of Guinness to Rottnest in it, it was just after the Good Friday Agreement [10 April 1998,” he said. We rowed over, two Irish men and two Englishmen.” When they landed at the island they were met by an officious police officer who told them they couldn’t take it on shore. “I said I had passed it by the Superintendent, by the Rottnest Island Authority, by the pub, by the marine people and eventually he allowed us to take it. One of the guys was going up the hill with the big gas cylinder with beer gas written all over it and the copper said “where are you going with that?” and he said [in a thick Cork accent] “to do a bit of scuba diving tomorrow, boy!”. I nearly died laughing when he said that.” 24

On April 15 2019 Guinness owner Diageo made an announcement that sent major news organisations around the world into a spin. Diageo said it would phase out the use of plastic packaging from multipacks of Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks and other drinks and replace them with 100% recyclable and biodegradable cardboard packs. It had spent 16 million pounds on the scheme to reduce the amount of plastic – particularly single use plastics – in its products. Less than 5% of its packaging is plastic and the company said the move would cut back usage by more than 400 tonnes annually, the equivalent of 40m 50cl plastic bottles. The new packaging will come into use in Ireland first, in August, and will be rolled out to the UK and international markets in 2020. Individual cans produced by Diageo are already fully recyclable, including the plastic widget inside cans of draught Guinness. The widget – which gives drink from a can its smooth head – was a Guinness innovation launched in the late 1980’s.

I wrote to the 'Guinness Book of Records' and told them that I had a flat piece of plastic with a hole in the middle and multiple grooves. My question for them was, "Is this a record?"

TONY TONY O’GORMAN O’GORMAN FOR FOR MOORE MOORE Invest in WA hospitals and health services Invest in WAthe hospitals and health services by reversing Liberals’ $77 million cuts to WAreversing hospitals.the Liberals’ $77 million cuts to by

WA Givehospitals. every Western Australian child a world class education by investing $25.56 million into schools in Moore. Give every Western Australian child a world class

education by investing million schools Put WA workers first by$25.56 creating moreinto local jobs, increasing in Moore. wages and restoring penalty rates. And we’ll pay for our plan by making banks WA workers first creating jobs, and Put multinationals paybytheir fair more sharelocal of tax.

increasing wages and restoring penalty rates.

And we’ll pay for our plan by making banks and multinationals pay their fair share of tax.

A FAIR GO WA Authorised by M.Dixon, Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch), 54 Cheriton St, Perth WA 6000 25

R eview

With Lloyd Gorman

They're good folk at Fairbridge

Everyone in Western Australia should experience the Fairbridge Festival at least once. That’s all it will take to get the bug for what must be one of the most chilled and entertaining events on the WA calendar. Over the course of three days in late April each year the historic and picturesque area of Pinjarra - just over an hour south of the doorstep of Perth - becomes the epicentre of the Australian folk and traditional scene. From the moment you arrive to the time you leave Fairbridge generously offers as much - or as little - as you want to take on. From early until late every day dozens of local, Australian and international acts occupy any of the multiple stages where festival goers are free to come or go as they please, to snack or gorge on the live acts as they desire. The red brick church at the heart of the whole festival also has some amazing acoustics and is a great indoor venue as well as a place to rest. Spread out over an area big enough to be broken into various different zones but small enough to be intimate and compact. Walking around might be the only way to get around it, but it is also the best way to discover the tucked

away secret and cosy spots dotted around the grounds. You are also bound to bump into somebody you know, and also make new friends. Nothing needs to be said about the quantity and quality of the acts playing at Fairbridge, they are all passionate and dedicated performers in their own fields, and each one is curated for what they can bring to the festival overall. [I will make one exception to this rule on the grounds that they are the only fully Irish act I’m aware of who played Fairbridge this year. Jig Jam are a talented foursome from Offally, in the midlands of Ireland. Their well crafted brand of Irish, folk and traditional music - akin to Mumford and Sons - was a crowd pleaser and

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highlight of the festival for many, who attended any (or all) of their three gigs.] Day trippers can get a lot out of a visit but when night falls the festival vibe ramps up and moves into a different league again. The music is the main reason why Fairbridge exists but the experience is so much more. Walking through the gates into the festival is a bit like stepping off the ferry to Rottnest. The relaxed vibe kicks in immediately and embraces everyone who comes. Throughout the day you will see people painting and drawing and drama groups who add a different quality to the creative mix. There are areas and free activities for children and young people and teenagers and families. One of the greatest things about the festival is the opportunity it presents children - even very young kids - to busk. The main path through the festival area is lined with juveniles and juniors all singing, playing or dancing, with caps on the ground in front of them. One tip, if you want to encourage the next generation, bring plenty of change. There’s a bar - where the chances of finding an impromptu session are quite good - heaps of food trucks offering every kind of

Whether you have been to Fairbridge or are considering going, there is a film you should watch. Three Summers is a 2017 Australian movie about the festival (Westival) over three consecutive years. Like the festival itself it is a little Australian cracker that gives you a great feel for the event. It has a great storyline and cast of some of the best actors around (Michael Caton/Magda Szubanski) but it is also in many ways an “Irish” story about two of the main characters Roland (Robert Sheehan) and Keevey (Rebecca Breeds). Three Summers is well worth 95 minutes of anyone’s attention and could well be the first step to becoming a faithful Fairbridge Festival follower.

fare and places to sit down and eat. The best way to get the most out of the event is to camp there and hundreds of tents, motor homes, vans and an assortment of other temporary accommodation pop up around the fringes of the festival area. For those who need it there is the option to go glamping and some guest houses, which are mainly occupied by the musicians. Everything is well organised, laid out and structured but should you need anything or have a question there are always a large number of tee-shirted volunteers on hand to help. Festival HQ and the shop are two of the main places you can go for help and everyone is friendly and helpful. Nearly three decades old now there is a sense that this festival has developed a strong identity and sense of itself.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2019

Irish Famine Commemoration

Sunday 19th May at An Gorta Mor Memorial Market Square, Subiaco at 3pm (ALL WELCOME) Followed by refreshments at The Irish Club

Visit www.waifc.org for details of Memorial

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In the worst hour of the worst season of the worst year of a whole people a man set out from the workhouse with his wife. He was walking-they were both walking-north. She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up. He lifted her and put her on his back. He walked like that west and north. Until at nightfall under freezing stars they arrived.

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In the morning they were both found dead. Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history. But her feet were held against his breastbone. The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her. Let no love poem ever come to this threshold. There is no place here for the inexact praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body. There is only time for this merciless inventory:

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Their death together in the winter of 1847. Also what they suffered. How they lived. And what there is between a man and a woman. And in which darkness it can best be proved.

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STORY OF IRELAND, SUNDAY MAY 5, 19, June 9, 23 and July 7 at 3pm We present a series of five lectures titled ‘The Story of Ireland’, meticulously researched, beautifully filmed and a definitive account of Ireland’s remarkable past. This is not a list of dates and battle types of history experience redolent of school-day history lessons. Presenter Fergal Keane from Cork, one of RTE’s and the BBC’s noted presenters, travels across three continents, tracing the events, the people and influences that shaped modern Ireland. If you didn’t study history at school, or did and hated it, this series of presentations will educate and delight you. If your memory of history lessons was dull and boring and sleep inducing, this will change your mind and should not be missed. Irish Club Theatre, Subiaco Presenter Introduction and concluding discussion moderated by Denis Bratton $10 pay door / incl Irish a/noon tea Bloomsday 2019 Mark your diary for Saturday June 15 to celebrate the great works of James Joyce centred on his classic novel ‘Ulysses’. Details will follow in May Mary Durack Lecture Sunday July 21, 2 to 5 pm, Irish Club Theatre, Subiaco Amanda Curtin, author of ‘Kathleen O’Connor of Paris’ – daughter of CY O’Connor. Includes afternoon tea WEBSITE AIHA new Website goes live in May with new interactive media and photo gallery. We acknowledge support of Lottery West.

Australian-Irish Heritage Association BRENDAN AWARD Soon to be announced – Brendan Award recipient for 2019 will be announced in June. WRITERS PRIZE COMPETITIONS FOR 2019 The Joe O’Sullivan Writers’ Prize honouring the memory of the Organisation’s late founder, worth $1,000, limit of 2,000 to 4,000 words prose, fact or fiction. Open to residents of WA only Topic: “Memories”. Joyce Parkes Women’s Writers’ Prize This award honours Joyce Parkes who is a well-known poet living in WA. She is the patron of the prize, which aims at promoting and encouraging women writers in Australia. Limit of 1,000 to 2,000 words – Prose, fact or fiction. Prize Money: $500 Topic: “If Only” Entrance Fee $10 for all competitions. Deadline 31 August, 2017. Enquiries to Denis Bratton 9345 3530 Winner of Joyce Parkes Writers Prize for 2018 was Freya Cox. Peta Shaw was the winner of the Joe O’Sullivan Writers’ prize

THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB Meets fourth Tuesday of the month with exception of December. At 8pm Irish Club Committee Room, Subiaco May 28: ‘Boy Swallows Universe’ by Trent Dalton June 25: ‘The Great Wide Open’ by Douglas Kennedy Free. All welcome. Light refreshments provided. Tea / coffee from the Bar $2 Contact: Convener Mary Purcell Catalpa Memorial Commemoration on Easter Monday Rockingham

THE JOURNAL The Journal is issued Quarterly to members only and the latest edition was mailed out in April

Be proud of your Irish heritage Australian-Irish Heritage Association - Non Political Non Sectarian Emphatically Australian PO Box 1583, Subiaco 6904 Secretary: 08 9367 6026 Treasurer: 08 9345 3530 Email: aiha@irishheritage.net Web Page: www.irishheritage.net Look us up on Facebook Membership Due 1st January – Family $65, Concession $55, Distant (200kms from Perth) $45 Membership fee includes tax deductible donation of $20 Check out events on http://www.irishscene.com.au/calendar-of-events.html 29

heavily on this crop, and when disaster struck in the form of the blight, their one and only source of food was destroyed. Apart from milk, they had nothing else, as knowledge of the cultivation and cooking of other crops was unknown to them. The rivers and seas were also full of fish, but the tragedy was that nobody knew how to fish. By literally having to place all of their eggs in one basket, they could not hope to emerge as survivors when the blight struck continuously from 1845 to 1847.

By Bill Daly

In the early hours of morning, about two to three times per week, I walk from my house to the village of Oughterard, Galway. Along the way I pass the old famine graveyard. It looks like any other field in this part of Connemara, a bit stony and boggy. The hundreds of people buried here have no names or markers to distinguish their time on this planet. The sole occupant of the field is an ageing white horse, and as I give him his morning treat of carrots, I say a little prayer in memory of the forgotten people buried here. This morning, I started to reflect on why they ended up here in this lonely field. Between 1780 and the Census of 1841 the population of Ireland is believed to have increased by 172%, the corresponding increase for England and Wales at this period was 88%. The huge increase in Ireland is all the more remarkable when one considers that we were not affected by The Industrial Revolution, and had little or no commercial activity.

Bill Daly: Originally from Tallow in West Waterford, Bill spent 30 years in Cork as a Senior Manager in the Electronics Manufacturing industry with such companies as Apple, EMC and Logitech. He has been working on his own as a Consultant/Contractor in Manufacturing Operations and Materials for the past 18 years. He also attended UCC and has a BA Degree in Archaeology and Geography. Bill is now resident in Connemara, Co. Galway since 2009.

In all, the potato must be seen as the primary cause of the prefamine population explosion. It had replaced all other foodstuffs to become the central item in the diet of the Irish people. The potato could be grown almost anywhere, the boggier and rougher the soil, the more it thrived. The potato gave a greater yield per acre than any other vegetable. A small potato plot could feed family and animals for most of the year, and by selling a pig or a cow, a little grain could be purchased as a supplement, until the potatoes were ready for the spade again the following year. People began to depend too

Millions died from starvation and disease. Those lucky enough to survive such a nightmare could not bring themselves to face the prospect of having to live through such an ordeal ever again. From then on, Ireland began to export her people to other lands, countries to which they have since added folklore, history and value. A hush came over the Irish landscape, the cabins were empty, and people who had once graced the land were either dead or had emigrated. Maybe, from time to time, we can say a short silent prayer in memory of our forgotten men, women and children who lie without inscriptions in lonely fields across the land of Ireland.

‘May the rains from the heavens fall gently upon all who rest here, May the wildflowers and grasses whisper their wishes into light. May we reverence the village of presence, In the stillness of this silent field’ – John O Donohue

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For whom the

Bell tolls By Lloyd Gorman

It is always humbling to hear Colin and Eithne Bell interviewed about the tragic death of their son Kevin, who was just 26 and working in New York in 2013 when he had just gotten out of a taxi after a Saturday night out and was hit by a white van that did not stop. Kevin was struck by a second car, which also drove on, and killed. In this case Kevin’s body was returned to Ireland by the following Wednesday and laid to rest. Kevin was a twin and one of seven children with strong links to the Armagh GAA Club and Irish dancing clubs. Colin was readying to celebrate his 60th birthday when they got word of what happened. But it is the story of what came from their crisis that is truly remarkable, and as an interview with RTE presenter Miriam O’Donoghue on Radio One on Sunday April 14 showed Perth has unfortunately featured prominently for more than one reason. “When we heard the news, Eithne couldn’t sleep, we were up to high doe,” Colin said on the radio programme. “We would have done anything to get Kevin home it was so important to get him home but once Kevin’s body came into the house there was a calmness that came with it and that showed to me how important it was especially for Irish people to get their loved ones home.” Miriam O’Donoghue asked the couple why and when out of this tragedy did they decide to set up the repatriation trust. “It was like the town of Newry just put their arms around us, like a blanket,” Colin said. “On the Tuesday night there was a table quiz in the Canal Court Hotel when there was 42,000 pounds raised. On the Thursday night there was a fun run and walk when 20,000 pounds was raised and the people in Newry just couldn’t do enough. [In a very short period of time some 150,000 pounds was raised for the Bell Family by the community, including in New York but also Australia where Kevin had been before he went to America. Kevin’s employer in America covered the cost of flying him home] I suppose that was the start of it. A couple of weeks after Kevin’s funeral we heard of a young fella from Kerryduff in Belfast had been killed in Thailand so we contacted the parents and said look we have this money, we’ll pay to bring your son home. A couple of weeks after that a young fella from Sligo Conor Brady died in Las Vegas again we reached out to the family. Once it arrives at your own door you notice how many Irish people were dying abroad so we kept reaching out and we said look we’ll make this Kevin’s legacy and we applied to become

a charity and eventually became a charity and I suppose over this weekend now unfortunately we’ll be passing the 700 mark.” Eithne said it was unbelievable that they had repatriated 70 bodies in 2019, and it was only April. Miriam O’Donoghue asked them if they got any government funding. Colin said they didn’t, but they didn’t need it. At present there were three or four fundraisers happening around Ireland for the Trust. “Its mainly self generating the families aren’t compelled to do it but most families feel they want to do some type of fundraiser to keep their loved ones memory alive,” said Eithne. “Its just unbelievable I think its whenever you are in that situation you understand how other people feel and they are all helping the next family who are going to get the news.” The RTE presenter asked if it was difficult and costly to get bodies home. “Its not as complicated as people think but when it comes to your door you don’t know what to do, who do I call and how do I go about it,” added Colin. “As I say we’ve taken that many home. At the end of 2016 we took eight young people home from Perth in the space of a fortnight they all died in unrelated circumstances. Two young lads were killed together when a slab fell on them, another young fella committed suicide, a young girl went into organ failure, a young fella fell off scaffolding and a young fella was killed. One phone call now to Perth will get it done, one phone call to New York will get it done, one phone call to Syndey will get it done.” O’Donoghue asked if setting up the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust had helped them to cope with losing their son. Eithne said: “I think most definitely it has, and then eight months after Kevin was killed my sisters son Paul [Lambert] was killed in San Franciso, same circumstances, a hit and run and you know whenever it comes knocking at the door you meet fantastic people and you see people in their raw state, you understand what they are going through.” The interview finished with O’Donoghue saying they were a remarkable couple and reading out a text message: “Miriam… My sister died abroad 20 years ago it took a month because of autopsy etc and we buried her a month and a half later It prolongs the suffering because you are still in limbo. So I’m thankful to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust for easing the process for others, its a tribute to Kevin and his family’s kindness.” O’Donoghue concluded by saying she couldn’t have said it better herself.

the time, was interviewed in late November 2015 in the same week that five young Irish people died or were killed in Perth. This was followed by a December 2016 interview with Colin Bell of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. In another story, Irish man Bernie Williams was attacked by a shark while scuba diving off the coast of Perth in 2006. He was bitten in the arm by a 3.5 white pointer but fought off the creature and managed to survive. Another maritime based adventure story was a 2018 interview with Irish Sailor, Gregor McGuckian whose yacht is now adrift somewhere in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia [see page 84]. Three stories related to the search for missing Malaysian airliner MH370, much of which took part thousands of miles off the coast of Western Australia. The 2007 death of two young Irish people - Colm Reilly from Slane and Ciara Duncan from Meath - in a road smash, in a car being driven by another Irish man, Eamon Driver. Thankfully not every story was one of murder, death or misadventure. Perth based Irish novelist Dervla McTiernan got two headlines about her success as a writer. One story was about Perth, Scotland and an Irish jockey and his horse falling at the last fence of the Perth Festival. Perhaps the really scary thing is that even this extensive list omits many other stories that have happened over recent years in Perth of several other murders, deaths and disasters and even another shark attack over the last ten years that didn’t register on the site search.

PERTH...A CITY WITH A TRAGIC PAST After catching the interview with Kevin and Eithne Bell on Sunday with Miriam and hearing them talk about Perth I typed the name of WA’s capital into the RTE Radio 1 site search engine. It produced a chilling catalogue of 28 results. Three of those stories were about mates Joe McDermott (24) from Omagh and Gerry Bradley (27) from Coleraine who died tragically in November 2015 at an East Perth building site when two concrete slabs suddenly fell on them while they were having a smoke break. Five of the headlines were in relation to the December 23 2017 killing of Corkman Charles McCarthy outside Fremantle. Four were for the unprovoked attack and death of Galway native Thomas Keaney in 2013 outside a fast food shop. One story from 2012 was about drunken Irish yobs in Perth giving the entire community a bad name. There were two stories about the fatal stabbing of 21 year old Kenyon Meyler a few years ago in Scarborough by another Irishman, Vincent Crowe (32). A December 2016 story was in relation to a break through in the cold case investigation into the murder of 27 year old Irish lawyer, Ciara Glennon on the night of St. Patrick’s Day, 1997. Liz O’Hagan, who was with the Claddagh Association at

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10. Which spirit is commercially distilled in Cork and bears the name of the city?

OW H H IS IR E AR U O Y

11. Who was the late Irish actor who starred in 'A Man Called Horse'?

12. What are the two drinks that make up a Black Velvet?

13. Which iconic Irish racehorse was named after a Scottish mountain?

2. What is Cashel Blue?

3. What is a Kerry Blue?

4. Fifty years after the Easter Rising a massive statue of which British naval hero was toppled in an explosion in Dublin? 5. Dublin statues are famous for their nicknames. Who is the 'Tart With The Cart' in Dublin city centre?

6. What is St Brendan commonly known as? 7. Who played the part of Eamon de Valera in the 1995 film "Michael Collins"? 8. What is the county town of Tipperary, with a name meaning 'honey vale'?

9. What is the name given to the 'stick' used to beat an Irish bodhran drum?

15. What North-western Irish lough is actually the estuary of the river of the same name? 16. Which Irish city is known as The Marble City? 17. What is an Irish Moiled? 18. What are crubeens?

19. Which Irish dramatist (d. 2015), was described as 'The Irish Chekhov'? 20. One of the best known plays of Brian Friel was made into a film starring Meryl Streep, Dancing at ……………?

1.The Saw Doctors 2.It's a cheese 3.A native Irish breed of dog 4.Lord Nelson 5.Molly Malone 6.The Navigator 7.Alan Rickman 8.Clonmel 9.A tipper 10.Gin 11.Richard Harris 12.Guinness and champagne 13.Arkle 14.Dara O'Briain 15.Lough Foyle 16.Kilkenny 17.A breed of cattle 18. Cooked pig's trotters 19.Brian Friel 20.Lughnasa

1. Which Irish band had hits such as Clare Island and Will It Ever Stop Raining?

14. Which famous Irish comedian was briefly a physics lecturer before becoming a children's TV presenter and stand-up comedian?

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Tollán Rugby Le Dónall Mac Amhlaigh

Shílfeá go mbeadh na deoraithe bochta a bhí i ndiaidh an oiread sin a fhulaingt buíoch díobh; ach is ar éigean má bhí. Aon oíche amháin a d’fhan siad sa teach agus ansin chuaigh siad uilig isteach go Northampton chuig na húdaráis á rá gur theastaigh teach istigh sa bhaile mór uatha, nach raibh siad cleachta ar an tuath. Shiúil mé isteach go Daventry agus dúirt mé cúpla paidir i dteach an phobail. Níl ann ach séipéal an-bheag, ach dar ndóigh níl mórán Caitliceach thart an bealach seo............... Chuaigh mé isteach sa Lion and Lamb gur ól mé buidéal Guinness. Bhí slua maith istigh ann agus an oiread gleo á dhéanamh acu is dá mbeidís ag ól mórán leanna, rud nach raibh. Is tíosach an dream iad na tuataí seo, agus má théann siad sa teach ósta féin baineann siad fad as chaon deoch sa chaoi nach mbíonn mórán brabaigh ag an óstóir dá bharr. Anseo i Sasana coinnítear na pubanna iontach glan, cláir an urláir agus chuile bhlas den adhmad glan sciúrtha, agus bíonn chuile dheis iontu leis an duine a mhealladh isteach: ceol, gathanna, skittles agus crib, agus fiú amháin an teilifís i gcuid acu. D’fhéadfá an oíche a chaitheamh ag moilleadóireacht os cionn deoch nó dhó agus ní déarfaí go deo leat go mba cheart duit níos mó a ól. Séard tá sa phub anseo áit teacht le chéile don phobal, nó do chuid de, agus is minic ceisteanna paróiste á bplé istigh sa teach ósta acu. Ach tá dhá bhua ag tithe ósta na hÉireann nach raibh is nach mbeidh ag pubanna Shasana go deo na ndeor, agus is iad an dá bhua sin: feabhas an chomhrá agus feabhas an óil. (Dialann Deoraí, Dónall Mac Amhlaigh, An Clóchomhar Tta, Baile Átha Cliaith, 1960) Sean Fhocal: Fear gan saothar fear gan saol. Bríd

Chuaigh formhór na bhfear oibre abhaile ar a dó dhéag, ach d’fhan mé féin go dtí a ceathair. Íochtar ráta go leith pá linn ón dó dhéag amach Dé Sathairn, agus am dúbailte má oibríonn muid an Domhnach. Níl ansin ach mar atá leagtha síos ag an gceardchumann, dar ndóigh. Níl aon obair Domhnaigh anseo, go fóill ar chaoi ar bith, ach is dóigh go mbeidh ar ball. D’airigh muid an tráthnóna diabhlaí fada, mar nach raibh mórán ar bith le déanamh againn ó chuaigh na fir eile abhaile. Cheannaigh mé ruainnín mairteola i nDaventry ag dul abhaile dom agus chuir mé á róstadh le hoinniún í. Ní mórán d’áit Daventry seo; is cosúil go dtéann na daoine ar fad isteach go Northampton, dhá mhíle dhéag, lena gcuid siopadóireachta a dhéanamh, mar ní raibh mórán acu thart ar an mbaile tráthnóna. Bhí cúpla litir romham nuair a shroich mé an teach, ceann ón Athair Eiric agus ceann eile ó Phádraig Dollairt. Bhí an seoladh ar chaon cheann acu i nGaeilge agus dúirt Eithne liom gur fhiafraigh fear an phoist di an raibh ‘Hungarian’ ag fanacht acu. M’anam maise agus má bhímse thart anseo go ceann píosa go n-aithneoidh sé an Ghaeilge. Dála an scéil, tháinig cuid mhaith Ungárach thart an bealach ó aimsir an éirí amach agus níl an oiread sin ómóis ag na daoine dóibh chor ar bith ó thosaigh siad ag cur aithne cheart orthu. Roimh an Nollaig ansin chuaigh na daoine i gceann de na bailte beaga thart anseo gur chuir siad teach ar fáil do mhuirín Ungárach a bhí tar éis éalú óna dtír féin. Líonadar an teach le troscán agus leagadar isteach stór beatha agus guail dóibh freisin.

Handy seanfhocail to pass comment without anyone knowing what you mean

6. Sceitheann fíon fírinne (in vino veritas). To be used at the staff Christmas party.

7. Tógfaidh dath dubh ach ní thógfaidh dubh dath (a garment can be dyed black but a black cloth cannot be dyed any other colour). It is easier to defame someone than to restore their reputation. To be used the day after the Christmas party (see above).

1. Is lia gach othar i ndiaidh a leighis (every patient is a surgeon after he is cured). Listening to a punter on the tube talking loudly about his morning after cure.

8. Bíonn caora dhubh ar an tréad is gile (even the brightest flock has a black sheep). There is always one! To be used at kids birthday parties.

2. Ar mhaithe leis féin a bhíonn an cat ag crónán (the cat purrs only for its own benefit). On hearing a colleague talking loudly about his latest success.

9. Cuir síoda ar ghabhar is gabhar fós é (put silk on a goat, it will still be a goat). Friday night fashion.

3. Déan mórán agus can beagán (do a lot and say little). Advice for the above.

10. Tarraingíonn scéal scéal eile (one story always leads to another). A good motto for journalists.

4. Ní dhíolann dearmad fiacha (just because you’ve forgotten a debt, it doesn’t mean you no longer owe it). When someone “forgets” it is their turn to buy the next round.

11. Is minic bréag ar aonach (there are many lies at the fair). To be used in the presence of salesmen everywhere. 12. Má chailleann tú uair ar maidin beidh tú á tóraíocht i rith an lae (if you lose an hour in the morning you’ll be looking for it all day). Obey the alarm clock!

5. Siúlach scéalach (chatty traveller). When someone next to you volunteers story after story after story. 35

By Lloyd Gorman

ISTEACH SA TEACH St. Patrick’s Day

PARTY IN THE HOUSE The Labor Party’s annual St Patrick’s Day bash for the Irish community at Parliament House was celebrated unusually late at WA’s Parliament this year, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “[This event] has become our annual thank you to all of the amazing organisations, services and groups throughout WA and we normally do it at the end of the St Patrick’s week but for lots of reasons, including the parliament not being open and not be able to get a booking until tonight, its been a really long St Patrick’s week and usually people are exhausted by the time they get here for from all the St Patrick’s day activities so I’m delighted to see you all here tonight,” said Alannah Clohesy, member for East Metropolitan Region, one of the MPs hosting the evening, on April 11. “Thank you for all the good work you’ve done throughout the year for the community whether you’ve provided welfare as the Claddagh Association does day after day , or whether you’ve been a part of a sport or fitness, football, hurling or caring and preserving our heritage, or wether you’ve been promoting our culture through music, dance and through other arts, or you’ve been providing jobs in our community and expanding our economy and for that we thank you.” She also thanked the musicians from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Perth for the entertainment they provided, and for keeping us in touch with our musical tradition. Ms Clohesy made special mention of the Fenian Festival in Fremantle and the St. Patrick’s Day parade and festival in Leederville both of which she described as amazing, and the best yet, respectively. Dublin born Minister for the Environment and Minister for Disability Services Stephen Dawson first gave a short welcome to the gathering in Nyungar and Irish. He also recognised his other colleagues and fellow hosts Jessica Stojkovski the Member for Kingsley and Margaret Quirk, the Member for Girrawheen, who was recovering from a recent operation. Tony O’Gorman - Labors candidate for Moore in the May 18 Federal election (and Jessica Stojkovski’s father) - and former Member for Mullaloo Jackie McKiernan and the widow of the late Senator Jim McKiernan. Stephen Dawson said he had worked as an advisor to Jackie early in his career but had also learn a lot from her. He also thanked Honorary Consulate Marty Kavanagh and his husband Richard and others for the significant role they play. “To the GAA teams here, Irish Scene, musicians, Australia Irish Heritage Association, Kidogo, wherever you are from this really is our opportunity to say thank you for what you do for the Irish in Western Australia thank you for what you give to our community thank you and please keep doing it, we love having you here, and next year we will book it earlier and have it a little closer to St. Patrick’s Day,” he joked. But there was one group missing who usually play an important part in the function. “We normally have the Keady Upton School of Dance but they were at International competition and couldn’t join us,” he added. Another group was also missing - but for different reasons - were the 36

Rose of Tralee contestants. In the past the parliamentary knees-up was one of the events the Roses were expected to take part in as part of the selection and judging process. But because of the changes introduced by Rose organisers last year places like Perth now compete every second year, instead of sending a Rose every year. Presumably we will see their return for next year’s party. With the refreshingly short speeches out of the way the guests - who came from every walk of Irish life - were able to relax and mingle. Certainly while Labor were in opposition Mark McGowan has taken part in the St Patrick’s Day get together but not this year and he left Parliament House just as the Irish guests were arriving. As it happens, Isteach sa Teach recently ran into the man he replaced as leader of the state Labor Party in 2012, Eric Ripper and discovered he had Irish roots of his own. Mr Ripper was at the Irish Club in early April at the same time as the monthly Irish seniors lunch when he spotted former Subiaco mayor Tony Costa and Lloyd Gorman talking outside in the entrance area. Mr Ripper, the

former Member for Belmont, recognised the unmistakable figure of Mr Costa and came over to say hello. In the course of a short conversation Mr Ripper declared proudly he was “a quarter Irish” by virtue of the fact that he had two ancestors from Ireland on both sides of his family line.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE UGLY TO WORK HERE, BUT IT HELPS

There are competing claims for who coined the phrase ‘politics is show business for the ugly’ but whoever said it the expression stuck. Politicians from Ireland’s Fine Gael and Fianna Fail parites were guilty of

Taoiseach is a fan of our Kylie

trying to shamelessly rub shoulders with some of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment world recently. In early April Irish newspapers reported that Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Vardadkar wrote an official letter to Kylie Minogue ahead of her Dublin concert last year. He sent her a handwritten note on Office of the Taoiseach headed paper, dated October 3 letter said: “Dear Kylie, Just wanted to drop you a note in advance of the concert in Dublin. I am really looking forward to it. Am a huge fan! I understand you are staying in the Merrion Hotel which is just across the street from my office in Government Buildings. If you like I’d love to welcome you to Ireland personally.” When a throat infection struck the ‘I Should be so lucky’ singer is reported to have rung him to apologise for cancelling the show. She tweeted fans that she could not do the Dublin or Belfast concerts of the Golden Tour at the time but would be back to play for her fans. She lived up to her promise in early December of last year and the Taoiseach and his

partner were able to finally catch up with the diminutive diva. The letter only became public after an Irish newspaper repeatedly applied for it under Freedom of Information. The Taoiseach’s office blocked the application twice, before reluctantly releasing a copy of the fan mail. As it happens, Kylie brought her Gold Tour to Perth on March 9 when she played Sir James Mitchell Park in South Perth, the first of three A Day on the Green shows. The final one was on St. Patrick’s Day night (March 17) in Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton, QLD. Meanwhile, TD’s (MPs) on the other side of the fence in Fianna Fail were also star struck by another big musical talent, but this time of the homegrown variety. It might have been the fact that it was the last day of school for Senators and TD’s (MPs) and they wouldn’t be back until May 8, or it might have had something to do with the fact that there were two VIPs of world fame in the House. U2 front man Bono (Paul Hewson) and his wife Ali were invited to sit in the public gallery during the address by visiting US speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi - the third most powerful woman in American politics was in Ireland on serious political business and taking a close look at Brexit and was there to let Europe and the UK know that the US would not tolerate any watering down or damage to the Good Friday Agreement as a result of the UK leaving Europe. On any normal day Pelosi would be the only show in town, but not on April 18. When Bono and his wife came into the chambers TD’s went literally bananas, and throwing well established rules out the window by taking out their smart phones and papping the Dublin rocker. It didn’t end there. Miriam Lord, the Irish Times colour political writer described the scene brilliantly. “No sooner was Bono in the door than Senator Frankie Feighan was upon him,” she wrote. “He later told us that he was sucked into the great man’s orbit when they 37

Bono gets cornered by a Senator

passed each other. The Roscommon Senator did his best to monopolise him but a vicious queue of admirers was already beginning to form.” One FF Senator even handed Bono his business card. TD’s vied to have their photograph and selfless taken with the rocker. Fine Gael deputies - including former Taoiseach Enda Kenny - also competed for Bono’s attentions and affections.

Senator selfie with Bono

But at least one Fianna Fail TD had enough decorum to speak out against this groupie behaviour. Darragh O’Brien, TD for Dublin Fingal, said he was “mortified” by the carry on. His colleagues crush on and to get to the U2 singer was “unedifying” and “cringeworthy”. Say no more, not one of the Irish parliament’s finer moments.

COLONEL JOHN BRUCE – his life and career (Part One) by Peter Conole

Army officer John Bruce was a vitally important figure in Western Australia from the time he arrived in 1850 until his death twenty years later. He was one of many Irishmen who played key roles in shaping the future of our State during the Victorian Era. To be frank, John Bruce is a sore point for this writer. I wished to include him and a detailed account of his fine career in a book (recently published as Irish Governors of Western Australia, Gaelforce Promotions, WA, 2018) because Bruce spent a period as de facto Governor of the colony. The trouble is, unlike Sir Frederick Irwin, who held the position for a lengthy spell when it was completely vacant and rightly asserted he was an actual Governor, the subject of this article was ruled out for inclusion on the official list of Governors because of a legal technicality. John Bruce acted in the position of Governor from November 1868 until March 1869 because the appointed man had vacated his position. A great and respected lawyer and former Supreme Court Judge, Sir Francis Burt (who served as Governor himself, 1990-1993), still decided Bruce was not entitled to a place on the list. His findings were revealed in an article published in the journal Early Days back in 1996. The story goes that Benjamin Pine was appointed Governor of Western Australia by letters patent on July 30, 1868 but then took up another position in the West Indies. He never arrived to be sworn in here for a period of service. When the news arrived in November 1868 Bruce administered the colony until the arrival of a committed and reliable Governor, Sir Frederick Weld. However, regardless of Pine’s inconsiderate behaviour, he remained on the books as the colony’s substantive ruler until Weld was appointed and a richly deserved degree of glory was thus withheld from Bruce. It is an issue worth reconsidering - and it will be in the pages of Irish Scene. The family of John Bruce seem to have been of ScotsIrish origin. There was a vague tradition that his grandfather fought for ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-1746, but that is impossible on chronological grounds. A handful of facts deserve more

credit. It is a pleasure to state that much of what follows breaks new ground. The future soldier’s grandfather, another John Bruce, was actually born in 1748 and may have been either an obscure soldier on garrison duty or a trader. He married Jeanne Francillon in the Channel Islands. Their son, John Bruce the second (1769-1858), was born at Saint Helier, Jersey. Little is known of his life and career, but recent research indicates very strongly that he moved into the army during the Napoleonic Wars. He is identifiable with the John Bruce commissioned as an Ensign in the Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers on June 6, 1804. He was promoted to Lieutenant on April 12, 1805. The Artillery Drivers had been created as a vitally important unit - responsible for the arrangement and movement of artillery, ammunition wagons and supplies - back in 1793. If he had a commercial background officer Bruce would have been a choice recruit for that line of work. From 1807 at the latest John Bruce the second was on duty at the vitally important military base and fortress at Athlone in Westmeath. He married Maria Stanley and their first son John Bruce the third, the future senior military man in the colony of Western Australia, was born there on July 25, 1808. Another son and five daughters followed and the career of a younger son, William Tyrrell Bruce (1815-1896), matches that of older brother John Bruce. Their father John Bruce, the family patriarch, retired on half pay as of August 1, 1816. He lived for several decades more, prospered in business at Athlone and acquired land holdings. It was all just as well, for career minded sons (and daughters on the lookout in the ‘marriage market’) needed support for a while. Above all, this Bruce family gained a firm Irish identity. John Bruce the third, first son of John the second and Maria, was born at Athlone on July 25, 1808. He received his early education at an unknown private school (there were a couple in and around Westmeath) and then attended Sandhurst Military College in England. The potentially expensive army option reflects the lad’s strong personal wishes: it was not normal for the first sons of landed families to enter the armed forces.

Soon after his twentieth birthday the young man was commissioned as an Ensign (without having to purchase the rank) on July 31, 1828 in the 16th Regiment of Foot, an outfit known as the Royal Bedfordshire Regiment. It was a prestige unit to get into and had been on active service in numerous wars since it was raised in 1688. When Bruce joined the Bedfords were based in Bengal, India and the young man spent over a dozen years on uneventful garrison duty there. He purchased a promotion to Lieutenant on April 12, 1831 which, combined with his early marriage, perhaps indicates continuing family backing. He married Johannah Herklots, the daughter of Judge Gregory Herklots of Chinsurah, at Calcutta (Kolkatta) in October 1831. The couple were the parents of eleven children, seven whom reached full adulthood, a fine record in that fragile era. Bruce returned to Ireland with the last batches of his regiment in February 1841. It was based in England and Ireland for some years and the officer was a bit agitated. He wanted to ‘see action’ and later explained that “being anxious for active employment and China then appearing to be in such respect the most likely field, I exchanged on obtaining my company into the 18th Royal Irish Regiment and reached Hong Kong in 1843”. John Bruce was promoted to the rank of Captain on August 19, 1842 (by merit or influence - not by purchase) and transferred into yet another very prestigious unit. The 18th Regiment of Foot was raised on the Irish establishment in 1684 and built up a commendable record involving the Duke of Marlborough’s campaigns in the early 1700s, the American War of Independence and the classic, triumphant Egypt expedition of 1801 that wrecked Napoleon Bonaparte’s hopes in the Middle East. The Royal Irish Regiment was very closely associated with the emerald isle for all of its existence. In the great break-up of 1922 it was moved lock, stock and barrel into the army of a very different Ireland. The interesting thing back in earlier times is that the younger Irish born brother of John Bruce, Lieutenant William Tyrell Bruce, being the influential Regimental Adjudant of the 18th, could easily have put in a good word on his older siblings behalf… Captain John Bruce and family arrived in Hong Kong in 1843. It was a tense period, because Britain had just inflicted a crushing defeat on the Chinese Empire in what has often (and wrongly) been called the ‘Opium War’. The conflict was a struggle between two vastly different imperial systems, a far more complicated business than simplistic baloney about drug trading. Lieutenant Colonel Jeremiah Cowper, field commander of the 18th, was impressed by the abilities and attitude of Captain Bruce. Likewise the new commanding officer in the recent war zone, Major General Charles D’Aguilar, who over the next three years appointed Bruce to the important positions of acting Superintendent of Police (March 2, 1844) and Deputy Judge Advocate General of

the Hong Kong military establishment. Captain John Bruce, still determined to take the field, got his wish on April 1, 1847. The general took action because merchants and visitors had been harassed or attacked around the nearby Chinese city of Canton. D’Aguilar organised a task force and appointed Bruce his Assistant Adjutant General. Within a couple of weeks the troops methodically captured and disarmed major fortifications located around the city, carrying off a lot of artillery and ammunition. No lives were lost and the Canton authorities submitted and agreed to peaceful access by foreigners. Bruce had distinguished himself and was mentioned in despatches on April 15, 1847. Bruce now had health problems and, in his own words “in the spring of 1848 I visited England on the recommendation of a Medical Board”. He was appointed a staff officer at the Tilsbury army base on July 17, 1848 and promoted to the brevet rank of Major on March 23, 1849. The veteran now felt a financial pinch and wished (as he admitted later) “to avoid service in the United Kingdom with a large and growing family”. Soon afterwards Bruce was in discussion with the War Office about Western Australia. Within weeks he accepted a vital position in our far side of the world.

The First Irish in Australia...

Irish migration to Australia has been almost continuous throughout the period of European settlement. The first 155 Irish convicts (from County Cork) arrived in Sydney in 1791. An estimated further 7000 Irish convicts were sent to Australia during the remaining years of transportation, which ended in 1868. In addition to convicts, more than 300 000 other Irish settlers migrated to Australia between 1840 and 1914. Irish migrants accounted for one-quarter of Australia's overseas-born population in 1871. Irish migration was influenced by the politics of colonial immigration which tended to favour those born in England and Scotland. Fluctuations in the economies of Australia and of other prospective destinations also had an effect. America was generally a more favoured destination for Irish migrants. However, from the 1860s to 1880s, the Civil War and depression in America made it a less attractive destination than Australia which offered assisted passages. Relatives and friends in Australia sponsored many of the assisted Irish immigrants, many of whom were single females. The number of Ireland-born in Australia peaked in 1891 when the colonial Census accounted for 228 230. A decade later the number of Ireland-born had dropped to 184 040. This downward trend continued unabated with the Ireland-born reaching 44 810 by the time of the 1947 Census. At this time the Ireland-born constituted 6 per cent of the total overseas-born population. As Australia accepted a large influx of immigrants from a wide range of other countries following World War II, the proportion of Irelandborn residents declined, despite a gradual rise in the actual Ireland-born population.

50 YEARS A'GROWING FOR ROTTNEST'S PARISH CHURCH By Lloyd Gorman

Because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Easter is an important - perhaps the most significant - date on the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church and believers around the world. But the religious holiday - particularly this year’s was also specifically meaningful to Rottnest’s tiny Catholic church, perched on top of a hill. Mass and other Catholic religious ceremonies - including a Catholic wedding in 1873 - had been held sporadically on the island for about 100 years in makeshift chapels. But as it became a more popular holiday destination from the early 1900’s on the need for a regular Sunday mass increased. That task fell to a young Irish cleric, the late Monsignor “Mons” Sean O’Shea, the Chaplain of Fremantle Port. Mons came to Western Australia, in 1955 and followed in his older sister’s footsteps who had come out to Australia in 1938 with the Sisters of Mercy. His association with Rottnest began in 1961. Mass was celebrated in the island’s WWII era Picture Hall which doubled up as a place of worship on Sunday mornings. It was said that you could tell the mass goers at the island’s bar afterwards because their knees were covered in a white dust from kneeling on the floor. There was a growing need for a dedicated place of worship, and Mons was the right man in the right place at the right time. He argued the case for a proper and permanent venue with Lancelot Goody*

who had become Archbishop of Perth in 1968. He must have been persuasive. On Easter Sunday 1969 the one-man campaign for a Catholic church on the rocky outpost was officially supported by the church hierarchy, and fund raising began. The church was paid for with a loan for $97,000 from the Perth Archdiocese. If the concept for The Holy Trinity Church was born, then delivering the idea as a practical project fell on the shoulders of the young priest from Co. Clare and he set about the ecumenical enterprise with his trademark enthusiasm and ability. About nine years ago in an interview with Irish Scene Mons retold how his life long association with the Island came about. “Archbishop Prendiville, a Kerry man, was looking for somebody to go to Fremantle Port to look after the seamen,” said Mons. “The Oblates in Fremantle (St. Patrick’s Cathedral) weren’t interested in the sailors or Rottnest for that matter and he asked his auxiliary Bishop McKeon. McKeon told him to “ask O’Shea that he might be your man” it was only years later that he told me he had daubed me in. I was interested in the sea, I wrote a couple of books about the sea, about sailing boats. I was on the Cathedral staff then for a year and a half and would have done anything to get out of the Cathedral. So, he said to me I am not just going to send you to a parish, if I was you I would get a note to say, report at parish so and so. He said this was something 40

Mons Sean O'Shea

special and he wanted me to think about it so after a few days when he saw me again and asked me what I had decided. I didn’t want to appear too eager, so I said, ‘I’d have a stab at it your Grace’. So that was me, minded to the Port and to Rottnest. “He said I want you to go over to Rottnest and say the mass whenever you think its necessary, so I would come on school holidays, long weekends and while I was in Fremantle, I came over every Sunday.” In his role looking after seaman for more than 35 years, Mons

spent a lot of time on land - in fact he circumnavigated the coast of Australia no less than ten times by car, visiting places where sea man coming to Australian shores can be found and teaching local clergy the skills they need for the role. Working near the ocean has come naturally to Mons who was born in Kilkee and brought up in the picturesque resort that faces directly onto the Atlantic Ocean. The Church of the Holy Trinity was opened on Sunday, 25 May 1975, six years after the project was given the go ahead. He would joke that if he had to build the church in his later years the effort would have killed him. But despite the Herculean achievement of building it, the little church lacked an important finishing touch that Mons was intent on. The opportunity to complete his mission presented itself when a friend and fellow priest Father Nolan, from Co. Kerry, left him some money. He traveled to the UK, intending to go to Birmingham to get the bells from there but while visiting his sister in London she told him there was a bell foundry nearby and with the help of the local council mayor a tour of the metal factory was organised and an order was promptly made. The bells arrived in Perth shortly after Mons got back himself and he was faced with the problem of how to get the tonne weight from the airport to the island and onto the top of the church. Employing his personal brand of divine inspiration and diplomacy he found an unlikely but effective solution to the problem. Falling back on his maritime and naval contacts he talked the American consulate into asking the next US navy fleet to help him with the bells. “I said it would be good publicity for them and he believed me,” he said. “So, we borrowed a helicopter from the US navy. They went around by Thompson Bay and everyone could see them and then nearly dropped them in Thompson Bay. Anyhow, he whisked them around and we were down on the

road, and there was some terrible debris and dust from the propellers as it hovered above the church and two naval personnel were on the platform to secure it.” The bells were installed and blessed by Archbishop Foley for the 10th anniversary of the church. The bells became a popular attraction for visitors to the island, especially children, who enjoy toying with the eight bells chime using an electric keyboard on the left-hand side of the entrance to the church. Mons himself would frequently show newcomers how to play the bells and today they still ring out and remind the island of his fifty-year legacy and love of the place and devotion to his calling. Mons - who was born in Tullaher, Co. Clare in 1925 - died in Perth on December 7, 2012. He is buried to the side of the church, in a grave he dug himself when he was well into his eighties, one of the last acts of a remarkable man.

Ballad Of The Banshee James Bernard Dollard

Back thro' the hills I hurried home, Ever my boding soul would say: 'Mother and sister bid thee come, Long, too long has been thy stay.' Stars shone out, but the moon was pale, Touched by a black cloud's ragged rim, Sudden I heard the Banshee's wail Where Malmor's war-tower rises grim. Quickly I strode across the slope, Passed the grove and the Fairy Mound (Gloomy the moat where blind owls mope) Scarcely breathing, I glanced around. Mother of mercy! there she sat, A woman clad in a snow-white shroud, Streamed her hair to the damp moss-mat, White the face on her bosom bowed! 'Spirit of Woe' I eager cried, 'Tell me none that I love has gone, Cold is the grave'–my accents died– The Banshee lifted her face so wan. Pale and wan as the waning moon, Seen when the sun-spears herald dawn. Ceased all sudden her dreary croon, Full on my own her wild eyes shone, Burned and seared my inmost soul. (When shall sorrow depart from me?) Black-winged terror upon me stole, Blindly gaping, I turned to flee! Back by the grove and haunted mound, O'er the lone road I know not how, Hearkened afar my baying hound Home at last at the low hill's brow! Lone the cottage–the door flung wide, Four lights burned–oh, sight of dread! Breathing a prayer, I rushed inside, 'Mercy, God!' 'twas my mother, dead!

Mons Sean O'Shea's grave in Rottnest

Dead and white as the fallen leaf, (Kneeling, my sister prayed near by), Wild as I wrestled with my grief, Far and faint came the Banshee's cry!

50 years an Aussie

March 17th 1969 was a very special St. Patrick’s Day in the history of Perth man and Limerick native Bob O’Connor. It was on that day that he, together with his late wife Veronica and their young children, emigrated to Western Australia. “We left from Southhampton and would you believe, on the other side of the harbour was the Queen Elizabeth, it was in mothballs, it had never taken a passenger because 747’s had come in and the bottom had fallen out of transatlantic shipping,” Bob told a special party of friends and family in Hillarys Yacht Club on April 14, exactly fifty years to the day since their arrival. The O’Connor clan arrived into Fremantle on April 14th having come a slightly different route than planned. The Suez Canal was still closed as a result of the Six Day War and they came via the Canary Islands instead. They had considered other countries but Australia made them an offer they couldn’t refuse, to be ten pound tourists. “We were living in a migrant hostel in Graylands, we paid the astronomical sum of $35 a week, board and bed and they even gave you sandwiches to go to work with, but we saved up our shekels and we moved into our first little house in Wanneroo 15 months later, in 1970. The decision to come here was here was really the best thing to

happen to us,” Bob added. “Our kids have all succeeded beyond our wildest dreams and we also raised our horizons. Veronica and I travelled a lot, the only places we haven’t been is Tasmania and South America.” Bob said their life here was made better by the friends they made here and the family and friends who also left Ireland. Sadly Veronica died late last year but

Bob and her family and many friends at the anniversary function toasted her memory. Bob is looking forward to turning 80 in September and a trip back to Ireland in June, where he will be joined by his daughter Alison.

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Once More into The Breach By Sally Desmond

In other words: Here we go again... By the time you read this I should qualify as one of the best cooks in Australia. Why? you ask

Because I have spent a considerable portion of the past few weeks looking at cooking shows. Why? You are entitled to ask again. The short and somewhat bitter answer is, that every time I change to any other channel there is a bombastic “fake” man with a “fake’ expression of humility and sincerity assuring me that I am his main concern and that he cares deeply about my wellbeing -not only mine, I may add, but twenty million other Australians who will “all be ruined” without his intervention into their lives from the bubble that is Canberra. What Election time does to

Ireland

ordinarily decent people in their race for political power is not only vulgar, unseemly, and demeaning, it is in extremely bad taste. There is also the “idiocy” factor with which we have to contend. Aspiring Aspirants to greatness are obviously told by their campaign managers that” The Electorate” (us) are open and vulnerable to coercion and promises which, in fact, can never be kept. This is the “Promise them anything, even Eternal Life” syndrome which is quite pernicious. Now, all of these promises have to be made by The Candidate while smiling “sincerely” preferably with an infant or a pussy cat in shot and as always, the two attendant nodding females must be part of the retinue. Now it takes a prodigious amount of money even to lose these elections but for the vanquished there is, after all, the likelihood of a semi state body having a convenient vacancy on its Board. Quite Shakespearean in its intrigue, isn’t it? Except, of course, those shenanigans were all about Royalty and there was the compensatory factor of a good speech writer. To be or not to be...? That is indeed the question in this case -with no good answer.

We must not forget The Circus Show part of the Contest where the Candidates show us their physical capabilities (fit enough the run a country. Lads) and let us into their “inner selves” and aspirations. At the moment we have a man jogging who clearly should not be doing it - you try running, smiling and being uplifting all at one go. We also have another man who obviously is trying for a close encounter with his God (all in camera shot) and only looks, unfortunately, like a certain Fuhrer. Desist, gentlemen, I beg of you, we have had enough. Desperation is never a pretty sight. We must, of course, never overlook The Clowns. Shakespeare gave some of his best and wisest lines to the clowns - this collection does not measure up I fear- I will leave the job of casting them to “The Electorate”. Definitely we are in a” State of Chassis”. I will now go and kick autumn leaves. Products include: McLoughlin’s Irish Pork Sausages Black and White Pudding Irish Bacon and Gammon Joints Potato Bread and Soda Bread Barry’s Tea and Club Orange Odlums Brown and White Bread Mix Chef Brown and Red sauce

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The first significant numbers of Irish settlers to arrive in what is now Canada were the Ulster Protestants, who settled in Nova Scotia during the early 1760s. These pioneers were further augmented at the end of the Napoleonic Wars by large numbers of disbanded soldiers and struggling Ulster farmers. The Adamsons, Grahams, Croziers and Armstrongs were some of the many 105 families from the Ards Peninsula who emigrated during the 1820s, all attracted by the comparatively inexpensive price of land and the promise of a new start. It was in 1867, with the passing of the British North American Act, which led to the formation of modern Canada, with the newly minted Dominion consisting of four provinces – Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. By the late 19th century, the Irish, mainly Ulster-Scots, were Canada’s second largest ethnic group, constituting about 40% of people with British heritage. The strongly Protestant element of this population ensured that the Orange Order became the largest voluntary organization in Canada. The Order exerted immense political clout throughout the new Confederation, particularly in Toronto where the city fathers were almost all Orangemen. One of the Ulster-Scots who emigrated during the mid-nineteenth century and who markedly influenced commerce in Canada was Timothy Eaton, a merchandising revolutionary who established a retail empire which shaped the buying habits of city and rural folk across the nation for over a century. Born in Clogher (near Ballymena, County Antrim) in 1834 to devout Presbyterian parents, Timothy Eaton was raised on the family farm. Aged 13, Timothy was apprenticed to a Mr. Smith, who ran a general store in nearby Portglenone. Times were not easy, with the long hours often forcing Eaton to sleep under the store’s counter. At times, Timothy wanted to terminate his apprenticeship, but rather than lose his £100 bond, he saw it out, and even-

TIMOTHY EATON:

RESTORING CANADA By JOHN HAGAN

tually, after five years, had accrued the princely sum of £100 which he needed to immigrate to the New World. As his sister and brothers had already settled there, he chose Canada as his destination. In 1854, Timothy obtained a bookkeeping job in a small general store near Georgetown (in Upper Canada). By 1856, lured by the possibilities of business further west, Timothy and his brother, James, opened a general store and post office in Kirkton, a venture which proved profitable. Buoyed by this success, Timothy, and his brothers James and Robert, moved to St Mary’s where they opened a bakery which, due to severe local competition, went under after a few months. Undeterred by the failure, Timothy and James established a dry goods store which specialized in selling textiles and ready-to-wear clothes, in St Mary’s in 1861. It was during his time in St Mary’s that Timothy met, and married, Margaret Beattie, with the couple going on to have five sons and three daughters. Booming agricultural prosperity during the 1860s allowed the Eaton 44

business to grow, however expansion was limited by the large number of competitors in the district and, in December 1869, the Eaton brothers partnership was dissolved, with Timothy moving his family to Toronto, where he purchased a small dry goods business at 178 Yonge Street. In promoting this new enterprise, Timothy introduced two innovative retail practices; goods were sold at a fixed price (no haggling) and, purchases came with a money back guarantee. ‘Money refunded if goods are not satisfactory’ became his stated store policy. Timothy also stocked merchandise which targeted the growing ranks of working class men and women receiving regular cash wages. While most of his Toronto competition obtained product from Canadian wholesalers, Eaton, convinced that these prices were too high, ventured to England where he was able to locate cheaper sources of supply allowing him to pass on the savings to customers. As business improved, Timothy purchased another Yonge Street site on which he was able to erect an imposing three storey edifice boasting electric lighting, large skylights and a fire sprinkler system. He did not seek to imitate the opulent décor of some American stores, fearful that he might frighten away his working-class customers. By 1907, the Eaton business covered 22 acres (nine hectares) of prime downtown Toronto land, with Timothy introducing waiting rooms, restaurants, shoe repair, left luggage facilities and a free bus service from the train and bus terminals to the store. Timothy also promoted ‘sales specials’, animated exhibitions, fashion shows and Santa Claus parades in order to maintain his hard won market leadership. It was in 1884, with the issuing of catalogues, that he pioneered a mail-order service to reach customers in rural Canada. His ‘farmer’s bible’ focused on rural communities which did not have easy access to merchandise and offered clothes, furniture, sporting goods, musical instruments, plus the

latest household gadgets and agriculture products. Eaton’s catalogue spawned a retail empire stretching from coast to coast reaching its zenith during the Second World War, when T Eaton & Co., employed more than 70,000 staff, many of whom were Irish émigrés. Well aware of the power of advertising, Timothy placed whole page adverts in the Toronto Daily Star assuring readers of the quality, service and value customers were guaranteed when shopping at Eaton’s, either in store or by catalogue. In an environment where bankruptcy was common, Eaton’s commercial success was due in no small measure to his attention to product costing, a detailed accounting system, and the introduction of departmental cost centres within each store. Despite being hostile to trade unions, Timothy was a benevolent employer. Beginning in 1886, his employees enjoyed a half day holiday on Saturdays during the summer months, and Eaton staff was also covered by a rudimentary health plan which helped defray medical expenses. It was the custom in Canada for stores to remain open for 12 hours each day, however, in 1904, Timothy initiated eight hour day trading, with his stores closing at 6pm each evening. Perhaps the long hours he was forced to work as an apprentice in Portglenone may have been the mainspring for such a workplace reform. Eaton converted from his Presbyterian heritage to Methodism in 1858 and, on his arrival in Toronto, became a regular worshipper at the Elm Street Church, where in 1887, he was appointed an elder. Ardently believing in the principles of hard work, thrift and punctuality, he condemned the perceived vices of playing cards, dancing, drinking and smoking, showed little interest in Toronto’s lively social scene and eschewed the influential Orange Order. One of Timothy’s real pleasures was horseback riding, and it was this pursuit which led to his demise. While out riding, he was thrown from his horse, fractured his hip,

Timothy Eaton and his son John Craig Eaton, Eaton's department store, Toronto, Canada. Source: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

was hospitalized and died of pneumonia in January 1907. Eaton was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, leaving an estate worth over $5 million. He has been honoured in various ways. The Timothy

This bronze statue of Eaton (photographed in 1919) sits in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; its replica sits in the MTS Centre in Winnipeg 45

Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto is named after him, as is the town of Eatonia in Saskatchewan (Canada). Eaton Park, the home of the Ballymena Rugby Club, is so called in commemoration of his Canadian success.

Promise them not only bargains, but that every article will be found just what it is guaranteed to be. Use no deception in the smallest degree - nothing you cannot defend before God or Man. Timothy Eaton

’ G da FROM MELBOURNE.

By Mike Bowen

For whatever reason the media tends to ignore certain issues such as suicide, or treat them as taboo. I have covered this particular subject in Irish Scene some years ago, soon after the demise of the Celtic Tiger and hopefully that raised awareness and helped save someone's live. But of course suicide is not just an Irish problem. So it made a change to see the issue tackled in a recent edition of The Herald Sun, here in Melbourne from someone who is on the frontline of this silent epidemic. “It’s time we declared war to help combat this senseless loss of life,” Melbourne paramedic Paul Spinks was quoted in a news report. “It is killing our youth, taking 3,128 lives and injuring 65,000 people in a single year, making it the number one killer of people aged from 15 to 44. We are losing nearly three times more lives to suicide than we lose on our roads; yet the difference in awareness and investment between the two are stark. There are families across Australia and indeed the world, who have little or no knowledge of the potential time bomb inside their home. We can save lives by sending them a message to check in on family and friends. Every time as a paramedic, I attend a suicide, attempt or a threat, I go home and hug my children and check on their mental health. That’s driven by what I see almost daily in my job, reminding me that all may not be as it seems. That vigilance is paramount in my family’s wellbeing.” That’s from a man who sees the tragedy of this serpent in the night is a strong enough message to put the fear of God in anyone. With chilling statistics like this here in Australia, can you imagine the numbers worldwide, it must run into millions? It’s time to take suicide out of the closet and shine a spotlight on it with a new radical approach. Symptoms do not appear in many cases, suicide is not like most other conditions where there is visible scars or pain, it is a much more complex condition than most and therefore it needs more funding to save more lives. Governments spend millions on road safety to save lives, they should do the same for mental health issues. I remember clearly the demise of the Celtic Tiger and the heartaches of the families of those, who suicided in Ireland after the fall out. 46

Unlike other health issues, this sinister health issue is like a thief in the night, camouflaged, silent and fatal. To the shocked families of those left with the pain of bewilderment, as to how it came to this and why, they continue to look for answers. Was it their failing, what did they do wrong what caused their loved ones to take such drastic action? Yes this sinister thief is the cruelest of illnesses because it leaves those left behind always in agony and looking for answers, answers that cannot and never be answered. I have had three encounters of this sinister killer work and it still causes enormous hurt on a daily basis. It saddens me to think somewhere not too far from where I am sitting, there is someone who is thinking of taking their own life and I am only a phone call away from helping. I fight with my conscious as to why I do not have access to this person and maybe stretch out a hand of comfort. Sometimes it is as simple as a kind words or offering a hand of comfort that makes the difference to life or death to someone who is vulnerable. I hope sooner, rather than later that this ripple of my comments stretch out into an ocean and comes back with much more awareness so that less lives will be lost from now on. Until next time be good to those who love you and Slainte from Melbourne.

OVER RATED By Ciarain Hoey

People say you are what you eat but I wonder if it isn’t more accurate to say you are what you drink. As a young Australian male who regularly binge drinks, this Silly Season I’ve stopped to wonder what I’m doing to myself. I have a university degree in the health sciences, so I know something about how the body works. I’m also a handy soccer player and love exercise, which means I know the importance of peak fitness. But I still drink to excess on Saturday nights. I regularly find on a Sunday morning that I’m irritable and in a mindset, that affects my overall functioning and engagement with people. Over the past few years a couple of times I have been in paracletic states which have pissed off my friends and embarrassed my family. Binge drinking is medically defined as Alcohol Intoxication Disorder, generally a collective behaviour which is a common social norm across various areas of social life. Now, personally, I don’t mind the state between feeling tipsy and drunk. It reduces my inhibitions in terms of moves on the dance floor with my mates or even striking up a conversation with the ladies! At the same time, though, I realise that the binge drinking process does not weigh up: the day after a night on the sauce, my brain is like a sky full of grey and grumpy clouds where certain thoughts and situations that would not

usually bother me generate frustration. I’m internally disordered and externally in a state of dysfunction. Thinking in terms of my phone battery, without alcohol my level of focus and engagement is around 90% but after a night out it drops to about 50%. I started drinking legally at 18. Seven years in, I still don’t quite understand the rationale behind binge drinking. When we were kids, we didn’t watch the same movie or do the same activity on a Saturday night, so why, in young adulthood, is binge drinking so frequently used to fuel social – and anti-social – activities? We don’t tend to scoff seven burgers at a time to get the full taste and experience, so I’m not sure why we feel the need to drink so much. For me getting drunk every weekend is the opposite of the compound interest principle, resulting in damage throughout every cell within each system of the body. Why do we continually want to disrupt and destroy our brain, our most valuable resource, which initiates and regulates all our actions? After a boozy Saturday night, I feel like I’m not back to my ideal level of processing, decision-making and overall cognitive functioning until the middle of the week. That, in turn, affects my sleep quality, eating patterns, performance in competitive sport and focus at work. One big night has a huge effect on the days that follow; multiply that by 52 weekends and imagine the total days damaged and wasted. The 2014-2015 National Health Survey identified that Western Australia was the second highest state for percentage of adults (47%) who exceeded the recommended guidelines for alcohol consumption. Breaking that down further, the statistics showed that two-thirds of young adults in my age group, 18-24, were involved in risky to high level risk drinking patterns (AIHW, 2007). This equated to one person presenting at hospital emergency departments in Perth every 18 minutes due to an alcohol related injury, costing the WA community $3.1 billion each year (Drink Wise, 2014). Alcohol, along with asbestos and tobacco, is officially classified as a group 1 carcinogen, a substance that can potentially cause cancer in living tissue. Although powerful recreational drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, marijuana and benzodiazepines, have a far higher destruction rate on users physically and mentally over alcohol, drinking alcohol is the most common recreational drug in Australia, according to the Australia Drug Foundation. Some of the long-term effects include cancers of the mouth, stomach and throat, as well as increased risk in many other areas: stroke, mental illness (depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia), heart disease (high blood pressure, heart attack) and complications with the liver (cirrhosis) (Virtual Medical Centre, 2017). [And these are just the problems at the individual level. According to the Virtual Medical Centre, an estimated 2.7 billion days are lost annually in the workplace; due to alcohol consumption in Australia and is the second leading cause of preventable death and ill health in the

land down under. Excessive alcohol consumption can affect your decision making and result in violence, vandalism, drink driving & motor vehicle accidents; reducing the individual’s quality of life and leaving a negative mark in social situations in the community. It seems to have a flow on effect, creating many burdens in society. When I did a four-week practical placement as an Occupational Therapy student at a Matriculation School in a village in Southern India in 2015, alcohol was frowned upon. I did not consume any alcohol throughout those four weeks (similar to dry July campaign in Australia); on an individual level it provided a tremendous and balanced level of mental clarity and physical energy: which in turn made a more jovial and enthusiastic me appreciating the wonderful little joys of life (cool breeze at night); and I observed throughout the group of 11 students I was a part of; had a strong positive influence on team dynamics as we kept calm when projects were due (four square court, playground, mosquito education mural) and rarely argued! It was no surprise the people seemed to be more connected as a community and individually happy, enthusiastic and energetic. That experience made me realise that you can certainly have moderate quantities of alcohol or have none. If I’m only seeing my mates once during the week or weekend, I can have just as much fun on a night in, whether that’s playing board or card games, playing sport at the nets, watching a few flicks at home or a few games of FIFA on the PlayStation (my favourite)! I’ve started to question why, in contemporary Western culture, the majority of social and leisure activities, including watching sport, having a meal at a restaurant, or even heading to the cinema involve or revolve around the consumption of alcohol. When I started binge drinking I certainly enjoyed the novelty and buzz associated with it, but when I experienced my first hangover I was furious with myself that I had wasted that Sunday lying in bed with a throbbing headache and a digestive system in strife! What is there to be proud of or cherish when you’re at a party or out on the town when you don’t have any recollection of it? While those few hours on the tipsy-drunk scale is cool are fun, is it worth sacrificing the following days for it cognitively and physically? In life, a certain degree of challenges, obstacles and adversity is healthy; however, binge drinking consistently generates unnecessary suffering and leads to further unnecessary problems. Now after some internal review just because it’s a different feeling does not mean it is better! Having set up a pattern of behaviour, it’s not as easy as clicking my fingers to immediately stop binge drinking. However, I’ve decided to try a few strategies. I’m going to see if I can moderate my drinking with the ‘chase and pace’ method where you consume some water before or after you drink an alcoholic beverage, followed by stretching the duration before your next drink. Drinking a glass of water and waiting five minutes until you get your next drink, is a start. I’m also going to look for activities that don’t involve alcohol. Martial arts and other classes at leisure and recreation centres will fulfil my need to be active and engaged. And, I might be brave and willing to cop flak from my mates and try having a night out with no booze. 48

DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

Walking Walking Walking to bring bring bring suicide suici suic into into into th

In 2009, in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, 400 people set-off on the inaugural Darkness into Light 5km walk to raise funds for Pieta House. From small beginnings, the movement has grown year on year and in 2018 over 200,000 people took part in 150 locations, in 16 countries across 5 continents.

Each year the walk provides an opportunity for people to connect with their local community and to show their support for those who have been bereaved by suicide. Our team of volunteers, in 5:30am Ireland andSat 5:30am 5:30am Saturd Sa overseas, return year on year to James Sir SirJames James Mitchell Mitche helpSir make the experience aMitch re- R warding one and to help us all continue to raise awareness in the global fight against suicide and self-harm.

www.darknessintolig www.darknessint www.darknessin

Since Darkness Into Light began, our dedicated supporters have helped us raise almost €20 million, which has enabled us to keep our doors and our 24/7 helpline open for people in crisis, free of charge. Since 2012, when our first international event took place in London, our international charity partners have benefited from an investment of €3 million in local mental health support services. Walk with us, talk with us, so that together we can create a world where suicide, self-harm and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care and acceptance.

ogether togetherto Walking to together to cide e prevention prevention bring suicide prevention hethelight light into the light

day turday 11 May 11 May 20192019 5:30am Saturday 11 May 2019 Reserve, ell Reserve, South South Sir Perth James PerthMitchell Reserve, South Perth

tolight.ie ght.ie | |www.darknessintolight.ie @DILPerth @DILPerth |

@DILPerth

rish Recipes from Marguerite's

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE SPONGE

BACON AND CABBAGE PIE Ingredients: For the colcannon: 40g butter 800g peeled royal blue potatoes 1 large onion thinly sliced 50g butter ½ head of savoy cabbage 100ml milk 2 tbsp plain flour 6 spring onions, finely sliced 350ml chicken stock 1 tsp English mustard 150ml single cream 400g cooked back bacon loin (available in McLoughlin butchers, Malaga) Method: 1. Preheat oven to 180° 2. Steam the cabbage in a metal steamer until al dente, strain and refresh in a bowl of iced water. 3. For the colcannon mash, add the potatoes to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender. 4. When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, strain, place back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. 5. Add in the spring onions, a small handful of the steamed cabbage and season with sea salt and black pepper. Combine and set aside. 6. For the filling, melt 25g of butter in a large frying pan, add the onions and fry slowly for approx. 15 minutes or until softened and caramelised. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. 7. Melt the remaining 10g of butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the flour and mustard and cook for 1 minute, whisking to combine. Gradually add the stock, whisking briskly until it thickens. 8. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Pour in the cream and stir through allowing to cook for a further minute. Add the remaining cabbage, ham and cooked onions to the sauce and stir well. Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof baking dish, top with the colcannon mash. 9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until the top is starting to brown. Serve immediately.

Marguerite O’ Dwyer Pantry Dolls 0405 680 480 www.facebook.com/pantrydolls/ 50

Ingredients: 300g butter 150ml Guinness 250g plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 100g cocoa powder 375g caster sugar 3 Eggs 1 tbsp vanilla extract 150ml sour cream Frosting 200g Lindt White Chocolate 125g butter, at room temperature 225g cream cheese 225g icing sugar, sifted Method: 1. Preheat the oven 180°C

2. Grease a 23cm / 9 inch cake tin with a removable base and line with non-stick baking paper.

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the cocoa powder and Guinness. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the melted butter mixture along with the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.

5. Pour into the prepared cake tin and place in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted comes out completely clean. Once baked through, remove cake from tin and leave to cool on a wire rack. When the cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting. 6. Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed on top of a saucepan filled with a little water boiling over a low heat. Remove from the heat to cool for about 10 minutes. 7. Place the butter and cream cheese in a bowl and beat until fluffy and combined. This can take up to ten minutes.

8. Mix through the melted white chocolate and then gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar until you have a smooth, spreadable mixture. 9. To assemble the cake, place it on a cake stand and spread with frosting. Serve with freshly whipped cream.

Seán Doherty Branch

Page Sponsored by: Reid’s Bootmakers

Firstly, we hope everyone had a very happy Easter. TRADITION MUSIC Monday night class are still going strong with Sean Doherty’s beginner classes and Terry non-beginners with both classes starting at 7pm until 8. This is followed by a tea break followed by our Irish Music Session and all trad musos are welcome. IRISH LANGUAGE

IMonday also sees our Irish Language class with Brid and they start at 7pm. SET DANCING The Set Dancing class starts at 8pm and an opportunity to learn the set dancing of Ireland.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE… If you are interested in joining any of our class’s you are more than welcome. No need to book, just turn up on the Monday night.

BICKLEY MUSIC CAMP In about three weeks we will be having our music Camp at Bickley and anyone can attend the camp, you don’t have to be a musician and the camp is great fun. We cater for big kids, wee kids teenagers. Something for everyone, promise you won’t be disappointed. Great way to meet people and make new friends. The dates for the camp are 17th - 19th May you can book if you want or just turn up and we will be very happy to see you. If you need more information you can call me on 0488149382 any time. FAIRBRIDGE WEEKEND I was at Fairbridge at the weekend. So nice to see Fiona Rea with John McCarthy and Tommy O’Brien. They were playing to a huge crowd and even had Irish set dancing added in. Congratulations to them they were awesome. There was also a great session in the clubhouse on Saturday evening with Donough O’Donovan and friends. Make the Fairbridge Music Festival a date for next year! Well hope to see you all soon. Yvonne Jones, Chair CCE Perth.

WEEKLY SESSION

EVERY MONDAY @ THE IRISH CLUB

Come and learn a tune 7pm in the committee room or join in the session. There is also set dancing most Mondays about 8.30 pm. It’s great fun, beginners welcome.

For news updates visit: www.facebook.com/perthcomhaltas

Siobhán Na Spág poems.... Ceangal Is ón ithir dhubh A tarníodh mo chorp Ní liomsa na clocha aoil liath Ach is leo mé Ní liomsa an phortach bhog Ach gur rug sé mé Gur dhóirt sé mé óna bhroinn thé Farraigí fiáine an Atlantach Á mbrú fhéin thrí mo chuislí An tsalann ón uisce Leáite thrína gcuid ballaí Is ceol na teangan Ag sileadh óna mbeola Scéalta beaga suaracha Ach a’ pleascadh le cneastacht Ag soilsiú mo néaróga Á ndúiseacht, á gcompordu Ní feidir liom ligean leat Thú a chaitheamh ó mo dhroim Mar gur leat mé Mar gur tú mo chorp agus gurbh muid an duine Ceannann céanna. Connection My body has been extracted From the dark earth The limestone is not mine But I am its This soft bog is not mine But it has birthed me I have spilled from its warm womb The wild seas of the Atlantic Pushes through my veins The salt from its waters Melted through their walls The music of their language Dripping from their lips Paltry tales Bursting with sincerity Lighting my nerves Wakening them, comforting them I cannot let you go or throw you from my back As I am yours You are my body And we are the very same person

Cruinniú liom fhéin Lean ar aghaidh Coiscéim ar choiscéim Go dtiocfaidh tú Ar bhás is ar bhreith Ar ghanntanas is neart Go mairfidh tú Sa bhfuacht is sa teas mór Go ndéanfaidh tú gáire Agus caoineadh Go mbrisfeadh galair thú Is go bhfásfadh sláinte Go mbeidh an dubh is an bán Mar chomhluadar agat Le do thaobh Is ansin go mbualfeadh tú Leí, í lom leis Smál an tsaoil Ar a colainn Is go gcuirfeadh tú Aithne ar an mbean A bhfuil coimhlint An tsaoil ag impí Uirthi fás i bhfad sula D’tiocfaidh ciall.

Séan Roche celebrates his 70th at Mighty Quinn

A meeting with myself Carry on Step after step Until you come upon Death and birth Shortage and strength Until you survive In cold and great heat Until you laugh and cry Until disease weakens you And health grows Until the black and the white Are your comrades You’ll meet her there Her bare and bald The stains of life On her body You will get to know The woman whose conflictled life Demands her to Grow before she is ready.

Toghta ón gcnuasach ‘Dánta Póca’ le Siobhán Na Spág Taken from the collection ‘Pocket Poems’ by Siobhán Na Spág

"Where we sported an played...."

Martin Kavanagh Hon Consul of Ireland

Fred Rea It is with a mixture of sadness and surprise that I learnt that Fred Rea is handing over the reins at the Irish Scene. What can we say about Fred and the Irish Scene which has been such an important part of the Irish Community for so many years? Apart from coming from Cork, Fred’s other great trait is that he has given fantastic service to the Irish Community both in public and, more importantly, behind the scenes. Many an Irish person has been quietly and generously assisted by Fred who is also the oracle on all things Irish. Fred has made a truly outstanding and selfless contribution to the community. The Famine Memorial and the recognition of Irish female convicts are but two areas where he has excelled. On behalf of the Irish community in Perth, I thank Fred for his unique and outstanding contribution over many years. Fred could not have performed such a role with the support, assistance and understanding of Lilly, to whom we all owe a huge debt. Thank you, Fred and Lilly.

IDENTITY AND PASSPORTS

I thought it might be useful to highlight a few common problems that people are experiencing in relation to their identity and passports: • Australian Citizenship: If the name on your passport is different to the name on your birth certificate, you may have great difficulty obtaining Australian citizenship. This is particularly so if the name on your passport is in Irish and your birth certificate is in English or vice versa. Problems can also occur if you have a middle name on your birth certificate, but you only have your first name on your passport. Please check that your passport and birth certificate are consistent. In many cases Australian Immigration is insisting you obtain a new passport. Citizenship is such a long and expensive process. Please plan in advance and save yourself the headache. • 6 months validity on your passport. As a rule, you should always ensure that your passport has 6 months validity. You don’t want to arrive in the check-in at Perth International Airport to find that you can’t fly. Whilst there are some countries who do not insist upon 6 months validity, most countries and most airlines do - why take the risk? • Damaged passports: Many countries, particularly Indonesia now, are refusing entry where a person has a damaged passport. Sometimes damage seems quite minor to the passport holder but with biometric security many countries are becoming very, very particular. Therefore, if you have any concerns at all about damage to your passport, however slight, you should consider renewing your passport. We have had recent cases where people have flown to Bali only to be refused entry and the person is immediately returned to Perth. • Online renewal of passports: –Apart from first time applications, all passport renewals can now be done online at: https://www.dfa.ie/ passportonline • We’re here to help: should you have any passport queries we are more than happy to assist. Dues to the very high volume of calls we receive it is not always possible to answer every call immediately. We aim to get back within 24 hours. Email is often more effective. Please contact us on: Info@consulateofirelandwa.com.au or call us on 6557 5802.

165/580 Hay Street, East Perth WA 6004 Te l : ( 0 8 ) 6 5 5 7 5 8 0 2 • F a x : ( 0 8 ) 9 2 1 8 8 4 3 3 Email: info@consulateofirelandwa.com.au We b s i t e : w w w. c o n s u l a t e o f i r e l a n d w a . c o m . a u Office Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30 - 2.00pm by appointment only 53

visit, she brought back Tayto Crisps, I was quite surprised. I brought back Twiglets. Not much to crow about. Of course you can buy these items in Perth nowadays. Tayto Crisps is actually a crisps and popcorn manufacturer within the “South”, founded by Joe Murphy in May 1954. Tayto invented the first flavoured crisp production process. The first two seasoned crisps produced were Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar. Companies worldwide sought to buy the rights to Tayto's technique. Tayto crisps are a cultural phenomenon throughout much of the Republic of Ireland and "Tayto" is used by many Irish people as a metonym for crisps. Of course the Americans have to be different and call them chips as opposed to our chips which they call fries! Tayto Crisps manufactured in the Republic should not be confused with Tayto in the ‘North”,(God forbid) which is a separate brand. The Northern brand of Tayto licensed the name of the Southern brand with slightly toned down recipes, (presumably because we in the North have no sense of taste anyway) and is widely sold throughout Northern Ireland and parts of, (wait for it), Inishowen which of course is in Donegal. OK, I thought I had never been to Inishowen but I HAVE. As you all know, it is the peninsula in the North most part. Forgive me. The Ulster Rambler should be demoted. I thought it was a town. Also I learned to my horror that Lifford was the capital of Donegal and not Letterkenny as I had originally thought. (Three strikes in this article and I am out of here). The latest cuisine news is that with more and more people now choosing Mexican cuisine over traditional favourites, (as mentioned above) unique new folded tortilla snack McCoy’s Muchos is set to hit the shelves of stores across Northern Ireland this month. In a survey carried out by BBC Good Food it was revealed that people have been turning their backs on a curry (lucky them) in favour of Mexican food such as nachos, tacos and fajitas. What about the ubiquitous Mexican beans you might well ask. Out of the 5,000 people surveyed across the UK, 56% said Mexican was their preferred food when ordering in or heading out for dinner. McCoy’s Muchos use a unique double-sheeted technology (where did I get that fact from and no I don’t know what it means) to create their iconic folded shape and are seasoned with authentic Mexican flavours delivered with the quality that snack lovers associate with McCoy’s, Northern Ireland’s number one ridged crisps. I am reliably informed that it is available in three flavours – Nacho Cheese, Smoky Chilli Chicken and Sour Cream and Onion, three flavours which the manufacturers expect to be a big hit in Northern Ireland. Better even than sliced pan! It was advertised as follows: “We know how much they love the McCoy’s brand and we can’t wait for them to try Muchos which has all the jam-packed flavour of McCoy’s with a little extra spice! (Not sure

ULSTER

Rambles

with David

I have to confess that when I left Ulster in the seventies, bound for Spain, there was no particular dish that I yearned for while living in a foreign country. Franco, in his wisdom, had declared that no alcohol was to be served without some kind of food. The beers were extremely small compared to Irish pints, so after seven of them (each accompanied by a more exotic ‘tapas’, the waiter produced an olive which was the first tapas I had received with the first beer. ‘Perdonomé señor, no hay otro differente!” he informed me. I was back to the start again. I think by this time I was expecting a whole plate of fish and chips as the tapas had improved with each subsequent beer. Back in Ulster, the best dish for value was when a Chinese Restaurant opened near the University and offered a three course meal for lunch at the reasonable

price of 2s: 6p. Sorry, two shillings and sixpence for our younger readers. Soup, Sweet and Sour Pork, and a small bowl of ice cream for dessert was the usual fare. Unfortunately we dissected the main meal one day and found out that it was half an Irish sausage in a thick coated batter; time then to be more adventuresome. We weren’t or at least there was no other place to heighten our taste buds. What do I miss then? A brown bread called ‘VEDA’, not much you must agree. My wife (still the one from Dublin 4) does not seem to miss much either. In the early days, when on a home

what jam has to do with the price of petrol). They continued: “The texture is delicious too as it is a light and crispy folded tortilla hailed from real Mexican roots.” (Now they are beginning to get on my wick here. Delicious texture is one thing but hailed from real Mexican roots is just too much to swallow. Sorry about that if that was a pun. “And they come in share bag sized packs making it the perfect addition to a night in with friends and family.” OMG, what a sad life some people live. “McCoy’s is Northern Ireland’s no.1 ridged cut crisp so we are hoping to replicate its success by launching a folded tortilla snack with full-on real Mexican Flavour,”

concluded the marketing manager. Good luck to him is my only comment here. After a bit of research I found out that KP Snacks Ltd owns some of the biggest Crisp, Snacks and Nuts brands in the Northern Ireland market, including McCoy’s, Hula Hoops, KP Nuts, Butterkist, Skips, Space Raiders, Discos, Pom-Bear, Nik Naks, Roysters, Frisps and Brannigans. They have come a long way from the potato crisps I bought with their ingenious blue pack of salt somewhere near the bottom. I wonder if my Chinese Restaurant near the University is now selling Chicken Mole Enchiladas or Garlicky Holy Guacamole! I do hope so. I do know that it will cost more than half a crown! David MacConnell

Shall My Soul Pass Through Old Ireland In a dreary Brixton prison Where an Irish rebel lay By his side a priest was kneeling ‘Ere his soul should pass away Then he faintly murmered “Father” As he clasped him by the hand “Tell me this before I die Shall my soul pass through Ireland? Shall my soul pass through old Ireland Pass through Cork City grand Shall I see the old cathedral Where St. Patrick took his stand Shall I see that little chapel Where I pledged my heart and hand Then Father tell me truly Shall my soul pass through Ireland? ‘Twas for loving dear old Ireland In this prison cell I lie ‘Twas for loving dear old Ireland In this foreign land I’ll die Will you meet my little daughter Will you make her understand Then Father tell me truly Shall my soul pass through Ireland?” With his heart pure as a lily And his body sanctified In that dreary British prison That brave Irish rebel died Prayed the priest that wish be granted As in blessing raised his hand “Father grant this brave man’s prayer May his soul pass through Ireland”

Community

pays its respects to

Irish Diggers By Lloyd Gorman

The memory of two Irish born West Australian World War I soldiers were fully remembered and celebrated during last months ANZAC Day commemorations in Ireland and Perth. Individually both John Dwyer from Clara, Co. Kilkenny and Martin O’Meara from Lorha, Co. Tipperary both came to Australia around 1911. John went to the goldfields of Kalgoorlie while Martin worked as a wood cutter in Collie. When WWI started both men enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force. John was with the 11th Battalion that landed at Gallipoli and was wounded twice in action there but survived that theatre of war and went on to fight in France. Martin narrowly missed being sent to Gallipoli but spent most of the war in France where he ‘won’ a Victoria Cross medal - the highest decoration for courage in the face of the enemy - for bravely finding at least 25 wounded Aussie Diggers from the murderous No Mans Land and lifting them back to the safety of their own lines over the course of several days under heavy artillery and gunfire. Both Irish men returned to Western Australia and would remain there for the rest of their lives. Neither enjoyed a good life after the war. Upon his return Martin was held in containment because of the risk of spreading the

deadly so called Spanish Flu, that killed more people than WWI itself. During this enforced detention something happened that would see him spend the next 17 years in local mental asylums and straight-jackets until his death in 1935, aged 50. Because of his distinction as a VC medal holder O’Meara received a full military funeral, with his coffin carried by several other VC decorated soldiers. In what appears to have been a lonely life, John would also suffer from the wounds he received during the war for the rest of his days. He died in 1950 from cancer and after spending the last two years of his life being cared for in the former nearby Repatriation hospital in Nedlands, was buried in an unmarked grave. Both men were laid to rest in Karrakatta cemetery, Perth. Thanks to the interest and research efforts of Peter Dwyer, John’s great nephew, who is also from Kilkenny his story has now been given its due respects. When he discovered his grand uncle was buried in an unmarked grave late last year Peter set up a crowd funding campaign to have a headstone installed. Six months later in the shadow of ANZAC Day he was standing at John’s graveside, surrounded and supported by so many different people from the Irish and West Aus-

Peter Dwyer in Kalgoorlie

Peter Dwyer in Karrakatta Cemetery

Peter Dwyer with his father, also Peter and a picture of John Dwyer's regiment

Peter Dwyer says thanks...

After attending the emotional dedication to my Grand Uncle John Dwyer's grave on the 20th April, I would like to thank the following people who helped make it happen, attend it and document it. Ashayla Ramsay and family formerly of the RSLWA who made the day happen and much more. Fred Rea and Lloyd Gorman of the Irish Scene who covered the story and made an amazing video. Everyone who donated to the gofundme page to pay for the grant for his headstone. All the attendees on the day, the buglers, Piper’s, 11th Battalion re-enactors and drummers. The representatives from the WA and Irish governments. Anne Chapel and family and the RSL who invited me to march on Anzac Day. Go raibh maith agat. Peter Dwyer 56

tralian communities. Peter thanked Ashayla Webster, who was instrumental in making the whole thing happen, and the members of the 11th Battalion re-enactment group (who wore the exact uniforms John would have worn) who formed a guard of honour and bag pipers. At the end of the ceremony John and his father in law drank a swig of Irish whiskey to John’s memory. From Karrakatta the group was invited to Anzac Cottage - which was built in one day by the community for a returned soldier and his family - in Mt Hawthorn. Peter also travelled to Kalgoorlie to try and learn more about John and the place he spent a lot of his life. Peter and his father in law - whose uncle was an Irish man who served with the American army in World War II and was amongst those who stormed Omaha Beach as part of the battle for Normandy during D-Day operations - also attended the Dawn Service in Kings Park on ANZAC Day and were invited to march in the Perth Parade with John’s old Battalion. While we know that John is pictured in the famous photograph of Australian Diggers at the Cheops Pyramid it is not know which one of the men he is and the search continues for a photograph of him, one of the last pieces of the puzzle. Peter proudly admits that he has cried more in his week in WA than he had done in all his previous 40 years and throughout all this he said they said were shown great hospitality and friendship. In recent years the WA Irish community and others have resurrected and fully embraced the Martin O’Meara story. A stage play, a song, a public talk and a book about him as well as his grave being placed on a heritage trail are some of the ways

that has happened. Now he is starting to get similar recognition in his native Ireland. ANZAC Day is traditionally marked each year in Grangegorman cemetery where the bodies of ten Australian soldiers are buried. That dawn service was held as normal on April 25, but this year there was a significant addition to how the occasion was commemorated. The Australian Embassy in Ireland, with the support of the National Museum of Ireland, held a lunchtime history lecture in the Palatine Room of the National Museum, Collins Barracks. The lecture explored “Irish-Australian World War One connections, soldiers’s experiences of homecoming after the war and the moving story of Martin O’Meara VC, Irish born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry.” The speakers included Robert Fleming, Curator, National Army Museum, London, Dr Jennifer Wellington, War Studies Centre, UCD and Brenda Malone, Curator, National Museum of Ireland. There was more to come. “Today, we are announcing another very significant gesture to mark the contribution of this remarkable man,” Charlie Flanagan, the Irish minister for Justice and Equality told the event. “102 years after Sergeant Martin O’Meara last came to these shores, visiting his family in Lorrha, Tipperary, it is an honour to be able to announce that later this year, his Victoria Cross medal will be brought from the Australian Army Museum of Western Australia [in Fremantle] to be displayed during a 12 month loan to the National Museum of Ireland. This is a highly significant and generous gesture, and marks the first occasion

ANZAC DAY Grangegorman

Martin O'Meara Talk National Museum of Ireland

that a Victoria Cross owned by the Australian Government has been allowed to leave Australia. The presence of this medal at our National Museum will offer an important opportunity to highlight the depth of the historical links between our two peoples and to remember those [6,600] Irish and Australian men and women, like Martin O’Meara, who performed such remarkable acts of bravery during that tragic conflict, more than 100 years ago. The medal is due to arrive here in Collins Barracks in July and I hope, and in fact believe that it will prove an inspiration to those who visit the Soldiers and Chiefs Exhibition over the following 12 months.” O’Meara’s story reached a wider Irish audience on April 24 when Ian Loftus, the West Australian author of the ‘The Most Fearless and Gallant Soldier I Have Ever Seen’ about him was interviewed by Ryan Turbidy’s (host of the Late Late Show) at length about Martin during a long interview on his morning radio show, one of the most listened to in the RTE stable of programmes. Meanwhile, The Irish community continued its strong and proud representation at the Anzac Day ceremony in Subiaco. Honorary Consulate Marty Kavanagh, former Subi mayor and child migrant from Ireland Tony Costa, former Irish army soldier and UN peace keeper Willie Quinn, the Australia Irish Heritage Association and others took part in the parade and laid wreathes at the foot of the clock tower war memorial in Rankin Gardens.

Fred & Lilly Rea

Changing of the guard at Irish Scene

Lloyd & Imelda Gorman and Family

by Peter Murphy

Who can remember the good old days – back in the late 90s and early 2000s – when the Irish Scene (IS) magazine graced Irish bars and social clubs dressed-up in its plain green cover with white pages and black text including odd advert for a cheap pint of Guinness at Fenians Irish Pub?

Joe Crozier (RIP) and Fred Rea were then the editor/proprietors. And should you ever dare put a slur on their beloved free magazine, they’d give you a right ole serve. Joe – owing to failing health in early 2000s – handed over full reins of the Irish Scene to Fred and Lilly Rea. Fred with his composite printing skills, flair for colour and advances in digital software, began to add to the magazine gloss and colour along with digital photographs, while Lily – with her business acumen – built a new legion of sponsors.

By mid 2000s, Fred and Lily had produced a magazine brimming with articles highlighting Australian/Irish heritage and culture including book and music reviews, gig guides, festival events, photographs, humour, prose, poetry, sport etc, and all this still for free. For over 20 years, Fred and Lilly have unselfishly given the Irish

community in WA a magazine to be proud including allowing its use for fundraising for those less fortunate including those who’d lost loved ones or dear friends – while in between editions – they somehow also found time to help organise the wonderful Irish Famine Memorial sculptor now gracing Subiaco’s Market Square Park including the Famine Travel Box event series (Perth, Bunbury and York) that paid homage to those Irish girls dislocated from their beloved Ireland due to The Great Famine (An Gorta Mόr).

So when I heard a whisper that Fred and Lily involvement in the Irish Scene was coming to an end, I couldn’t believe my ears. I mean where on earth would WA be without a magazine that not only keeps the glue of the Irish community together, but is also its heartbeat?

However, after making a few inquires, I was relieved to hear that Fred and Lilly were now handing over Irish Scene publishing reins to Dubliner Lloyd and Limerick lass Imelda Gorman. This is terrific news as Lloyd is a respected journalist both here in Australia and in Ireland, and over the past few years has written some excellent articles for the Irish Scene; especially his ‘How Three Pennies Became

$1.2 billion’ which charted the history of Perth Children’s Hospital from an old dept store (Moore & Co) to one of the most modern children’s hospital in the southern hemisphere. Imelda’s business acumen (in between tending to their 3 young children) will make sure sponsors receive the professional attention the IS was renowned for.

Lloyd tells me there will be no immediate changes to the magazine’s Irish theme or design; however knowing Lloyd’s interest in Australian/Irish politics (watch this space), while Fred and Lilly tell me they’re planning to spend more time with their extended family, while Fred I’ve no doubt will tend to his beloved garden, concentrate more on his music and his golf swing. Thank you Fred and Lilly for being there when we needed you most. Peter Murphy

Peter Murphy is a regular contributor to the Irish Scene. Peter is author of the novel ‘Fenian Fear’ which is based on a period (mid 1800s) when ‘Fenianism’ was at its peak in Australia. Copies are available through Fremantle Prison gift shop.

“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” Jack Kerouac (On the Road) 58

Join LUB THE C

SUNDAY The Irish Club is a members only club, and we welcome new members. Application forms can be downloaded from the website.

$15 ROAST at The Irish Club 4-7pm The Irish Club A GREAT PLACE FOR A PARTY

Functions & Fundraisers Contact Club:

Tel: 93815213

Irish1@irishclubofwa.com.au

Opening Hours: Mon-Wed 5-10 Thur-Fri 5-11 Sat 5-late Sun 4-10pm

IRISH CLUB SENIORS

SENIORS’ LUNCH

Ist Friday of the Month. $15 per person Bar open from 12.30pm. Lunch at 1pm. Bookings 9381 5213

EVERY MONDAY Trad Music & Irish Classes

COMHALTAS

Music Lessons Set Dancing 8pm followed by the Seisiun Irish Language Classes 7pm

61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco Western Australia 6008 Phone: 9381 5213 • secretary@irishclubofwa.com.au • www.irishclubofwa.com.au 59

Request a Song with Oliver Tom Gilmore of Galway Bay FM visiting Oliver McNerney at Ellenbrook radio. Oliver presents a Country & Irish Show 10am - 1pm every Wednesday. Oliver plays requests, call and say hello!

A Boys meet Girls story Jackie Mangan originally from from Dublin took her friend Eleana Bredemeyer to see Boyzone at HBF stadium on 30th March. The girls even got a chance to meet the lads after the gig.

Happy 70th Carl Reid.... This photo sent to me by Tom Gilmore of the Wembley Mob having a celebration. I see Sean Henry (bottom right) is is usual happy self! Carl (bottom left) celebrated his birthday a few weeks later. But I ask, did Generous Sean pay the whole bill?

The 'Wearing of the Green' at the Gathering in Wanneroo for St Patrick's Day Lunch

Lena (and Paddy) on the Mend!

Former Irish Club Presidents, Paddy and Lena Costello at the Irish Club Senior's Lunch. Paddy wasn't well some month's ago and then Lena had a fall. But now all is good and they are back on deck and doing just fine! 60

St Pat's Day around Perth

6363

AIDA WA EXECUTIVE 2019 President: Caroline McCarthy TCRG Vice Presidents: Katherine Travers TCRG & Melissa Kennedy TCRG Secretary: Katherine Travers TCRG Treasurer: Martina O’Brien TCRG Registrar: Jenny O’Hare TCRG SCHOOL CONTACTS: Celtic Academy East Victoria Park & Karragullen www.celticacademyperth.com Siobhan Collis TCRG 0403 211 941 Kavanagh Studio of Irish Dance Maylands www.kavanaghirishdance.com.au Teresa Fenton TCRG 0412 155 318 Deirdre McGorry TCRG Caroline McCarthy TCRG Melissa Kennedy TCRG Avril Grealish TCRG The Academy/Keady Upton Subiaco, Wangara & Pearsall Samantha McAleer TCRG Kalamunda Lara Upton ADCRG 0409 474 557 O’Brien Academy Butler, Mindarie/Quinn’s Rock, Ocean Reef, Connolly, Duncraig 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 Scoil Rince na hEireann Rockingham irishdance@iinet.net.au Megan Cousins TCRG 0411 452 370 Scoil Rince Ni Bhaird Fremantle & Lynwood Tony Ward TCRG 0427 273 596 Three Crowns School of Irish Dance Wangara & Padbury www.threecrownsirishdancing.com Eleanor Rooney TCRG 0449 961 669 Trinity Studio of Irish Dancing Morley trinitystudiowa@gmail.com Eileen Ashley ADCRG 0413 511 595 Katherine Travers TCRG WA Academy of Irish Dancing Malaga Glenalee Bromilow ADCRG 0410 584 051 Sue Hayes TMRF 0412 040 719

Australian Irish Dancing Association Inc. The 10th March saw AIDA WA hold their first St. Patrick’s Beginners Feis at the Irish Club WA. We kicked off the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with all of our dancers wearing a touch of green. The idea for this competition came about to help support the Irish Club of WA as they are going through a period of serious financial hardship. Our trophy dance of the day was the traditional set St. Patrick’s Day. We had over 100 children enter and loads of siblings and new dancers jumping up to dance for our Non-Competitors dance to the music section. Sadly, AIDA WA received the news that Emily Gibbons, a pupil of the Three Crowns School, has recently been diagnosed with Leukemia. The Three Crowns School used this competition as a fundraiser and had a canteen and raffle in which AIDA WA and our vendors had donated prizes to. AIDA WA also donated the entry fees from our Trophy Section to this fundraiser for Emily. Over $1700 was raised at this competition but even more important was the show of support from our little community. We must also acknowledge the wonderful gesture from our adjudicator Rita Maguire who generously donated her fee to the Cancer Council. Emily is currently going through treatment and we wish her all the best! Overall this new addition to our feis calendar was a huge success for all the schools involved and the Irish Club of WA. Dakota Courtney (Right) – 2nd Placing at All Ireland Championships Congratulations to Dakota Courtney from the O’Brien Academy, Western Australia placing 2nd in the ladies 20 years at the All Ireland’s in Killarney. When asked how she felt about her amazing achievement Dakota said, “it’s surreal to think that a girl from Perth WA, the most isolated capital city in the world, can achieve something so amazing. The last three years of my dancing journey have really been a whirlwind and I feel so blessed to have such a strong support system with my teachers who always encourage me and reinforce that I can do it.” AIDA WA would like to wish the following dancers from WA who are travelling to Greensboro in North Carolina, USA the best of luck at the upcoming World Championships! Shannon Kennedy, Aimee Chanter, Brittany Pymm, Dakota Courtney, Dara McAleer, Caoimhe McAleer, Medbh Flanagan, Sinead Daly, Caoimhe McGuigan and Sasha Upton. Caroline McCarthy TCRG President, Australian Irish Dancing Association (WA Branch) Inc.

Brendan is Minister for Environment; DisabilitySrServices congratulated Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council by the Italian PO Box 2440, SOUTH HEDLAND WA 6722 members of the stephen.dawsonmp@mp.wa.gov.au community (08) 9172 2648 • 1800 199 344 (toll free) 64

SUPPORT IN THE WA G

IRISH COMMUMITY

Huge congratulations to Dara McAleer from The Academy on an amazing result at the World Championships! 2nd place and bringing home one of the first ever globes to Western Australia 65

Matters of

PUB-LIC INTEREST! WITH LLOYD GORMAN

Murphy’s wins out in late night tussle Late night revelers at Murphy’s Irish Pub in Mandurah will no doubt welcome and enjoy the fact that they now have an extra hours grace on Friday and Saturday nights, from midnight until 2am, instead of 1am. What their punters probably don’t realise is how hard won that 60 minutes extension was for the foreshore venue. Late last year, as reported in the November/ December edition of Irish Scene the owners of Murphy’s (Seaview Imports Pty Ltd) applied for what is called “a variation of the trading conditions of extended trading permit’. As with all liquor related applications in WA, there is a strict process which applicants must go through, and conditions and criteria that they must meet. One of the documents they are required to lodge with the application is called a Public Interest Assessment (PIA) which sets out the reasons for the application and explores in detail the various aspects of whats involved and the impact the request might have on the community. Murphy’s went through the normal channels and put in its application, including its PIA, letters of support and a survey of customers to back up their claims that customers wanted more time to be able to socialise in the venue at the weekends and that there was only one other place in the whole of Mandurah where patrons could get a late night drink at the weekends. Advertising the application on the premises and further afield for public comment and objections is another step in the process before the Director arrives at a decision. If a wrinkle is going to show up, it’s usually at this stage, when neighbours, community groups or other authorities get to have their say. It isn’t obvious if any complaints were received during this phase, but there was certainly an outbreak of complaints after the Director had published his decision to grant the extension on January 16 2019. About four weeks later he was defending his determination against four different groups. The Commissioner of Police wrote to the director on February 4, asking for his reasons in writing. The police - who are habitual objectors to liquor licences - expressed concern about a potential rise in harm

or ill-health in the locality and stated there was the potential for alcohol-related harm. The Chief Health Officer - WA’s top health tzar next to the health minister - had similar concerns and argued that older age groups were at risk from the consumption of booze in the area. The CHO also made the case that there is a general and established risk of harm during late night trading hours while the lack of any other late night tavern or liquor outlet in the area acted as a “protective factor” against alcohol related harm or ill health. The City of Mandurah also put in a query, related to Murphy’s financial support towards the council owned secured night-time taxi rank. The fourth objection came from the licensee of another premises in the area, Norma Jeans Retro Bar, which is a short walk away from the Irish pub. According to the Director’s reasons published on February 24, they: “raised concerns about minimising harm and reducing risk, particularly with reference to the trading conditions imposed on its nightclub licence.” [The Norma Jeans Facebook site gives the clubs trading times as 10pm to 5am] The Director stuck to his guns and repeated his conclusion that giving the Irish pub a little more late night opening time was actually in “the public interest” and balanced competing demands. “After considering the submissions of all the parties, I formed the view that…the risk of increased harm was not significant when regard was had to the circumstances of the locality, the likely degree of harm to result form the grant of the application was no greater than that which appears to be commonly accepted in the community”. On top of these and other reasons, the Director said the objectors had failed to ‘”establish the validity” of their objections as required under a section of the act. The Director also took note of several points made by Murphy’s that its patrons who were generally “older, mature age” felt safe and comfortable in the Irish bar and they did not want to use the objectors nightclub, which is the only licences venue operating in the entire area after 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. This meant that Mandurah’s population of more than 80,000 people had no choice of late night licensed venue. In addition to that, Murphy’s - which opened in 2008 - explained “it’s premises has a history of non-problematic trading after midnight” at the weekends.

WAtoday gets ‘scoop’ on St. Patrick’s Day News website WAtoday published a story about Guinness in Perth on March 17 about “where the tastiest sips” of the Irish stout are poured in Perth for the occasion. “Sources who really know their Guinness told us Durty Nelly’s in the Perth CBD, Paddy Malone’s in Joondalup, Fibber McGee’s in Leederville and Murphy’s Irish Pub in Mandurah are tops for the quality of Guinness they pour and serve,” wrote journos David Prestipino and Phil Hickey. “But all roads eventually led to West Leederville, where Paul North established Perth’s foremost Guinness taps 26 years ago. So why did everyone we spoke to insist his establishment was best when it came to serving a pint of the ‘ebony nectar’?.” Paul - who was interviewed for the piece - put it down to the lines being cleaned regularly and the lines being short (less than three metres long) between the keg and the tap. This mean it was “fresher” coming out, which it wouldn’t be if you had half a keg sitting in the pipes he added. St. Patrick’s Day was one of those few big occasions in the year when Paul didn’t indulge in a drop himself. “It is one of the few days of the year where I don’t drink, ‘cos I’m too bloody busy,” he is quoted as saying. “It would be just mayhem if I was drinking!” the Wexford born proprietor said. The article added that a strong Irish contingent would also be on hand at Fenians Irish Pub in the city which would sell about 1000 pints of the black stuff on the day. “With over 20 different beers on tap and Guinness being by far our most sold beer, I think it’s fair to say that we are well known for it,” food and beverage manager Jonathan Kunz said in the article.

Dublin to Mullaloo direct

While we are still on the subject of Guinness, The Mullaloo Beach Hotel had news of its own about the ‘pint of plain’. It put out this tweet on April 18: “Great news beer lovers! We’re proud to announce that we are now flying Guinness kegs direct from Dublin. This is the real stuff and tastes amazing. We have set, tasted and tested to perfection. Best of all it’s just $9 a pint and available right now at Mullaloo Beach Hotel.”

Pub debate reaches new highs

What’s happening with Mooney's pub?

Again in the November/December edition of Irish Scene, we reported that Paddy Maguire’s Irish Pub in Subiaco was on the market with a price tag of $420,000, plus stock at valuation. Then in the last issue (March/April) we had the story that the pub was being

reincarnated again as an even more Irish pub than before. True Blue Dub Brian Mooney had been eyeing up Paddy Maguire’s in Subiaco as a new venture in addition to his successful food business Ma Mooneys in Osborne Park. Brian put the move out for feedback on Facebook and soon afterwards pulled the trigger to buy the place. With the deal seemingly done Paddy’s shut its doors for a week while Brian and his crew got it ready for its reopening on March 1 as Mooneys Bar and Kitchen. Brian wanted to replicate and recreate the best parts of his favourite pubs back in Ireland in his pub and even put it on an equal footing (here) with Johnny Fox’s pub back in the Dublin mountains. Mooneys got off to a great start and was getting crowds in and was well frequented for St. Patrick’s Day. Not long after the doors opened Brian pulled a bit of a media master stroke by creating some hype by becoming the first pub in Australia to sell Conor McGregor’s whiskey Proper 12. [The Irish whiskey - named after Crumlin (Post code Dublin 12) where he grew up - hit the shelves of the new Subiaco bar at the same time [March 11/12] the Ultimate Fighting Champion was arrested and charged by Florida Police for an incident involving his alleged smashing of a phone outside a Miami Beach nightclub] If Mooney's got off to a good start then something happened on April 4, when the doors shut. A somewhat cryptic Facebook message appeared on the Ma Mooney's Facebook site: “To everyone out there in face book land, Whenever one door closes another one Opens “don’t ever give up on your dreams” Love always, Mooney “himself”. Signs posted in the windows of the front door don’t give much away, stating only that “Unfortunately this venue closed until further notice” and when I contacted Brian he said he would get back to me about it and when he does I would hope to give readers the full story then. Without knowing all the facts it would be premature to speculate further on the situation. In any case, hopefully there is a solution to the issue and Mooneys Bar and Kitchen can reopen and live up to its promise and potential.

There is great rivalry between Irish pubs when it comes to claiming to be the oldest, furthermost, most northerly watering hole in the country. There can be a lot at stake. Irish Scene fell foul of this competitive mindset in the last issue in our article about Mooneys in Subiaco and a reference to Johnny Fox’s pub in the Dublin Mountains being the highest pub in the land. But a keen eyed reader, Fionnbarr Diamond, tells us that’s not quite the case. “Our nation’s highest pub is The Ponderosa bar on the Glenshane Pass between Maghera and Dungiven in Co. Derry, which has an OS altitude of 946ft above sea level. Johnny Fox’s is at 912ft.”

Claddagh volunteers picking up seniors for the St Patrick's Day party March 2019

13/15 Bonner Drive Malaga 6090 Crisis support: 0403 972 265 All other enquiries: 08 9249 9213

SENIORS EVENTS

As usual our Seniors committee has been very busy since our last report. We held a St Patrick’s Day party at the Mighty Quinn with music by The Broken Pokers. Our regular free raffle was very well received by our Seniors. It was supported by donations from Bill (Mighty Quinn), Alanna Clohesy MLC, Sharon (Hetty’s Scullery), Meat Connoisseur and Killarney Autos. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day for our trip to Moore River in April and a bus full of happy Seniors. We had a magnificent time with lots to eat and drink, time to relax and take Claddagh Seniors, Moore River in the scenery and even Picnic April 2019 time to take a stroll. We will be playing lawn bowls in Scarborough on Monday the 20th May and look forward to a fun day for all. Any Irish Seniors not on our mailing or email list, who would like to join us on our monthly adventures, please contact Claddagh Coordinator Anne Wayne on 08 9249 9213/admin@claddagh. org.au so she can pass your details to the Seniors Committee.

ST PATRICK’S DAY

Claddagh had a great St Patrick’s Day in Leederville. Thanks to the St Patrick’s Festival Organising Committee for another wonderful event bringing the Irish and Australian communities together to celebrate everything Irish. The Claddagh walked in the parade and then staffed a shaded area where we served up traditional food to our Seniors. We also met many of you at our stall where we shared Claddagh’s work and signed up new members. Our membership is the heart of Claddagh. Subscriptions and volunteer hours from members directly support the Irish community in WA (L) Minister Heather Humphreys, in times of crisis. If you’d (R) Claddagh Chairperson like to join Claddagh please Heather McKeegan visit our website https:// claddagh.org.au/become-a-member/ or contact the Claddagh coordinator Anne Wayne on 08 9249 9213/ admin@claddagh.org.au. Following the St Patrick’s Festival Claddagh attended a reception hosted by Honorary Consul of Ireland to WA, Mr Marty Kavanagh. There we were pleased to meet Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD and catch up with many other Irish community groups. We explained Claddagh’s programmes to the Minister and heard about the government’s priorities for Irish emigrant support organisations. The reception was great affirmation of the important work Irish community groups do in WA.

RETURNING TO IRELAND EVENTS

You may have noticed Irish friends or family returning to Ireland and perhaps you’re considering whether you should move back home. If so, come along to our Returning to Ireland seminars in May. To increase accessibility, we will host seminars north and south of the river. We will also run a webinar for those who can’t make it to the face to face venues. Each session will cover: • what you need to know and do before the move • tips from other returning emigrants

www.claddagh.org.au 68

Crisis support:

0403 972 265

• issues for those with Australian partners or spouses • Conditions in Ireland • Legal requirements for returning to Australia if the move doesn’t go according to plan. For further information keep an eye on our Facebook page and website or contact Claddagh Coordinator Anne Wayne on 08 9249 9213/admin@claddagh. org.au.

STAFF CHANGES

As many of you will know our former coordinator Mairead McDonald has become a return migrant herself! Claddagh were extremely sorry to lose Mairead to the call of home and we wish her the best of luck in London. We know her family and friends are delighted to have her closer to home. Our new coordinator, Anne Wayne started at Claddagh at the beginning of April 2019. Anne has a foot in both the Irish and Australian communities. She was born and brought up in Perth and through her father has roots back to the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829. However, her mother is from the Wicklow/Dublin border. Anne herself married a Wexford man and lived in Ireland from 2001 until 2018, when she brought her family back to Perth. Anne has worked in the voluntary sector, both in Australia and in Ireland, and brings many years of experience and commitment to Claddagh. She is busy learning the ropes and will no doubt be in touch with many of you as she works on Claddagh’s priorities for this year: fundraising, enhancing work with volunteers and communications.

Unaccompanied baggage Backpackers • Tourists • Windsurfers •Surfboards If you would like your baggage, suitcase, backpacks, windsurfers sent back to your home country/city while you tour australia 25 .

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SUPPORTING CLADDAGH

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There are many ways you can support Claddagh’s work. • volunteer at one of our events or in the office. Contact Claddagh Coordinator Anne Wayne on 08 9249 9213/admin@claddagh.org.au for details • Take part in the HBF Run for a Reason on Sunday May 19th 2019. You can set up a fundraising page for Claddagh at https://nfp.everydayhero.com/au/ claddagh-association • Donate to Claddagh at https://www.givenow.com. au/thecladdaghassociation • Make a recurring donation through a payroll deduction from your wages. Contact Claddagh

Coordinator Anne Wayne on 08 9249 9213/admin@ claddagh.org.au for forms Claddagh is funded by the Irish government for administration and your donations helps us to help the Irish community in Western Australia in times of need. Claddagh is a not for profit organisation with gift recipient status. Any funds donated over $2 can be claimed as a tax deduction at the end of the financial year. Claddagh will email you your donations summary for inclusion in your tax return.

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Andy and the elders

Andy Keogh speaking at The Irish Club

By Lloyd Gorman The Irish Seniors group had a special guest who is literally on top of his game for their April get together. Perth Glory co-captain and Dubliner Andy Keogh dropped in to the Irish Club on April 5 for a warm welcome, ahead of a training session with his team mates. Host Fred Rea introduced and interviewed the gentle soccer giant who has made great strides in his professional career. Andy said he was born in Dublin and grew up in Dublin’s port city of Dun Laoghaire where he started his soccer life at Cabinteely FC and Joeys in South

Dublin. “That’s where I stayed until I left for England, when I was 14,” he said. “I left Dublin and moved to England to play with Leeds, a big move for a 14 year old, but well worth it. When I got to 19 I started playing professionally all over England” He enjoyed a successful career in England, including two spells at Leeds United along with stints as Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Millwall and Scunthorpe United. As well as that Fred said Andy had been capped for Ireland 30 times and asked him about some of his highlights. “[In England] I moved to Wolves and had Mick McCarthy as my manager, who was obviously a big influence in Irish football and I got my first cap under Steve Staunton in the Giants Stadium in New York. We played Equador which was a very proud moment and then got my first goal when we played Serbia in Croke Park, in front of Hill 16, which was also very nice,” the Dubliner said. “Some of the players I played with in the international set up were Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Kevin Kilbane and Gary Breen just to name a few. There was quite a lot of big names back then, so it was great to mingle with them and learn from everything they experienced in their career.” Fred asked him how he met his beautiful Peruvian wife and his fam70

ily. “When I was 24 I moved to London to play for Milwall and as you do after a win I went out celebrating with the lads into the nightclub and I came across this woman, took her out for a drink and within a year I was married, so that was me finished,” he joked. “Then we moved here when I was 27, going on 28, and we’ve been here nearly five years and we’ve just had a daughter called Kia and she’s our youngest and our little Aussie and she’s a handful alright, so we haven’t got a lot of spare time on our hands,” he added. The 31 year old - who celebrates his birthday on May 16 - has made a major contribution to his club and his own development. Since he stared with the Glory in 2014 Andy has established himself as one of the Hyundai A-League’s most prolific strikers. His tally of 34 goals has seen him become the club’s record A-League scorer and his hard-working, abrasive style has greatly endeared him to the nib stadium faithful. The Irishman resigned with Glory for another campaign in early March 2019. “I never had any thoughts about leaving Glory and it’s fantastic to be a part of this team and what is an exciting time for the club,” Andy told a journalist at the time. About a month after he committed again to Glory, and a week after his encounter with the Irish Seniors, Perth Glory had a stunning and long overdue victory. Andy and the boys won their first A-League Premiers Plate, with two games to spare. Their ground breaking April 14 one nil win over Newcastle came in the 65th minute of the game in front of 11,349 home supporters. The victory also gave them their first piece of silverware since their 2004 NS title trump, as well as a spot in next year’s Asian Champions League. Andy relishes the opportunity to take Glory into the Asian league and face off against other national teams, but first he needs to tackle a

GETTING

t c e f r e P

nationality issue of another kind. “I’m a bit touch and go for the Asian Champions League,” he confessed. “I need to get my citizenship before that.” Fred thanked Andy for making himself available to the seniors. Fred also reminded the function of another Irishman who played for the Perth club. “Liam Miller came from Cork and played for Perth Glory and then he went to Brisbane. Unfortunately he was only 36 when he passed away last year (February 2018). They had a big fundraiser in Cork and raised a million for this fella and I believe the captain of the Celtic Team held a benefit day and raised a million Euro for Liams wife to help her out. The football community are wonderful and help each other out and I’m sure Perth Glory contributed to that as well. Liam Millar was very much liked when he played for Perth Glory.” Other entertainment at the lunch was provided by Colin Smiley who played a slow air and a jig and an Australian Irish poet who read a number of poems.

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Eric Bogle

at The Irish Club Saturday, 9th March. More than a review, by Colin Smiley. I first heard Eric Bogle when I arrived in Perth, at The Stables Folk Club, in 1976. I instantly became a fan, along with a multitude of people, many of whom from that era were there to see him again: Greg Hasting, Lionel Cranfield (Zenith Music), Bernard Carney, Sean Roche, Peter and Annie Bugden to mention just a few. Since then I have seen him a good twenty times, at clubs, concert halls, festivals, (particularly the fondly remembered Toodyay Festivals!) and have purchased some 17 recordings (cassettes, LPs and CD’s). His music has touched me for over 40 years, in part because he has a genuine feel for people and concern for our planet. Anyway, moving on to 1980, I was at The Cambridge Music Festival. I was delighted when Eric and John Munro, his long-time music companion, went out of their way to come across and say hello to me. I was just a face they’d recognized from WA! Then a year later, Eric leant me his personal tapes of Canadian singersongwriter, Stan Rogers and wrote a lovely letter about the, then, recently deceased singer. This I featured in a presentation at The National Folk Festival, held in Perth in 1982. In 2005, at The Glen Helen Festival (N.T); my late friend Paddy

Connolly and I were on in the main concert. I was wandering around, in all honesty somewhat nervous about the occasion, when I bumped into Eric and John, who started chatting to me. I don’t remember what they said, but I know I went on stage with more confidence and I remember that set, as one of the best Paddy and I ever did. At the bar afterwards, a Scottish voice said: “lovely bracket, you really held them”. Thanks Eric, those words meant a lot to me. Back to the I/C concert: a minor disappointment at the start, in an otherwise faultless show, Eric’s vocals were a bit low, but this was fully corrected at the break. Eric was accompanied by Emma Luker on fiddle and I found her playing subtle and exquisite. Lovely harmony vocals too! Pete Tichener provided very polished second guitar and vocals. Overall the band had a lovely sound, although I could not but help miss John Munro’s stylish riffs. Emma’s tune and Eric’s song in memory of John was one of the highlights for me. As ever, Eric entertained and touched the souls of many people there. I had a recent passing in my life and was surprised to find myself tearing up after Eric sang, Leaving Nancy, Leaving the Land and Willie McBride. I was silly to be surprised. My wife loved those songs; and for me so many of Eric’s greatest songs encourage emotional connection. Surely this is the sign of a singersong writer performing at its very best? Yes, indeed, an almighty night was had, with a truly wonderful live performer still holding the crowd at 75, with fine songs of – humour, personal experience, or of social consciousness. As ever, I found Eric carries some songs better live on stage than on recording, as was the case with the hilarious, “When I’m Dead”, but no doubt I’ll appreciate the CD version more now! Lastly, what more can I say about his masterpiece: “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”? Nobody does it 72

better, or conveys the meaning of the song better, than the man himself. Ending on an amusing note, I was very early for the concert, as I wanted to put out fliers on the seats, for my Daisy Bates and Breaker Morant show on April 14th. A lady kindly asked: “Can I give you a hand”. I said: “That would be great” and thanked her. Richard Collins, quietly mentioned Carmel Bogle was my helper! We later introduced ourselves. I appreciated her help! Again thank you Eric, Emma and Pete, Richard Collins and The Irish Club for such a great night.

David O Doherty at the Regal Theatre

Reviewed by Lloyd Gorman

O’Doherty’s comedy made me sick, homesick David O’Doherty’s UltraSound one man routine was one of the gig’s that kicked off the Perth Comedy Festival in true Dublin comic style. What the laughter bound audience at the Regal Theatre, Subiaco recognised and responded too as Irish comedy, I recognised as being familiar. His rambling jokes, random observations and quips - assisted by ditty’s of a similar vein on his miniature electronic keyboard - are the stuff of his upbringing in the Irish capital, as typical of Dublin as Guinness. Laughing at his spontaneous silliness triggered memories of the witticisms, slagging and the type of messing typical of Dublin. In his more than an hour long show the 43 year old rolled out a string of shenanigans, craic and ‘shite-talking’ that a group of mates might get up to or say in a night out or a weekend away. Even his initials are the same as a friends, one of the boys who

was always up for a laugh. O’Donerty spoke quite a bit about an old bike of his from when he was twelve and how it came back into his life recently. Two wheeled anecdotes followed, including one of him cycling (as a full grown man on a kids bike) down Camden Street in Dublin. I spent a lot of my childhood in and around Camden Street. I felt at home again, a hankering for halcyon times when jesting was a constant onslaught inflicted by your best friends. There were some other Dublin ‘heads’ and no doubt there were a fair few Irish from outside the Pale at the gig, but it would probably be safe to say that the vast majority of people who paid to to watch him were not Irish at all. At a guess I would have said for the most part they were the regular Perth Comedy Festival crowd who chose to see an act because they rate the comedian on their own merriment merits, irregardless of where their origin story. Judging by the almost full house - the Regal has a capacity of 1074 - O’Doherty’s trademark Dublin wit appeals, like Guinness export, to a broader audience. Wherever you looked in the public gallery people from different backgrounds and nationalities were wolfing down wholesale. O’Doherty claimed to have had a root canal that morning and was heavily medicated doing the gig, an incident which gave him more material to work with, fuel for the fire of his funniness. Of course, like most Irish stand ups, O’Doherty does talk about being Irish, which is part of the charm of Ireland’s comic group. But it didn’t matter too much what he was talking about, everyone drew their own inspiration from his silliness. Everyone seemed able to relate. O’Doherty finished his onstage performance with an offer to come outside at the end in case anyone wanted to meet him and have a selfie with him. Plenty did. At least fifty people - including myself - hung around for a while to get the chance to have a quick chat with him and take a picture. Everyone probably

had their reasons to want to catch up with him. For me, I wanted to repay the man who had made me feel like I was back home with a special Dublin welcome to Perth, just in case he hadn’t already gotten one.

Luka Bloom at the Charles Hotel

Reviewed by Lloyd Gorman

Luka's tour hit the right note Luka Bloom was about half way through his Refuge Tour in Australia when the Christchurch Mosque Shootings happened. From then until the end of his tour he started every other gig with a dedication and tribute to the victims, opening with 'I am not at war with anyone'. So started two hours of pure Luka magic at his Perth - and final Australian - concert in The Charles Ho-

tel on April 5. The Kildare singer songwriter performed the songs that came into his head and the capacity crowd who turned out to see him were happy to follow his lead. With so many albums under his belt he has a treasure trove he can plunder. The front half of the show was dominated by a rich mix of his material but as the night progressed he resurrected more of his older hits peppered along the way with the odd cover of songs he loves thrown in for good measure. With their strong and catchy choruses songs like Sonny Sailor Boy and Tribe invite the audience in to claim their role in the music. Luka also draws the listener in with the stories and anecdotes he uses to introduce and link songs. There was at least one person in the audience (I think his name was Paul) who kicked around with with Luka in Newbridge, Co. Kildare when they were kids and others like Gerardine Neylon who was a Carnsore Warrior with Luka in the anti-nuclear protests in Co. Wexford in the 1970's. But there were plenty of Irish and Australian's who - judging by the more than a few grey hairs on display in the audience - have also been lifelong devotees of his music. [Luka turns 64 on May 23] Anyone prepared to wait a little while - and many were got a chance to talk to the man himself in person at the end of the concert. A great show from a great artist.

Musical Entertainer / Teacher

David MacConnell

0413 259 547 0doublexx7@gmail.com www.maccdouble.com 73

CD Review....

The Hare’s Lament By Ye Vagabonds

Reviewed by Phil Beck Fred asked me to review a new CD from a couple of musicians from the South of Ireland known collectively as Ye Vagabonds. It struck me as odd that they should call themselves Ye Vagabonds while the album is called The Hare’s Lament: The Vagabonds or Ye Hare’s Lament for consistencies sake surely?? But, as ever I digress and am not applying myself to the task in hand, so it’s head down and onwards from now on… Ye Vagabonds are brothers Brian and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn from Carlow. They are joined on the album by various friends and family members who between the lot of them play Bouzouki, harmonium, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, whistles and small pipes. The brothers Mac Gloinn do all of the singing. What struck me initially on listening to the album was that it harks back to an earlier era in the development of Irish traditional music over the past 50 years: to a gentler time before the thrash of the Pogues or the fast and furious jigs and reels of the likes of Nomos. A sort of post Clancy Brothers/ Dubliners but pre Planxty mood prevails. Well it does to me anyway. The sleeve notes tell me that influences include Len Graham (one of the all time great Irish singers) Paddy Tunney, A.L Lloyd, Andy Irvine, Johnny Moynihan, Sarah Makem amongst many others; including a paternal grandfather Barney Beag Gallagher whom they never met but, following a serendipitous meeting between one Lisa Shields (a collector of

traditional music and song) and Brian Mac Gloinn at the Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, were introduced to via some old recordings of Barney singing on Arranmore Co Donegal in 1977 long before the brothers were born. It turns out that Lisa and her husband Hugh Shields were on Arranmore at that time and had actually recorded some of Barney’s songs and made them available to the Vagabonds. What an amazing stroke of luck!! The album contains a few ‘standards’ such as ‘The Foggy Dew’ and ‘Seven Little Gypsies’ but Ye Vagabonds’ delicate and sensitive approach renders them different enough to be considered new. I particularly like their rendition of Foggy Dew, which to me seems to owe more to the English tradition than the Irish. There are also several songs in Gaelic (of course utterly incomprehensible to me) including the lovely Bacach Shíol Andaí from Arranmore. I’d love to tell you what it’s about but I can’t. Suffice to say that my not having a clue what it’s about made no difference to my enjoyment of listening to it. Likewise with ‘Dá mBeinn i mo Bhádóir’ (If I were a Fisherman) and ‘Tuirse mo Chroí’ also from Arranmore: lovely to listen to. The title track The Hare’s Lament is one of a large family of songs where the hare bemoans her fate: The Granemore Hare is a giant in this family. In this song the hare makes the not unreasonable claim that the huntsmen ought to be out after Reynard the Fox who killed all the farmer’s chickens and ducks etc rather chasing her, who only nibbled the tops off some kale. The song neglects to tell us of the fate of the Hare but my guess is that the huntsmen, not being renowned as intellectual types, aren’t swayed and the Hare gets it in the neck. The Lament is followed by a Macedonian dance tune called ‘Ocogovska Oro’ which immediately made me think of Andy Irvine and his playing of Bulgarian/Romanian stuff after he came back from exploring Eastern Europe way back in the last century. In fact The Hare’s Lament reminds me of Sweeney’s Men’s self titled first album from way back when; when Sweeney’s Men as I’m sure 74

you all know comprised Andy Irvine, Johnny Moynihan (both listed as influences by the Vagabonds) and Terry Woods. Moynihan and Irvine would later be part of Planxty and Terry Woods went off and helped form Steeleye Span in England. It was the Sweeneys (Moynihan) who first introduced the bouzouki to Irish traditional music, which may explain why I’m reminded of them here because the bouzouki features prominently. Another couple of tracks worthy of mentioning are 'I Courted a Wee Girl', a particularly fine version of a family of songs (such as 'I once Loved a Lass') with simple vocals and delicate interweaving strings of fiddle bouzouki and mandolin: and Willie o Winsbury. Willie o Winsbury was first recorded by guess who, Andy Irvine with Sweeney’s Men. I seem to remember an old tale that Irvine was searching for the tune to Winsbury deep in the archives of Cecil Sharp House or somewhere and picked the wrong manuscript by mistake and everyone now knows Willie o Winsbury to the ‘wrong tune’. I like that notion but I’m also told that Irvine denies it. Oh well. Anyway I’ve always liked this song so I’m pleased to see that someone has recorded it again and hopefully introduced it to a whole new audience. In conclusion I reckon the Hare’s Lament by Ye Vagabonds is a bloody good album: so thank you Fred for giving it to me to review, it come with a definite thumbs up rating from me. I’d also like to mention in closing that, apart from Ye Vagabonds, there are a couple of other names to look out for on the traditional Irish music front. These are Lisa O’Neill and Lankum (formerly Lynched). O’Neill, and Lankum both of Dublin (and pals of Ye Vagabonds) are a bit difficult to listen to but some of the stuff is great and well worth the effort: Look out for ‘Rock the Machine’ by O’Neill and, say, ‘Cold Old Fire’ by Lankum. There’s good earthy anarchic modern street music alongside traditional material here available for the listening to: get some in. Slainte. Phil Beck

Another Great Parade The 2019 St Patricks Festival WA was a massive success and I would like to thank all our committee members for their efforts in making this event happen again. It's with a sigh we say thanks to Fred Rea, an Irish Ambassador in our eyes and the driving force for most of the landmark Irish moments over the years in WA, through the Irish Scene and his involvement in what seems like everything that is ever organised within the Irish Community. To the Rea family thanks for enabling him to be at nearly every Irish event and recording these in the Irish Scene. To our committee especially Niamh Bliss, Steven Salman and Olan Healy officers for 2019, I say thanks for everything

its been a pleasure and I wish Olan all the best as Chairman for next years event. To all our sponsors a massive thanks especially those with us for years now and those who always take part and attend the very important fundraising events. Special mention to Danmar Homes/ Developments, Absolutely Beautiful, McDonald Surveys, McLoughlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Butchers, Killarney Autos, West to West, British Travel, ADENCO, City of Vincent, Lotterywest and of course the Irish Government. We have lots of new sponsors also coming on board special mention to MHM Contracting Michael Higgins and co. If anyone is interested in sponsoring anything or getting involved, please contact us through the Facebook page or call directly. We still have tickets for the raffle for $10 with the lucky winner getting return flights to Ireland plus lots more great prizes. Tom Tierney, Chairman

Sinn Féin TD visits Perth and recent events in Northern Ireland by Lloyd Gorman

Sinn Fein TD (MP) Aengus Ó Snodaigh was the main guest at a Cairde Sinn Fein Perth rally for the Easter Sunday commemoration of the 1916 Rising. The group assembled at the Famine Memorial in Subiaco with participants then marching to the Irish Club for a ticketed “opportunity to meet with Aengus and receive updates on how the vision of 1916 is being implemented by Sinn Fein” followed by a Q&A session. Irish Scene spoke with Mr Ó Snodaigh - TD for the Dublin South Central constituency - by telephone on April 25 shortly before he left Perth. This was his second visit to WA, having been here about 14 years ago with his wife, visiting a relative. Irish Scene asked him what he talked about. “We were gathered to remember why people went out at Easter 1916 and also in particular what is happening in Ireland in relation to Brexit and Irish Unity,” he said. “I was encouraging people increase their awareness of the Irish unity campaign and to increase the lobbying and support for a border poll. The interesting thing is that even in the last two years its no longer only a Sinn Fein project which it has been for years. What is happening now is that a lot of people across every community group, political party and organisation has been awoken to the issue of Irish unity, especially with the complications Brexit is going to bring about on the island of Ireland. The likelihood is that another border may have to be imposed and this would be contrary to what the Good Friday Agreement was about. We now have trade unionists, farmers in the North, a lot of them Unionists, looking at what exactly a United Ireland would look like and how they can influence stand in general a debate that hasn’t been there. For most of my lifetime it was only Republicans that discussed Irish Unity, whereas

now its the populace in general.” The Good Friday Agreement contains clauses that allow for a border poll if there is a strong enough desire he said. Ó Snodaigh said he wanted to encourage anyone with an interest in the issue to talk about it and add to the call for a border poll. “Hopefully we will be successful in that and get reunification.” Irish Unity is one thing but the more immediate problem in the light of the murder of Belfast born journalist Lyra McKee what needs to be done more immediately to stop the situation in Northern Ireland worsening? “It’s absolutely disgusting what happened and what needs to be done simply is that those who carried out the killing need to disband,” Ó Snodaigh said. “I think the focus on building up to a united Ireland, they don’t have to join Sinn Fein, they have their own organisations, that reflect their own politics - some of it is quite extreme - but there is a vehicle there, there is politics there, there are elections in the next while and if they believe in any way in the democratic process that’s the way they should be going. Everything they have done has set back Republicanism, has set back Irish Unity a number of years I think.” Would Sinn Fein get around the table with the Democratic Unionist Party to try and get the Northern Ireland Assembly back up and running? “Sinn Fein have absolutely no problem, we have said we are willing to engage as we have done time after time. Last April, we had an agreement with the DUP and they reneged on it. The British and Irish governments were ready to support that deal and we are still ready to go back on the same conditions or if they need to be negotiated then lets have them because its not good for politics when you have a void as we have had in the last number of 76

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

years.” There was a call by Fr Martin Magill the Catholic priest at Lyra McKees Funeral to politicians to talk to each other and get the situation sorted out, what will Sinn Fein’s response to that? “I’m only here in Perth since last Friday (April 26) so I’m not that far away from it. I would expect that there already has been exchanges by phone looking for meetings. We have continuously done that, not just because of the void that is there, but even with the local elections in the North (May 2) we would be in contact with the Irish and British governments, DUP and other parties to get this moving, this can happen in the background to the elections. We do not need to wait for the election results. I think that there is that type of urgency before it escalates any further and I think it is only right and proper, that’s our job. Its our responsibility and we’ve always said we are willing to live up to that, because without the DUP engaging, it just makes it difficult because we can’t force them to engage.” A few hours later sitting on Mullaloo beach, watching the kids play in the water I happened to hear the following segment on RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme on my iPhone. First they discussed Fr. Magill’s message to the politicians attending Lyra McKees funeral - including UK PM Theresa May, Irish Taoiseach Leo Vardakar and DUP Leader Arlene Foster - to talk to each oth-

er and solve the problems facing Northern Ireland. Then they played a recording of what he said from the pulpit and the sound of the spontaneous and loud applause that greeted it. “any of us will be praying that in its own way Lyra McKees death will not have been in vain and will contribute in some way to building peace here,” Fr. Magill said at the funeral service. “Since Thursday night we have seen the coming together of so many people in various places and the unifying of the community against violence. I commend our political leaders for standing together in the Creggan on Good Friday. I am however left with a question; “Why in God’s name does it take the death of a 29 year old woman, with her whole life in front of her [applause]…to get to this point? [applause] I dare to hope that Lyra’s murder on Holy Thursday evening can be the door way to a new beginning and I detract a deep desire for this [applause].” The Morning Ireland presenter and RTE’s Northern Ireland editor Tommie Gorman [no relation to Irish Scene editor Lloyd Gorman] discussed comments made by Arlene Foster on Good Morning Ulster Radio about the priest’s message. “I think it was a very powerful moment,” she said. “It wasn’t about what happens in a place of God, its about what happens next. I spoke to Fr. Magill last night to congratulate him on his powerful and very clear message, I think its one we all listened to very carefully.” Tommie Gorman was at the St. Anne’s Cathedral and experienced the moment. He said he thought Arlene Foster’s comments were “100% genuine” and that she and the other leaders would not have been able to see what was happening behind them and would then have been conscious about not jumping on the band wagon at the funeral and in a place of worship. “But its also true to say Fr. Magill captured a mood that say went beyond the normal politics of Northern Ireland,” Gorman said. “The DUP says its ready to go into talks, into government

in the morning and there should be a parallel series of talks process to sort out the outstanding issues, that’s a concept that was raised over a year ago and Sinn Fein’s attitude to that was ‘look, we know what the problems are, we have to agree the problems are going to be sorted before we go into government, so we have caution from Sinn Fein and willingness of sorts from the DUP.” Then, in what the Morning Ireland presenter confessed was unusual for the show, Arlene Foster accepted an invitation to speak on the show. She said it was a very moving service to remember a young woman who suffered a brutal death and a terrible moment for her family and friends to say goodbye to her. “I hope the service brought them some comfort, whether if it was from the Gospel of John and Mathew, the words of friends or indeed from the very powerful plain speaking words of Fr. Magill. I thought Lyra McKee he was very powerful, but also very clear about what the people what to see happen, they want to see happen is power sharing in Stormont, they want to see devolution back and they want to see it back, very, very soon, which is why I think it is important we do get back into an Assembly to deal with those things that matter to people on a daily basis, and we should have a parallel process to deal with issues Sinn Fein wants to raise on other matters.” Ms Foster she was travelling around the country for the local government elections and people were asking why they could not get the Assembly back up and running, even without Sinn Fein. “The way in which the Belfast agreement is set up means you cannot do that because they have to be involved in the power sharing administration, so there is very much a great desire to see the Assembly up and running again, I think it is important we do that because there is a lot 77

to be done, we do recognize there is a need for a parallel talks process alongside that, and that’s what we are suggesting.” The DUP leader said she was offering a balanced way forward and wanted an agreement that Unionists and Republicans could live with. She did not accept that the murder of Lyra McKee came as a result of the political vacuum while the Northern Ireland Assembly was not meeting. “It was caused by people who wanted to use violence for their own political agenda, that’s why Lyra is dead, that’s not to say we don’t bear responsibility for not having an assembly [in place for the last two years]…I believe we need to get the Assembly up and running again as quickly as possible, if we need to go into political talks to bring the Assembly back then we will be there.” After her call Tommie Gorman analyzed what she said and what needed to be done next. He said Sinn Fein had invested a lot of effort and energy into its border poll strategy and criticizing the DUP. It would also be a challenge for Sinn Fein to have a nuanced approach in the run up the elections - where the strategy would be tested . “So what do I see happening?,” Gorman said. “I think the two governments as guarantors will listen to whats happening, they’ll take account of that service in St. Anne’s, after the local government elections next week and before the European election they will look to set up some structures that will get people around the table, I used to believe there could be no Assembly back up and running and before the Brexit issue was sorted out but as a result of Lyra McKee’s death, the reaction to it and what it means to the peace process I think there’s a possibility of that changing.” Some of the best local WA reporting about Lyra McKee’s murder, the community swell and backlash against it - including the funeral service - and related developments has been on 6PR radio. Sky News reporter and Wexford man Enda Brady phones in two daily reports about the UK and Ireland on the station’s morning and afternoon drive shows.

something about yourself that I don’t know? I’m a very quiet person by nature. I don’t mind my own company. I’m not very talkative except when you come in Tony. You do all the talking and I have to tell you when it’s time to go.

With Tony Synnott

Meet Dr John Kennedy

10. Do you ever think of joining any Irish charities to help? I suppose I should maybe help out in some way. Someday when I get time or retire.

1. You were born in Dublin, where were you educated? As a child I went to Terenure, then went to Synge Street, Christian Brothers, from there I went to Galway University where I qualified for my P.H.D. in medicine. 2. Did you come from a large family? There were five boys in my family, and I was the second eldest. Two of my brothers have passed away. We are all getting old!

11. Your family are all settled here. Have they done well? Three children are here at the moment. One works in a bank, one is a financial advisor and my daughter is a teacher.

3. What sport did you play? I played golf as a student and it was my only sport. I play at Wanneroo Golf Club. When I have spare time I play at Hamersley with friends.

12. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I love my home life, my family and my grandchildren. Perth will do me, thanks.

4. You have been going back and forth to Ireland for years; do you work there or maybe play golf? I love to go home every year to see my friends and family. I don’t work there anymore, too busy here. I’m now 75 and I love my work here.

13. Has being a doctor made a big difference to your life in any way or do you just love being a doctor? I worked hard and still do. I love my job helping people and I will do it until I retire.

5. You have now made your home in Perth permanent. You have two boys and three girls, all adults. Why did you come to Perth? I came to Perth in 1988 with my wife and children. We thought the place was beautiful and the sun, sea and weather as well.

John is a very quiet man, not talkative but pushy when it comes to medical advice. He is intending to retire soon. Told me he is getting on and time to put away the statoscope. Thanks for the interview and friendship John.

6. The Irish Scene – I know you read it as I give you a copy. I read the magazine from cover to cover, a great read for everyone.

VISITING Ireland?

7. You work at a very busy medical centre. Do you get many Irish patients? A lot of Irish patients come; I am a good Irish doctor and talk the same banter about home.

Gerry & Elsie Tully will give a great welcome!

DIVINE MERCY

8. What is your favourite watering hole and why? I like Doubleview Bowling Club and Scarborough Bowling Club. I don’t play bowls but the people are friendly.

BED AND BREAKFAST Airport Road, Knock Co Mayo Phone: (094) 9388 178 International: 0011 353 94 9388 178

9. I found it difficult to catch up with you for this interview as your job keeps you busy. Tell us 78

Leederville and Leederville train stations we believe the LSC will be a convenient location for ITP Audiences all over Perth. Manager Nigel and the friendly team at the LSC are excited to welcome Irish Theatre Players audiences for this Production of Da, (written by Hugh Leonard and directed by Denice Byrne), opening on June 13th, 2019.

A Message from President,

Claire Wynne New Location & New Play!

Irish Theatre Players are breaking new ground by hosting our next production – Da, By Hugh Leonard, at Leederville Sporting Club – 78 Cambridge Street, West Leederville. With a huge, free, onsite car park and easy access to the West

We promise to bring you the old Irish hospitality you’ve come to expect from Irish Theatre Players and we invite you to join us for a drink at the LSC before the show and enjoy our complimentary refreshments as usual at interval time. We also look forward to welcoming back Sharon, from Hetty’s Scullery, with her range of delicious baked goods each night. I, and the rest of the ITP committee, thank our loyal audiences for their patience while we’ve been searching for a new home, and we look forward to welcoming you to the Leederville Sporting Club in the near future! Claire Wynne President Irish Theatre Players

A Word from the Director

Hugh Leonard’s play delves deep into our emotional reserves with outrageous indifference to individual sensitivities, insults are disguised in matter-of-fact conversation and a generous helping of humour layered on top. “Da” is the story of middle-aged Charlie who returns home to his native Dublin in 1968 for his Da’s funeral. While sorting through family paperwork and photos he gets a visit from a childhood friend which naturally leads to some reminiscing. He is instantly immersed in memories of his childhood and early adulthood all of which are laced with the beguiling and maddening presence of his Da. As he tries to come to terms with their relationship, he sees how his young self was shaped by that relationship. Charlie watches as his memory replays events from his adolescent life and he grapples with his emotions from then and now. We have gathered together a wonderful cast and crew for this production who bring a great array of talent, experience and enthusiasm. Our cast includes familiar ITP folk Marian Byrne, Alan Kennedy, Joe Purcell, Sandi Buckley, Michael Balmer, and we are thrilled to welcome new comers to ITP Paul Taylor-Byrne, Vee McGuire, Elias Cuzens. Our award-winning technical crew

will be led by John Spurling and Stage Management will be in the very competent hands of Caroline McDonnell. Tickets will be on sale in early May, so be sure to check out our website – www.irishtheatreplayers.com.au and facebook page – www.facebook.com/iristheatreplayers.com.au - for more information. We look forward to seeing you then! Denice Byrne Director

sortie; the strict matron of the town’s former, unhappy, children’s home, and the seemingly demented Dr Eugene. Nothing, and nobody, is as they appear to be. There is plenty which is eerie and compelling in this novel as it switches between three time zones – the 1940s, the 1970s and the 2000s. McNamee, in his spare and evocative prose, has conjured up, in ‘The Vogue’, a tale of suppressed secrets, bigotry, intrigue, conspiracy and revenge. THE VOGUE by EOIN McNAMEE is published by FABER. $29.99

THE VOGUE by EOIN McNAMEE

REVIEWED by JOHN HAGAN ‘Everything that I write circles around a few acres near where I was brought up’, declares Eoin McNamee, and in his new novel, ‘The Vogue’, McNamee reinforces that in spades. Now living in Sligo, McNamee was born, and spent his youth in the attractive fishing village of Kilkeel, County Down. Central to his new novel is the decaying, abandoned, aerodrome of Prinmill, which McNamee has undoubtly based on the disused Greencastle Royal Air Force base (on which I learned to drive) at Cranfield Bay, near Kilkeel. ‘Airbases in County Down have always fascinated me’ says McNamee. ‘During the war pilots had been billeted in the house where I was brought up’. Kilkeel’s ‘Vogue Cinema’, which I well recall, is also central to McNamee’s narrative. Following the discovery of a woman’s skeleton in a sandpit beside Prinmill Airbase in 2000, John Cole, from the Ministry of Defence, appears in the nearby town of Morne to investigate. Morne, a seaside town haunted by its past, is replete with surveillance devices; everything is filmed, yet nothing is seen. It is a place where inhabitants suffer uneasy relationships with one another; a town where strangers are ostracized. Leader of the shadowy Elected Brethren sect, Reverend Wesley Uprichard, police Sergeant John Lynch, and solicitor, Isaac Corry are bound together in an uneasy liaison. All three scheme and connive, desperate to prevent past deeds from coming to light, including any possible role in the execution of a negro airman, Private Gabriel Harper, who had served at the base during 1944. Together, Uprichard, Lynch and Corry collude to make life difficult for the mysterious stranger, Cole, who also harbours his own dark secrets. We meet other Morne residents; Kay, the librarian who likes to swim in the dark and lives in a caravan on the former airbase; Lily, who, after sixty years, is still waiting for her airman to return from a 1944

AFTER SHE’S GONE by CAMILLA GREBE

REVIEWED by JOHN HAGAN A woman, barefooted, and with face and arms covered in scratches, stumbles from the frozen depths of a Swedish forest; she has no memory as to who she is, or what she has been doing. Police identify her as Hanne LagerlindSchon, a forensic profiler who, with her partner Peter, has been investigating the long standing murder of a child, near the rural, backwater, town of Ormberg. Hanne, aware of her failing memory, has recorded her detailed thoughts about the murder in her diary which is discovered by local teenager, Jake, who, instead of taking it to the police, keeps the diary in order to hide his own dark secret. Soon, another body is found in the same location, and, to make matters worse, Peter is still missing and feared dead by the investigating officers. One of the police team is female, rookie detective, Malin, who was born and brought up in Ormberg before leaving to enroll in the Police Academy. Malin thinks she knows most of the town’s secrets, but during the investigation she becomes aware of neighbours’ deviances and misdeeds long concealed. As Jake becomes increasingly concerned for Hanne’s welfare, he realises that her notebook contains the key to Ormberg’s murders and disappearances, and sets out to try to stop the killer before he, or she, has time to strike again. The atmospheric drama unfolds through the eyes of Jake and Malin, (in alternating chapters), and also through Hanne’s meticulous diary. This is Scandi-noir at its most unsettling and menacing, with a scorching, impressive, fast paced, and masterfully plotted narrative. It’s ‘la crème de crime’; a novel which will chill to the bone. I can see why ‘After She’s Gone’, was named the ‘Best Nordic Crime Novel of 2018’ by the crime writers of Scandinavia, and why Grebe has been catapulted into the pantheon of distinguished noirfiction authors. AFTER SHE’S GONE by CAMILLA GREBE is published by BONNIER. $29.99 80

THE SILENT MUSICIAN by MARK WRIGGLESWORTH

original score of any work he conducts in an attempt to recreate exactly what the composer has written, however, many conductors allow themselves the latitude to tweak anything that doesn’t sound ‘right’ for today’s instruments and audiences. For Wrigglesworth, conducting is more than determining the right tempo and musically melding the various sections of the orchestra together into a synergistic whole. The ideal conductor, Wrigglesworth believes, should possess musical, physical and psychological skills. Indeed, finely honed person management expertise is essential to obtain the best from any group of orchestral musicians. The days of the conductor exercising conforming authority over an orchestra like Beecham and Barbirolli, have long since passed. ‘The Silent Musician’ is certainly not an instruction manual for aspiring conductors; it is more an exploration of the tenuous relationships between music, the orchestra and the public. Perhaps the author might have enhanced the book by enlivening the text with more personal reminiscences and citing more vignettes to illustrate some of the points he seeks to make. Illustrations and photographs would also have added additional interest. Nonetheless, Wrigglesworth writes with engaging passion and candour, revealing many of the secrets of symphonic leadership, and clearly revealing why conducting matters. THE SILENT MUSICIAN by MARK WRIGGLESWORTH is published by Faber. $29.99.

The Catalpa Rescue

arresting history and storytelling verve, The Catalpa Rescue is a tale of courage and cunning, the fight for independence and the triumph of good men, against all odds. Peter FitzSimons is Australia’s bestselling non-fiction writer, and for the past 30 years has also been a journalist and columnist with the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and the SUNHERALD. He is the author of a number of highly successful books, including BURKE AND WILLS, MONASH’S MASTERPIECE, KOKODA, NED KELLY and GALLIPOLI, as well as biographies of such notable Australians as Sir Douglas Mawson, Nancy Wake and Nick FarrJones. His passion is to tell Australian stories, our own stories: of great men and women, of stirring events in our history. A full review by John Hagan will appear in our next edition

REVIEWED by JOHN HAGAN Many people think a conductor is someone who fronts an orchestra, waves their arms around until the music stops, then turns to the audience and bows for the applause. According to Wrigglesworth, a conductor’s lot is much more complicated and extensive, – and he should know. During his thirty years as a conductor (a silent musician), Wrigglesworth has worked with over 100 of the world’s leading orchestras in venues including Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, London’s Royal Opera House and Covent Garden, and Vienna’s Musikverein. In this, his first book, Wrigglesworth delves into the somewhat opaque art of orchestral conducting. He addresses such topics as, do musicians actually watch conductors and whether or not a conductor makes any positive difference to an orchestral performance. In truth, Wrigglesworth considers himself, not so much a conductor as a ‘connector’. “Conducting is all about connecting. You try to connect the composer to the musicians to the audience”, he states. It is Wrigglesworth’s practice, if possible, to try to read the By Peter FitzSimons The incredible true story of one of the most extraordinary and inspirational prison breaks in Australian history. New York, 1874. Members of the Clan-na-Gael - agitators for Irish freedom from the English yoke hatch a daring plan to free six Irish political prisoners from the most remote prison in the British Empire, Fremantle Prison in Western Australia. Under the guise of a whale hunt, Captain Anthony sets sail on the Catalpa to rescue the men from the stone walls of this hell on Earth known to the inmates as a ‘living tomb’. What follows is one of history’s most stirring sagas that splices Irish, American, British and Australian history together in its climactic moment. For Ireland, who had suffered English occupation for 700 years, a successful escape was an inspirational call to arms. For America, it was a chance to slap back at Britain for their support of the South in the Civil War; for England, a humiliation. And for a young Australia, still not sure if it was Great Britain in the South Seas or worthy of being an independent country in its own right, it was proof that Great Britain was not unbeatable. Told with Fitzsimons’ trademark combination of

IRISH FAMILY HISTORY This fascinating family story comes from Christine Timoney, a new member of the Irish Special Interest Group, who recently joined the 2019-20 committee. Christine also volunteers for local history projects in Ireland on her regular visits to meet family and friends.

Costigan arrived, aged 19, in Sydney amid high drama when the Northampton crashed onto rocks just outside the Sydney Heads on 20 October 1882. Further investigation of the Northampton’s passenger lists reveals his sister Ellen Ellen & Mary Anne emigrating with him. A Tale of Two Sisters A century later this Whatever became of Ellen was a surprise to the Costigan after the Northampton Australian family. We reached Sydney in 1882? all had stories and And was there a mysterious memories of numerous unknown seventh cousins, sister back home descendants in Borrisnoe, one of John in that my genealogy Queensland, antennae had and of his failed to flush out? sisters Mary Family history Anne in New research requires South Wales a level of rigour and Hannah but it is not an in Victoria. exact science and There was the art lies in even talk of juggling multiple a third sister sources while named Annie sifting the chaff who had from the wheat. emigrated Often in family A 1940s photo of Mollie but sadly Greene, daughter of Mary Anne stories details died young, Costigan of Borrisnoe and are altered or unmarried John Greene of Farranacliffe, confused with and childless. Co Tipperary, on the verandah other stories over of the Greene family home in But none Sydney. Over Mollie’s shoulder time. In these of us can be seen the name plate on situations the remembered the house, “Burrisnoe”. written record can our families help set things talking about straight. But the Aunt Ellen. written records can and do contain What became of her? errors too, so how can you know Where did she live what to believe? in Australia? Did she Let me tell you about my marry? Have children? great-aunts Ellen and Mary When and where Anne Costigan of Borrisnoe, a did she die? Why townland in Co Tipperary, between did our parents and Templemore and the M7 east of grandparents never tell Moneygall. us she emigrated? The shipping record shows that I continued to gather my maternal grandfather John information from 82

online sources about my grandfather’s family back in Ireland. He was the second son of three sons and six daughters and I could account for them all through baptism and birth registers. His 1882 fellow-passenger Ellen was the eldest, Daniel next, then Mary Anne followed by grandfather John, James and four more girls. Their father had died at Borrisnoe after a brief illness in 1881, when the youngest, Margaret, was only seven, so some difficult decisions had to be made. Their late father’s brother James Costigan had prospered over the previous four decades in NSW and it was he who stepped up to the plate, sponsoring the eldest daughter Ellen and the second son John to emigrate to Australia, the land of opportunity. More sisters were to follow that path over the next seven years, while the eldest son “Beardy Dan” of course stayed home to work the farm. With the evidence of my grandfather John and several sisters emigrating to Australia, plus young Margaret eventually joining a convent in the USA, I could identify two brothers and only one sister Catherine remaining behind in Ireland. My dilemma was that our Australian families had constantly received overseas mail from cousins with the names Donnelly and Fitzpatrick, suggesting that TWO sisters must have remained in Ireland. Which of these families, Donnelly or Fitzpatrick, was Catherine’s? And was there another sister still waiting to be found, who would account for the other family name? These questions were as yet unanswered when I first visited the Bournea (Bourney) parish in 2014 and located, family by family, my cousins still living in the shadow of Devil’s Bit Mountain. The first relative I met in Ireland was a Donnelly. Finally I could hold back the question no longer. “Your grandmother, my grandfather’s sister - was she Catherine, or was there another sister I don’t know about?” “My grandmother was Ellen. Ellen Costigan married Tom Donnelly.” Deafening silence while I digested this information then eventually found the words to blurt out, “Ellen? But we have the shipping record where she emigrated in 1882 with John!” “Well, she definitely didn’t, and the story goes that my grandfather Tom was supposed to marry one of her sisters but he married Ellen instead.” A distant memory stirred, something else about a sister being substituted. If I could only remember the story, or who had told it to me. A quick social media exchange with cousins back in Australia and within a day the puzzle pieces fell into place - Mary Anne’s greatgranddaughter in Sydney told me, not for the first time, the story that came down through her family about an older sister who had refused to board the boat for Australia and Mary Anne was hastily substituted. She was so upset that she

Irish and Australian Costigan descendants gathered at the family’s oldest marked grave in St James graveyard, Killea in July 2018. The stone was erected by James Costigan who emigrated to NSW in 1840 from Garretts Mill and marks the burial place of his parents John and Ellen (nee Nowlan) of Garretts Mill and his brother John Costigan of Borrisnoe.

the city. This year’s Four Courts Memorial Lunch commemorates 97 years since the fire and explosion in the Public Records Office in the Four Courts Building Dublin destroyed many (but not all) genealogical records, making our Irish family history research so much more challenging. If you would like to come along and commiserate with us, please book a free place at TryBooking by 25 June. Details below. The final part of our 2019 Back to Basics presentations will be on Sun 21 July at 2pm when convenor Robyn O’Brien will be talking about the unique systems of administration in Ireland. Understanding this is vital to tracking down exactly where in Ireland your ancestors came from. The confusing terms townland, parish (Catholic and civil), barony, and Poor Law Union will then all become clear. The 20 October meeting will be a research session that brings all the basics together: Australian clues, history and land administration. New members and visitors are always welcome. Gold coin donation is appreciated. If you’d like to come along and are not yet a member of FamilyHistoryWA (the business name of WA Genealogical Society) do drop a line to the convenor Robyn O’Brien. Please book a free place using the online booking site TryBooking, details below. Jenni Ibrahim, on behalf of the Irish Special Interest Group

didn’t write to her mother from Australia for the first seven years. So it turned out that there WERE two sisters who stayed in Ireland after all - Ellen who married Tom Donnelly and Catherine who married Lawrence Fitzpatrick. How satisfying to solve the family mystery without inventing another, undocumented great-aunt. I learnt that day about treading that delicate line where the written records and family knowledge disagree. Experts will tell you that the written record trumps oral history, and that the family story has probably collected some elements of fiction in the re-telling. But in this case the shipping record was not the last word, and the truth lay in marrying both versions. Yes, Ellen and my grandfather

Irish Special Interest Group - The Irish Special Interest Group (Irish SIG)

John were sponsored by their Uncle James to emigrate, as the records showed, and yes, John arrived with his sister in Sydney. But the sister he arrived with was Mary Anne, not the documented passenger Ellen. The family stories handed down to the living descendants of Ellen in Dunkerrin and Mary Anne in Sydney set the record straight. And somewhere in a peaceful graveyard a shipping clerk sleeps for eternity in blissful ignorance of the true identity of his passenger or of the switch that sealed the fates of the two Costigan sisters. Christine Timoney

More Robyn O’Brien, Convenor Irish Special Interest Group E irish.sig@fhwa.org. au (Our email address has changed) FamilyHistoryWA (FHWA) http://membership.wags.org.au T 9271 4311 (Website address has not yet changed) Book a free place for Sun 21 July meeting at TryBooking https://tinyurl.com/irish-july2019 Book a free place at the Four Courts lunch on Fri 28 June at TryBooking https://tinyurl.com/irish-4courts2019 Pay for what you order on the day. Irish SIG webpage at FamilyHistoryWA https://tinyurl.com/irishsig Join FamilyHistoryWA Facebook group – researching family worldwide, open to non members Index to family history stories in Irish Scene magazine (in progress) https://membership.wags.org.au/members-data/public-data/irish-sceneindex

of FamilyHistoryWA met in April when Jenni Ibrahim ran through some key moments in Irish history, together with their implications for Irish family history research and Mary Byrne spoke about waves of migration to and from Ireland. The presentation slides will be on the webpage at https://tinyurl.com/ irish-sig. We also held a brief AGM confirming the 2018-19 committee for another year, with the addition of our story-teller Christine Timoney. To contact us use the email address below. On Friday 28 June we will gather for the major social event of our year, lunch at an Irish pub in

Irish Whiskey just a drop in the Indian Ocean By Lloyd Gorman

A Wicklow based whiskey distillery is offering a $1000 reward for the return of a 16 litre cask of its Glendalough 7 year old 777 single malt that has gone missing somewhere off the coast of Western Australia. All you have to do is find it and retrieve it and be able to invest the time and resources needed to do that. The wooden barrel of the Irish drop is stowed on-board a 36 foot yacht - the Hanley Energy Endurance - which is thought to be still bobbing around aimlessly somewhere on the Indian Ocean, anywhere up to a thousand miles or more off the coastline of WA. Quite exactly where however is anyone's guess but there are people working on it. A 1984 built Biscay 36 ketch (two masts) yacht of fiberglass construction called Mary Luck - or its sponsored name for the event - The Hanley Energy Endurance - was the boat of Dublin sailor Conor McGuckin who last year took part in the 2018 Golden Globe Race, a round the world, non stop solo sailing race which began on July 1, 2018 that describes itself as "probably the slowest, longest, toughest, loneliest mind game on the planet!". Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, was the start and finish point for the race, expected to take about nine months to complete. Every race is

significant, but the 2018 event was special because it celebrated the 50th anniversary of the original Golden Globe Race. Eighteen solo sailors set sail from France into a 30,000 mile voyage across some of the roughest seas in the world. McGuckin, from Goatstown, Co. Dublin, was always an outdoors type and used to climb mountains and hills around Ireland but felt the lure of the sea and took up windsurfing and surfing instead. He even decided to make a career in sailing and started out as a dinghy coach and delivery skipper. He has clocked up 45,000 miles crossing the Atlantic and Indian Oceans as well as other parts of the world. The Golden Globe Race appealed to his sense of adventure and skills as a sailor. "When I started sailing, the main attraction was the freedom it gave me to explore," McGuckin (33) said. "As I grew older and started sailing larger vessels, the scope of the areas I could potentially explore became almost infinite. When I started reading about the GGR I had already crossed the Atlantic a few times and the Indian ocean and asking myself ‘What next’. A circumnavigation was

always a dream along with ocean racing, so when this came up as an affordable way of achieving both it was a no-brainer.” He teamed up with Irish publisher CJ Fallon and the Irish Marine Institute to develop an education programme for primary school children based on his voyage. Distributed free to classrooms across Ireland, the overriding goal has been to create an army of ‘Ocean literate’ young people who understand the importance our oceans have on them so that they are well placed to ensure a sustainable and sensible future for Ireland the world. Sailing around the world is of course an expensive business and McGuckin also needed sponsorship for the gargantuan global trip. Han-

Gregor's parents welcome him home to Ireland

Gregor McGuckin Hanley.... Energy Endurance ley Energy - which describes itself as a global innovator in critical power and energy management solutions headquartered in Ireland [City North Business Park, Stamullen, Co. Meath] - came on board as the main sponsor. [They have also sponsored the Irish Cricket Team] Sponsorship also came from Glendalough Distillery in Newtown Business And Enterprise Centre, Newtown Mount Kennedy Co. Wicklow. In a clever marketing move Glendalough co-founder Kevin Keenan is reported as saying that he hoped in the course of its ocean journey, the cask would allow salt air to permeate into the liquid. “The 7 year old single malt has dark chocolate and caramel notes from the porter cask, so as you can imagine, fresh sea-salt should work well with these flavors,” he said. Apparently as part of the deal they also gave McGuckin six bottles of the stuff that he could open on the trip. In October 2018, about three months into the voyage things went wrong for McGuckin who had hoped to become the first Irishman to sail around the world alone and nonstop. "I was basically as far away from land as was possible when it happened," McGuckin told RTE Radio 1 from Perth, a week after it happened."I'd just hit a big storm and

the boat got rolled and I lost my mast unfortunately and the same happened to one of my competitors, the Indian competitor Abhilash Tomy, who was quite close to me and got hit by the same storm, I got away with a few bumps and bruises but unfortunately he got quite a bad back injury from it. Its the Southern Ocean so I think this was a slightly bigger storm than normal…. It was really a bad storm, even for that part of the world and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time really. I lost my mast so I had no means of propulsion other than the engine but I had limited fuel so I was effectively out of the race then so my plan was to sail to land but when I heard Abhilash Tomy was injured and I was close by I put up a rig and tried to get as close to him as I could because I didn't know when other ships could get on site or anything like that so it was a bit of a frantic few days." McGuckin said they were picked up by the French navy who did an impressive job of getting to and saving Tomy from his precarious position. "They were much quicker than I expected and a couple of hours later they took me off we were quite close to this little island called Amsterdam Island basically in the middle of the South Indian Ocean there was a fisheries patrol vessel keeping an eye out for illegal fishing and so on and they dropped us off on that island and there's 25 people Gregor McGuckin HYDROVANE

who live on the island its like a research station and Abhliash was seen too in a little hospital there and we were picked up by the HMAS Ballarat which is an Australian warship who brought myself back to Perth and the Indian navy picked up Abhilash." McGuckin who confessed to being overwhelmed by the experience spent a number of weeks in Perth trying to figure out what had happened exactly and what he could do about getting his yacht back. Doing that has proved to be difficult. Its last known position on December 17 2018 was Lat/Lon: 32¬∞ 28.19 S, 090¬∞ 18.88 E or 1,250 miles west of Fremantle. At least two salvage operations are in the pipeline with at least one of them depending on hitting a crowd-funding target before it can go ahead. So far now the Mary Luck appears destined to remain orphaned and abandoned on the seas. The latest update for what is happening was posted on the GGR website on March 26. "Gregor McGuckin is quiet these days so no more positive news on the salvage operation," the site said. "We hope it succeeds. The Mysterious American Philanthropist putting up some money US$25 million, and the efforts of CODY (Cody Howdeshell, a 22-year-old engineer from North Carolina experienced in maritime salvage) may be all too little too late? The initial big plans of chartering a fishing boat and blasting out to

grab it seem to have faded but we hope something happens. For now, it is no news is good news as we believe the boat is still afloat." Meanwhile, the GGR was finally won by 73 year old French man Jean-Luc Van Den Heede who sailed back into Les Sables d’Olonne on April 23. McGuckin and Abhliash were not the only contestants to finish the race. All up 12 skippers were knocked out of the competition, of which five of those were dismastings. Just out of interest, first prize is a Suhaili timber perpetual model and trophy odel, a Ralf Tech winners watch and a $5000 winners purse. 20 sailors from 10 Countries have signed up to compete in the next Golden Globe Race slated to start on 4th September 2022, and many more have expressed an interest to compete, including so far at least one other Irishman Pat Lawless, 62, and his boat Saltram Saga 36. Pat, sailed to Les Sables D'Olonne on April 16, on his new boat (which was advertised for 47,000 Euro which he haggled down to $36,000) to be around for the end stage of the race. The Limerick man is a former fisherman in the west of Ireland turned furniture maker who never lost a love of the sea. He has good pedigree in this kind of adventure. His own father, also called Pat, did sail around the world in 1996 aged 70, but in different stages, as opposed continuously as is the case with the GGR.

WHAT WENT WRONG

As a result of their being so many dismasting’s the man who inspired the GGR by sailing around the world exactly 50 years ago solo Sir Robin Know-Johnston looked at the problem and wrote a report about the problem in general terms but also what happened in each individual incident. This is some of what he wrote about McGuckin's situation."Position at the time, approx 80 miles west of Abhilash Tomy. 1st Knockdown Wind 50 knots NNW, waves 5-7 metres, small head sail set and some 300 metres of warp streamed as a blight, but the length was adjusted to control the restraint and allow sufficient speed for steerage. He tried the Series Drogue but found it did not work for his boat. In his 2nd Knockdown, bare poles, Wind SSW 70 Knots. He streamed warps as before with waves 8-10 meters from NNW, 1216 meters from SSW. 3rd Knockdown, but no masts left in similar conditions to 2nd. He was sailing down swell in all three knockdowns but found the boat would default to beam on and then be very difficult to turn down wind/ wave again. The second Knockdown was in a cross sea. The third, difficult to explain as the drogue was streamed from the bow so hove to." 86

CAN YOU HELP PAUL WITH THIS MARITIME MYSTERY? Paul McGovern is a professional photographer in Perth with Irish heritage. Paul is hoping Irish Scene readers might be able to help him find out more about the Irish origins of his boat – Madrigal. He knows she was completed in 1999 at Henderson, Western Australia by a Frank Van Felt, who passed away some years ago unexpectedly. It has a full displacement hull and a cedar and fiberglass construction. It's original owner was Frank Carr. Mr Carr was an entrepreneur in several industries in his life, including digital audio storage and voice recognition and founded a mini-skips business in Perth during the 1980's. He would go on to become the founder and chairman of Carrick Gold in WA, and executive chairman of Shannon Resources and died in about 2010. “I believe Frank was from a family boatyard in Donegal and had her built based on boats there which may have been lobster/crab boats and that she was penned at South Perth Yacht Club until sold to Jeremy Hasluck of Mosman Park,” said Paul. “I'd love to know some history of these style of boats.” Paul can be contacted at mcgov@ postnewspapers.com.au

'Madrigal'

Paula Xiberras from Tasmania

Distilling is an art, be it in whisky or poetry

by Paula Xiberras I’m not sure if that title is a direct quote from poet John Wright but I do know it was about whisky that our conversation of many years ago first began. At that time John was eager to revisit Tasmania to sample the whiskey at the Lark Distillery, in his opinion the oldest and the best. John has been to Tasmania on a number of occasions, he recalled memories of a conference he attended on the waterfront and another visit when he was asked by Andrew Sant for a review in Island Magazine. These visits to Tasmania have often been in conjunction with his work with the Public Guardian, an organisation that looks after those that require assistance. Many of John’s poems have been inspired by his work as a psychiatric nurse and of his migration from England to Ireland to Australia. One such poem of migration was that of Alf and Nell, a poem about two Lancastrians who sought a better life in Australia. ‘Always together, never apart’ until Alf becomes ill and his treatment requires them to be separated but not without some opposition as Nell is physically peeled off the locked glass door in the hospital

which separates them. His own journey from Cheshire to Sydney by way of Mayo Ireland and the time he spent on his grand dads farm in Mayo provides a juxtaposition of beauty, from chasing butterflies, symbols of eternity with another symbol of eternity the raw example of life preserved in the bog, versus a final expression of brutality, the innocence of a calf bred for a brutal end. The innocence lost of both the boy and the calf. ‘Promise of years before us I was ordered to bring you all big eyed and trusting ready to for your first and last ride in a farmers truck’ Indeed Ireland continues to provide inspiration for John in further connections between his life in Ireland and new life in Australia. John recalls standing in line to enter a poetry and music evening, complete with a druid meeting a woman from the Central Coast, who wept at the mention of the word Ballyhaunis in a poem. Another poem ‘Yellow Bird’ is dedicated to John’s mother and nurse Cassidy who delivered him. ‘Yellow Bird’ being dedicated to these two women who gave new life in a new year. ‘when a wrinked head appeared with signs of jaundice you said’ ‘A yellow bird is here on New Year’s Day' The poem juxtaposes both the yellow tinge of the baby’s jaundice with the yellow tinge of the other meaning of yellow bird, one who is much loved, referring both to the circle of love between the two women and baby. In 'Message 1960' John has written a chilling poem of the messenger boy who didn’t like knocking on doors with bad news so would dance. ‘he didn’t like knocking on doors so danced’. Once again a brilliant example of juxtaposing two very opposing emotions, the celebration of dancing with the gravity of the message he delivers. John Wright’s two collections of poems are: Cheshire Born: A Collection of Albums Cloonbulliban 87

Van Diemen's Land Recorded by U2

Hold me now, Oh hold me now 'Til this hour Has gone around And I'm gone On the rising tide For to face Van Diemen's land

It's a bitter pill I swallow here To be rent from one so dear We fought for justice And not for gain But the magistrate Sent me away Now kings will rule And the poor will toil And tear their hands As they tear the soil But a day will come In this dawning age When an honest man Sees an honest wage Hold me now Oh hold me now 'Til this hour Has gone around And I'm gone On the rising tide For to face Van Diemen's land Songwriters: Adam Clayton / Dave Evans / Larry Mullen / Paul Hewson

Around the Irish scene Compiled by Fred Rea GET WELL TONY! As we go to print, our correspondent, Tony Synnott is laid up after a mishap. Tony, left above, is pictured with Tony Duffin at the Irish Club Seniors lunch. Get well sooon Tony! An eyebrow raising St. Patrick's day Patrick Arthur Woodacre (7 mths) and Mum Emily Wainwright from Mt Lawley. "We had joked about drawing eyebrows on him for ages (as his aren't really visible yet)," said Emily. "We are descended from an Irish convict on dad's mum's side, a sheep stealer (during potato famine) named William Quinlan was sent here in 1858... given farmland in Merredin following his seven year sentence and raised a family from there. "Baby Patrick is also named after his Dad Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandfather, Patrick McGinnity, a descendant of the 18th and 19th century Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan."

Happy Birthday George The evergreen George Foolkes was joined by family and friends at the National Hotel Fremantle to celebrate a birthday milestone. George has had a few health issues lately but the elbow was fine on this day... He had a few pints of the black stuff! We never got to a song but it won't be long when One Beautiful Day will again flow from his lips!

Group taken outside An Sibin in Northbridge. A few Thirsty Travellers among this lot.

Jerry Crowley looks all class at a recent BBQ,

Enjoying footy at Optus Oval, visitors from Cork, Barry O'Leary and John O'Leary with their host Lynda O'Leary. Great night, only problem, the photographer only got a few chips! But the doughnut was lovely! The Eagles won, Just! Two old mates, Sean Roche and Eric Bogle enjoying each other's company after Eric's Irish Club concert. I heard Sean is making Oz home again!

Bob Kucera and Alannah MacTiernan enyjoying the Irish Club on Paddy's Day! 88

The Lads enjoying a pint at Durty Nelly's

Andrew and Sally Ann McDonald were very proud when their son Michael represented the Australia U20s. It's been a big year for the McDonald famly, becoming Oz citizens and now having an International in the clan. Congratulations all round! Visit of Trinity College Professor On a visit to Perth, Professor Nóirín Hayes from Trinity College Dublin delivered a lecture at University of WA. The Irish were well represented at the event as can be seen in the photos

L to R: Gerardine Neylon, Dr Dee O Connor, Lois Crowley, Professor Noirin Hayes.

Matt Dalton recently celebrated his 80th birthday with old school mates and his brother who lives in USA No prouder Irishman than Matt. Thanks for photos Paddy, my roving photographer!

L to R: Lois Crowley, Cora-Ann Wilson, Gally McKenzie, Professor Nóirín Hayes, Dr Dee O’Connor, Nadia Wilson Ali and Gayle Lannon. All from Dublin except Dee O’Connor who is from Sligo, Gally Mckensie from Kerry and not sure where Cora-Ann is from- think the North.

Returning to Ireland? We can help you with the move!

Air, Sea & Road Transport

Danielle and Jonathan Wall celebrating their first week of marriage at Durty Nelly's. They brought along the inlaws and the outlaws (Rebels). Congrats to you both! Danielle was The Irish Scene's restaurant reviewer for many years.

Quick, Efficient & Reliable Contact our Sales Team (08) 9243 0808 sales@aiexpress.com.au www.aiexpress.com.au

You made The Irish Scene Tommy! 89

Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of Australasia Western Australia

2019 Fr Kelly Cup:

The new GAA season in Western Australia threw in on Sunday 7 April with the annual running of the Fr Kelly Cup. Greenwood Men and the Ladies of Western Shamrocks were the winners on the day and congratulations to both Clubs. Thankyou also to the big crowd that attended on the day and everybody who made the event possible. -----------------------------------------

2019 Football League:

fixtures for the season is available on www.gaawa.com.au/resources ---------------------------------------------

2019 Hurling League:

The 2019 Hurling League is due to commence in May and a full list of fixtures are available on www. gaawa.com.au/resources

2019 Feile Peil na nOG:

After five weeks of trials a squad

The 2019 Football League commenced on Sunday 14 April at Tom Bateman Reserve with Morley Gaels v Western Shamrocks and Southern Districts v St. Finbarr’s in both Men’s & Ladies. A full list of

www.gaawa.com.au Facebook: gaainwa Twitter: @GAAinWA Instagram: gaainwa Facebook: GaelicGamesJuniorAcademyofWA Football Clubs Greenwood Morley Gaels Southern Districts St. Finbarr’s Western Shamrocks Hurling Clubs St. Gabriel’s Western Swans Perth Shamrocks Sarsfields

GAAWA CLUB DETAILS Mens Senior Football - greenwoodgfc@hotmail.com Mens & Ladies Senior Football - morleygaelsgfc@hotmail.com Mens & Ladies Senior Football - southerndistrictsgaa@gmail.com Mens & Ladies Senior Football - stfinbarrsgfc@outlook.com Mens & Ladies Senior Football - westernshamrocks@hotmail.com Mens & Ladies Senior Hurling & Camogie - stgabrielsperth@gmail.com Mens & Ladies Senior Hurling & Camogie - westernswansgaa@gmail.com Mens Senior Hurling - perthshamrocks@gmail.com Mens Senior Hurling - sarshurlingperth@gmail.com 90

has been selected to represent Western Australia at Feile in June. With a substantial financial cost involved in sending a team to Ireland, anybody who is interested in providing financial support to the squad is asked to contact minorboardgaawa@gmail.com thank you to those individuals and companies who have already donated. ---------------------------------------------

WA Minors Quiz Night

2019 Renault GAA World Games:

The 2019 edition of the GAA World Games will be hosted by Waterford Institute of Technology and Croke Park on the last week in July. Western Australia will be sending six Ladies players to compete with three Irish born and three Australian born players representing Australasia at the games. ---------------------------------------------

GAA in WA Day:

The Tim Hickey & Perth 7’s Hurling & Football competitions will be held on 8 June at Tom Bateman Reserve. Interest in the competition has already been indicated from Inter-state & Asia and the day will also include a presentation to the GAAWA Feile Squad and an exhibition by the Gaelic Games Junior Academy of WA. Keep an eye on the GAA in WA Facebook page for further information.

Gaelic Games Junior Academy of WA:

The Academy commenced the 2019 Season at a new venue, HBF Arena in Joondalup on Sunday 31 March with their Registration Day. Training proper started on Sunday 7 April. Like the Academy’s Facebook page to stay up to date with all Academy training dates and times. ---------------------------------------------

WA Parliament St Patrick’s Day Reception:

A delegation from GAAWA visited State Parliament on Thursday April 11 to attend at St Patrick’s Day reception for all the Irish groups in Perth. The event was

Football: BGC Grounds, Tom Bateman Reserve Cnr Bannister & Nicholson Rds, Canning Vale Hurling: RA Cook Reserve, Coode St. Morley gh

GAA GROUNDS

Nichols

on Rd

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H Roe y

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

91 91

hosted by the Hon Stephen Dawson, Jessica Stojkovski, Alanna Clohesy & Margaret Quirke. Thankyou to our public representatives for the invitation and the Sean Doherty branch of Comhaltas kept us all entertained on the night. ---------------------------------------------

Refereeing & Coaching Weekend:

On the weekend of March 30 & 31, Gerard Roe, Secretary of Australasia GAA and Coaching Director Glenn Carpenter visited Perth to carry out refereeing and coaching courses. Both hurling and football were represented on both courses with new referees being equipped with skills to act as the men in the middle in 2019. Coaching course participants were presented with certificates at

Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of Australasia Western Australia Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce St Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day Lunch:

On March 15 GAAWA was represented at Crown Burswood when the firstt ever Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce lunch hosted by its WA Chapter took place. Guest speaker on the day the end of their course. Thanks to Gerard & Glenn for making the trip over to Perth and facilitating the referring and courses. ---------------------------------------------

State Hurling Jersey Presentation:

On March 23 the Western Australia State Hurling Team made a jersey presentation to State sponsor Fenians Irish Pub in appreciation of Fenians support of Hurling in WA in 2018 & 2019. --------------------------------------------was former Australian rugby union captain Stephen Moore whose parents hail from Galway & Mayo. Thank you to President Mark Black and his team for putting on such a great event. Ministerial Reception: On March 18 GAAWA met with Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation Heather Humphries T.D. at a reception hosted by Honorary Irish Consul to Western Australia Mr. Marty Kavanagh. Minister Humphries paid tribute to all the Irish groups in Perth for their contribution to and support of Irish culture so far from home. Thanks to Marty, Richard & Lynda for putting on a lovely evening. 92

JUNIOR ACADEMY Training really kicking off now April 6th 2019 saw the return of the Gaelic Games Junior Academy, from the same times on a Sunday as before, 12.00 (midday) until 2pm, but at a new and arguably better venue. In previous years our Sunday training sessions had taken place at Sacred Heart’s coastal playing fields in Sorrento but that arrangement finished at the end of last season. Now, the Academy has a new home - the Western Oval - at HBF Arena in Joondalup. As well as co-locating with other sports facilities and activities, the site offers massive amounts of nearby parking and a club house that serves hot food and drinks, with toilets and changing rooms, services we did not have before. We do have to share the playing area with other sports groups (particularly soccer) but the coaches have worked out the best configuration for the children to play and train on. Groups are still broken down into under 6, under 8s, under 10s and under 12s with the emphasis still being on exposing the students to Gaelic football and hurling. Many of the coaches from last year remain the same but some new ones have come on board. We have also lost some coaching and committee members who will be hard to replace. The move to Brisbane last year of Alan and Edel Gibson and their kids Erin and Aoife was a major loss to the Academy, but we know they are looking in with interest from their new home. But in early April we also lost Jason and Avril Fallon and their children Daniel and Emily who returned to Ireland. Academy President Gerry Crowley presented them with a framed certificate of appreciation for their three years of active involvement of coaching, committee and support work. Their backgrounds as medical professionals was always reassuring to have at the Academy’s disposal for training and events and

while it will be hard to replace that the coaches and committee members are actively updating or renewing their first aid training through a certified provider. As well as being able to administer first aid in case of emergency the Academy can call upon medical personnel at HBF arena, another benefit to being based at the sports complex. The children’s well being and safety is our top priority and all our coaches have completed the working with children application process, and have been certified. Coaches Kieran O’Rourke and Brendan Petson have also taken part in the coaching training programme at Tom Bateman Reserve to help improve theirs and the Academy’s ability to offer first rate and up to date training techniques. Perth’s GAA football and hurling teams have also been approached to continue with an arrangement where they send some of their players to help teach the children the skills, rules and etiquette of the games. Bringing in these experienced players also helps inspire the students to realise they can carry the lessons they learn here with them into adult and later life. The Academy committee would like to express its appreciation to our friends in the GAA community for their ongoing support. Parents are also encouraged to take an active role at training. Coaches works hard to teach the children but every mum or dad who steps in to help makes a big difference to the experience of all the children, so don’t be shy, we would be happy for you to join in, there is always plenty to be done, especially when it comes to putting equipment away neatly so its easy to set up again for the next week. After a three week start in early April the Academy broke up for the school holidays but were due to return on May 5 for a busy season. Registrations are still open and can be made through the Academy’s free app Team App, or by coming down on the day. Academy strips can be ordered through the App - which has all the information related to the Academy - or again can be ordered at training itself. October 13 is the set date for the compromise rules game and the Academy will have an all girls section again. Any of last years players who are interested and still eligible to take part should contact a committee member or coach and let us know. Everyone is welcome to come down and take part. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

SHAMROCK

Rovers

SPONSORED AND SUPPORTED BY McLOUGHLIN'S BUTCHERS MALAGA

HOOPS KICK-START SEASON Ronan Dunne U18

squad.

Solid performances from the Senior and Under 18s to the new season against title favourites in early rounds. With plenty of new additions to the Hoops squad the settling in period has been successful as performances start to mirror growing confidence amongst the

Head Coach, Gerry McEwan, has been impressed with the speed at which the squad is settling with an influx of new players as performances get better by the week. Gerry said “Always be a settling

in period and we are getting stronger by the week”.

Rovers are currently looking for new recruits to play in the Under 18’s league. If you are looking to play football at a decent standard and avail of excellent coaching at the Under 18 level then contact the club. We welcome new recruits to the club and look forward to building on the Under 18’s we have developed in recent seasons. Off the pitch, the committee have been getting things in place to ensure a successful season in order that the club grows and facilities improve. Always on the lookout for positive additions to the committee. If you would be

interested in volunteering time in the football community, we would be eager to have a chat.

Big thanks to our sponsors Pipeline Technics, Killarney Autos, McLoughlin Butchers, Express Bins and Bendigo Bank. For additional information contact details below. Contacts: Chairman Marty Burke 0410 081 386 Secretary Dean Keating 0415 534204

McLoughlin Butchers Malaga

Drop in and see our range of Irish prepared meats 58 Westchester Rd, Malaga WA 6090

mcloughlinbutchers.com.au Like us on facebook 94

THE IRISH GOLF CLUB OF WA St Patrick’s Day Charity Fundraiser Golf Day

15th March 2019 at Maylands Peninsula Golf Course. SPONSORS: LC Carpentry, Children’s Garden Day Care, Air Express, The Irish Scene, UON Power and Water, McLoughlin’s Butchers, Avoka Café, An Sibin Tavern, Waste Water Management Services, Perthdrywall, Gallagher’s SVG Construction, E & M Electrical, BC Formwork, Pipe Line Technics, Impulse Painting, Killarney Auto’s, Electnett.com, Hino Australia.

Results on the Day.

Two Ball Ambrose Format.

Saint Patricks Trophy

(Irish Golf Club Members only) Winners: Jason Whelahan and Fergus Shott.

Claddagh Cup:

(open to all) Winners: Peter and Luke McCord.

The Irish Golf Club have supported Charlotte Fitzpatrick for many years. The following is an update of how Charlotte is progressing... Charlotte Fitzpatrick is nine years old and lives in the northern suburbs of Perth. She was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2012. A rare neurological syndrome, effecting her ability to perform motor functions. There is a high risk of scoliosis and seizures and an average life span of 30 years. For Charlotte, Rett Syndrome means she can’t talk, run, use her hands purposefully, has a sluggish and sometimes painful digestion, seizures and irregular sleeping patterns. So far, we have spent funds on speech therapy, her Tobii eye gaze computer, horse riding and various programmes such as Music Rocks. The funds raised help her participate fully in activities and continue with her special programmes. We have also earmarked funds for the refitting of Charlotte’s van to make it wheelchair accessible. Thank you to the Irish Golf Club for their ongoing support of Charlotte and her family. Mark, Caroline, Georgia & Charlotte Fitzpatrick

Charlotte Cup:

(open to all) Winners: John Whelahan and Tom Burke. NTP’s: No 5 Ron Culley, 8 Jason Larkin, 9 Jason Larkin, 13 Raymond Wright, 16 Senan McCarrick. Longest Putt 18: Jason Larkin Longest Drive 18: (Men) Luke McCord Longest Drive 4: (Ladies) Yvonne Turner. NAGA Winners: Jack and Luke Collins

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Proud Supporters of the IRISH COMMUNITY of Western Australia Products available at our Malaga address and selected IGA and Coles OUR RANGE: • Bratwurst Sausages • Irish Pork Sausages • Lamb & Rosemary Sausages • Mild Italian Sausages • BBQ Sausages • Bacon Hock • Champagne Leg Ham • Gammon Ham • Pork & Fennel Sausages

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58 Westchester Rd, Malaga, WA 6090 McLoughlinButchers.com.au Phone: 08 9249 8039 96