Irish Scene January February 2013

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Volume 15 Number 2

In this issue...

• John Boyle O’Reilly 25th • Slan Abhaile Fr Sean • Catalpa Music Festival • JB’s 20th Birthday • The Cure is One • Gerry Quigley Farewell • Remembering Joe Dolan • Christina in Ireland

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O’Reilly John Boyle

• Corkonians with John Spillane • Hilary is 30!

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Sean O’Shea was born on 13 September 1925 in Tullaher, Co. Clare, Ireland. He was educated in Bansha National School, Christian Brothers College Kilrush, Co. Clare, the African Missions College, Kilcolgan and All Hallows College Dublin. He was ordained on June 12 1955 for the Archdiocese of Perth and arrived in Fremantle November of that year, following in the footsteps of his older sister who came to WA in 1938 with the Sisters of Mercy. He would become Port Chaplain for Fremantle and was also National Director of the Apostleship of the Sea, a role which saw him drive around Australia no less than ten times visiting other port parishes to help them understand and serve the spiritual needs of sailors and other seafarers. Back in WA and closer to home “Mons” had a special affinity for another servant of the sea, Rottnest Island. Mons first discovered Rottnest Island, landing there after he took a ferry which he believed was taking him to Garden Island, which is home to the Royal Australian Navy’s largest fleet base, HMAS Stirling.

Earlier this year Mons recalled in an interview with Irish Scene how his special relationship with and posting to the Island came about.

“Archbishop Prenderville, a Kerry man, was looking for somebody to go to Fremantle Port to look after the Seamen,” he said.

“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,” laughed Mons. “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 to report at parish so and so.

He said this was something 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.”

Amongst his many achievements Mons built the island’s church with a loan of $97,000 from the Perth Archdiocese. Ever since then it has sat on top of a hill and can be seen by visitors as the ferries pull into the island, like a beacon to all comers.

“I suppose I set up a permanent base here when I built the church in 1975. Before that I said mass in the picture theatre (which is beside the church). It took years, but we paid for it. If I had to build it now, ooh Good Lord it would kill me,” he laughed.

Mons, who passed away on December 7 2012, was buried shortly before Christmas and his remains are in the presbytery courtyard of the church he built. He dug his own grave, twice. The second time around he built a brick tomb because white ants had gotten into the original timbers supporting the grave, threatening to collapse it.

Mons was prepared for the end, spiritually and physically, and in his last interview with Irish Scene he even shared an anecdote about a funeral.

He recounted a story told to him by a Cork man who was also called O’Shea who had a nephew ordained on the same day as him in 1955. “This fellow said that in his day he was a creamery engineer, who went out to fix the machines when they broke

By Fred Rea/Lloyd Gorman

down. Anyhow, while he was in Bandon, Co. Cork, a man by the name of O’Shea had died and he said to himself, same name as myself I may as well go to the funeral as I’ve three or four hours to go to get the train back to Cork. He went to the funeral and there was a habit of filling in the grave and saying a decade of the rosary at the grave. So there was a spare shovel and it looked like rain so he went to pick up the shovel and with that somebody said to him, aren’t you an O’Shea?. An O’Shea never puts down another O’Shea, not even when he’s dead. A stranger has to do it,” he laughed.

Monsignor Brian O’Loughlin, who had known Mons since he was a small boy, gave the eulogy in the Church of the Holy Trinity prior to the burial.

“In November 1955 I met the newly arrived Fr O’Shea who was the Assistant Priest in North East Fremantle I must confess that in the intervening years it may be that I am the one responsible for bringing us all to the island,” he told the congregation. “I was the parish priest at Claremont and the priests graves, the monumental works were being replaced so that new priests graves could be created. (continued on page 6)

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Alf and Carmel farewell mourners from Rottnest.

I was there in Karrakatta for three weeks on monumental works and I was at the tombstone of Fr Joseph O’Hara who was ordained with the Monsignor and came out here at the same time and Fr. Joe was appointed Assistant Priest at Mosman Park. Tragically, he and three Presentation Sisters were drowned in Mandurah estuary in 1959.”

During his time at Karrakatta Monsignor O’Loughlin found the grave of Fr O’Hara (who was just 29 when he died) and rang Monsignor O’Shea who came to the cemetery within a week.

“I have just the place for it at Rottnest,” Mons said about the tombstone.

“We are gathered here today to lay to rest the remains of the Monsignor beside the tombstone of Fr. O’Hara, with one difference,” added Monsignor O’Loughlin.

“In Fr. O’Hara’s case, Monsignor would say with a wry smile its amazing the number of people who come there and say

prayers but his remains are at Karrakatta.

In Monsignor Sean’s case his remains will be here as you know. Where his heart always was in life and throughout his 51 years of priestly ministry, now he will lie awaiting the resurrection on the last day.”

Monsignor O’Loughlin welcomed everyone who came to the church to bid farewell to Mons and in particular he thanked Rottnest Express, the Rottnest Island Authority, the park guides and the police who escorted the remains from the ferry to the church.

“It is remarkable to see how this island of the sand, sea and the sky almost ground to a halt as a tribute to the monsignor.”

As the coffin was laid down mourners sang the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen in Latin).. And as it was lowered down the words “Slan Abhaile Sean” were called out from Mons O’Shea’s niece.

Fred Rea, the owner of Irish Scene, also wanted to pay tribute to the Irish priest.

“Mons was a hero to me,” said Fred. “He was a remarkable man, one of those people you meet in life who inspire you. I only really got to know him in more recent years and it was always a pleasure to meet or speak with him. He brought so much good into the world and has had I would suspect a profound effect and impact on countless numbers of people. Special mention should also go to Alf Pace and his wife Carmel at this time. Alf was the caretaker for the church on the island and I know they were great friends, support and help to Mons for years and right up to the very end.

Many people and many communities, including the Irish community, the community on the island and everyone in the church and those that knew him will all miss you Mons.”

Mons O’Shea praying in the courtyard at Rottnest

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Dublin Football Team Tackles Life and Death Issues

By Fred Rea Andy Kavanagh (right) with team members of Esker Celtic F.C.

During my recent trip to Ireland, my good friend, Andy Kavanagh told me of a wonderful project at his local soccer club, Esker Celtic F.C. Self harm among young people is a problem world wide and in Dublin because of the recession it is a major problem.

Andy’s club, Esker Celtic F.C. teamed up with a new local partner recently, Pieta House. The Dublin

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football club joined forces with the charity that helps people who have self harm and suicide issues.

Esker Celtic F.C., formed in 1990, is the largest soccer club in the Lucan area. The Club approached another local institution, Pieta House to form an on and off the pitch relationship.

Pieta House was set up in 2006 and was the first centre in Ireland to specialise in the prevention of selfharm and suicide.

The Esker Celtic committee felt that with a club made up of 98% young males that Pieta House would be an honourable and very relevant charity to form a link with in the area.

Esker Celtic approached Pieta House and asked if they would place their logos on six new kits bought

by the Club. The founder of Pieta House, Joan Freeman was enthusiastic about the project and accepted the invitation with open arms.

At the official handover of the first jersey to Pieta House late last year Paul Cleary said: “As chairperson of Esker Celtic Football Club for many years it gives me great pleasure to give something back to the community instead of asking for support all the time”.

The Club also donated $500 to the charity, money which Ms Freeman said would help keep a professional on call to help clients of the service and new callers. A not for profit organisation, Pieta House services are free of charge to users. Up to 80% of its income comes from fundraising and donations.

“Before Pieta, people who were suicidal would often end up either in hospital, in a psychiatric unit or heavily medicated - sometimes all three,” she said. “In many cases, patients were put on ‘suicide watch’, a procedure that involves the patient being watched by a nurse or carer every moment of every day - even while having showers or using the toilet. In some cases, this was the only way to guarantee the patient’s safety - there was no alternative and whether we liked the practice or not, lives were saved.

However, we were convinced that there had to be some other way of helping people who were

suicidal.”

Esker Celtic has nearly 650 players, 41 teams and an academy with over 100 players and a ‘Football for All’ team with 20 squad members.

Vice Chairman Dermot Wells said the Club had big plans for 2013 and beyond.

“Over the next twelve months, we hope to roll out a new style of coaching for all teams which is more inclusive and allows players more time working on their ball control & skills,” he said.

“This will project Esker Celtic to a new level, allowing teams to compete at the highest level in the country and will enable good quality players to continue playing for their local club here at Esker” For more information about Esker Celtic F.C. go to www.eskerceltic.ie and for Pieta House at www.pieta.ie

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Living on the banks of the Bride, in County Cork, we could always catch trout, flat fish and salmon in the river, but the fish man from Youghal used to visit Aghern Cross weekly, in his horse and cart, with herrings and other sea fish, which were packed in ice, for sale.

Rabbits were extremely plentiful, particularly during the 1939 to 1945 Emergency years, and many a man made his living by trapping them. They were sold to the rabbit buyer, whose truck called at Aghern two or three times a week. He paid two shillings and six pence a pair for rabbits, and six pence a pair for skins. The skinned rabbits were exported in huge quantities to England, and it was said that many a cat found it’s way into the same market! Once the skin was off, few people could tell the difference.

Eels were also exported to England. There were plenty of eels in the Bride and in the Mill Stream, but we regarded these as vermin, and would never consider eating them.

I often met Bill Carr, the egg man, because he was a devoted follower of the otter hounds every Sunday during the summer. Bill was an elderly man, who played the fiddle and had a lame leg. Always accompanied by his dog, he travelled the countryside in his pony and cart, buying eggs and poultry. It would have been a hard life, for he was constantly on the road, regardless of the weather.

In those days most farmers and nearly all cottage dwellers kept a variety of domestic fowls, both to eat the scraps and to supplement their meagre income. Ducks, turkeys and geese were popular, although turkeys, being more delicate, could be difficult to rear. Almost everybody kept hens, and most flocks included a mixed variety of breeds and colours ---red, black, white, brown and speckled.

Now I can’t remember Bill Carr having any rivals on the road in my time, but there is the story of the egg man, whose secret of success lay in the fact that he dealt only in black hen’s eggs. He would but no other. At every gate, as he pulled up his pony and cart, he would call out.

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“Any black hens’ eggs to-day, ma’am?”

“Well yes, I have, but they’re all mixed in with the others” “That’s quite all right, ma’am. I won’t be long sorting them out for you.”

Sure enough, he would go through all the eggs that had been gathered, and in no time at all he would have picked out all the black hens’ eggs. How did he identify them?

Why did this eccentric man only buy black hens’ eggs?

He had an enviable reputation with the firms which he supplied, for his hand picked eggs were of the highest quality. You would think that, every once in a while, a black hen might lay a small egg. But seemingly not!

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11

Paddy is Irrelevant… yet Relevant!

By Tom Gilmore

THE heading seems like a contradiction, but irrespective of what may exist in the Irish psyche the conventional Irish ‘Paddy’or ‘Navvy’ in the UK is almost irrelevant among our young emigrants there today.

One could therefore be forgiven for suggesting that the lyrics of the current popular Irish song “Paddy” Tom Gilmore are almost irrelevant too. Perhaps this song is just a sad, sentimental look back at another era – or is it?

With a tiny amount of tweaking the lyrics could have a deeper and more relevant, even more modern meaning that could resonate with the thousands of young Irish now working in the mines and on construction sites here in Australia.

When Claremorris emigrant PJ Kelly emigrated to England, where he was killed in a trench in 1965, he probably never imagined that his story would one day be the subject of a song written and recorded by his nephew Gerry Carney and countless others including young Irish Country star from Galway Mike Denver, who, incidently, has a younger brother working here in Perth.

The lure (or the curse?) of emigration for the Irish is summed up very well in the following few lines from Ultan Cowley’s book “The Men Who Built Britain - A History of the Irish Navvy”. These words are prophetic for the current crop of Irish emigrants too. “There has always been the stick of unemployment and the carrot of adventure to lure a young man away from the Irish countryside.”

No doubt that stick and carrot lured PJ, now immortalised in “Paddy”, to the UK during the 1960s which is a decade described in the book as “the age of transport” and infrastructure building in the UK. But many of the Paddies from that decade, similar to PJ, never made it to old age which could have seen him living in a shelter or a squat in London or elsewhere from where he might watch history repeating itself as the world goes by before his fading eyesight.

“From his window he watches as people They come and go on their way Rushing to catch the train homeward As he often did in his day He remembers the dark of the mornings And the days he worked in the rain The good times the bad times the friends he knew He’ll never see them again.”

Change two words in this verse, the new line could become, ‘And the days he worked through the pain’ and this song could start to be relevant to the young Irish construction workers now flocking to mining and construction projects in Perth and other parts of Australia.

In Perth many of the young Irish emigrants are paying $9 or $10 for every pint of beer that they drink in some, though not all, of the pubs and clubs. It’s a world away from buying a bottle of lemonade at The Galtymore Ballroom in London in the 1960s and the elimination of that those two words “The Galtee” in the fifth line, and replacing them with either ‘Rosies’ or ‘JB’s’ makes that verse relevant to so many young Irish emigrants who are now revellers in Rosie O’Grady’s nightclub or JB O’Reilly’s in Perth.

At nights when the streets are deserted Except for the take-away signs He thinks of the men that he worked with On the buildings the roads and the mines The girl that he met in The Galtee He thought he might make her his own Maybe if there was less drinking He wouldn’t have wound up alone.

The chorus of this song only requires the replacement of the word “England” with ‘Oz” for it to resonate in a more relevant way with the young Irish who are in the land ‘down under’ today.

Chorus.

P is for powerful when put to the test A is for always doing your best D is for doing if it can be done And D is for drinking when work it was done Y is for yearning to see home again Proud to be Irish and hard working men Paddy remember though your day is done You’re the rock that England stands on.

According to Gerry Carney, in the sleeve notes for his song, he discovered that the “worst pain” for the emigrants was “loneliness and the hope that they would see their homeland again. Many never did or will.”

Some of the current crop of emigrants in Australia, mostly probably either the least successful or the most successful, may let the years slip away without seeing their homeland too often either. But by changing one word in the next verse, on line three; it was the ‘sun’ and not the “rain” that took Paddy’s strength away would make it more relevant for Oz. A case in point is that many succumb to skin cancer in Australia which has a plethora of clinics to treat this in most major cities and in a land that appears to have not much of an ozone layer to shield the skin from the dangerous ultra violet rays – worse than the “rain” that Paddy endured while working with a shovel on the buildings in Britain.

You can never explain just what happened The years seem to pass like a day Was it the rain or the shovel Took the strength from his limbs away Sometimes he thinks of the boreen That led from his house to the lane And the fields that he worked with his father He’ll never see them again.

Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and other cities, as well as Perth in particular are the ones that lure the young Irish of today and of course it can be a land of milk and honey for many, as England was for countless emigrants in the past but, similar to the era referred to in “Paddy” many will fall through the cracks too and end up in a shelter for the homeless.

But by changing two words in line two of the next verse it is relevant to Australia where Sun starts to beat on the ground in a land that seems red from not getting enough rain on its soil.

As he makes his way back to the shelter Rain starts to fall on the ground A young man just in from Cork City Asks him where work can be found He said son take a long look at Paddy And remember whatever you do This broken old man that you’re seeing Was once a young fellow like you.

Once again the slightly tweaked chorus comes in at the end of the song stating that Paddy is the rock that ‘Oz’, instead of “England” stands on.

Ireland has seen so many young men of twenty say good-bye in the past few years, and take the plane to Perth or Sydney or elsewhere, that the land of their birth is all the poorer for the loss of some of her brightest sons.

No doubt many will make a fortune in the land down under but others, like so many Paddies in England in the past will fall through the cracks and for them the streets of Perth will not be paved with gold as they end up seeking solace from the social services and the caring crew in places such as The Irish Club in Subiaco.

Thousands go to this great club each year to socialise or to sort out their sports club affiliations, others socialise nearby, ensconced by an impressive arsenal of Irish memorabilia, in JB O’Reilly’s, which sells more pints of Guinness than any other pub in Australia.

Some of the modern Paddies go to Paddy Maguires, also in Subiaco where the Folk group Shelilagh Law have changed the words of one line in the song “Spancil Hill” from “I awoke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill” to “I awoke in West Australia” which gets a great reaction from the audience who would probably empathise with and enjoy the suggested Oz version of “Paddy” equally well there as they would in countless other Irish pubs and clubs across Australia.

Many young Paddies who will get to love the lifestyle of sun, fun, mon (ey) sea, sand, and perhaps greater opportunities for sex in the land down under will never want to return again to Ireland’s grey skies and current crippled economy.

But some, sadly may end up like “Paddy”, in a shelter for homeless men in the UK of the past, only this time their bed may be a similar, and perhaps a cockroach infested one, in some grim and grimy southern hemisphere city.

Because Australia is a costly country to live in, even with high wages, the Paddies who do not save enough dollars, and fail to take care of their health, will sadly fall through the cracks and end up alone, unknown and unseen in a land of strangers.

So perhaps, songwriter-singer Gerry Carney might, if he reads this, might rewrite his song about “Paddy” which already has strong thought-provoking lyrics, rightly praising the men who built Britain but, in their present state, these lyrics could be seen as being almost irrelevant to the Paddies down under today.

However if the tweaked words were to become more relevant, if he or singer Mike Devner, or somebody else, seizes the opportunity and comes up with a revamped version, this song can be another anthem for the Irish that can resonate in the same way as songs such as “The Fields of Athenry” or more recently “The Galway Girl” have done with the 21st century Irish, both at home and abroad.

(Tom Gilmore is a journalist and broadcaster in Ireland with “The Tuam Herald” and Galway Bay Fm Radio who lived for over 10 months in various locations around Australia (including almost 4 months in Perth) during the past year.

13

PRINCE OF PIPERS GETS ROYAL REPRIEVE

By Colin Merrey

News has just reached the Irish Scene that Finbar Furey, acclaimed over many, many years as the Prince of Irish Pipers, suffered a heart attack in mid November 2012. He received the all clear from his doctor on about 15 December 2012 and is looking forward to getting back to work again with his busy touring schedule.

He will be visiting Western Australia in 2013 and we are looking forward to catrching up with him at one of his shows here.

These are Friday 1st March 2013 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre Saturday 2nd March 2013 Octagon Theatre Sunday 3rd March 2013 Sun City Country Club • Yanchep Returning for two further dates on 5th and 6th of April at the Margaret River Arts Centre and Albany Arts Centre.

Hopefully you will be able to see him at one or more of those venues. If you aren’t already aware, Finbar is a wonderfully talented and well respected uilleann piper, banjo player, guitarist and singer/songwriter – he always puts on a great show so if you miss him you may well live to regret it!

Here’s wishing Finbar a continuing speedy recovery and a happy New Year. See you in March, mate!

Happy

Birthday Hilary!

Prisoner 9843...

second. Throwing himself full-length his fingers managed to grasp the reins as the maddened animal bolted on. For some distance the convict was dragged throughout the bush but finally he brought the horse to a standstill and helped the half-conscious woman to the ground.

“When she had recovered sufficiently the woman, who turned out to be the wife of the Commander of the Bunbury district, offered to present Moondyne to her husband and plead with him to grant any wish that the convict might ask. And so we see him - this absurd poet in his convict garb - paraded before the Commander, who decided to grant the request. It is easy to imagine what he expected Convict 9843 to ask - that his labors be lightened or that his sentence be lessened. And so he waited.

“Then Moondyne spoke. Out on the road, where their axes were swinging, there was a magnificent tree. It has been built by the hand of The tree saved by O’Reilly God centuries before…It could give rest and shade to weary men who might come after…couldn’t the surveyors make a detour? Couldn’t the tree be allowed to stand?

“Yes! Moondyne begged the life of a tree in exchange for the life of the woman he’d save. And an amazed Commander stammered out his assent. So there it stand study, a monument to a man’s life, a story in green leaves which tell plainer than words that prison walls and the lash cannot change a man’s spirit.”

There is no doubt that O’Reilly saved a tree but there is a question about exactly which one - or even what type of tree - he saved.

Another article published in the West Australian (August 23 1952) had the headline Did O’Reilly Save this tree? It showed a photograph of a huge Tuart, known locally in Bunbury as the Kite or Horseshoe Tree. It overhung the old Vasse-road (then called Spence street) at a point in the road where there is a sudden angle.

“The tree had a peculiar formation,” the journalist wrote, “Beginning at the height of about 14 feet was kite-shaped aperture of considerable dimensions that naturally led to its becoming a well-known landmark.

This was the tree, I am now informed in a letter from Mr George Clark, of Bunbury, that old residents of the district always regarded as the tree saved from the axe by John Boyle O’Reilly.

“It had to be felled nearly a century later, having become dangerous to passer-by’s. The strange angle in the road, I understand, still remains.

There was also a tree at Picton which was reputed to be the “saved” tree.

That too, alas, has been felled by progress.”

Whatever version of the story may be true it seems that his intervention did at least extend the life of the tree in question by at least a hundred years. O’Reilly’s efforts to save the tree, is in stark comparison with the first actions of Captain Stirling some forty years before (1829) who ordered the felling of a tree as the foundation of Perth. O’Reilly, not just a human rights and democratic campaigner was also perhaps one of the world’s first conservationists and environmentalists.

2013 marks the 25th Anniversary of the annual commemoration of the John Boyle O’Reilly escape. The event is held annually in Bunbury and thanks must go to Liam Barry and his team for continuing to organise this very important part of our Irish/Australian history. On the weekend of March 23rd and 24th of March, this will be celebrated with a number of events. Details are on page 15.

The Conservationist!

By Lloyd Gorman

Patriot, poet, writer and human rights John Boyle O’Reilly was also something of an escape artist. He arrived into Fremantle on January 9, 1868 on board the Hougoumont, to start a 20 year penal servitude sentence that had been commuted from a death sentence for his part in a Fenian conspiracy. The County Meath man was one of the Irish political prisoners on the vessel that would be the last transport ship to John Boyle O’Reilly in convict uniform in 1866 WA. In less than a year O’Reilly had arranged and executed a daring escape to America. Not long after he evaded the best efforts of the British authorities to find him and escaped on board an American whaler ship called the Gazelle many of the Fenians were pardoned. Even more of them were officially forgiven in 1871. However a small number of men who were considered to be the most militant of the Fenians continued to be detained in the penal system.

From half way around the world, the escapee turned freeman and man of influence in Boston began planning and organising an escape plan for them. It would not be until 1876 when another whaling ship the Catalpa dropped its anchor off the coast of Bunbury and the escape bid could be realised. Like O’Reilly before them, fugitives James Wilson, Michael Harrington, Robert Cranston, Thomas Darragh, Thomas Hassett and Martin Hogan had a dramatic and daring escape and rapturous welcome in America.

But there is another escape of sorts that would not have taken place except for the intervention of O’Reilly. A month after his arrival into Fremantle, O’Reilly was transferred to Bunbury where he was assigned to a party of convicts who were given the job of building the BunburyVasse road.

The edition of the Sunday Times April 15, 1945, carried this account of the story.

“The day is February 18, 1869. [Convinct 9843] had been working with a chain gang, felling trees in the thick forest at Picton Junction just near Bunbury. To the warders he is just the nameless should tabbed with the number 9843. His fellow convicts knew him as Moondyne Joe but to his compatriots of Ireland (many of which had been transported with him) he was John Boyle O’Reilly, patriot and poet.

“They were following a course laid down by surveyors, clearing the way for a road into the district of Bunbury. Suddenly they came to a magnificent gum, stretching its aged arms on either side of the surveyed line. The overseer gave the order for it to be felled.

“But to John Boyle O’Reilly - or Moondyne, as his little world knew him - that was a sacrilege…smashing down a tree that God made to replace it with something a man could build. No-no… they mustn’t do it.

“Desperately he pleaded with the overseer, but it is not difficult to image the reception Moondyne got. And the first axe was hungry to bite into the bark of that old gum when havoc was let loose.

“Through the scrub came careering a horse and on its back, almost in a state of collapse, a woman. Convict 9843 never hesitated a split

14

“Be silent and safe-

silence never betrays you”.

John Boyle O’Reilly

1988 - 2013

YEARS

John Boyle O’Reilly MEMORIAL 25th Anniversary Celebrations - Bunbury March 23-24 - 2013 Programme of Events: Saturday Evening Dinner March 23rd - 6.30pm 3 Course Meal, Tea,Coffee - (Drinks purchased at bar prices) $50.00 per person - Limited Numbers - Book Early!!

Tables of ten (10) people for Saturday evening dinner

Brendan Woods & Dublin Rogues / Harpist: Helen Punch / Irish Dancers Venue: World Kitchen, Cobblestone Drive, Bunbury Bookings Essential: Contact: Tom Dillon (08) 97 214202, (Mob) 0417 986 298 Email: bdillon1@bigpond.com

Sunday Morning March 24th - 11.00am Memorial Ceremony at John Boyle O’Reilly Monument Buffalo Road, Australind (Off Forrest Hwy)

Sunday Afternoon March 24th - 1.00pm

Enquiries: Liam Barry Ph: (08) 97971124 liam.debarra@gmail.com

Civic Reception, Bunbury City Council Function Centre (Cnr Stephen and Wittenoom Streets, Bunbury).

Limited Numbers: Please Confirm Your Attendance A.S.A.P. Tom Dillon: Home (08) 97214202 Mobile: 0417 986 298 Email: bdillon1@bigpond.com

15 15

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1993

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Gerry swaps Western Australia for West Cork

By Fred Rea/Lloyd Gorman In February it would have been 30 years since musician Gerry Quigley first came to Perth, direct from his native Dublin. But just one month shy of making it a hat trick of decades the well-known and popular muso will be back in Ireland to plug his new album Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and possibly even write more.

Just days after he arrived in WA, Gerry found himself hooking up with a local group but one that marched to a different drum than what he was used to.

“I’d only just got here and I was in a music shop trying out an amp and the guy working there asked me who I was playing with,” Gerry told Irish Scene.

“I said I had only arrived in town and

I didn’t know anybody, so he gave me a number and I rang it. I went for a jam with them and after that session they asked me if I wanted to join them.

They were called Stab in the Dark, they were the first main band in this town at the time. They were a covers band, I came straight from an original band and doing my own thing, I didn’t even know what a covers band was. But we got a lot of work and played all over the place.”

In Dublin Gerry’s world was crowded by names like Bono - who he taught how to play guitar - and Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy who would rehearse in his family’s kitchen. His brother Liam was one of Dublin’s best photographers and he specialised in documenting the music sector and even contributed artwork for the album covers for groups such as Horslips, The Furey’s, Big Tom, some of the biggest show bands of the time and many others.

Coming from this sort of musical tradition it didn’t take Gerry long to establish a new pedigree in Perth. He is perhaps best known for the Shin Kickers, a group that was together for 21 years and built up an amazingly loyal fan base. But he was also responsible for Raggle Taggle Gypsy which he says was another great band and had lots of members who went through it.

Then there were the Blarney Stones with Kieran and Rob from Cork which was together for several years. “We did really well, it was probably the most successful Celtic Rock band in this town. We played four or five gigs a week and did a circuit for up to six years.”

Gerry is now hoping to undertake a new musical journey but it is one he feels he needs to begin that exploration from a new starting point. He will be moving to West Cork.

“What really inspired me to do this?, I think it was speaking to Eric Bell from Thin Lizzy the last time I was home. Eric had been living in London for about 30 years himself. He said he was back living in West Cork, just for writing. He told me that he could write so many albums in this place, because it’s beautiful. That got me thinking, that that sounds great, being in a really nice environment that is inspiring. That must have stayed in the back of my head because I didn’t have an inclination I

18

Sharon and Gerry

was going to move base to Ireland, or West Cork.”

As well as his new album, Gerry also hopes to tour music festivals around Europe.

“I find instrumental music gives people a chance to relax and make up their own story and their own lyrics, if the words of a song are already written then the story has been told,” he added.

“Druidism is quite a big thing and I write in that mystical magic kind of a feel.”

Gerry said the great composers he enjoys such as O’Carolan (a blind harpist) and Mozart, wrote instrumental music.

“Even with the Shin Kickers first album I wrote some instrumental music for it so it’s always been something in me.”

Gerry will be collaborating on the project with an artist known as the Nomadic Druid, and he will be collaborating with other figures from the world of Irish music who he knows well and who have worked with the biggest groups and artists in Ireland. He said the album is about life, everyone’s life and will be a reflection of the different times in a person’s life.

A Perth audience was the first to hear it in December.

He and his partner Sharon left West Australia for West Cork on December 31. “New Year’s Even seemed like a good time to set out on a new life. We’ll have three New Year’s Days on the flight back home, it feels right.”

This may not be the last we see of Gerry. He has some special ideas in mind that could involve Perth but he has sworn us to silence, at least for now.

God speed Gerry and good luck with it all.

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2013 will add up to a bakers dozen for WA school kids...

My five year old son Hugh will be starting at the excellent Catholic primary school of Our Lady of the Mission in Whitfords and will be one of the thousands of young children who will start going to school in WA in 2013.

There is nothing exceptional in this but what is different to previous years is the fact that Hugh, and the thousands like him, will also be amongst the first wave of students who will spend longer inside the WA educational system than any of their predecessors.

On January 1, 2013, a piece of legislation called the School Education Amendment Bill (2012) will come into effect.

Essentially it will make pre-primary schooling compulsory for every child in WA. From 2013 every primary school student will be guaranteed a place in their local school and they will be expected to attend school for 13 years.

Education minister Peter Collier said preprimary was a vital step in children’s learning where they acquired foundation skills and became used to the routine of school life.

“Pre-primary is also the year when every public school student is assessed on literacy and numeracy so their teachers can plan the best learning programs for them,” he said.

“This on-entry assessment includes aspects of oral language, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, counting, ordering, early spatial awareness and simple measurement comparisons.”

The legislation to bring this change in the education system went through both houses of the WA parliament and was approved late last year.

During the debate the member for Joondalup Tony O’Gorman gave the other members of parliament (MoPs) an insight into the reasons why he thought the new legislation - which the Australian Labor Party man even congratulated the Liberal Party Government on bringing it in - was important.

O’Gorman and his family left Ireland in 1981.

They arrived in Australia and soon found themselves living in the northern suburbs, where they have remained ever since. Twenty years after their

by Lloyd Gorman

arrival, he was elected to the Legislative Assembley as the local member in 2001 and has been returned to that seat three times.

Speaking in Parliament he recounted his family’s experiences with the education systems of Ireland and Australia.

O’Gorman started by telling them about his daughters first day at school.

“She is now 31 years of age, but when she turned four, we happened to be living in Ireland in a little country village called Cratloe,” he said. “We took her down to the school the day she turned four to inquire about enrolment, and the principal of that school actually said, “Why don’t you just leave her here for a few hours and let her see how she adapts?” That was the day she turned four! We were very young parents at that point—I think I was about 25 or 26—and we were very concerned, but we left her there with complete strangers and went home. When we went back at lunchtime, which was about two hours later, and she saw us pull up in the car, she immediately started crying. We thought, “Oh, no; she’s been having a really bad time.” But she was crying because we were showing up to take her home! The biggest problem she had was that she wanted to have her lunch there with the other boys and girls she had met at the school. We had to turn around and travel the four or five miles back to the house we were renting to get her lunch and take it back down to her! So she started her formal education the day she turned four.”

“She went into what was called junior infants in Ireland, which I think equates to preprimary here, and attended that school from 18 October—her birthday—until early June. We packed up and came back here on 16 June. But once we got back here and found ourselves accommodation and settled in, we went to the local primary school, which was Eddystone Primary School, with the intent of enrolling her. We were told, “No, she’s too young.”

Then we had to turn around and explain to this fiveyear-old that, unfortunately, she was too young and could not go to school, which was a huge dint to her self-confidence. We had a lot of problems with her fighting with us and whatever else at that time— she still does. We could not get her into the school and we could not even get her into kindy because it was full. We had to wait until the year she turned six before we could get her into Eddystone Primary School, where she settled very well and developed her social conscience and learning capabilities. That 20

Hugh will be in school for at least 13 years.

The iPad can replicate the original tablet device - chalk and slate.

showed me that the earlier we get our children into formal schooling, the better life opportunities those children will have. Thirty years ago Ireland had in place a system by which the day a child turned four, they could enrol at the school and start school from that day on.”

The MoP, who is now a grandfather, now finds himself back at a similar place again. “My granddaughter…will be three in February and she teaches me how to use my phone and my iPad. Without her, I would not be able to look at some of my photographs and files. That shows how quickly these children learn.”

O’Gorman said he had worked on a parliamentary Development and Justice Standing Committee which held an inquiry into the formative early childhood years, and how important they are for a child’s long term development and prospects.

“It was impressed upon us that the most important time for a child’s education is zero to eight, particularly zero to four, because that is when their young brains are developing.

Outside of his own family, O’Gorman has been active in the educational sector. He was heavily involved and influential in the effort to get Joondalup Primary School, a state of the art school which included special features such as a special education unit and a dental therapy clinic built, ahead of time and in one go rather than in staggered stages.

Built in 1993 the primary school educates students from Kindergarten up to Year Seven and has 700 students.

As it happens the Dail (Irish Parliament) itself passed an Education Amendment Bill (2012) last year, but unlike the local legislation, this was concerned with the registration of teachers and other matters for educators.

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21

S t P atric k ’ s D ay 2 0 1 3

Johnny McCauley RIP

By Oliver McNerney

Johnny McCauley was the original voice of Country and Irish. He was born in Fahan, Co Donegal in 1925. He spent most of his life in London where he immigrated to in 1951.

In 1953 he formed his own band, The Westernaires and they became the resident band at the famous Galtymore Ballroom in Cricklewood in London. Johnny then went on to form the Johnny McCauley Trio and were very popular in London and around England, anywhere where Irish immigrants gathered.

But it will be as a song writer that Johnny will be best remembered. He composed over 80 songs and they were a blend of American country sounds with Irish based lyrics. Johnny was the originator of was to be called Country and Irish Music.

Among his best known songs were, Destination Donegal, Among the Wicklow Hills,

Four Country Roads, Pretty Little Girl from Omagh and My Donegal Shore. His songs have been recorded by Margo, Big Tom, Daniel O’Donnell and Larry Cunningham. Johnny also wrote tributes to John Wayne and Irish Boxer Barry McGuigan.

Johnny founded his own record label Denver Records in 1967 and was used by Big Tom and John Glenn.

Margo said of the late songwriter, “Johnny

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was one of the good guys.”, while Mick Flavin said: “He was quite simply one of Ireland’s greatest songwriters. Interviewed by the ‘Journal’ in 2004, Johnny said: “It’s always nice to know that songs I wrote many, many years ago remain as popular today as they did when first released.”

Eddie Davis, who organised many concerts in Derry in the 1950s and 1960s, once told the ‘Derry Journal’: “What Johnny McCauley did for Irish people and, in particular, the people of Derry in the music business should never be underestimated. “He opened the door for Irish bands in London which saw them finally get the big break they were after.”

Johnny died in London on 22nd March 2012.

He will be remembered as an accom-

22

plished song writer and all the great songs he left behind will keep his name alive for many years to come.

He is survived by his wife Phillis and son Chris.

McAlpine’s Fusiliers.....

The crack was good in Cricklewood, and we wouldn’t leave the crown There were glasses flyin’ and Biddy’s cryin’ and the Paddys were going to town Oh mother dear, I’m over here, and I’m never going back What keeps me here is the rake of beer, the women and the crack

Parade gets back on a good footing

By Lloyd Gorman The hiatus left in the Irish community’s calendar by the loss of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Fremantle some years ago has been bridged. Working with the Mayor of the City of Vincent, Allanah Mac Tiernan and corporate sponsors iiNet, Irish Families in Perth have announced that a parade for the March 17 celebrations will return to Perth in 2013.

Alannah MacTiernan, Mayor of Vincent said the council welcomed the opportunity to support the cultural event.

“Vincent is attracting so many of the young Irish that are flooding into Australia and giving us the benefit of their skills and vitality,” she said. “They are smart and recognise we are a grand little city full of energy and offering the good life. And of course there are also plenty of us who have some Irish blood from more distant migrations. So we are very happy that Irish Families in Perth have chosen Leederville as the location of the St. Patricks Day Parade – we want everyone, green, orange and any other colour to be involved because on St Paddy’s Day, everybody is Irish.”

It has been three years since the popular day honouring Ireland’s patron saint was last publicly celebrated with a family friendly and community orientated event in Fremantle.

Traditional events for St. Patrick’s Day – including an annual parade had been staged in the port city until 2009.

The re-instated street parade and an associated cultural festival will be staged in Leederville on Sunday March 17 2013. The parade will start at 10am down Richmond St, turn onto Oxford St, loop around Newcastle St and then up Vincent St into Leederville Oval around midday. Entertainment on the oval will include Irish dancers, singers, musicians and sports as well as a number of stalls showcasing local and Irish goods.

Irish Families in Perth spokeswoman and event organiser Karen Hennessy said the support group began planning and organising for a return of the parade following last year’s St. Patrick’s Day.“When the Freo parade stopped three years ago it left a huge void for a family focused event in Perth’s Irish community and for Mayor of the City of Vincent, Allanah Mac Tiernan anyone else who wanted to share in this special day,” said Karen. on March 1st. Details are on the website www.

“This need was keenly noted by Irish stpatricksdaywa.com. We are also looking for Families which organised an outdoor family participants in the parade so all dance, music, event at Whiteman Park last year. As a result, a sporting or entertainment groups get on the separate committee made up of members of the website download the application and create a Irish community in Perth was set up with the sole float. To make this parade a success we need purpose of bringing the parade back to Western everyone to get on board.”

Australia. Its mission is ‘to create a multicultural The build up to March 17 is vital to make event under the umbrella of St Patricks Day WA the parade and festival a success. and to celebrate Irish/Australian cultural and As part of the fund raising efforts for the heritage’. parade and The Claddagh Association there will Prominent Irish Australian business figure be a number of events.

Michael Malone and Founder of iiNet has also On January 17 in the Irish Club there will lent his support to the cause as a commercial be an information night about the parade and sponsor.“I’m proud of my Irish heritage. St what needs to be done.

Patrick’s Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate Event organisers say there are sponsorship with a growing Irish community in Perth and the opportunities and the support and time of Parade is a family friendly way to do just that. volunteers or anyone who thinks they can We’re really looking forward to partnering with contribute to the project will be welcome.

‘Irish Families in Perth’ and being a part of next There will also be a table quiz in the Irish year’s festivities.”

Club on February 1 and a White Collar Boxing Irish Families in Perth started in 2011 with Charity event on Friday March 1st 2013. four young Irish mothers who had emigrated There will be a Battle of the Sports theme to WA with their children and husbands with participants ideally coming from AFL, GAA, coming together to support each other. Within Rugby and Soccer codes as well as bouts for men twelve months the group has attracted 1,700 and women. families. Along with that the parade organisers An intensive eight week training have aligned themselves with ’The Claddagh. programme started on January 7th.

Association’ an Irish community charity This event will be a safe, professional and organisation that helps Irish people in crisis. enjoyable evening of amateur boxing for novice Karen said the parade committee is made boxers only. up of a group of irish people from the community It will be family friendly and showcase who saw a need to have the parade once more novice boxers to an otherwise ‘non-boxing’ and has been supported strongly by the previous audience. committee and they have been a great source of If you would like to participate in the event, information, photographs and video footage. please contact stpatricksdayperth@hotmail.com “We now require the support of the wider or Paul on 0412345644. Check out the Facebook Irish community to see this event become a page for other promotions and updates. success,” she said. We have already gained If you can help in any way either through sponsorship from iiNet and are delighted to sponsorship or volunteering on the commitee or have them on board. The Shed and a number preparing a float for the day please contact Irish of other pubs and businesses have also been Families in Perth. strong supporters.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh With funding a great part of the parade (Happy St. Patrick’s Day to Everyone). we are hosting a White Collar Boxing event

23 23

Meath was first and last in Australia’s convict story

by Lloyd Gorman and Fred Rea

John Boyle O’Reilly was one of the very last convicts to be transported to Australia. O’Reilly, born at Dowth Castle, near Drogheda in 1844 was deported on the Hougoumont for WA in 1868, for what was meant to be a 20 year penal sentence. As it turns out the first convict from Ireland to reach Australia shores nearly 60 years earlier also hailed from the same county as Fred Rea discovered on his recent visit to Ireland and in particular during a field trip to Trim he met local historian Noel French.

Noel relayed the story to Fred of what may have been the first Irishman transported to Australia.

“Many of the prisoners from the gaol were transported to Australia as punishment for their crimes,” a guide for the Meath Heritage Centre said. “The first convict from Co. Meath to land in Australia was Felix Owen who arrived at Sydney Cove Penal Settlement in New South Wales on September 26th 1791. Indeed he may well have been the first Irishman to step on Australian soil.”

“The arrival of Owen in Australia was preceded by a six month voyage on board the “Queen”, the first ship to transport convicts from Ireland to Australia. Owen, who had been sentenced to transportation for life at the Spring Assizes at Trim during March 1788, was subjected to great brutality, as were the other convicts, at the hands of the master and crew of the “Queen”. At the official enquiry it emerged that many of the convicts starved to death as the Master denied them food so that

24

he could sell it in Sydney. Convict records in Australia show that of the 123 male convicts, and 23 female convicts who landed in Australia, 70 died within the first six months of their arrival but Owen was one of the survivors, he was still alive and residing near Sydney in February 1811. Living near him were forty one other convicts from Co. Meath who had been tried at Trim.”

“In February 1796 five Trim convicts arrived aboard the “marquis Cornwallis” after an eventful voyage from Cork. The convicts had made a vain attempt to overcome the crew and sail to France. Eight lost their lives in the ensuing gun battle while an informer was strangled to death. Nine Trim convicts travelled on the “Britanna” which sailed in 1797. Its voyage in May 1797 was one of the most brutal in the history of transportation. The 144 men and 44 women on board were kept in chains for the six of the journey and at least six men were flogged to death. Many more died of starvation and mistreatment.”

For 150 years Trim Gaol was used as the central location to confine all the criminals from the county. In its time it held rebels, highway men, pickpockets and thieves, murderers and debtors. On one occasion in 1793, for a trial the court could not hear the case because all the jury were drunk. Another event that year saw members from the Defenders - a secret society group - organise a riot at the court during which two soldiers were killed. The gaol was also the place of execution for some unfortunate souls and the last place many stayed before being deported out of the country for ever. It is well worth a visit for anyone who happens to be passing through Trim on their Irish travels.

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The loss of the Gilmore children

A Miniature Marvel

While I was in Ireland in November Tom Gilmore told me of the tragic loss of the 2 children of his cousin John Gilmore and his wife Michelle.

Little Kate (2) and Grace (12 weeks) lost their lives when they were struck by a car on a Sunday while out for an afternoon stroll with their father.

The entire Co Galway Tuam community had been shattered by the loss of the two girls.

Canon Gleeson said that John and Michelle celebrated the love that had brought the two children into the world, pointing to the close bond of friendship and love that exists between children and their parents. “We realise how courageous Michelle and John are in carrying the heavy loss they’ve had to carry,” he said.

I was inspired to pen the following words for the family...

Situated at Powerscourt, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Tara’s Palace, Ireland’s largest period Doll’s house, took over twenty years to build and furnish.

It was commissioned to replace the earlier Titania’s Palace, which was sold at auction in London in 1978 to Lego, and displayed in Legoland in Denmark until 2007, after which it was moved to Egeskov Castle, Denmark.

Tara’s Palace, which is modelled on such great houses as Carlton, Castletown and Powerscourt, contains twenty four stunning rooms, all decorated with hand painted wall paper and ceilings, hand crafted wooden or marble floors.

Each room is furnished with exquisite miniature master pieces, many of them priceless antiques.

Additional treasures are added each year.

Most recently acquired for the library, are miniature editions of Gulliver’s Travels and The Night Before Christmas, and for the music room, an exquisite solid gold miniature violin in it’s own rosewood case.

The entire display is quite breath-taking and must be seen to believed.

Ormonde D P Waters.

Prayer for Kate and Grace All the words in the world penned on a sheet Won’t ease the sorrow or end the grief Of losing loved ones so young and so pure The loss for their parents and the pain they endure We now pray to Him who for reasons unknown Decided to take the little ones home The tears that were shed for two angels of God Are shed for their family and those children they loved O Mother of God the Lord is with thee Look down on them now in their hour of need And hold their little angels, we know that you care Join with us now as we say this prayer We pray for their parents, family and friends That they will be blessed and the sorrow will mend We pray for the children, their love will endure Two angels in heaven so innocent and pure.

Fred Rea

25

Honour and credit to any service…

Part 3

By Peter Conole, Police Historian As foreshadowed in the previous issue of When news hit Bunbury about his Irish Scene, unpleasant and at times vicious coming departure, the citizens arranged a brawling between rival waterfront unions large civic farewell for him. They were not started to become a feature of Fremantle life happy to see him go. The Mayor of Bunbury in the course of the late 1890s. Later trouble said the inspector was “well spoken of by in 1917 morphed into something more serious everyone in the community, which was a a couple of years later. In April 1919 the proud thing to say for an official in the Lumper’s Union and the National Waterside Police Department”. The crowd presented Workers Union clashed over union coverage William with a gold-tipped jarrah walking and the dispute affected quite a few returned stick and his wife with a fine silver tray and servicemen who wanted better working a decorated tea and coffee set. conditions and wages.

By way of contrast, Fremantle turned out The National Watersiders men were used to be, as ever, a stormy port. The inspector to unload a ship called the ‘Dimboola’ and turned up at a time when yet another major waterfront riot was brewing. In August they came under violent attack by their rivals of the Lumper’s Union. Barricades were 1925 striking seamen on British ships in the thrown up for mutual protection and a visiting harbour teamed up with local union members group of would-be peace makers led by to prevent a ship called the ‘Borda’ from Premier Colebatch was abused and showered being moved from one part of the wharf to with missiles. Police trying to separate the another. Violence broke out and the police rival unionists came under attack. In the had no choice but to intervene. course of violent brawling on May 4 some A riot occurred on the wharf on November 2, 1925 and in the process of 29 police were injured. Scores of rioters were restoring order Inspector Sellenger assumed also hurt, ten seriously, and one of them died Inspector William Sellenger in the front line command. Some of the rioters were soon afterwards. late 1920s Inspector Sellenger intervened to negotiate armed with assorted bladed weapons and the with the warring unionists and arrange for the safe removal police were also pelted with chunks of coal and railway of the premier and his party. He also managed to persuade spikes. After a couple of hours the tightly organised foot the rioters to disarm, but did not escape criticism for his and mounted police forced their way on to the wharf, using supposed failure to stop the crowds spilling over on to the fists and batons freely, and made scores of arrests. As one wharves or take stronger action against mob leaders. police officer wrote “There were ten or twelve seamen William Sellenger became quite indignant about what unconscious on the wharf. One police sergeant got a he considered to be baseless criticisms. He responded with fractured skull, another a broken jaw.” a strongly worded but reasonable defence of his measures, William was lucky to escape with his life. The 63-year a step he thought necessary because some folk thought his old inspector spent some time in hospital, as he had a broken “actions on Sunday last are deemed to be inappropriate, or ankle and other injuries to his right arm and left shin. To top at least insufficient to curtail the trouble”. it off, a watch he was wearing in his tunic pocket deflected Commissioner Robert Connell was supportive but what could have been a fatal blow when a missile thrown newspaper attacks continued and increased the strain on by the rioters hit him close to the heart. In the aftermath 65 Sellenger. The inspector took leave at the end of the year. police officers were commended for courage and devotion Robert Connell helped him out by arranging a transfer to to duty and they were listed by name in the Police Gazette. the South-West District. William Sellenger took up his William one was one of them. The list is fascinating and command at Bunbury on January 20, 1920. caused this writer to grin when he first saw it – a very high The inspector made his mark in the district, winning proportion of the brave officers were obviously Irishmen respect for his balanced approach to law enforcement and or of Irish descent, including Sellenger and the next most competent administration. He was also compassionate in senior officer, Inspector Martin Barry. his treatment of indigenous people. In November 1920 By now William Sellenger had the status of a ‘grand the local coroner wrote to the Chief Protector of Natives old man’ of the Police Force, a wise veteran who was often in Perth about Sellenger’s friendly attitude to aborigines asked for advice on a range of policing issues well outside and interest in their welfare. After years of dedicated work, his area of direct control. The attached photograph of him he was transferred north and again took charge of the dates from 1926. The personnel of the Force held him in Fremantle District on February 19, 1925. high regard, as did many political and community leaders

26

of the day. Everyone was pleased when Commissioner Robert Connell recommended that he be promoted to the position of Chief Inspector and second-in-command of the Force from June 1, 1927.

Unfortunately there was a legal hitch. The Police Regulations contained a section barring officers over the age of sixty from being promoted. A special petition was organised to gain government approval and eventually the warrant giving effect to his promotion received assent in January 1928. Then on September 9, 1928 William Sellenger retired in glory from the police, although he was not forgotten, for several years later he received the high honour of the King’s Police Medal for his services to the State and community.

Despite the trials and tribulations of policing work in the port, William and Elizabeth Sellenger moved to a house they had purchased in Solomon Street, Fremantle to live out the rest of their lives. William died on October 14, 1945 and Elizabeth survived him by eleven years. Some of their youngsters also led interesting lives. Daughter Imelda Mary married a member of the famous Durack family and son Leslie prospered as a wool classer and farmer. Son William achieved prominence as the Reverend Doctor Albertus, a fine scholar of the arts and natural sciences among the Marist Brothers at New Norcia.

Comhaltas Classes/ Session/ Set Dancing Every Monday from 7.30pm ALL WELCOME - at the Irish Club 61 Townshend Rd Subiaco

Comhaltas Movie Night

We will be having a movie night for all to attend and bring back together past and present Comhaltas members. We will be showing old videos recorded at camps over the past few years and would like everyone who was once involved or still is involved to come along.

Where: RSL Hall, Cnr Fred Bell Pde and Playfield St, East Vic Park Date: February 8th 2013 - Time: 7:30pm - Cost: Free Comhaltas would also like people to bring any photos or videos they may have themselves and to bring their instruments for a session afterwards.

The Pain of an Trigeminal Neuralgia sufferer!

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a pain in either of the left or right side of the face. The pain is like small bolts of lightning and is regarded as the most painful one can receive. The pain effects about one in every 20,000 people so if you consider you are effected by something more than toothache, let us hope it is not Trigeminal Neuralgia, as there is no known cure.

The Trigeminal Neuralgia Support Group commenced in 1990 with the aim of providing information, mutual support and encouragement to persons suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) and related facial pain conditions. Because of the excruciating pain, sufferers felt isolated and lacking knowledge of the medication, surgical and other options available to alleviate the pain.

If you want to know more about our support group please visit our website or phone one of the numbers below. www.trigeminalneuralgiawa.com.au President: Brian Power 08 9385 9550 Secretary: Julia McDonald 08 9384 5816

Electrical & Network Cabling EC Lic No EC 007504

Tom Bowe

Tel / Fax: 9304 2089 Mobile: 0422 440 588 Email: ilukaelectrics@ozemail.com.au

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Welcome to Voyage Kitchen, Sorrento

Sun - Tue: 6.30am - 5pm Wed - Sat 6.30am - Late Breakfast 6:30 - 11:45am Mon to Frid 6:30 to 11:30am Sat & Sun Lunch 12 to 3pm daily (cabinet food is available all day).

T: 9447 2443 F: 9447 8359 SMS orders: 0401 660 002 E: info@voyagekitchen.com.au 128 West Coast Drive Sorrento

www.voyagekitchen.com.au

Dinner 6pm to 9pm Wed to Sat

Caring Hospitality and Great Value at Voyage In January 2004, Barbara Hacker and Tipperary man, Michael Campion opened the doors to Voyage Kitchen in Sorrento Western Australia for the first time.

Michael told the Irish Scene, “At Voyage we provide rustic, imaginative, fresh food, comfortable surroundings, caring hospitality and great value”.

Voyage Kitchen serves simple, tasty food, with a lean towards the Mediterranean, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The menus change regularly, and sometimes without notice due to seasonal availability.

You can make every day sweet with Voyage Kitchen’s freshly baked

cakes, biscuits, muffins and puddings from Pastry Chef Sue Zehnder.

Voyage new take away section including sweet treats available dine in and to go, 7 days a week.

You can enjoy their custom coffee blend by Five Senses!

For Saturday and Sunday breakfast Voyage accepts reservations for a limited number of groups of 8 or more. Smaller groups on a walk in, first come, first served basis. For breakfast during the week, lunch and dinner any day, they accept reservations of all sizes.

Voyage is open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday, 6pm till late and are now fully licenced.

“All of our eggs, milk and meat are genuine free range grown from farmers we know and trust”. Michael told us.

Michael also told us that Voyage is available for private parties and functions year round.

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Michael Campion

You can book online at voyagekitchen.com.au or call 94472443 or email functions@voyagekitchen.com.au Drop in and enjoy Voyage custom coffee blend by Five Senses made by the best trained baristas in WA. “Made the trip to Sorrento hopefully the food would live up to it’s hype and it definitely did! I had the continental breakfast board with a side of field mushroom and I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Amazing museli, the fruit salad had mango in it and the croissant and ciabatta were equally as amazing and so too was the field mushrooms.

Definitely will be back!” ......from urbanspoon.com

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Australian Irish Dancing Association Inc.

Western Australia

Executive

President: Teresa McGorry-Mathers TCRG

Vice Presidents: Hilary McKenna TCRG Eileen Purtell-Ashley TCRG Secretary: Aisling O’Brien – TCRG Treasurer: Deirdre McGorry – TCRG (HON)

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

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

Irish Dancers Dance to help Victims of Hurricane Sandy

$7000 raised!

On the 25th of November 2012, Irish dancers in Perth were out in force on the steps of the Perth Concert Hall to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy, by participating in a nation-wide dance-a-thon.

2013 Feis dates: March 9th & 10th April 13th & 14th June 1st & 2nd June 29th & 30th Ceili and Open Feis August 2nd ,3rd and 4th State Championships October 1st-6th

Every dancer, from 3 years old to over Australian National Championships 30, performed the same dance at the Perth Concert Hall same time in hundreds of locations November 9th & 10th across Australia. With over 1000 dancers Beginner Feis dancing at the same time nationwide, over $7000 was raised for this cause.

Want to Learn Irish Congratulations to all participants!

Dancing?

Coming up this year in 2013 Perth will host the National Irish Dancing Championships (October 1-6) at the Perth Concert Hall. This is the premier event of the Irish Dancing year in Australia, and so far support received has been fantastic, however, we do rely on our community support to hold this event so please contact perth2013@aidainc. com to find out how you can contribute!

If you ever wanted to know anything about Irish dancing, Perth is definitely in the right place. Irish Dance schools here have put together a huge resource on everything to do with Irish dancing. So whether you are beginner or you want to know more about improving your dancing Perth schools have everything you need to know right here.

See all the contacts on the left of this page!

For any enquiries regarding Irish dancing in Perth please contact Aisling O’Brien, Secretary AIDA WA aislingfiona@westnet.com.au 30

THE PECKER DUNNE

“THE LAST OF THE TRAVELLING PEOPLE”

By Colin Merrey

October 4, 1968 was quite a memorable day for me. It fell during the first week of our honeymoon in Ireland (the first time I visited the wondrous place that I had sung about for such a long while) and it was my introduction to Cork City – Mecca of Ireland’s South (arguably by some!). It also saw the first and only time that I saw the Pecker play live – he was in a small bar near the Imperial Hotel in Killarney and was accompanied by Noel Kelleher on guitar. Until that time, I had only heard the Dubliners singing O’Sullivan’s John (probably Pecker’s best known song) and was suitably impressed by the timbre of his mighty voice and the quality of his fiddle and 5-string banjo playing.

What a man! He was born Patrick (Paddy) Dunne into a Wexford travelling family in a horse-drawn caravan in Castlebar, Co Mayo, on April 1, 1932.

His father was a fiddle player and was

known as “The Fiddler Dunne”. He also said that his father taught him how a man will never starve with a banjo, fiddle or song. He spent his entire life performing – either on the street, outside race meetings and GAA matches, most memorably the Munster Final in Thurles (the joke at the time was that he played more Munster Finals than Cork). He also busked in England and France and performed in Australia and New York.

I am the proud owner of CD re-issues of some of his recordings – notably the Shay Healy produced LPs “Margaret Barry & Pecker Dunne: Travelling’ People from Ireland” and a solo album that was reissued with additional material as “The Very Best of Pecker Dunne”. Via the magic of EBay, I was also able to find a live concert vinyl LP recording of Pecker with a young Danny Doyle, Paddy Reilly and Shay Healy

Joondalup

himself called “The Gatecrashers” which was recorded in 1967 and was one of the shows that Shay put on during the 1960’s. These contain several of his own compositions but the one that sticks in my mind was the one that I chose for the title of this little piece “The Last of the Travelling People”.

Sadly the Pecker passed away on 19th December 2012 at the age of 80 years.

He was a living musical legend and always stayed true to his tinker heritage.

A proud and charismatic performer, he will be sorely missed in the festivals, clubs, pubs and bars that were his forum to the musical world during his lifetime.

Vale, Pecker, may God go with you.

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Alexander Heights Shopping Centre, 200 Mirrabooka Ave Ph 9342 4818

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ULSTER

Rambles with David MacConnell

Well if you are reading this and you are under 50 (ish) you might remember that the wife and myself went back for a holiday to the olde sod. Now her good self is from Dublin Four she tells me. (It must be the golfer in her that says that every time I mention Dublin). She has never lived in Ulster but like any good woman she knows all about it and like any good wife, she is always right.

We drove down from Co. Antrim through Belfast and into Co. Down where we met my sister in Bangor. She had arrived via Holyhead and Dublin and had driven up to Bangor the night before. This was where I lived my late teenage years and it brought back lots of memories, most of which I cannot share with you here. (Fred tells me this is a respectable magazine….. Ah well!)

The B & B where we were booked into was some 200 metres from where my first girl-friend lived. (He’s not going to start with all that again is he?) Nope. Like most towns around the world, Bangor has expanded and has discovered that if you put in lots of roundabouts, (in this case cheap roundabouts i.e. painted circles in the middle of the road) it seems to slow the traffic down quite a bit. Perth discovered this phenomena lately as well.

The first night was I suppose a typical Ulster night. Strong winds combined with some sort of

water which could have been from the waves or the sky. Either way it was wet. Our host at the boarding house suggested various eating houses and for a nostalgic reason I chose to go to Donaghadee, some seven miles down the coast as you can see from the map above. (Did Phil Coulter get it wrong when he wrote the words “It’s six miles from Bangor to Donaghadee”….

Maybe he knew a short cut!)

Well off we set through the town in our big car with the Dublin plates and I was able to negotiate all of the circles in the middle of the road despite the poor visibility. We had travelled some 2 miles out of the town when I noticed a blue light (flashing) in my rear mirror.

I looked at the speedometer which of course was in kilometres per hour (Other parts of Ireland use the metric system) and my back seat driver quickly converted to Miles per hour. “You are well under the speed limit” he stated hurriedly.

“What should I do”, I asked slowing down even more and just after a nasty siren noise became audible over the noise of the storm.

For the first time that I can recall, there was no response from the two backseat drivers who had up to this point virtually driven the car on their own! “Keep going!” stated the front seat passenger. “There is no place to pull in here!”

And with no alternative suggestions, I did just that. After a mile or so I rethought this as the siren was becoming unbearable. I signalled the car behind to pass and slowed down to a walking pace. This seemed to work as we could no longer hear the blasted thing. Nothing seemed to be happening so I gradually accelerated. Whoa.

This had an instant effect. The car behind (OK you guessed it) was a speedy police car and it passed me rapidly if not dangerously and pulled in very smartly in front of me.

Normally I jump out of the car at this stage as I hate policemen looking down at me but the weather was the deciding factor so I stayed put as the copper jumped out and put on his hat: a sure sign that he was not going to inquire about my health. At the last minute I pushed the button to slide down the window a fraction to be greeted by a torch peering into the car.

“Any chance you got your licence with you?” he enquired in a clear Co. Down accent.

“Sorry no” I replied in an equally clear Co. Down accent. “I left my wallet at the hotel”.

“And where are you off to?” he enquired.

Well as we were on the road to Donaghadee, I decided my smart answer was inappropriate.

Looking to Hire a Car in Ireland?

“Donaghadee” I replied laconically.

“Why didn’t you stop when you saw us behind you?” he asked.

“I was trying to” I said, “But I just could not see anywhere to pull in safely”.

“I see” he said. “We stopped you because you seemed to be unsure at all the roundabouts you went around”.

“You are quite correct” I said. “I used to live here some forty years ago and they were not here then and also the weather was making driving difficult!”

“I suppose you are right” he replied. “I don’t smell any drink” (the Ulster equivalent of the breathalyser!) Well he wouldn’t as we were on our way THERE! “All right” he said, “Just follow us and I will see you safely into Donaghadee”, whereupon he returned swiftly to his car and promptly did a u-turn. So much for following him!

Different from when I was stopped in the seventies I thought to myself. And so we had a great meal in a pub in Donaghadee despite being the only customers who were eating. We put it down to either the economic climate or the real climate!

The lighthouse at Donaghadee dates from 1836. The tower is built of cut limestone, fluted, and in its early days was unpainted in natural grey colour.

The tower, including the lantern and dome, is now painted white with a black plinth since some time 1869 and 1875.

Conversion to an unwatched electric lighthouse was made in 1934 and this made it the first Irish lighthouse to be converted to electric.

The next day was equally bad weatherwise (what’s new) so we decided to go and visit the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. This visit was very high on my agenda as I had written about it during the 100th anniversary of its sinking in April. I was not disappointed as you will be able to see if and when you read my next article coming up in 2013.

A Happy New Year to you all from the Ulster Rambler.

www.dan-dooley.ie 34

Thomas Dunne has the team to

age of 15 to 22 I worked for him, drove machines and helped run the company.” He also set up a couple of other businesses but like so many ventures back in Ireland that would normally have thrived in previous years the recession put paid to them.

Thomas Dunner and Robert Ingle Also at the helm of Final Trim Operators is Dublin man and operations manager Robert Ingle. Robert oversees all of the companies daily activities and he has himself some 12 years experience in the civil and construction trades.

Together, and with the rest of the Final Trim Operators consultants who are also all experienced in their specialised fields, the two Irish men are having a big impact on the WA economy by helping to find workers to fill jobs.

“We understand the cost effectiveness of hiring the right people, at the right time and for the right opportunities,” said Thomas.

He said the Irish tradies who they deal with are amongst the best in the world and that 30% of their clients on their books are female as there is a lot of demand for women workers.

“We offer a service that is second to none and we are constantly out on site at all times,” added Thomas.

“All our workers are handpicked and must go through a three interview selection process before they go on site, so we can find the right people for the job.”

You can expect to hear more about Final Trim Operators in the coming months and years as the company plans a television advertising campaign. Call Thomas on 1300 083 599 or call in to Unit 1, 771 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley WA 6050.

find your workforce!

by Fred Rea/Lloyd Gorman Increasingly Western Australia is looking to Ireland as a market that can provide skilled and other workers for the local economy. If there are good employment opportunities for Irish workers in the different sectors here then there are also other sorts of prospects in the field.

Carlow man Thomas Dunne has been living and working in Australia now for about four and a half years and in a sense he has gone from poacher and turned gamekeeper in a professional sense of the word. He spent the first two years as such working in the mines up north but has since started up his own Perth based recruitment company Final Trim Operators.

As well as catering for the local mining, construction, civil, industrial and trades sectors Final Trim also helps find workers for the hospitality and rural sectors. And they aren’t limited to just WA, with the recruitment specialists also operating in New South Wales and Queensland.

Not bad for a new start up in an already competitive market. In 2013 he is already predicting the need for more offices and in-house staff as the numbers they help place into employment reaches into the hundreds.

But Thomas, who has over 15 years in mining and civil engineering, has always had the touch of a grafter and entrepreneur about him too.

“I left school when I was young,” he said. “My father had machines and a construction company back at home so from the

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By JOHN HAGAN

Alexander

Photo courtesy: Lukas Beck

The Vienna Boys Choir, which recently toured Australia, featured an Irish chorister – Alexander, from Dublin. But who are these pint-sized singing ambassadors with their soaring voices, classical and international repertoire, unique charm, devoted fans, and trade-mark ‘sailor suit’ uniforms? How, and why, did Alexander become a member of such an elite choir, what does he most enjoy about being a choir member, and which music does he really like?

My initial introduction to the choir was a few years ago at their usual Sunday morning High Mass in Vienna’s Imperial Chapel. At the end of the service, in the courtyard outside, I was amazed to see the boys dutifully signing autographs for their devoted fans – both young and old. I was assured that they were well used to such adulation, and in Japan are treated like rock stars.

It all began in 1498 when the Court Boys Choir was established by the Hapsburg Emperor, Maximilian I, to sing sacred music for Austrian royalty in Vienna’s Imperial Chapel. Since then the choir has attracted Europe’s foremost composers, teachers and pupils.

Franz Schubert, was a choirboy when he penned his first compositions. One of his predecessors, Joseph Haydn, apparently something of a rascal, was severely reprimanded by Empress Maria Theresa for attempting to climb up the front of Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace.

Antonio Gluck, Anton Bruckner, who wrote most of his church music for the boys, and Mozart’s nemesis, Antonio Salieri, were all notable contributors to the choir.

The end of World War I, and the associated fall of the Hapsburg dynasty, almost saw the demise of the ‘Court Boys Choir’. No new singers were admitted to the company, and the soprano and alto parts in the traditional Sunday mass were sung by women from the Vienna State Opera Chorus. It was thanks to the vision and dedication of Joseph Schnitt, who became rector of the Imperial Chapel in 1921, that the choir was saved. Initially, Schnitt funded the choir from his own pocket and renamed it the ‘Vienna Boys Choir’ (VBC).

Surpluses were suitable for Church occasions, such as mass at the Imperial Palace, but for public performances the boys needed some sort of ‘uniform’. In those days every boy had a sailor’s suit to don for Sunday best and it is this attire which the choir continues to wear. Today, the uniform is made, and maintained, by the choir’s own four tailors.

Since 1948, the headquarters of the VBC has been the restored baroque Augarten Palace near the centre of the city. On one of my visits to Vienna, I was fortunate enough to be a guest at the Palace and spend some time with the choir learning more about its background, operation and culture.

At Augarten, the boys, including Alexander, live,

rehearse, attend school, and play. Academic subjects are studied in the morning and music in the afternoon.

Individual voice lessons are provided twice weekly and there is a two-hour choir rehearsal every day. This elite group of about 100 singers, aged ten to fourteen years old, is divided into four choirs of about 24 members each. Two choirs are generally ‘on tour’ around the world for periods of three months, while the other two choirs remain in Vienna. Each choir is named after a notable composer – Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert – and each has its own conductor. It was the Brucknerchor (including Alexander) which recently visited Australia. While on tour, each choir is accompanied by its own choirmaster/conductor, tutor, and nurse. As well as attending to matters of general health, the nurse also acts as costume dresser, makeup artist, uniform repairer and ‘mother’.

While the first choristers in the late 1400s came from the Netherlands, for the past century all have tended to be Austrian. Over a decade ago it was decided to embrace other nationalities and the choir now includes, or has included, members from Japan, Mongolia, Georgia, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, China, Canada, and of course Ireland. “We think it’s a great advantage to have international students” says the choir’s artistic director, Gerald Wirth, himself a former chorister. “For most of these boys it’s relatively easy to learn German and get adjusted to the European lifestyle”.

Alexander, like Evan, another Irish VBC chorister, was recruited from the Dublin Choral Foundation’s, Piccolo Lasso Choir, and officially joined the VBC in May 2012, following a trial in April. “I needed to go to Vienna to do the audition”, Alexander recalls. “Then I sang with one of the choirs and after a couple of days my choirmaster asked me to sing a couple of scales”.

“We look for a healthy voice, a feeling for rhythm, and a sense of pitch”, declares Wirth. Naturally, each candidate must sing a solo, which, according to Wirth might be, “Any children’s song or folk song so that we can hear if they can sing a melody”. But most of all, he emphasizes, the prospective recruit, and his parents, “Must be really interested in what we do”. While many may audition, few are chosen. “I used to inform the boy and his parents by letter”, says Wirth. “But now I think it best if I let them know right away”.

As with most of the other choristers, Alexander likes touring around the world. “We get to sing in very famous concert halls like the Sydney Opera House”, he enthuses. While he likes to sing Jubilate Deo, “because it is a very energetic and fun piece”, Alexander is also fond of ‘The Choir’, a new composition specially

written by Wirth for Bruckenerchor. When asked about his favourite Irish singers or musicians, Alexander cites Bono, U2, The Coronas and Snow Patrol, while he also admires “the works of Sean O Riada and Charles Villiers Stanford”.

At the end of four years with the choir, all the boys are equipped for a career in music, something Alexander would like to pursue. However, if that does Western Australia not eventuate, there is a Plan B, “I would like to be a doctor or a scientist”, he says.

But whatever the chosen profession, all the choristers have been well educated, experienced the joy of performing on nearly every continent, and perhaps more importantly, retain the kudos of being former members of the world’s most elite boys choir.

Santa arrived in the Irish Club in Subiaco to wish a happy For further information on the Vienna Boys Choir Christmas to all the children and parents who attended the visit their website www.wsk.at/english/main.asp

Irish Families in Perth

•

SESSION

second Irish Families in Perth Christmas Party on December 16th. Santa and his elves brought presents and smiles to the children who danced their little feet off at the disco.

Thank you to all the parents who brought a plate full of goodies for all families to share. Irish Families In Perth would like to say a special thank you to Paul McLoughlin of Northside Meats in Malaga, who supplied all our meat once again and Sweet Safari in Woodvale for their sweets and crisps and other goodies. A huge thank you to DJ and Avie O’Leary for all their hard work. Barbara Macri for the face painting, DJ Lorraine Orr for the Music, Ciaran Beagon BBQ chef for the day, Trish Kelly for the elves costumes and of course Santa and the Elves.

We would also like to thank Kavanagh Dance Studios for the use of the hall for our fortnightly playgroup and everyone on the Facebook page for their continued support.

PLUS!

Irish Families in Perth Committee

IRISH MUSIC EVERY TUESDAY

7PM -11PM EVERY WEEK

PIE & P I N T DEAL JUST $15

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9377 1199 Frank Murphy presents

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Saturday 7am to 9am

Irish Music • Interviews • Local & Irish News 38

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GABAGUBU

By Lloyd Gorman

A Date with Destiny Millions of Australians will soon be celebrating a date that is special to them - January 26. They will mark Australia Day in all sorts of ways and places, from concerts and citizenship ceremonies to the beach and with games of backyard cricket, to firework displays and social gatherings in parks or around the pool. The occasion is also important for Aussies living overseas who congregate in their own groups and communities and in Outbackers and Australian pubs everywhere.

It is a bit like the way the Irish celebrate March 17. Every year with the whole country sees a spate of parades and festivals in small villages and big towns alike while overseas the Irish disapora and many more besides get into the swing of things.

There is one big difference between the two dates however.

One marks the timing of the arrival of the First Fleet into Sydney Cove in 1788 and the other is the anniversary of the death of a holyman more than a thousand years ago.

Australia Day, which traditionally represents the founding moment of the modern Australian state (if not the Aboriginal culture) has been marked in some shape or another since 1808 while the other has been around since 808AD and even earlier perhaps by as much as a few hundred years. It became an official feast day in the early 17th century thanks largely to the work of a Waterford born Franciscan scholar called Luke Wadding We are lucky to have such a long and established Saint’s Day in honour of a person whose influence helped to shape and create a nation. But Saint Patrick’s Day is first and foremost a religious holiday, one that is recognised by the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and even the Orthodox Church.

But as closely associated with Irish identity as the day has become it could be argued that it falls short of including any relevance to the creation of modern day Ireland and everything that entailed. Ironically it was a member of an Irish political party set up specifically to achieve sovereignty for Ireland that coupled the religious and state celebrations together.

A hundred years ago Limerick born James O’Meara introduced the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903 into parliament in London and it became legislation. O’Meara, who was a nationalist and later a Sinn Fein member, would also later introduce another law that closed all pubs and bars on March 17 because levels of drinking and violence were getting out of hand (This law would not be repealed until the 1970’s).

The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade held in the Irish Free State was staged in Dublin in 1931 and in the mid 1990’s the government started using the Patron Saint’s Day as the basis for an extended secular festival designed to foster tourism. Irish politicians, who have the most to gain from a day that recognises the achievements of the foundation of a modern state, are perhaps the most culpable when it

comes to exploiting this religious feast. It is a ready made and well established excuse for them to go around the world, drumming up business for Irish companies, to convince multinationals that they should be setting up in Ireland and of course for meeting Irish communities abroad. The chance to hob knob with an American president in the Oval office on the day for the swapping of a bowl of shamrock is not the kind of access any Taoiseach wants to jeopardise.

But don’t we deserve an Ireland Day, in the same way as we have an Australia Day? A mark on the calendar that remembers and celebrates the creation of our modern island nation. Such a thing would need to be mindful of the history and politics of the country’s background but with an all embracing and generous spirited attitude towards the job there is no reason why a special task force representative of all parties involved - including the Diaspora - couldn’t come up with some recommendations.

The date could mark some important event in Irish history or something more recent, such as the anniversary of the introduction of the Irish Constitution. The government could even run a competition and ask for ideas and suggestions.

In 2009 Guinness came up with the almost culturally clever (if not totally marketing driven) idea of marking the 250th anniversary of the Dublin based brewery with Arthur’s Day in September. In less than five years it has become a global phenomen and looks set to become a fixture in its own right.

Let’s at least have a discussion about the need for an Ireland Day. In the meantime, here’s to a Happy Australia Day and Lá Fhéile Pádraig.

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Australia to be host to International Famine Commemoration

By Lloyd Gorman

a couple of years ago.

“We had a meeting of all the county associations and decided to build this memorial. It was four hard years of fundraising and it was a lot of work with dinners, dances and raffles. On the day it opened in 1999 there were around 4,000 people there. St Mary’s Cathedral was packed to the door and there were just about as many people again at Hyde Park Barracks, waiting for the official opening. It was an ecumenical service. We had representation there from the Presbyterian Church and the Church of England, which was only right. A lot of the orphans had been Presbyterian and other religions. It’s ironic that all these girls who had to leave Ireland because their parents were dead, and probably died of starvation, are memorialised on a monument built over the very kitchen that fed them 150 years ago.”

The event in Sydney in August would be an occasion worth taking part in for anyone who can make the journey east or who happens to be in the vicinity at the time. For those of us for whom this is unlikely to be an option there is thankfully another form of recourse. The Australian Irish Heritage Association each year marks the anniversary with an event in WA. It first held the Famine Walk in 2010 as a follow up to the Irish Governments decision to appoint a specific day for commemoration.

A large gathering walked from Fremantle Docks visiting various sites in the port city ending in Rosie O’Gradys where staff provided afternoon tea. Participants then viewed a short documentary filmed in Skibbereen, one of the areas which significantly affected by the famine.

Keep reading the Irish Scene or check out the AIHA website for details of what is being planned here in WA.

Australia will feature promi- Australian Monument to the Great nently in the 2013 commemorations Irish Famine, at the Hyde Park Barfor the Irish Famine. racks, on Macquarie Street.

The National Famine CommemThe monument was inspired by oration Committee in Ireland has the arrival in Australia of the more chosen Sydney as the official venue than 4,000 single young women for the upcoming international com- from Ireland, most of whom were memoration. teenaged orphans. They arrived This occasion has previously under a special emigration scheme been marked in Canada (2009), New designed to resettle destitute girls York (2010), Liverpool from the workhouses (2011) and Boston (2012). of Ireland during the The announcement Great Famine. The was made by Jimmy Great Irish Famine Deenihan TD, Minister Commemoration Comfor Arts, Heritage and the mittee have broadened Gaeltacht and Chairman their activities to comof the National Famine memorate all who left Commemoration Comtheir homes seeking a Sydney Famine Memorial mittee. new life in the colonies “We remember especially all and States of Australia but these of those who left Ireland during workhouse orphan girls and the histhe Great Famine for Australia; torical links back to Ireland remain particularly the 4,412 young Irish the focus of this project. women and girls who travelled from The memorial was commisthe workhouses of Ireland between sioned by the Historic Houses Trust 1848 and 1850 under the Earl Grey of NSW and funded by donations Scheme in search of hope and a new from Government bodies, the Land beginning,” said the Minister. “We Titles Office and the Irish Commuhonour their great achievements nity. and their extraordinary contribuIt was inspired by the words of tion to their adopted homeland and the President of Ireland, Mary Robwe recognise the bond that will al- inson during her Sydney visit 17 ways exist between the Irish people years ago and the people of Sydney.”

“Mary Robinson was out here He said that as chair of the Na- in 1995 and she made an appeal that tional Famine Commemoration the Irish people of Sydney should do Committee he looked forward to something significant to commemoworking with the community in rate the Great Irish Famine,” Tom Sydney and, in particular, with Syd- Power, the custodian of the Sydney ney’s Great Irish Famine Commem- Famine memorial said in an interoration Committee to ensure that view with the Irish Echo newspaper those who perished, suffered and emigrated during this tragic time in For more information on Sydney event contact: our nation’s history are honoured in a very special way.

BY EMAIL: contact@irishfaminememorial.org The commemoration will be or famine.art@optusnet.com.au held on Sunday 25 August 2013.

National commemorations in

BY POST: P.O. Box 209, ROSEVILLE NSW 2069 Ireland for the Famine will be based somewhere in Munster.

Sydney is already home to the

www.irishfaminememorial.org 43

TellyNationTellyStation

By Lloyd Gorman

The Irish are a nation of chocaholics, or at least we are when it comes to indulging in an all time Christmas classic Willie Wonka and the Choclate Factory. Released in 1971 the children’s movie only just kept its head above water at the box office but found its real home and audience on the small screen. For the best part of two decades this visual feast of a picture was shown religiously on Irish TV at Christmas time, becoming as much a part of the festive season as the Late Late Toy Show. But ten years ago RTE broke the tradition and axed it from the Xmas line up. Thankfully for the film’s admirers RTE’s sister station TG4 came to the rescue and the Irish language station offered this firm favourite a new outlet right up to the present day.

I was reminded of all this recently when a DVD copy of the original film (not the 2005 remake) winged its way to us from Ireland in enough time to became an instant success and a very Irish part of our Aussie Christmas celebrations.

A more recent blast from the past was the airing of Tommy Tiernan’s ‘Cracked’ on ABC2, December 7 (10.30pm). Recorded in Dublin’s Vicar Street a few years ago this performance landed the famous Navan man in all sorts of hot water for his jokes about Jesus. Tiernan is not a man to take himself, or anyone or anything serious and everything is up for a slagging, and he’s the right man for the job.

Someone I’m not normally keen on is ‘Irish TV personality’ Ryan Turbidy but in his JFK A Homecoming, shown on SBS 1 November 23 (9.35pm) Tubridy excelled himself. This one hour documentary was packed with original footage of the President’s visit, amazing insights and information that I think most people would probably not have already known and even some interesting commentary from Tubridy himself. For anyone with even the faintest interest in Irish/American history or the man himself this was a show worth watching. It was fascinating to learn that Kennedy had been to Ireland twice before his official four day visit in 1963.

The importance of that short stay was made all the more poignant by the fact he was killed only months later. On the topic of historic visits to Ireland the Bio channel on January 6 12.00 noon (A Royal Year to Remember) with a significant segment given over to the visit to Ireland by the

Queen. A well presented and informative of inner city Dublin where they experience doco about the 2011 event. both magic and terror. If Doves is a look On November 21, 7Two’s Rude Tube at an Ireland that has all but disappeared, programme that shows the most popular Kisses is a look at what it has become. A video’s on YouTube featured Irish terrific film that keeps you rooting for its Canadian Denis Ryan’s on street vox pop two little heros. analysis of the Irish economy. His expletive Final entry goes to the ABC’s One Plus fuelled rant about bankers and politicians One which ran an interview with former in Ireland had hundreds of thousands of Irish President Mary Robinson on January people in stitches, including quite a few 4 at 11.30am, carried out during a recent Australians. visit by the ex head of state to these shores.

I have seen just one episode of the Irish The interview reminded the watcher sitcom Moone Boy - the story of a 12 that Robinson - who is now resident year old boy in a small rural town with an back in Ireland and heads up a charity imaginary friend -- on ABC 1 (November tackling poverty and climate change - is a 9)- co-written and starring comic Chris formidable character and intellect we can O’Dowd who also features in the Australian still be proud of. hit The Sapphires - and enjoyed it. My wife (a harsh critic indeed) has taken to watching it on iView and is a die hard fan of this comedy.

Speaking of children’s films, two late entries are Flight of the Doves and Kisses. While they have a lot in common they are very different films.

Flight of the Doves (7Two December 23 1.25am-3am), released in 1971 (the same year Willie Wonka was released) is the tale of a brother and sister fleeing England and an uncle intent of making sure he claims their inheritance and their escape across Ireland to reach the safety of their grandmother in the west of Ireland. As they are chased across Ireland we get to see how Dublin and the countryside were at the time, images of which many of us over a certain age have stored deep somewhere inside our memories.

In contrast, Kisses (SBS Two December 31, 0:25am-1.50am) is a 2008 modern day version of sorts of Doves. This coming of age movie tells the story of two 11 year old children Dylan and Kylie who are next door neighbours in a Dublin working class housing estate. During the Christmas holidays they run Fri 1 March Mandurah Performing Arts Ctr • 9550 3900 away from their grim and often Sat 2 March Octagon Theatre • 6488 2440 abusive home life and spend a Sun 3 March Sun City Country Club Yanchep • 9561 1148 day and a night traversing the 5th/6th of April at the Margaret River Arts Centre hinterland of the Irish capital by and Albany Entertainment Centre (08) 9844 5005 canal before arching the streets

44

Tom Quinn(0412 236 498). Sponsorship opportunities will also be available – $500 to sponsor a hole, which includes tickets for 4 players.

The Claddagh Association would like to thank everyone who took part in the Christmas Golf Day Fundraiser. Winners on the day were Johan and Andrew from JB O’Reilly’s, with Sean Byrnes and PJ Kenny as runners up. Congratulations to all!

Thanks to all of our sponsors on the day, including DJ McCormick Property Group & Contractors, Claddagh Building Services, The Professionals Kelly Team, The Cure Tavern, JB O’Reilly’s, Flightworld, Uon Power & Air, BC Formwork, Accolade Wines, Killarney Autos, Fibber McGee’s, Northside Meats, Trinity Meats, Sean O’Casey, Tom Quinn, The Court Wine Bar and Maylands Golf Club.

All money raised from the event will go to supporting the Irish community in Western Australia in times of crisis and trauma.

The Claddagh Association has had a 35% increase in requests for assistance during 2012 and we have supported people experiencing severe financial hardship, disability and bereavement. The Claddagh Association would like to thank the Irish community and Irish businesses of Western Australia for their continuing support and generosity.

The next big Claddagh fundraising event will be the St Patricks Day 2013 Golf Day at the Peninsula Golf Course in Maylands. Tickets will be $75, which will include lunch.

We will be confirming a date soon but then get in quick to book, as we have had to turn people away from recent events!

Bookings can be made by contacting: Peter McKenna (0447 258 000), Bill Ross (0434 962 665),

Dermot Byrne

The Irish Quiz Wiz!

a.k.a. Dermot from Lesmurdieon ABC radio Nightlife program.

So here we are at the start of another new year Welcome everybody to 2013 The quiz this time should be no bother for those who have been in around Perth for a few years. For all the visitors and new arrivals they might find something interesting in the answers.

1: All the distances to and from Perth are measured from a certain point in the city, where is it?

2: How many black swans are there on the City of Perth Coat of Arms?

3: Which Government Dept. originally occupied the building now the Duxton Hotel at No 1 St. Georges Terrace?

4: What is the name of the old steam engine that stands at the entrance to East Perth railway station?

5: What type of bond was used in the brickwork on the Town Hall and The Treasury Building?

6: How many railway stations are there on the line between Perth and Midland?

7: On St. George s Terrace there is a group of kangaroo statues, how many kangaroos are there in the group?

8: How many faces are there on the Town Hall Clock?

9: What was the name of the hotel the building of which still stands at the bottom of the Bank West tower?

10. How many different colours of C.A.T buses are there?

1. On the wall of the old treasury building at the corner of St. Georges Terrace and Cathedral Avenue. 2. Three. 3 Australian Taxation Office. 4) Bakewell. 5) Flemish Bond. 6) Thirteen 7) Five. 9) The Palace Hotel 10) Three

45

Congratulations to Liam Barry on 25 years of Commemorating a Great Irishman!

Liam Barry and fellow Irish/Australian friends decided in mid 1987 that the escape of Fenian John Boyle O’Reilly should be fully recognised as part of Irish/Australian local History.

In 1988 a great interest and pride to

four-tonne granite base.

With fellow two historians with full support we went to the Collie hills and found a suitable four ton designed granite rock, that require basic cleansing to facilitate the plaque to be place on the base rock. Within five weeks the first official commemoration was organised.

Mr Brian Burke Liam said: “Brian Burke was the premier at the time and kindly accepted our invitation to attend the unveiling of the memorial”.

A few years later The Harvey Shire Council assisted with the West Australian State Government of the installation and erection of the new walk through the bush near through O’Reilly’s hiding areas. Liam said, that we now have the Irish people living in Western Aus- one of the best memorials site dedicattralia took place, when Mr Brian Burke ed to John Boyle O’Reilly in the world. (above) retiring West Australian Pre- Future generations will interestingly mier and Ambassador-elect to Ireland unveiled a monument to the Irish patriot named John Boyle O’Reilly.

O’Reilly’s connection with the district was that he was first imprisoned in England and he was transported with 61 other Fenians prisoners to Freemantle Prison, Western Australia in 1867.

All the Fenians were forced to work on Commemoration event in early 90’s road making across the state. O’Reilly visit the historical history of the great eventually escaped and found his hid- Fenian John Boyle O’Reilly. ing place near the northern tip of the Over the years the commemoration Leschenault Peninsula. From this dis- has been attended by Irish Ambassatrict O’Reilly’s link with the place be- dors, United States Consulate, West came professional and it was from near Australian State ministers, and Shire the site of the new monument that he councillors. Some years ago, The Bunescaped to America in 1868. bury City council kindly offered Liam Mr. Brian Burke said that Aus- a civic reception in the Council Chamtralia, America and Ireland were proud bers following the O’Reilly’s event, of John Boyle O’Reilly. He was a poet which still continues. and patriot of true democratic worth.

The present Mayor of Bunbury Mr Mr Burke also said O’Reilly’s Memorial David Smith has been very supportive Monument is a plaque which details his over the past years and always attends historical escape, and is attached on a the annual event.

Perth Rose of Tralee

Liam and his children at the memorial 25 years ago

Liam has asked that we express thanks to Dr Ern Manea, former Mayor of Bunbury and his wife Snooky, Tom Dillon, historian Ormonde Waters and his wife Mina for their ongoing positive support of the O’Reilly Commemoration.

Liam said, “In this, our 25th year of commemoration of O’Reilly’s amazing escape, it is encouraging to know that more people are taking an interest and will continue with the annual event”.

Workman, Liam Barry is a keen historian and has published many books associated with Fenian Escape.

His father Daniel Barry was a publisher and published many song books of the great Irish composers. “There would be not a house in Ireland who did not have at least one of my father’s song books”.

The Irish Scene congratulates Liam and Lyn for continuing to remember this part of our Australian, Irish history.

(See details of 25th Anniversary on page 15.)

Lloyd Gorman and Fred Rea

www.perthrose.com

Presented by THE IRISH CLUB OF W.A. Inc

Entries are now open for the Perth Rose of Tralee 2013! If you have ever thought of becoming a Rose, now is the time. Email the committee for an application form perthroseoftralee@gmail.com Next year we will also be having Rosebuds, any girls between 5 and 10 who would like to be involved need to email us for the coloring in page and application form. For any enquiries contact Convenor Jessica Stojkovski on 0402427709.

46

The Celtic Club •

B A R

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West

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R E S TAU RANT

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•

FUNCTIONS

For an incredibly Romantic Wedding Reception

The Celtic Club has a proud history spanning over 100 years. Presently the Club has a membership of approximately 700, and appeals to a wide range of individuals, all of whom enjoy the friendly and personable hospitality of a private member’s Club.

The Club’s central location makes it the ideal place to host a meeting or special event, meet colleagues, develop new business partners or simply relax in comfort with today’s newspaper, the latest business publication or lifestyle magazine.

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

In addition to the bar and restaurant, The Celtic Club members have exclusive access to our outstanding function facilities, fully coordinated by our professional staff with an extensive range of catering options. Located on the first floor, the main function room can comfortably seat 125 delegates theatre style or 120 for a banquet.

The Club’s impressive Jarrah lined President’s Room can seat up to 30 guests theatre style and is ideal for private business luncheons for up to 24 guests.

Becoming a member of The Celtic Club certainly has its advantages and now is the perfect time to join one of Perth’s premier business clubs.

Drop into the club and say hello!

Located near the beautiful Kings Park Gardens,

the elegance and old worldly charm of the Celtic Club will be exclusive for you and your guests.

Set Dinner, Buffet & Cocktail style are all catered for and it is a commitment to guests that all food will be delicious and plentiful.

St Patrick’s Day 2013 The Celtic Club is Open Book early for Lunch!

48 Ord Street West Perth WA 6005 Postal Address: P.O.Box 1006, West Perth WA 6872 Phone (08) 9322 2299 Fax (08) 9322 2899 E-mail: celtic.club@bigpond.com www.celticclubperth.com

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47

A Wake in the West

A Wake in the West, performed by the Irish Theatre Players (ITP), topped off a most successful 2012 season. Nobody who watched this production over nine performances slept in the theatre, except the poor unfortunate corpse! A pity he could not have seen the fine job he did on stage as the deceased man Tom Healy.

Not a word was uttered by veteran Irish Theatre Player Patrick Kealy, in an excellent performance.

In the performance of his life Patrick stole the show.

A Wake in the West, written by Michael J Ginnelly from County Mayo, has received rave reviews in Ireland, England and beyond.

The play is set on the west coast of Ireland in a country house on the outskirts of a small town. The plot is simple. Tom has requested that after his death, his body was to be burned and his ashes scattered on the white crested wave. In rural Ireland this was bound to cause great distress to his family particularly in the middle of the twentieth century. The family and neighbours debated the folly of carrying out Tom’s last wishes not wanting to be the laughing stock of the countryside.

The story revolves around an old woman, Rose, who arrives at the wake wailing with sorrow but her real motive was how to get poor Tom’s beautiful set of knashers (false teeth). Surely “he would have wanted then passed on from mouth to mouth” the wily Rose proclaims. As the play progresses neighbours pay their respects, both sincere and not so sincere, as we witness very funny scenes created by Tom’s final wishes.

This was a beautiful ensemble piece of theatre. Jim Motherway was ably assisted by newcomer Lisa Reilly in the director’s chair. The acting standard was most memorable. The almost manic movements and facial gestures of Phyllis Graham in the role of Margaret, were truly hilarious as she tried to prevent Rose from extricating the corpse’s teeth in a most undignified way. Phyllis used her impeccable comic timing to full effect as she milked every line and gesture for laughs. Doreen Hill as Rose had the audience in stitches as she bullied her way into getting Tom’s teeth for herself. However Doreen’s costume and portrayal of the 80 year old Rose did lack total credibility. Killian Harty as Martin, the returned son from America, and Laura Dwyer, in her first major role with the ITP as his sweetheart, provided the romance. Fiona Murphy was believable in the role of Tom’s daughter Mary who was reluctant to carry out her father’s last wishes. Sean Haining as Barney, Margaret’s drunken husband, gave a beautiful performance as he drank to Tom’s spirit, as if he needed an excuse! His antics and poor sense of getting a job done right caused uproar when he made a bags of the funeral arrangements resulting in a call out of two lifeboats to search for one dead body floating in the sea! John Flood gave a great performance as Doctor John and his charades scene with Margaret were hilarious as he tried to ascertain why she had lost her voice. Stan O’Neill was reverend as local priest Father Cassidy who had to act as a mediator to the Healy family as Tom’s final wishes were thwarted and aborted.

The ITP ended the year on a real high with this dead cert of a comedy. With their highest audience figures in its history the ITP can indeed savour their great successes. Many comments were received both at the theatre door and electronically on how funny the audiences found this play and that it was great to see a comedy performed with no lewd text. A Wake in the West was just the tonic that was needed.

Our Next Production....

The Patriot Game, by Tom Murphy, directed by Ivan Motherway.

Brian Friel once said of Murphy that he is: “The most distinctive, the most restless, the most obsessive imagination at work in the Irish theatre today.” This play is testament to Friel’s opinion. The play explores the events leading up to and including the Easter Rising in Dublin during Easter Week, 1916. It is an abstract, documentary style play and its treatment of those events will tear at your heart-strings. The Irish Theatre Players are pulling out all their talents to create a theatrical production that will be hard to forget; exactly 97 years after those fateful events! We are proud to announce that this production will also be an Australian premiere.

Ivan Motherway

For more information: The Irish Theatre Players contact us at 61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco or Ph 9401-0964 www.irishtheatreplayers.com.au

48

49

REMEMBERING THE LEGEND THAT WAS JOE DOLAN

By Oliver McNerney

to go on a promotion tour to Japan, Australia and South Africa. In 1978, he became the first Irish artist and one of the first Western acts to tour at that time communist Russia which proved to be a remarkable sell out tour.

Joe Dolan was the only Irish singer to reach the Irish top ten charts in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and was a constant presence on the Europe hit parade).

Joe favourite pastime was playing golf and playing cards with his brother Ben in their dressing room while waiting to go on stage. Joe’s generosity knew no bounds especially when it came to under privileged children.

In the summer of 2007, Joe was to record his very last album tilted “Let there be Love” which was a collection of old school crooner classic, perfectly suited to his smooth and still powerful voice. In that year of his death, he also recorded a Christmas song “O Holy Night”.

In 2005, Joe’s health began to decline. A hip replacement was required that same year, putting him off the road for twelve months and leading to the discovery of Type 2 Diabetes. He returned to the stage in 2006 but never had the same energy level as he became physically exhausted but Joe was never tired of singing. In the autumn of 2007, on advice from his doctors he cancelled his Dublin concerts at the Vicker Street Night club due to exhaustion.

In December 2007, the Sunday Independent newspaper reported Dolan was suffering from a bad Virus and had been forced to cancel his entire Christmas tour. On December 26, 2007, Joe was rushed from his Dublin residence to the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin following a worsening of his illness. He suffered a brain Haemorrhage en route to the hospital and was connected to life support equipment on arrival. Sadly, Joe passed away that afternoon on St Stephen’s day (Boxing Day), surrounded by his family.

Occasionally, Joe’s brother Ben tours around Ireland with his band presenting the stage musical “My Brother Joe” including other members of the Dolan family.

In Joe’s hometown of Mullingar a bronze life size statue stands erected in honour of the legendary Irish Superstar. A new five hundred and forty metre bridge was named the “Joe Dolan Bridge” in Mullingar by the Westmeath County Council which opened on the 6 September 2010.

Joe Dolan was an incomparable singer and his impact will be felt for generations to come. He was unique for his innovative style and high pitched falsetto voice and had an incredible display of vocal agility as well as his energetic and charismatic stage performances. At his sit down concerts which he performed in every county in Ireland, thousands of Joe’s fans would flock to see him and sing along to all of his big hits as he sweated all night in his famous white suit. His long standing advertising slogan was “There was no show like a Joe show”. He left to his fans and the music world an array of superb recordings from 1964 to his last recording of 2007 to remember him by. He was truly Ireland’s ambassador of songs. What a Legacy!

Joe Dolan was born to Ellen and Patrick Dolan of Mullingar, County Westmeath on 16 October 1939, the youngest of eight children. Joe’s father, a bicycle shop owner died when he was merely eight years of age and seven years later he lost his mother. She was the first who encouraged him to learn the piano which she bought in Dublin. In 1958, Joe worked as an apprentice and qualified as a compositor in the local newspaper, the Westmeath Examiner. During this time Joe bought his first guitar and after learning skills on the instrument he and his saxophone playing brother, Ben started to play in local bands. Shortly after, Joe and Ben formed their own band the “Drifters” in 1959.

The other original members of the Drifters’ Showband were, Jimmy Horan, Des Doherty, Joey Gilheaney, Sid Aughty Oliver with Joe Dolan and the trumpet player, singer and songwriter, Tommy Swarbrigg from County Roscommon who went on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision song contest twice with his brother Jimmy. The Irish musical landscape in the 1960s was dominated by the showbands. Some eight hundred showbands performed in Irish ballrooms all over Ireland. Joe Dolan made his first ever recording “The Answer to Everything” in 1964 reaching number 4 in the Irish charts. By this stage Joe had left his job at the Westmeath Examiner to go fulltime into the music business. He appointed former Mullingar school teacher Seamus Casey as his Manager.

Joe and the band were invited to tour the ballrooms of Britain, this was to lead to successful trips to America. There, he played in Chicago, New York, Boston and Las Vegas. In 1966, Joe recorded and achieved his first number one hit in the Irish chart “Pretty Brown Eyes” which was an old Jim Reeves recording. Perth’s Capital Community Radio presenter, Oliver McNerney originally from Longford town befriended Joe Dolan and all the members of the band while working in London and became the secretary of the London branch of the Joe Dolan Fan Club in 1967 in conjunction with the Mullingar branch. Oliver has been a loyal fan of Joe throughout his entire career.

During their peak, the Drifters showband with its lead singer and guitarist, Joe broke record attendances with over 3000 screaming fans at most dance halls throughout Ireland in competition with the other top showbands of the day The Capital, the Miami, the Clipper Carlton and the Royal Showband. At this Irish Celebrant stage of Joe’s career, he was appearing regularly on Irish TV and Radio.

Getting Other great Top Twenty Hits were to follow:• Tar and Cement, Married in My Own Peculiar Way, More and More, Good Looking Woman, Western It’s You, It’s You, Goodbye Venice, Make Me an Island (This song was to rocket Joe Dolan into the British Chart in number 3 spot, Australia? which was written by British songwriting duo, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood. This led to Joe Dolan becoming the first Let me help you to create ever Irish artist to perform on the top British weekly music TV the perfect Wedding Day. show, “Top of the Pops”. Joe had two other minor hits in the British charts, “Teresa” and “You’re such a “Good Looking 0 4 1 9 9 2 6 8 3 0 Woman”. Joe’s recording of “Lady in Blue” would go on to top 0 8 ) 9 5 9 2 4 2 2 4 the Charts in France selling an estimated five million copies in l o r n a o a @ i i n e t . n e t . a u Europe. In 1974, Joe represented Ireland in Japan at the world popular song Festival. Then, in 1976, Joe took the giant step w w w. w e s t c o a s t c e l e b ra n t . c o m . a u

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The last shot of the Big Fella

An incredible photograph of Michael Collins taken just hours before he was shot dead in his native county was found in an attic in a Dublin house in December.

The picture shows Collins in the back of a military car outside a hotel in Bandon, Co. Cork with a crowd of onlookers in the background.

It was taken on August 22 1922, only hours before the Commander in Chief of the then Irish army was killed in an ambush in Béal na Bláth Prior to the discovery the last known photograph of him alive was taken the day before, on August 21.

Eighteen year old Agnes ‘Aggie’ Hurley, from Mallowgaton in Bandon, used a brownie box camera to snap the moment.

The next day the young woman went out to Béal na Bláth where she had heard gunfire on the previous day. She took photographs of scene, which includes a shot of a blood stained piece of cloth believed to have come from Collin’s bloodied shirt.

Over the next 20 years Aggie would go on to take hundreds of photographs and she dated everyone of them on the back with an explanation of what they were.

The photographs were found in an attic by Aggie’s niece Mim O’Donovan who took them to the Revolutionary Decade Roadshow in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, organised by the History Department of University College Cork in early December.

Local archivist Brian Magee described the find as “extraordinary”.

Christina Henri writes on her Roses from the Heart Irish Trip With thanks to Tourism Ireland for their support Mark O’Brien, Christina Henri, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Paddy McCartan and Liam Dowling

My visit to Dublin in November 2012 was principally to be presented with over 500 bonnet tributes made for my Roses from the Heart Memorial in memory of the 25,566 convict women transported to Australia 1788 – 1853 from Great Britain and Ireland.

Over the past year men and women from the Arbour Hill Gaol and the Dochas Centre of the Mountjoy Prison along with staff and associated colleagues and families spent time remembering the convict women who were forcibly exiled from their homeland. As the participants sewed and embellished the bonnets for women transported from Dublin they would have been acutely aware of the nature of imprisonment and the ramifications of loss of liberty.

Convicts transported to Australia were an experiment of the Government of the Day. Generally their crimes resulted from poverty. Certainly in Ireland, especially during the Great Famine, an Gorta Mór, a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration (1845 - 1852) the desperation of hunger drove many Irish to commit offences. Some women deliberately burnt down unoccupied dwellings in order to be sentenced to transportation for arson in the hope of a better life in a country far away.

I visited the Dochas Centre of the Mountjoy Prison and met with some of the women who had made bonnets.

There was real interest in the female convict story and tangible emotion displayed as participants spoke about their involvement in Roses from the Heart. Dochas translates to ‘Hope’ equating to The Centre for Hope and it was rather appropriate that one of the

ships that were represented with the part of the event. Men of Arbour Hill making of 149 bonnets was the Hope Gaol provided music and catering and that left from Dublin on 10 April 1842 the bonnets were blessed by Father arriving in Van Diemen’s Land (now Paul Byrne from the Oblate Mission Tasmania) on 17 August 1842. One Development Office, Dublin. Father particular bonnet for Mary Walsh, Byrne had previously officiated at the transported aboard the Hope will re- ‘Blessing of the Bonnets’ ceremony main at the Arbour Hill Gaol displayed held at the Parish of St Mary Immacuon a sculptured head encased inside a late, Inchicore in 2010. beautiful glass and wooden presentaAlthough my stay in Dublin was tion case made by men at the Gaol. short I definitely took time out to I spent time at the Arbour Hill Gaol see some of the notable sights. I only and was given a tour of the sewing managed to cover a few of the many room, the woodwork area and the art significant and fascinating cultural expremises prior to the bonnet presenta- periences but the sites that I did visit tion ceremony on the 11 November. proved well worth any effort involved.

A number of dignitaries attended the I was extremely fortunate to stay bonnet presentation including the in the O’Callaghan, Davenport Hotel Director of Irish Prisons located strategically on Michael Donnellan, the Merrion Square. What a Governor of the Arbour gem of a hotel. Of course I Hill Prison Mr. Liam loved it not only because of Dowling, the Governor its locality, great features of the Dochas Centre and attentive staff but also of the Mountjoy Prison because of its history. The Mary O’Connor and and historic façade dates back the Deputy Governor. to 1863 when the buildCouncillor Paddy McCaring was a gospel church. tan represented the Lord Interestingly one of my Mayor of Dublin Naoise Irish friends who attended O Muiri, the Australian the bonnet presentation at First Secretary to Ireland the Arbour Hill Gaol informed me that she used Mr Don Smith attended to attend church services as did the recently rethere before the building tired Irish Ambassador to Australia Mr Máirtín O Máirtín O Fainín and Ann was renovated into a hotel.

In between events and Fainín along with members of the Prison Visiting Committee sightseeing I caught up with correand other notable guests who support spondence or just relaxed in the PresiRoses from the Heart. Men and staff dents Bar, with its deep upholstery and from the Arbour Hill Gaol, including rich polished wood where clientele inPrison Officer Mr Mark O’Brien who cluded Irish politicians as well as legal so successfully coordinated the bonnet and business professionals. Internamaking for Roses from the Heart were tional visitors mingled with Dubliners

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Davenport Hotel

enjoying reunions and pre-Christmas gatherings. It was entertaining observing people’s social interaction and I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable on the occasions when I was seated alone. My favourite meal was a traditional Irish beef and Guinness pie. Choices abounded with the extensive breakfast menu and I was well energised to spend a day off taking in the sights of Dublin.

The Davonport Hotel with its convenient location in the elegant Georgian quarter of Dublin city was the perfect place for me. Situated only 50 metres from the National Gallery and close to business and shopping amenities I was able to visit a number of places in a limited time frame. To give an idea of the centrality of the hotel to the heart of Dublin it was only 50 metres from the nearest links to the public transport network and within a few minutes’ walk of the Pearse Street Dart train station. It was a mere 100 metres from the National Library and government buildings and 150 metres from the National Museum. The city centre was only 200 metres away and restaurants and bars were only 400 metres away in Dawson Street. The city’s main tourist attractions including Trinity College and Grafton Street (500 Christina at m) with its beckonOscar Wilde ing shops were also Memorial only minutes away on foot.

The weather, although crisp, was surprisingly mild for the time of year.

I started my sightseeing by walking to nearby attractions and then ventured further using the Green Double Deck hop-on hop-off bus. The driver provided live entertaining commentary and multi-lingual recorded commentary was also available.

Number One Merrion Square was the childhood home of the writer and dramatist Oscar Wilde (1855-1878) probably best known for his play ‘The Importance of being Ernest’.

Fortuitously in 1994 the American College Dublin came into possession of the home that had fallen into disrepair and with a substantial donation from Tina and William E. Flaherty (New York) the building was lovingly restored. Today it is home to students studying in Dublin. The College is frequently utilised as a facility offering cultural and educational events and exhibitions.

Directly opposite this heritage property is a wonderful park that provides sanctuary to visitors. It is definitely worth walking along the tree lined paths that lead to unexpected art works and invariably open up into areas of lawn where, surrounded by magnificent plants and antique lamp posts, it’s hard to imagine the proximity of bustling Dublin city. I felt as though I was in a ‘secret garden’, wondering what would be discovered next. No doubt the highlight of the park is the statue of Oscar Wilde. This impressive memorial shows Wilde reclining nonchalantly on a huge piece of granite. The sculptor, artist Danny Osborne, has success-

fully embodied the spirit of this talented, flamboyant writer.

The statue is positioned so that Wilde faces his old family home across the road in Merrion Square. On the other side of the road is the Dail Eireann (the Irish parliament).

The Guinness Ireland Group commissioned the statue that took almost two and a half years to complete. Merlin Holland, Wilde’s grandson was the model used for the sculpture’s head.

A short walk from the park took me to the National Gallery of Ireland where a real treat awaited me. Entering from Clare Street I found myself in the gallery’s new Millennium Wing where I enjoyed a coffee in the bustling cafe and browsed through the well-stocked gift shop. I was able to view a really fine collection of European works from the 14th to the 20th centuries, including paintings by Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Titian, Monet, Degas, Goya, Vermeer and Picasso. Jack Yeats, a painter who developed an impressionistic style particularly suited to the Irish landscape, was also well represented. British artists works were also on display including paintings by Hogarth, Landseer and Gainsborough.

It was great to walk leisurely throughout the gallery. Flashfree photography was allowed and a free audio guide was available at the information desk. A Life Drawing Class in progress was well attended and it was encouraging to see so many participants engrossed in their pursuit of art. I found it hard to tear myself away but I wanted time to interact with the vibrancy Dublin city life.

Walking along Grafton Street was mandatory, as I wanted to see the Molly Malone bronze statue sculptured by Jeanne Rynhart that was unveiled by the then Lord Mayor Christina of Dublin, Alderman Ben with Molly Briscoe during the 1988 Malone Dublin Millennium celebrations. Following the unveiling 13 June was declared as Molly Malone Day. The sculpture depicts Molly adorned in a seventeenth-century dress depicted with her barrow adorned with baskets of shellfish.

Set in Dublin the song Molly Malone has emerged as an unofficial anthem of the City. U2 and The Dubliners are amongst the list of notable musicians who have recorded the song.

In Dublin’s fair city, Where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone, As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, Through streets broad and narrow, Crying, Cockles and Mussels alive, alive, oh!

The Molly Malone statue was erected directly opposite the gates of Trinity College where I was also bound anxious to learn about the history of Dublin’s oldest and most famous university.

I joined a guided tour taken by a PhD student who engaged us in the history of the University with a professional ease capable of one who has a passion for the site. The cloudless bright blue sky above highlighted the cobbled stone paths we wandered along within the college grounds. Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I the University is famous for the achievements of graduates such as Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett. The Irish scholar and Ireland’s first President, Douglas Hyde and Ire-

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land’s first female President, Mary Robinson were graduates from Trinity.

Visitor facilities include the Treasury, which houses the Book of Kells, plus an exhibition, The Book of Kells: Turning Darkness into Light. On the next floor, having walked up a flight of stairs one emerges into the Long Room, the largest single-chamber library in the world containing 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. Visiting this room was like stepping into a Harry Potter movie. Staff require ladders to assist in the retrieval of treasured books that are catalogued on shelves according to their size. Temporary exhibitions are regularly held in the Long Room allowing for the display of the library’s riches and to encourage research. I was thrilled to view the exhibition Drawn to the Page: Irish Artists and Illustration 1830- 1930 which is on-going from 24 October 2012 to 21 April 2013 as part of the Tercentenary celebrations. Sourced from the Trinity College Library the display includes some of the finest illustrated texts from the nineteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century. Many of the illustrations were created using original hand-cut plates or blocks.

Personally I found the encounter extremely compelling.

The Long Room visit was an unexpected surprise and viewing the 9th century gospel manuscript – the famous Book of Kells, featuring paintings by monks done at the Monastery of Kells in County Meath around the year 800 – was outstanding. To be so intimately close to such magnificent work by religious scholars devoted to creating a uniquely accomplished record, so visually powerful in every detail, provided an unforgettable experience.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Naoise O Muiri, invited me to visit him at the Mansion House in Dawson Street not far from the Davenport Hotel. The Mansion House has been the official residence of Dublin Lord Mayors since 1715. Designed by architect Joshua Dawson the building dates to 1710. The Mansion House has seen many historic events such as the meeting of the first Dáil.

It continues to play a central role in the civic life of Dublin through hosting world leaders and as a venue for major civic events including the Conferring of the Freedom of the City. With my interest in convict women I was intrigued to read in the Prison Reformer, Elizabeth Fry’s diaries that she visited the Mansion House on a number of occasions in the 1800s.

The Drawing Room is used both for informal and formal receptions. Most of the fittings and furnishings are Victorian and the space houses three large elaborately framed 18th century portrait paintings. I was shown into the Oak Room built in 1715. As the name intimates, the walls are panelled entirely in oak, most of which is original, and the room continues to be used for civic receptions, as was the intent when it was built over two hundred and eighty years ago. Each Lord Mayor adds his or her coat of arms to the walls of the Oak Room at the end of their term of office, beginning in 1841 with Daniel O’Connell. Portraits displayed in the Oak Room are chosen from Dublin City Council’s civic collections.

I was very fortunate to be offered a function for Roses from the Heart that will be hosted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin in the Mansion House in 2013. The date for the function is presently under consideration and once confirmed the details will be made public.

My visit ended with the customary photo taken with the Lord Mayor in his official regalia.

From the Mansion House I walked to Grafton Street to ogle at Dublin’s most prestigious lifestyle store Brown

Thomas. There was a hive of activity when I made my way along Grafton Street passing by the flower stalls and the boutique designer stores to view the incredibly elaborate Christmas extravaganza lying behind the panes of glass of the Thomas Brown shop front.

The alluring pageantry fixated passers by enticing them to venture into the store. This year the Brown Thomas Christmas windows have a ballet theme and depict The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

Home to an unparalleled range of designer brands in clothing, beauty products and homewares Brown Thomas is definitely Ireland’s most beautiful lifestyle store, loved equally it appears by the Irish as by international visitors. I believe that Canadian musician Michael Bublé will be in Dublin the week before Christmas to unveil the Brown Thomas Christmas windows and to switch on the Grafton Street Christmas lights. Now back home I am trying to visualize how the street will look, all lit up with Christmas lights attracting those last minute shoppers to rush in and choose gifts for loved ones. I am holding onto the memories of Dublin shop fronts with their Christmas baubles and trinkets because such entertaining displays are not prevalent in my hometown.

Andy and Valerie Kavanagh

Mairtin OFainin and Sheamus Howlin

The O’Brien Family

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Dining Guide

Sponsor: Northside Meats

with Danielle O’Leary

The Voyage Kitchen...

Yours to Discover!

I have written for the Irish Scene Magazine for eight years and have never struggled to write a review as much as this one. I may as well be honest about it: reviewing Voyage Kitchen in Sorrento is like reviewing my own home; it is where I go as soon as I leave the house in the morning and where I pop in just before I return home. It is my coffee haven, my delicious cake torture and my favourite place to go with family and friends.

For those who only know the ‘old Voyage’, you should know that it has recently transformed. With a contemporary stylish yet rustic feel, Voyage Kitchen has doubled in size. The redevelopment is exactly what the north coast needed – a place that is at once special and homely, beautiful and comfortable, delicious and generous. For those who do not know Voyage at all, let me introduce you.

Opened in 2004, Voyage Kitchen quickly became intrinsic to the local Sorrento community; it was our hidden gem. Now, people travel from all over Perth to experience Voyage Kitchen’s famous breakfast and lunch menu,

including the indulgent desserts (the New York Cheesecake is my weakness) all served with the best coffee I’ve had in Australia. Thankfully, Voyage Kitchen is now offering dinner.

The dinner menu changes seasonally and offers a variety of creative dishes.

Outside of this review, I have had many dinners at Voyage, with a different dish impressing me each time. For this review, I had four lucky people accompany me.

For our entrée we chose the Homemade Middle Eastern Dips served with a generous amount of grilled herbed garlic bread along with the Pea and Mint Croquettes – crushed green peas, a little chili, fresh mint and bread crumbs served with herb crème fraiche served on rocket leaves. The serving sizes are generous and offered five croquettes and five pieces of grilled Turkish bread – luckily, as there would have been a fight between us.

The croquettes are such a refreshing and light entrée, perfect for a warm summer’s evening.

I was considering writing this review as a dot point list of what we ate as it is so deliciously convincing that any other information would be superfluous.

Here is a mini-dot point list: - Pan Fried Homemade Gnocchi served with tomato ragu, ricotta and herbs, - Chargrilled 250g Sirloin Steak served with sautéed King Oyster mushrooms, herb butter and garlicky roasted potatoes, - Sorrento Seaside Linguine served with Australian

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mussels, prawns, fish, squid, garlic, chilli, tomato, lemon and lots of fresh herbs, tossed with rocket and drizzled with local olive oil, - Pan Fried Barramundi served with butter bean puree, a citrus balsamic dressing and local asparagus. Hungry?

Thought so - I am hungry after writing that. Just let me add that the gnocchi is so fresh and flavoursome that it will ruin any other gnocchi you are to have in the future; the steak was cooked to perfection and unlike many other Perth restaurants, comes with a generous serving of deliciously cooked vegetables; the seaside linguine is literally one of the best dishes I have ever seen – it’s a smorgasbord of seafood for the eyes and stomach and, finally, the barramundi is the perfect summer dish as it is light and cooked to perfection. Oh, and we had two sides Crispy Brussel Sprouts with caramelised garlic and pecorino with Hand Cut Chips with paprika salt and aioli. Voyage Kitchen deserves a medal for achieving the impossible and making me fall in love with brussel sprouts.

For pudding, we had Crème Brulee served alongside lavender and pistachio biscotti paired with the Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream sandwich. The brulee has the perfect amount of sweetness while the ice cream sandwich is an example of engineering genius.

This review is extremely complimentary but it is deservedly so.

Voyage Kitchen is a rare experience in the Perth dining scene – not only is the food vibrant but it is generous, the staff are not only talented but charmingly friendly and professional. I’ve seen Voyage Kitchen constantly transform since 2004 and it has never been better than it is right now, especially with its liquor license beginning on 27 December.

If you are still reading this review, you shouldn’t be. You should be eating in Voyage Kitchen – in my opinion, there is no better place in Perth.

Letter to the Editor....

Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship & Famine Museum

Are You a Past Pupil?

A Chara, My name is Marie Mc Donnell and I live in Monaghan Town, Ireland.

As 2013 is the year of the Gathering I am looking for past pupils of St. Louis Secondary School, Monaghan Town. We are hosting a big event in November 2013 and I do know that many of our pupils emigrated across Australia, which brings me to the reason why I am contacting you. I was wondering if you have a way of advertising this for me through any of the Irish Clubs. I am looking for reflections, memories, accounts, memorabilia, photos etc. Ideally I would love if past pupils would be able to return for this memorable event. I myself am a teacher of Mathematics and Irish in St. Louis Secondary school and have also spent 11 wonderful weeks with my Aunt in Perth some years ago. I would be so grateful if you could be of any assistance to me. My e-mail is Marcatang@eircom.net or we are also on Facebook or the school website.

Thank you so much.

Mise le Mór-mheas, Marie Mc Donnell.

Handcrafted Furniture •Jarrah •Marri •Sheoak

• Dining • Bedroom • Entertainment • Art & Craft • Occasional

Mark O’Brien and Michael Blanch

The Jeanie Johnston is docked at Custom House Quay in Dublin’s city centre and is an accurate replica of the original ship which sailed between Tralee in Co. Kerry and North America between 1847 and 1855.

A step aboard the Jeanie Johnston is a step towards understanding the daunting experience of the millions of people who crossed the Atlantic seeking survival and hope in the “New World” of North America. Its to experience the fear of the unknown ahead, the flight from poverty and famine, the pain of separation from family, and the challenge of a 3,000 mile voyage braving gales and harsh seas.

The ship is open to visitors with guided tours being conducted daily. A tour of the re-created Jeanie Johnston enables visitors to see what it was like on board a wooden tall ship during the Famine era. The tour will convey a deep sense of history and will to be a memorable experience for all who come on board.

During my recent trip to Ireland to attend to Roses from the Heart event at Arbour Hill prison, Michael Blanch chairperson of the Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims was presented with a cased bonnet by Mark O’Brien of Arbour Hill prison. It is hoped that this bonnet will be displayed on the Jeanie Johnston to remember those Irish women transported to Australia during the Irish Famine.

Visit: jeaniejohnston.ie or irishfaminevictims.com If you are travelling through the Galway outback in Ireland don’t be surprised to see this Kangaroo sign. Tom Gilmore has placed this sign close to his home and should get a few comments from the locals... Passsing Oz visitors might also get a surprise!

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Meringue Roulade with summer berries

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

BBQ lamb back strap with rocket & pear salad Serves 4 Ingredients: 2 shallots (very finely sliced) 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar 8 mint leaves (coarsely chopped) 3 tbsp. olive oil 1 firm pear (cored & cut into 400g short cut lamb fine slices) back strap 3 tbsp. olive oil 160g caster sugar Salt and pepper 2 tbsp. honey 75g goat’s cheese crumbled 340g walnuts 60ml water Salad dressing: 2 tbsp. pine nuts 4 tbsp. balsamic vinegar 400g rocket leaves 4 tbsp. olive oil 1. Place balsamic and olive oil in a glad snap lock bag and place the lamb in with it. Seal & set aside to marinate.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced. Grease a baking tray 3. Combine sugar, honey & water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high. Bring to boil. Boil without stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture turns light golden. Remove from heat.

4. Working quickly, adds in walnuts. Stir to combine. Spread nut mixture over prepared tray. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until bubbles and nuts are golden. Remove from oven & leave to cool on tray.

5. Place pine nuts into a small frying pan and cook gently over medium heat, shaking pan regularly until light golden.

Remove and cool.

6. Combine rocket, shallots, pears and mint in a large mixing bowl and toss gently to mix 7. Preheat BBQ grill plate over medium high heat. Drain lamb from marinade and cook 3-4minutes each side or until cooked to your liking; make sure there are good char-marks on the lamb. Remove from bbq and place onto a tray. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes.

8. Whisk together remaining balsamic vinegar and olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste. Toss ¾ of the dressing through the salad greens & mix well.

9. To assemble, arrange the rocket and pear salad evenly amongst 4 pasta bowls. Top with crumbled goats cheese.

Slice lamb into 5mm thick slices and arrange over the salad.

Scatter with candied walnuts & pine nuts and drizzle with remaining dressing. Serve immediately with crispy bread

Ingredients: 4 egg whites 8oz caster sugar 1 tsp. cornflour 1 tsp. distilled vinegar 1 tbsp. vanilla extract For the filling: 150ml cream, lightly whipped.

250 – 300g fresh summer berries To decorate: Icing sugar, for dusting.

Fresh strawberries Fresh mint leaves

Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees 2. Line a Swiss roll tin (23 x 33cm / 9 x 13in) with parchment paper.

3. Place the egg whites, sugar, cornflour, vinegar & vanilla extract in a spotlessly clean bowl (stainless steel is best) of an electric food mixer and whisk until stiff peaks form.

4. Smooth the meringue into the prepared tin with a palette knife and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until firm to touch.

5. Allow the meringue to cool for a few minutes, and then turn out onto a sheet of parchment. Turn it upside down onto the sheet, gently removing the parchment on the base. Allow to cool completely.

6. For the filling, lightly whip the cream.

7. Spread the cream evenly over the meringue, leaving the long edge nearest to you free for about 4cm (1 ½ inch).

Cover the cream with the fruit.

8. Holding the parchment closest to you, roll up the roulade away from you. Leave it in the parchment until you are ready to serve.

9. When ready to serve, unwrap the roulade and gently push it onto a serving dish using a palette knife or cake slice, open side down. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with a line of cream down the centre, strawberries & mint leaves.

Marguerite O’ Dwyer The Cure Tavern, Irish Bar, Restaurant & Cafe

Michael Fitzgerald

Recipe

Tomatoes are wonderfully abundant and cheap this time of year and are at their best in flavour. Here is a recipe to catch that flavour and use them well into autumn.

3kg ripe firm tomatoes cut 1cm thick I tablespoon white sugar Sea salt Crushed black pepper 4 sprigs fresh rosemary 6 sprigs fresh thyme 4 sprigs fresh tarragon 500-600 mls extra-virgin olive oil Preheat oven to 120 degrees. Line a couple of pans with parchment.

Place sliced tomatoes on paper.

Sprinkle with sugar, season with sea salt and pepper. Transfer pan to oven; dry until juices have stopped running, edges are shriveled, and pieces have shrunken slightly. This can take up to 3 hours depending on ripeness of tomatoes. Using a long spoon or wooden skewer, arrange two layers of tomato halves in bottom of a clean, dry, glass jar.

Insert a few sprigs of the herbs.

Make more layers, using spoon to pack tomatoes tightly, until the jar has been filled to within 2cm from top. Add enough olive oil to completely cover tomatoes and the herbs. Seal tightly, and store, refrigerated, for up to 3 months.

Michael Fitzgerald

Group Executive Chef Creating Events With Style A Division of AEG Ogden (Perth) P/L

If you go uninvited to the feast, carry your own chair with you.

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Book Review:

Northcliffe’s Only Doctor

by Carole Perry Reviewed by Peter Murphy

Carole Perry’s biographical book “Dr Lionel Frederick West - Northcliffe’s Only Doctor” is a roller-coaster of a read and a challenging critique. Over 188 pages this lively and confronting book heralds the reader through 950 years of history, beginning in the 9th century, when Duke William ÉÉ waged a bloody crusade across Great Britain and France, giving him the nefarious title of “William the Bastard” and ending with The Great War and many major conflicts in between.

All this is necessary as it delves intelligently into our subject’s historical pedigree, whilst also setting the stage for a good yarn; the story of Western Australia’s Group Settlement Scheme.

Launched in 1921 by the then Premier Sir James Mitchell, with his utopian dream of turning virgin karri forest at Northcliffe Western Australia into a land of milk and honey.

Set-up with the best intentions the GSS would not only become a financial liability and embarrassment to the government of the day, but a nightmare to thousands of migrants sourced mainly from dole queues of Great Britain and affectionately known as ‘Groupies’. And what about those given the responsibility to care for the ‘Groupies’; the same care afforded to other ‘Groupie’ settlements set-up between Busselton and Albany?

Enter Dr Lionel Frederick West, a 55 year old surgeon and radiologist from Yorkshire, who had previously plied his surgical skills during the Great War as a medico - patching-up soldiers on hospital ships as bombs exploded around them, and where his courage saw him promoted from Lieutenant to Captain and decorated with a British War Medal.

By the time the war is over, we learn West’s son has been killed in action, while his own mental state is being questioned by his superiors and his wife Emily including their remaining children have moved from Yorkshire to Birmingham - leaving the war traumatized doctor to ponder his uncertain future. The author suggests it was while attending to members of Australia’s Light Horse

Brigade that the seed for him to travel to Australia was sown.

From here on, the reader is thrust into the deep south of Western Australia - into virgin karri forest, to the small town of Northcliffe, where West’s connection with the sprawling camps of the ‘Groupies’ begins, and it is here that the author’s research excels: knowledge of her subject, geography, landscape, flora and fauna and a sense of place; all from years of living deep in karri country herself.

She paints a vivid picture of what it might have been like for West, when on May 1924, after driving 250 miles south on dusty potholed roads from Perth in his battered Ford, he took his first steps onto karri loam as Medical Officer of Health, home to 3,000 men women and children living in humpies without floors or insulation, without adequate medical services and beset by poor sanitation, infectious disease and shortage of food.

Soon we see the conscientious doctor going into battle on behalf of his ‘Groupies’ by taking on the bureaucrats in Perth into providing better education, housing, transport and medical services, while applying his surgical skills under horrendous conditions in carrying out amputations and suturing arteries from gelignite injuries, to treating burns from scalding pots of water, and performing the odd autopsy, while mixing his own concoction of medicines to combat diseases and dysentery rampant throughout the sprawling bush-camps.

As we trawl through excerpts of letters of desperate pleas to the Secretary of Health on behalf of the ‘Groupies’, we get the impression from letters of response that the government had already decided that Northcliffe GSS was: in the ‘too hard basket’ and to be ignored.

By 1928, West now worn-down by work-overload, frustrated by government inaction and (we are told) possibly suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, begins a slippery slope into self-medication, which may have led to his untimely death in Feb 1929, less than five years since he first set foot on karri soil. It’s in this chapter we see the author become a sleuth - attempting to glue together the missing pieces up to the moment of his sad demise, along with some interesting theories that will have fans of Mrs Marple salivating.

Or perhaps West; like his humble ‘Groupie’s; after five years of mud,

58

blood, sweat and tears - gave up hope losing the will to go on. Let the reader decide.

By the time I had reached the final pages of this little gem of a book, I couldn’t help think that West’s humanity, courage and compassion deserved similar kudos and accolades bestowed on yet another brilliant but sometimes troubled man, who also made a huge contribution to our fledgling state, C. Y. O’Connor.

This well researched and written book contains plenty of historical photographs, quotes, copies of old certificates and letters, while peppered gracefully with the odd poem, however; I would have liked to have seen some reference to the traditional owners of the land being mentioned, as no doubt West’s humanity and compassion for his fellow man would have transcended across all races.

Peter Murphy is a freelance writer and Conservation Officer with the National Trust of WA. Book title: Dr Lionel Frederick West - Northcliffe’s Only Doctor Publisher: Helvetica Publishing, Perth, WA. 1SBN 987-0-9872231-3-5

My name is Luka!

Show Previewed

by Lloyd Gorman An internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, recording artist and all round good guy, Luka Bloom has enjoyed twenty two years of success worldwide. Since the release of one of the all-time Irish classics “Riverside” in 1990, people from all corners of the globe have embraced the true beauty of this remarkable musician. Luka returns in March 2013 for his 11th Australian tour to celebrate his career which has spanned over two decades.

After spending a couple of years looking back on his long career with a reworking of his classics, Luka begins book 2 of his musical history with a new album aptly titled This New Morning.

The Kildare native takes the traditions of Irish musical storytelling to heart on this album, using the folk medium to comment on the issues of our time and in the process, leave an archive for the next generation. Bloom continues to shake up the genre with clever chord sequences and arrangements, while still retaining folk’s core values of story telling and commentary.

“One of the most amazing experiences of my working life happened in Australia in June 2011,” he said. “I was invited by the organisation Dalai Lama Australia to come down and sing a particular song (As I Waved Goodbye) before he spoke each evening. It was an unforgettable experience for many reasons. One of the effects was that when I returned home to Ireland, the songs began to flow. So by the end of 2011 I had 15 or so songs and felt very strongly it was important not to delay recording. For the first time in my working life, the songs seemed to consciously speak of happenings in today’s world.

Often my songs are dreamy or inspiration and hopefully timeless!.”

Luka knows what it means to be a emigrant. A gig in the Colony restaurant in Dublin in 1986 lead to an encounter with a couple honeymooning from America lead to his introduction to America. For the next four years he walked into bars and venues the length and breadth of Washington DC, New York, Boston and Baltimore with the words: “Hi, my name is Luka Bloom. I’m over from Ireland, and would love to sing in your club.”

Three years later people who could help his career started to take note and in 1990 with the support of a manager, record company and publisher he released Riverside. Australia, Ireland and many other countries opened up to the troubadour from the Curragh.

Anyone who has seen as Luka Bloom performance knows they can expect an amazing and enjoyable experience. It is a guarantee Luka himself is keen to deliver on. “Every gig is precious,” he said.

“Whether the Spa in Lisdoonvarna, Carre in Amsterdam, or the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the privilege is the same, as is the commitment to the gig.”

Luka Bloom will play 15 gigs in Australia, starting his ‘Heartman Tour’ in March 2013 and play his final gig here at the Fly By Night Club, Fremantle on Tuesday April 2. Get your tickets early, Luka’s last performance at the Fly By Night saw long queues to get in and was a sell out night.

59

Hermitage Green for The Cure Top Irish band, Hermitage Green formed in July 2010 in a locked back room of the Curragower bar, Limerick. What started out as a spontaneous jam session between friends, soon developed in to a strong acoustic outfit with an original sound, for which the band have credited their contrasting musical tastes. These interests range from traditional Irish and folk music to metal- and have formed the basis of an entirely unique approach in how the band deliver their material.

In their first 12 months together they have played with several notable Irish acts such as Sharon Shannon, The Stunning and The Saw Doctors.

Seeing Hermitage Green live, you can expect hard hitting rhythm sections driven by the tribal combination of bodhran and djembe, rhythmic guitar lines with dobro melodies and four part vocal harmonies soaring over the top.

They appear at the Cure Irish Tavern in January 2013…

Sunday 6th at 5pm Wednesday 9th at 7pm (Trad Session) Sunday 13th at 5pm Wednesday 16th at 7pm (Trad Session) Sunday 27th at 5pm *Cover charge $20 per person

land of

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honey

by Sally Desmond

The Resolutions Three days ago I was standing in a state of total confusion, at my open fridge gazing in horror at the aftermath of Christmas. There were alfoil packages, gladbake packages, gladwrap packages and a jumble of unwrapped stuff which bore very little resemblance to anything edible. I had no idea whatever as to the contents of the packages – I did recollect that as Christmas became more frenetic I tended to look dubiously at leftovers and on the off chance that they were “perfectly alright” I hurriedly wrapped them and threw them in the fridge. Now, this whole “never throw anything out” syndrome is the result of an upbringing where you were constantly told how lucky you were, even if you got an orange. Being daily reminded that you were responsible for a whole Continent’s hunger, not only took the good from many a treat but it left you with no ability to make a decision as to the toxicity or otherwise of leftovers. “Will they make a pie” or will they poison Aunty Annie - that sort of quandary.

Eventually, of course, they all go out and you swear by all the Saints that you will never again overbuy!!

Frugality – that’s the New Year’s Resolution – it is writ large in your brain – accompanied, of course,

by Prudence, Charity and the Fear of the Lord and any other of the virtues you can call to mind. Well, fully armed, and doing my best to forget the bulging cupboards of cake, biscuits and chocolates, I sallied

forth to “just have a look” at the Sales. Well the man who devised the “75% OFF” posters can expect no prayers from me. He is, without doubt, a Limb of Satan!! A golden rule that was engendered as you were growing and learning prudence and moderation in all things was “If you don’t need it, no matter how cheap it is – it is not a bargain”. I obviously got an F in Prudence, because in one day I ended up with four boxes of delicious chocolates – all at 75% OFF – how could you not have them? It wouldn’t have, in my opinion, been prudent not to have them. You never know when you might need them. Out there in the Ether, accompanied by tribal drums, I can hear the sighs of despair – and I can feel the creeping guilt.

It’s not as if I really eat a lot of chocolates – but a bargain is a bargain.

Now, I don’t know if any of you have checked your 2013 calendars, well check them. Lent is only a stone’s throw away. Easter Monday is on the 1st April this year. So for all the excesses of Christmas and broken promises of the New Year, I will, valiantly, try to make redress. Lent is a much more sensible time to practice Prudence and, at least, there should not be Sales.

“Beannachtaí na haitbliana do gac duine diobh”.

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Eoghainín na nÉan (...... ar lean) le Pádraig Mac Piarais

‘Agus céard adúirt tusa, a Eibhlín?’

‘Dúirt mé leis scuabadh leis amach agus gan bheith am bhodhrú. Ach táim ag cuimhniú riamh ó shin ar an rud adúirt sé agus tá sé ag déanamh buartha dhom. Nárbh aisteach an smaoineadh dhó é, a Athair—é imeacht leis na fáinleogaibh?’

‘Is mó smaoineadh aisteach thagas isteach i gcroí páiste,’ arsan sagart. Agus thug sé an doras amach air féin gan focal eile a rá.

‘Ag brionglóidigh mar is gnáthach leat, a Eoghainín?’

‘Ní hea, a Athair. Tá mé ag caint leis na fáinleogaibh.’

‘Ag caint leo?’

‘Sea, a Athair. Bímid ag caint le chéile i gcónaí.’

‘Agus cogar. Céard a bhíos sibh a rá le chéile?’

‘Bímid ag caint ar na críochaibh i bhfad uainn a mbíonn sé ina shamhradh i gcónaí iontu, agus ar na farraigíbh fiáine san áit a mbáitear na loingis, agus ar na cathrachaibh aolgheala a gcónaíonn na ríte iontu.’

Tháinig ionadh a chroí ar an sagart mar tháinig ar an máthair roimhe sin. (ar lean ..............)

Bheannaigh an sagart isteach tráthnóna.

‘Cén chaoi bhfuil Eoghainín na nÉan an aimsir seo, a Eibhlín?’ ar seisean. (‘Eoghainín na nÉan’ a bhí mar ainm ag na malrachaibh eile air i ngeall ar an gcion a bhí aige do na héanlaith).

‘Mhaise, a Athair, ní raibh sé chomh maith le fada an lá is atá sé ó tháinig an samhradh. Tá luisne ina leicinn nach bfhaca mé ann riamh roimhe.’

Bhreathnaigh an sagart go géar uirthi. Thug seisean an luisne sin fá deara le tamall, ach má thug, níor mheall sí é. Thug daoine eile fá deara, freisin, í agus, má thug, níor mheall sí iad. Ach ba léir gur mheall sí an mháthair. Bhí deora i súilibh an tsagairt, ach bhí Eibhlín ag fadú na tine is ní fhaca sí iad. Bhí tocht ina ghlór nuair a labhair sé arís, ach ní thug an mháthair fá deara é.

‘Cá bhfuil Eoghainín anois, a Eibhlín?’

‘Tá sé ina shuí ar an aill amuigh ‘ag caint leis na fáinleogaibh,’ mar adeireann sé féin. Is iontach an cion atá aige do na héiníníbh sin. Bhfuil a fhios agat, a athair, céard dúirt sé liom an lá cheana?’

‘Níl a fhios, a Eibhlín.’

‘Bhí sé ag rá gur gearr anois go mbeidh na fáinleoga ag imeacht uainn arís,’ agus ar seisean liom go tobann, ‘Céard a dhéanfá, a mháithrín’ ar seisean, ‘dá n-éalaínn-se uait leis na fáinleogaibh?’

Seanfhocal: Putóga dubha na bliana ó Nollaig go Lá Fhéile Bríde.

Proverb: The darkest part of the year from Christmas until St Brigid’s Day. Classes will recommence on 11 February 2013.

to 1970. The tour is conducted by the Butler and “Mrs Rickards”, the gossipy housekeeper, who has just returned from attending a public hanging of a man found guilty of murdering the head gardener at the palace!

This tour is highly reccommended.

The Bishop’s Palace

by Ormonde D.P. Waters My brother Adrian was born in 1924. He was eight years older than me.

In 1939, at the start of the second world war, he was sent as a boarder to Bishop Foye’s School in Waterford. This proved to be a total disaster. It was like something out of Charles Dickens. All of the boys were half starved. He very wisely ran away and came home to Brideweir. Remember that at this time there was a strict petrol rationing, and virtually all cars were off the road, so it was a long walk, which would have taken him a couple of days.

Until my most recent visit to Ireland, I had no idea as to the location of Bishop Foye’s school. To my surprise I learned that it was right in the centre of the city, and had been built in 1743 as the Bishop’s Palace. It is next door to Christ Church Cathedral, and directly across the road from the house of Waterford Crystal.

The Bishop’s Palace is now an excellent museum, which charts the history of Waterford from 1700

Irish Old Time Music plus original songs

David MacConnell Musical Entertainer

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In a sad loss to Irish music the Pecker, Pecker (Patrick) Dunne that is, went to meet his maker on the 19th December. Pecker was a tremendous singer and musician a member of a family of travellers originally from Wexford; he was born in Castlebar in County Mayo in 1933. Pecker wrote loads of songs but the one for which he will be always best remembered is Sullivan’s John, an Irish folk standard these days that has been sung and recorded by any number of people. He had a lovely full bodied gravelly voice and was a multitalented musician being able to play all sorts of things but his favourite instrument, and what he was best at, was the banjo.

He was one of the great characters: unfortunately he’d been in ill health for a while, and in the end, hard man though he was, he succumbed.

The City of Rockingham in conjunction with the local Tourist Board and Chamber of Commerce is planning a Catalpa Festival on 23rd February to commemorate the Catalpa ‘rescue’. John Spillane is the headline act. The Catalpa was, as I’m sure most of you know, the name of a Yankee clipper ship that, in a well planned operation, took on board six Fenians recently escaped, with help from the local priest, from Fremantle Gaol. The escapees were spirited away to Boston on board said Catalpa.

Brendan Woods has written a play (and recorded a CD) about the escape and his work will form the kernel of the festival. He’ll be aided and abetted in his endeavours by another more recent Irish escapee from these shores. I refer of course to the redoubtable Sean Roche who is making the trip back to these shores from Cork in order to participate in the proceedings. Apparently his presence is crucial to the success of the project; well that’s what Brendon told me.

So if you’re interested in learning a bit about the Fenians’ escape or just like the ambience of festivals get yourselves along and support Brendan and co.

The festival is intended to be an annual event celebrating this notorious piece of local history but as with everything these days, if it’s not well supported

it’ll just be a one off.

In news of another imminent show the Fo’c’s’le Firkins are getting together for a one off performance at Little Covent Gardens on January 11th. It’s a charity gig and all profits will be donated to Princess Margaret Hospital for children’s cancer research. It’s being put on by Ken Kenny’s charity ‘Little Folk’ which has been raising money for cancer research for years now. The Firkins are a motley crew of mostly English reprobates who sing sea shanties with a great deal of gusto and the evening promises to be a belter. The venue, Little Covent Garden is a manmade amphitheatre set in the midst of a beautiful garden (the Garden is called ‘Romancing the Stone’). The amphitheatre and garden were both created over a number of years (twelve and counting)

by Irishman Tom Hogg. There’s also an art studio on the premises and tea rooms and stuff. If you want to go to the show and have a tipple of something stronger than tea you’ll have to take your own: that’s allowed. The address is 3 Lillian Rd Maida Vale (it’s on the corner of Lillian and Hawtin Rds actually) and it’s worth a visit just to see the property.

The Waterboys will be in Australia for the first time shortly (in fact they’re probably already here by the time you are reading this) and will be appearing at the Concert Hall on Feb 2nd. The show is advertised to be “a killer set of vintage Waterboys” covering their 30-year back catalogue together with highlights from their new album ‘An Appointment with Mr Yeats’, celebrating the works of poet WB Yeats.

Tickets for the show are around $90, so not particularly cheap but not prohibitively expensive either and being in the Concert Hall you won’t be ten miles from the stage if you take the plunge and go along.

For my money the Concert Hall is the best venue in Perth.

The Waterboys had a hit in the UK with a single called The Whole of the Moon but had a hitch on the publicity front when Mike Scott (the leader founder and soul of the Waterboys) to his everlasting credit refused to go on Top of the Pops cos they (TOTP) insisted that songs should be lip synched, and he wasn’t having it: good on him. The Waterboys, for those of you that don’t know are essentially a rock back with heavy folk (especially Irish folk) influences. They started as a sort of ‘world music’ outfit but thankfully shed that dreaded persona and morphed into a Celtic rook band: and for what it’s worth I like ‘em Finbar Furey is also planning to hit these shores very soon but apart from mentioning it in passing there’s little point in my banging on about his tour as I’m sure it’s more than adequately covered elsewhere in these pages.

Local singer Grace Reid has recently released a CD of self penned songs. The album is called Changing Hemispheres and was recorded and produced by Peter Grandison at his Twang Studio in East Fremantle. Although it’s a studio album one track,

62

‘New Beginnings’, was recorded in the Redemptorist Monastery in North Perth and the difference in sound is quite noticeable. The theme of the songs is Scottish people in Australia and they contain fragments of and references to local history, for example ‘Any News’ talks about Governor Stirling’s voyage to London in the early days of settlement to seek aid for the new colony and mentions the local conflict with Yagan: another song is about a chap that used to drink in the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth.

Grace has a lovely voice and is a quite fine singer to boot (lots of people with good voices can’t sing for toffee and vice versa). This is the first time I’ve listened to Grace singing her own work exclusively and I confess I was impressed that the songs aren’t all in the same tempo with the same structure as is sadly often the case with singer songwriters, although having said that there is a bit of an emphasis on the hauntingly ethereal a la Enya which, to tell the truth, I’m rather ambivalent about. But as I say the songs aren’t all much of a muchness there’s healthy variety.

My favourite is Jupiter Botanicus, about a Scot –Robert Brown- who sailed with Flinders as botanist on board the Investigator, on the first circumnavigation of Australia. It’s a very clever piece of writing and its structure appeals to me greatly.

After ‘Jupiter Botanicu’s my next favourite song in the collection is ‘Silly Bitch’ which as far as I can tell is about a girl lamenting the fact that her man won’t grow up (nothing new in that I think men are notorious for living in perpetual adolescence: at least so I’m told quite regularly). In this case the boy and girl migrate to Australia and the girl expects that the experience will change the boy for the better: it doesn’t change him at all and she’s surprised and depressed that this is the case. Like Grace says: Silly Bitch.

As with any CD there are bits that don’t quite hit the spot, everything’s more or less a Curate’s Egg I reckon. And I do have a couple of gripes with the CD the main one being the length of the tracks. It’s a ten song CD which lasts almost an hour: that’s six minutes per song. In fact one song lasts for ten and a half minutes which is a bit hard to cope with in these days of nanosecond attention spans. Having said that Grace is imbued in the Scottish tradition and compared to say ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ or ‘Tamlin’ ten and a half minutes is a mere bagatelle, so what do I know? Nothing really but it’s too long for me, and it’s not helped by the fact that I don’t really like the song that much.

As I said Grace is a good singer and she has enlisted the aid of several musicians to provide the accompaniment, in particular I like Jon Cope’s guitar on ‘Silly Bitch’, and Jennifer Tingly provides excellent cello on ‘Lament for Lost Names’. All in all it’s a pretty good CD: and it’s not, and I guess it’s not meant to be, commercial in any sense. This is a very personal collection and I get the impression that the approach is along the lines of ‘I hope you like this

but if you don’t it’s no skin off my nose. I did it principally for me’. That’s an approach (assuming I’m right) that I’m all in favour of as it happens, so good on yer Grace. If you’re interested have a look at Grace’s web site for more info and a taste of the tracks: just Google ‘Grace Reid’ and Bob’s yer uncle.

It’s coming to that time of the year when I head for Tasmania to attend the Tamar Valley Folk Festival, one of my regular haunts. This year Fred Rea tells me that he may put in an appearance: I hope so. I’ll keep my eyes open in case he does so that I can spill the beans in the next issue.

Finally, I’m reliably informed that in February there will be yet another meeting of the Ancient Order of Thespians at JB O’Reilly’s Eatin’ and Drinkin’ Emporium. You may have read of the demise of the Thespians many times before in this column cos I’ve been to loads of ‘definitely the very last’ meetings over the last year or so. In fact when I go to this next one in February I’ll have been to more ‘very last’ meetings than I’ve been to when it was properly up and running. It’s a bit like Fairport Convention’s Farewell tours: they have one every year.

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Colin Merrey’s Book

s w e i v e R Here’s wishing you all a very Happy New Year (keep up with your NY Resolutions!!!) and welcome to the New Year edition of the Irish Scene – I hope you are ready for some exceptional light reading to get you through the aftermath of the season of doing everything to excess in the way of food, drink etc. So – let’s go for another year without further ado.

Here are some fascinating suggestions for your further edification. So why not relax with one of them as you recuperate from your Christmas over indulgence. I have decided that with the New Year should come a slight change of format – hope you find this new streamlined section to your liking.

Also, please remember that, if you can’t get the books that I recommend from your local bookseller (which can happen on occasion) you can contact the publishers direct on their respective websites. Now read on!!

Firstly, there was so much hype about the author’s wife’s recent “literary” success (the Fifty Shades series) that I didn’t expect an awful lot from this one. I am happy to say that it proved to be a great read indeed.

middle of a murder investigation from which they find itself difficult to extricate themselves. Uncle Myron is called upon on a few occasions to offer advice as and when Mickey grudgingly needs it and the story travels at a fast pace to its surprising conclusion. Great reading.

Elizabeth George has also branched out with the first of a new series featuring young Becca King who as a young girl demonstrates a talent for “whispers” – her word for her gift of ESP (extra sensory perception). The story really shows us Elizabeth’s flair for her unique blend of mystery, suspense and the paranormal. A jolly good read and one that I highly recommend.

actress Joan Collins. Jackie has proved herself a very bankable author whose novels all encompass the glitzy but power-crazed Hollywood and LA scene. This time we see some of the doyens of the Hollywood elite invited to spend some time on the luxury yacht of a Russian billionaire. Sounds simple with the usual expected turn of events coming to pass but throw in some Somali pirates, and Russian gangsters and you have a whole different ballgame!

Jackie Collins is now back to her scintillating and page turning best – excellent read – buy it – enjoy it.

And so to three books of a very humorous nature –

Now to a few books that are for (mainly) the ladies amongst our readers. Notwithstanding that, I found them quite entertaining, too.

THE NOT TERRIBLY GOOD BOOK OF HEROIC FAILURES – STEPHEN PILE Faber Paperback - $24.99 THE DISCREETLY PLUMPER SECOND QI BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE – Lloyd & Mitchison Faber Paperback $19.99 THE SECRET POLICEMAN’S POKE IN THE EYE WITH A BLUNT STICK – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Allen Unwin Hardback - $39.99 As you all know, or have probably surmised by now, I am a devotee of off the wall humour and also trivia. That said, my favourite of these would be the new expanded edition of the second QI Book of General Ignorance, the original of which I covered in a previous edition. A great read that explains a lot of urban myths and also debunks one or two in the process. Hope you enjoy it. Next we have the Not Terribly Good Book of Heroic Failures – you may recall I reviewed the second book in this series a short while ago – this one is a compilation of items from the first two books which were compiled initially by the author who was a confirmed failure himself. Mr Pile now finds that he is a success as a result of the earlier books and no longer qualifies as a failure – a requirement of his chosen path of reference.

This is a very humorous and extremely zany read. I loved it – I know Fred Rea would love it too – I might lend it to him!

Finally we have the book of comedy scripts to beat them all – in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International, the organisation has published a wide cross section of all of the Secret Policeman’s Ball Shows for your total edification. You will find all of the really good stuff here – the Dead Parrot from the Pythons being my favourite but also included are sketches from Dawn

THE NEXT BEST THING – JENNIFER WEINER Simon and Schuster Paperback - $29.99 LIGHTHOUSE BAY – KIMBERLEY FREEMAN Hachette Paperback – $32.99 THE POWER TRIP – JACKIE COLLINS Simon and Schuster Paperback $29.99 “The Next Best Thing” is the story of twenty three year old Ruth who travelled west with her 70 year old grandmother with the vain hope of becoming a television writer. Suddenly CRUSHER – NIALL LEONARD she finds herself in control Doubleday Paperback $21.95 of an “out of control” rollerThis book is really a crossover coaster of success being a TV between the young adult sitcom called “the next big novels and those intended for thing”. Follow her escapades the older generation. It tells through the infighting and the story of Fin Maguire, a politics of what we have seen seventeen year old boy, comes home to find become the Hollywood lifehis father brutally murdered. He sets out to style. This is the story of her discover who killed his father and uncovers oft times humorous ride on an extremely tangled web of intrigue, murder the coat tails of her success and death. This is a really engrossing tale and is a rollicking good read. and one that I would wholly recommend to “Lighthouse Bay” on the you. So – to continue – I will let this book for other hand is a more serious young adults lead me into a selection of other excursion altogether – it is books for young adults that have recently a highly compelling tale of crossed my doorstep. love, secrets and the power THE EDGE OF NOWHERE – Elizabeth George of forgiveness. In 2011, Libby Slater has finally come Hodder + Stoughton Paperback $29.99 home to Queensland from Paris to settle in SECONDS AWAY- HARLAN COBEN Lighthouse Bay – there she finds the diary of Orion Paperback - $29.99 Isabella Winterbourne, an Englishwoman who Here are two books from survived a shipwreck back in 1901 and who acclaimed writers of adult fiction made a new life for herself in Australia. who have now ventured into this Through the medium of Isabella’s diary, Libby relatively new genre. The better sets out to unravel the mystery of Isabella’s of them, I feel, is that from legacy and to rediscover the importance of Harlan Coben who has given us family and forgiveness. A highly compelling the second book in his Mickey Bolitar series (Mickey being the nephew of his read – hope you enjoy it. main character Myron Bolitar). Here, Mickey Finally in this section, we have the new one from Jackie Collins, the sister of renowned and his school friends find themselves in the

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Colin Merrey’s

s w e i v e R French and Jennifer Saunders, Eric Idle, Eddy Izzard, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to name but a view. Enjoy this hilarious frolic through the archives of these wonderful shows as much as I did.

There seem to be an absolute plethora of cooking shows on television these days so it is not surprising that from time to time we get the odd cookery book to review. That said, this next is more than your average cookery book.

COUNTRY GARDENS – COUNTRY HOSPITALITY – HOLLY KERR FORSYTH Random House Hardback - $49.99 This is a lovely book and is a celebration of Australia, the diversity of its landscape and the generosity and spirit of its people.

It combines Holly’s talents as a gardening writer with her love of cooking.

Here, she travels Australia, giving us some wonderful photographs on the way, and includes a recipe pertinent to every place that she visits. This is a very mouth watering experience of a book and one that I enjoyed. More than a cookery book (as I said) it also makes a great coffee table book.

Hope you enjoy it.

This next series of selections covers Biography and Autobiography. I love these “tell all” books – if only they did!!!

LIGHT AND SHADE – CONVERSATIONS WITH JIMMY PAGE – BRAD TOLINSKI Random House Paperback $34.95 ROD – THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY – ROD STEWART Century Press Paperback $34.95 TOTAL RECALL – ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER Simon and Schuster Paperback $32.99 COUNTRY GIRL: A MEMOIR – EDNA O’BRIEN Allen and Unwin Hardback $35.00 EVERYBODY MATTERS – MARY ROBINSON Hodder and Stoughton Paperback $32.99 THE BROKEN RESTORED – HENRY McGELLIGOTT Mountain Peak Paperback Firstly, the non-self-penned book - Brad Tolinski is a much respected British journalist who over the space of twenty years sat down on several occasions to interview Jimmy Page – leader and lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin, arguably one of the best of the folk rock bands to come out of Britain over the last 40

years. All of the Zep boys are notoriously private and rarely give interviews – none more so than our Jimmy.

Never the less, Tolinski as I said managed to sit down with him for more than 50 hours of interviews and has produced, with Jimmy’s blessing, this insight into a very complex man and musician. It covers his days as a top studio musician, his tumultuous career with Led Zeppelin and his later projects (also touching on his fascination with the occult). This is a great read – I enjoyed it immensely – especially as a great fan of Jimmy’s guitar playing and writing.

Rod Stewart has also AT LAST allowed us into his private life with a very well written book that encapsulates his “personal and private” life and his professional life a sone of the most respected folk/rock singers of our generation. From his early days, busking in Paris, his work with Long John Baldry, Jeff Beck and the Faces to his solo career this makes fascinating reading. We learn about his love for football (the real round ball game!) and model railways amongst other things. A really good read.

Total Recall chronicles the rise, rise and eventual fall of a member of the Hollywood hierarchy – Mr Schwarzenegger. It is a good read and covers his whole life (as he recalls it) including the Terminator films, and his early life as a body builder and his awful early movies (Hercules, Conan, et al), his role as governor of California and the official details of his fall from grace in regard to his affair and love child with his housekeeper. Yes, well – fascinating reading!

The last three books will be of particular interest to Irish readers as they cover the lives and times of two of the seminal Irish figures namely Mary Robinson, first female Irish President, Irish literary giant, Edna O’Brien and a young Kerry man, Henry McGelligott who tells us how he overcame an extremely troubled childhood and an addiction to heroin, that he became involved with after his moves from Ireland to the USA and finally settling in Australia – here

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he was able to kick the heroin habit after becoming a born again Christian some sixteen years ago.

Each of these three books is an inspiration to us in a different way and shows what you can really achieve with your life if you really try – no matter what life throws at you from time to time.

The Mary Robinson and Edna O’Brien books can be obtained from your local book sellers but Henry’s book is I believe only available through the website www.mountainpeak.biz.

This book recently won the Omega Writers Inc Reviewers Choice Award in Queensland and comes highly recommended. So don’t just take my word for it – this is a good one to get your teeth into.

What about spy thrillers, I hear you say?

Never fear! Here are two good ones for you.

THE GENEVA TRAP – STELLA RIMINGTON Bloomsbury Paperback $33.99 THE JANUS REPRISAL – KAMES FREVELETTI Orion Paperback $32.99 The Geneva Trap is the latest in the Liz Carlyle series of books – although I must admit that this is the first of Stella’s that I have read – nevertheless I enjoyed it so much I shall look for her back catalogue now as a matter of course.

Here, Carlyle becomes embroiled in the case of a Russian defector who warns MI6 that there is a cyber attack in the wind that is going to set out to disrupt World Peace and reignite the Old War between the Allies and Russia. But is all as it seems??? This is a great read – enjoy. It is also my competition book for this issue.

With the Janus Reprisal, we see a new author in the form of Freveletti to take over the writing reins of the Robert Ludlum legacy.

Various authors have undertaken this task in the past including another favourite of mine, Eric Van Lustbader. To be quite honest, although I enjoyed the Lustrate books, I found them a little too complicated with perhaps a few too many characters that tended to confuse the plot a little (for me at any rate). Here, the plot while being complex is not overly overburdened by characters and I found it much easier to follow. This is another in the Covert One series of books and I thoroughly enjoyed it – again mixing Britain’s MI6 with the International Court of Justice, the WHO (World Health Organisation) and a Pakistani warlord. With the threat of a mass bacterial infection hanging over the world, it is up to Jon Smith of Covert One to stymie the plan and bring the bad guys to book. This is enthralling reading – great adventure.

Colin Merrey’s

s w e i v e R LAWLESS – MATT BONDURANT Allen and Unwin Paperback $19.99 This was a hard book to put into any particular genre – not really crime, not really autobiography but still a story that is based on fact. Matt Bondurant’s family were bootleggers in the USA during the prohibition years and this is the story that Matt got from his grandparents and other relatives that tells the story of one of the most notorious bootleggers around in the US at that time.

It’s a good read and has just been made into a very violent (but I understand very enjoyable and very successful) movie starring Guy Pearce. I enjoyed the book – I always find that books are a better vehicle for the human mind to utilise because, if you go to see a film, you tend to only get to see what the director perceives the story to be – this I find a bit limiting (although on occasion I do find a director that sees a story much as I do – viz the earlier and more recent James Bond movies – I discount the Roger Moore comedies – which let’s face it is really what they are as they bear little resemblance to the books other than the titles).

You should give this one a read – I know you’ll like it.

What about some detective stories? I have four for you this time.

THE BLACK BOX – MICHAEL CONNELLY Allen and Unwin Paperback $32.99 LIVE BY NIGHT – DENNIS LEHANE Little Brown Paperback $29.99 DEATH BY BEAUTY – GAVRIELLE LORD Hachette Paperback $32.99 SHADOW OF THE ROCK – THOMAS MOGFORD Bloomsbury Paperback $29.99 This year marks 20 years since Michael Connelly introduced the world to Harry Bosch, the intrepid LAPD Detective who has been through many scrapes over the years, including a heart transplant and enforced retirement. He is now involved with an open case squad. This is the latest in the line of excellent Harry Bosch thrillers and concerns power struggles within the Squad and the LAPD and also Harry trying to solve a cold case from when he was a detective working

for the LAPD. Intriguing and quite involved story – a great page turner and one I can wholly recommend to you.

“Live by Night” is the latest stand alone thriller from Dennis Lehane (who gave us “Mystic River”, “Shutter Island” and “Gone Baby Gone” – all three filmed with great critical and box office success) and tells the story of Joe Coughlin, a struggling thief in the New York of the 1920’s and his battles with both the law and other gangsters while mixing in a love affair with his gangster boss’s girlfriend.

Great story – again this is a wonderful page turner and one that I highly recommend to you all.

“Death by Beauty” is a mystery with a difference – I must admit I really didn’t see the ending coming until quite a long way into the piece. It is set in Sydney, Australia and the main character, Gemma Lincoln is a PI who is working in Sydney and who is given a very strange case to solve for a leading underworld figure. This case clashes with one that is being pursued by the Sydney police but to no avail. This is a gripping story and one that I won’t tell you anymore about – just to say buy and read it – you will enjoy it I know.

“Shadow on the Rock” is the first in a new series of novels that feature lawyer Spike Sanguinetti and it is set primarily in Gibraltar but the action also involves Morocco and the corrupt law enforcement officers there.

A friend of Spike’s is suspected of murder and, when he turns up on Spike’s doorstep, he asks Spike to find out who is framing him.

From here, we go on a wild ride with plot and counter plot and cross and double cross to what to me was quite a surprising ending. I loved it and hope you will too.

And now – last but by no means least, we come to killers of the serial variety – great and very involved stories with plotlines to keep you guessing until the very end.

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY – LOUISE PENNY Sphere Paperback $29.99 DEITY – STEPHEN DUNNE Headline Paperback $29.99 I’LL CATCH YOU – JESSE KELLERMAN Sphere Paperback $29.99 “The Beautiful Mystery” is the latest from the pen of Canadian author Louise Penny and again features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. This time, the crimes that Gamache has to solve are based around a monastery on an island just off Quebec – a body is found in the Abbot’s garden – no one knows how it got there – enter Gamache

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– after many unexpected plot twists the perpetrator is brought to justice. Very taut and well told tale.

“Deity” is set in Derbyshire (England) and a body is found in the River Derwent – was it suicide – or murder? DI Damen Brook is put in charge of the investigation and soon comes to believe that all is not as it seems – on the face of it this involves a mass suicide of four Derby students – but something much more sinister is afoot!

I loved this one – it is much after the styles of the likes of Peter Robinson and Mark Billingham. Give it a try – it has a most surprising ending!

The last for this issue “I’ll Catch You” is form the pen of Jesse Kellerman, who is the oldest son of acclaimed authors Jonathan and Faye Kellerman. Jesse has picked up the serial killer baton from his parents and has run with it producing a great little book that I found most intriguing – it involves dead authors, accusations of plagiarisn and multiple murders. This is Jesse’s fifth book and I think it’s a real cracker – I must admit I haven’t read his books in the past but I will certainly look out for them in future together with his back catalogue.

Well that’s it for books this issue - don’t forget – the book competition is open (see above) for my mystery book choice of the month. All you have to do to win this book is to email me at cmerrey@bigpond.net.au and be the first response I receive and I will get the book to you as soon as I can. The response to last issue’s competition was slightly better than for prior competitions and the result was a win for L Clarke of Greenwood. So please have a go this time and restore my faith in humankind! Remember, if I haven’t heard of an author before or if it is a new author, I hope you will take my recommendations to heart and give them a good reading. Every author has to start somewhere – Belfast’s Colin Bateman took his first novel to countless publishers before sending it to his current publisher – with whom he has been for over twenty years. I think enough said! If at first you don’t succeed, try again and again and again.

I will say no more at this juncture and wish you happy reading, and see you all in the next issue. I hope you enjoy my recommendations as much as I have enjoyed reading them on both your and my own behalf.

s w e i v e R Show

by Colin Merrey

musicmusicmusicmusic In this issue, I have some an unusual DVDs to tell you about. This one is intended for Daniel O’Donnell fans and contains footage of some interviews he did in 2010 and 2012 and is entitled “A Friendly Chat”. The interviews were recorded during Daniel’s tours of Australia and provide a bit of an insight into Daniel himself, his life, friends and his career. This is a must for lovers of Daniel and his Music.

I should also let you know of a new DVD (a copy of which is currently winging its way to me from Amazon UK) which contains the last recordings of Barney McKenna and the Dubliners and it was recorded at one of their 50th Anniversary concerts earlier this year.

It is a great souvenir and will be a lasting memento of one of the most influential of all of the Irish folk bands of the last five decades. I don’t know whether or not it will be released here but I wasn’t going to chance it and got my copy straight from the UK just in case! You can also get a 3 CD compilation album to commemorate the 50 years anniversary but I don’t know whether there are any new (i.e. re-recorded) tracks on it. If I can get hold of a copy, I will let you know in due course.

It is also very sad to note from the Dubliners website that John Sheahan has now retired from performance and so the Dubliners as an active performing group is no more. John says that, as agreed with Barney before his passing, the Dubliners as an entity would cease to perform live after the 50th year tour had been completed. Sean Cannon, Patsy Watchorn, Eamonn Campbell and banjo player Gerry O’Connor will continue to tour in 2013 so we may get some more Dubs type music but it won’t be the same. It’s so sad to see the passing of another Irish musical legend.

On that sad note, I’ll take my leave of you for another issue and look forward to catching up in the St Patrick’s edition in a month or so’s time. All the very best to you and yours for the New Year.

2013 Australian tour of

Damien Dempsey & his band How do you describe Damien Dempsey’s music to someone who hasn’t yet been exposed to it? Take some reggae, fuse it with traditional Irish music, add in rock and folk and put it all through a grounded working class worldly aware yet caring consciousness and you’re almost there.

Damien’s debut album in 2000, ‘They Don’t Teach This Shit in School’ set him apart as a unique and important voice, championed from an early stage in his career by Sinéad O’Connor and others.

The follow-up, ‘Seize the Day’, released in 2003, marked the beginning of his relationship with producer John Reynolds, picking up many awards and leading to extensive international tours. Commercial and critical success continued with the release of the No. 1 album ‘Shots’ in 2005, backed

by Brian Eno, and ‘To Hell or Barbados’ in 2007, which debuted at No.2 in the Irish charts.

Damien’s fans include Brian Eno, Sinéad O’Connor, Bob Dylan and U2, (both of whom he has shared a bill with), and Morrissey, who invited him to support him on his US tour. Damien is an award-winning artist, having won several prestigious Irish Meteor Awards including Best Irish Male and Best Traditional Folk Award. His albums have topped the charts and gone Platinum, and he has been lauded by, among others, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Billboard, MOJO and The Sunday Times.

For Dempsey, people and place are King.

His voice is Dublin yet utterly distinctive, almost clichéd to say it, but he is part of a rich bloodline of Irish singers from Luke Kelly to Ronnie Drew, Christy Moore to Andy Irvine. Their kin outside Ireland are Springsteen and Guthrie, Dylan and Marley.

Dempsey’s latest effort Almighty Love (Sep 2012) was produced by long-term collaborator John Reynolds. Almighty Love includes performances from Sinéad O’Connor and emerging London artist Kate Tempest.

The four years since the release of his previous album The Rocky Road have been busy for the singer songwriter. In addition to writing and recording Almighty Love, Dempsey was involved in recording and

performing the Official Irish Euro 2012 Song ‘Rocky Road To Poland’. He also collaborated with renowned Irish graffiti artist Maser on the project ‘They Are Us’. Inspired by Dempsey’s lyrics, Maser painted giant masterpieces of Dempsey’s words on derelict buildings in Dublin.

In December 2010 Dempsey and fellow Irishman Glen Hansard recorded and performed ‘The Auld Triangle’ which raised much needed funds for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) ‘Keep the Lights On’ Campaign. And just to add to his already extensive resume’, in 2011 Dempsey made his acting debut in the Irish feature film ‘Between the Canals’.

Make sure you come along to see Damien Dempsey (or Damo as his fans call him) wow you with the soul and the spirit of one of his legendary live shows. See below for tour details. More dates to be added later.

Troubadour music is proud to present DAMIEN DEMPSEY and his band live in concert on the ‘Almighty Love’ Australian tour. Tickets on sale Friday 14th December 2012.

15 March 2013 Perth @ The Bakery, Northbridge.

Tickets: nowbaking.com.au 16 March Melbourne @ The HIFI, Swanston St Tickets:www.thehifi.com.au 17 March – Sydney (to be announced)

“I wouldn’t call myself an actor or a singer for that matter, just a journeyman. I feel I must have a talent somewhere for doing something but I’m still not terribly sure what it is.

I suppose it’s a talent for being myself”. Ronnie Drew 67

The Australian-Irish Heritage Association

The Australian-Irish Heritage Association is an inclusive organisation which encourages and promotes an awareness of Australia’s Irish heritage. To this end, the Association creates opportunities for all to learn about, participate in and enjoy this distinctive heritage.

Irish Film Festival

The AIHA Annual Irish Film Festival will be presented on every Wednesday night from February 6th until March 6th inclusive. Every year we have to search for Irish Films which are not shown generally and not available in local cinemas. They are The AIHA hold a St Brigid’s Celebration each year to honour normally obtained in Ireland. There is a vibrant Irish Film industry one of Ireland’s best known Saints. This year’s celebration both in the North and the South. There are many Irish film actors well takes place at the Irish Club, 61 Townsend Road Subiaco on known around the world who have cut their teeth on the home grown Sunday February 3rd. industry who still appear in Irish produced films.

This year Anne McAnearney will present an item titled the We have an excellent programme set up this year from drama, Life and Times of Caroline Chisholm, an extraordinary comedy, through to romance. We’re sure that you’ll enjoy our selection.

Australian woman almost forgotten by history. Included in the Of course the unique garden setting of the Bray garden cinema only presentation will be poetry, song & dance. adds to the enjoyment of the experience as well as the coffee, tea and Please contact Denis Bratton on 93453530 or email cakes which are provided. ardmacha@bigpond.com for further information.

The show usually starts at 7.30pm and is preceded by a short film of Irish Interest. Films this year include; AIHA Famine Commemoration • The Boys and Girls from County Clare • Liam • The Honeymooners • The Dead • The Nephew Hope to see you there! For more information call Denis Bratton (09) 345 35300 or Tony Bray (09) 367 6026.

Australian-Irish Heritage Association

Non Political-Non Sectarian-Emphatically Australian PO Box 1583 Subiaco 6904. Tel: 08 9345 3530. Email: aiha@irishheritage.net

www.irishheritage.net

Secretary: 08 9367 6026 Membership Due on 1st January.

Family membership $60, Concession $50, Distant (200 kms from Perth) $40 Membership fee includes tax deductible donation of $20

MCN Technology

Small Business Computing Specialists Phone Nick McNamara: 0424 515 337 info@mcntechnology.com.au 21/63 Palmerston St, Northbridge, Perth WA 6000

Services Provided • Remote Support • Web Design and Development • Hardware/Software maintenance • Project planning/implementation • Network Audits • Reactive Support • Proactive Support • Cloud Solutions • Backup Solutions 68

“I do not fear computers.

I fear lack of them.”

- Isaac Asimov

Have you heard?

Compiled by Fred Rea

Dermot Byrne and Betty showing off their flowering cactus. Echinopsis-Oxygona is the correct name I believe but Dermot will surely correct me on that one if I am wrong!

Its that man again, Sean Roche with his brother Shamus. They invited me to Blarney during my recent trip for a cuppa! Not sure who paid!

Fred and Lilly Rea with recent visitors, Fred’s niece Caroline Rea and boyfriend Gordon enjoy a laugh on New Year’s Eve. Below they are on Rottnest Island having a great time!

David Lowry, son of Catherine and Bernard married Kelly Spragg on 27th December in St George’s Cathedral Perth, followed by a reception in Frazers in Kings Park.

Congratulations!

Mick Mangan and his wife Bernie enjoyed a Christmas party on Rottnest Island recently. The Dublin couple have been living in Perth since 1983

Came across an old 1960’s newspaper cutting recently with the name Lionel Cranfield mentioned. Lionel is the owner of Zenith Music these days and if you are Enjoying New Year’s Eve our looking to buy an instrument Book reviewer Colin Merrey from a tin whistle to a grand and Helen and our proof piano he’s the man. Tell him reader Jack Cullen and Betty. Fred sent you!

Congratulations to Michael Malone, of Tulla in Co Clare, with Breda who celebrated his 70th. Michael is the brother of PJ and uncle to Michael Malone of iiNet.

Madge Margaret Sarah McNamara 22 Oct 1951 - 22 Nov 2012

Madge was a great supporter of our Irish Scene and always picked up a box of mags for her Irish friends in the Quinns Rock area. To Tony and family we extend our deepest sympathy..

Slan a Chara!

At the recent Gerry Quigley CD launch/farewell the support act was none other than the Gang of Three (or 4). They were all in great voice and performed many of their own songs!

Would you like your

Irish Scene home delivered!

Its a great gift for Mum and Dad...

Contact Fred 0418 943 832

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Congratulations to Rosalie Creed and Paddy Larkin on their recent marriage in Mandurah.

Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of WA Inc.

Grounds: BGC Grounds, Tom Bateman New Year greetings to all Reserve. Cnr Bannister & Nicholson O’Callaghan members of GFHAWA and Rds, Canning Vale (Page 330 on your UBD Map book). Rob President GAA of WA I hope all members, families Association & Clubs and friends have a safe a Contacts 2013 prosperous 2013.

Robbie O’Callaghan, President Morley Gaels 0407 421 224 Sean O’Casey, Vice President St Finbarrs: socasey@rwvp.com.au

0407 440 979 Chantelle Mc Neill, Secretary – St Gabriel’s Camogie 0424 352 770 Michael O’Conner – Minors 0417 096 424 Peter Kavanagh – Minors 0410 921 961 Paul O’ Conner – Minors 0412 345 644 Ciaran Gallagher Western Shamrocks 0414 498 910 Bernie McCrann Western Shamrocks 0424 400 465 Laura Shaughnessy - Western Shamrocks 0452 238 992 Ange Williamson Coastal Breakers 0406 255 466 Marius Flanaghan – Greenwood 0415 756 545 Kieran Lyons Sarsfields Hurling Club 0429 101 548 John Whelahan – Sarsfield Hurling Club 0410 613 270 Steve O’Dowd St Gabriel’s Hurling & Camogie Club 0408 940 265 Clodagh Glynn St Gabriel’s Hurling & Camogie Club 0420 996 446 Ailish Kenneally – Western Swans Camogie Club 0416 233 316 Rory O’Conner – Michael Cusack’s Hurling Club 0420 728 758 Bernard Cushen Morley Gaels 0406 562 793 Shane McAlinden Morley Gaels 0424 297 539 Bronagh Phelan - Morley Gaels 0449 083 226 Jenny Phelan Morley Gaels 0404 157 027 Eamonn O’Lionnain -Morley Gaels 0452 232 692 Niall Kelly Morley Gaels / Perth Shamrocks Hurling Club 0408 972 962 Olivia O’Callaghan Morley Gaels 0457 066 805 Maya Mallett Morley Gaels 0414 286 177 Marty McGinley – Mandurah GFC Representative 0420 386 495 Fred McCormack Southern Districts 0411 039 750 Alan Burke St Finbarr’s 0417 770 093 Shaun Hester – St Finbarr’s 0415 150 826 Gerry Crowley– Junior Academy 0415 048 425 Deborah Cashman – Junior Academy 0406 229 450

I’d just like to thank the outgoing committee for their tireless work in season 2012 and I know that the new committee will carry on their good work for season 2013. I’m not going to say much except that 2013 is shaping up to be a very exciting year for all members of our wonderful association.

Look out for events and activities with the Junior Academy and Minor Board for 2013 as these two fantastic groups will be taking the bull by the horns in 2013 with junior expansion north of the river, a summer minor football championship all culminating with an exhibition of Junior GAA on St Patrick’s Day in Leederville. It’s promising to be a great year indeed.

Let’s not forget the senior game also with hurling and camogie at Cooke Reserve in Morley and football at Tom Bateman Reserve in Canning Vale. Keep a look out for fixtures and events calendar which will be released in the next month or so for the upcoming season.

A lot of clubs will be starting pre-season training late January, early February so for new players or families to Western Australia make sure you get in touch with your local club for details of training and fundraisers or for social events.

Last but not least. A few clubs are looking for new grounds this year. It is very hard to secure new grounds with lights and adequate facilities here in metropolitan Perth as we are up against much bigger organisations like AFL, Rugby and soccer so if any club knows of or can share their grounds to other clubs of different codes please let me know asap.

Also, we are still looking for a Treasurer and assistant treasurer for our committee so if anyone would like to join the team please let me know.

Thanks again and best of luck for season 2013.

Rob O’ Callaghan

gfhwa.com.au 70

Gaelic Football & Hurling Association of WA Inc.

Gaelic Games Junior Academy The Year in Review

By Gerry Crowley

2012 has been a huge year with the establishment of Australia’s first Gaelic Games junior Academy.

We had many successes over the year and many games and structured sessions of Hurling and Gaelic Football, our thanks to parents, coaches, the executive, the junior committee and all who helped throughout the year.

Gaelic games was coached in no less than six Primary schools in this last school term, in Perth and in the Mandurah area.

There have been a few primary schools where Hurling/Camogie and Gaelic football went to a higher level.

The kids at Clifton Hills Primary school took to Hurling like “ducks to water” as did Wilson Primary school and the latter school also bought Hurling equipment from Ireland.

Leeming Primary school and St Josephs Catholic Primary seemed to take to Gaelic Football and were quite successful at it too.

Eddie Bouabse helped us to establish a nursery for our younger kids.

We had a visit from the Irish Ambassador and we had of course the Nationals here in Perth, where we were treated to some great games of junior Hurling and Football.

2013 promises to be even a bigger year for underage development in WA with the formation of a minor board (under 18) and also the opportunity for girls to play at this level.

Our thanks to Michael O’Connor and his Minor committee for this initiative and there is now a summer competition for the minors, a “night series” planned for early 2013.

The establishment of a Northern Academy in the

Carramar area, thanks to Martin Brady and the further development of facilities at Bateman (across the road from the main pitch)which was guaranteed at the Annual General Meeting of the GAA of WA, recently.

The Incorporation of the junior Academy was also ratified at this meeting and we will now be able to access funding of a specific nature, in 2013, Fred McCormack has already helped us in this area.

The 2013 season will begin in early March with exhibition games in both codes and with school involvement in Leederville Oval, to coincide with the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade planned for the 17th of March and it is also hoped that the junior Academy will march in their official colours as part of the Parade in Leederville, on that Sunday.

In January we will have the junior Academy AGM, where we will elect a committee to take us through 2013 and beyond and we will need as many of you parents to come on board as can, for specific jobs only and the meetings will be held after the training.

It is also hoped to have games in both codes throughout the year between our Northern Academy and our Southern one at Carramar, with exhibition games with the schools previously mentioned.

Our next major goal is to send a team to Ireland in 2014 to take part in the Feile Na Nog, at under 14 in both codes.

We would like to thank Gerard Roe (the secretary of the GAA in Australia) for his help and support throughout the year and our partners Australasian GAA and Leinster Council for providing equipment, for the new Academy.

See you in 2013.

ey n r e N c M Oliver Every Saturday Evening 6-8pm Enjoy Irish Ballads and Showband Hits www.capitalcommunityradio.com

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Morley Gaels Footy Win

By Gerard Dinan

On Sunday last (9/12/2012) Morley Gaels Australian Football team made history by winning the Spring Footy competition of W.A. The spring footy competition has been running for the past fourteen years and is very popular with amateur football teams during the off season. It’s a great way to keep teams together and fit during the off season.

When our Gaelic football season ended I approached a few lads to see if they would be interested in entering a team in the spring footy competition. To my surprise we got a great response and at our first training session we had thirty-six lads. We had two training sessions before our first game as many of our lads had never kicked an AFL ball before and there were a lot of rules for the boys to learn.

Our first game was in Rockingham and it was like going into the unknown but we came out on top and had a great win over Innaloo Football Club. We lost our next game to a very good Aussie team Cash Saints.

We continued our winning ways over the next few weeks. We finished the league in second place with a record of six wins and three losses. Two of those losses came against teams who were promoted up a division during the competition.

Throughout the league about forty players took part. It was great for the club to have good numbers and it also brought some new lads to the club. For the finals on the Sunday 912-12 we had to pick a panel of twenty which was unfortunate. We were drawn against Ferndale Pigs for the semi-final who we had beaten already in the group stages. It was a warm day and we started the game off really well but we were missing our shooting boots and at half time only led by two goals with some good goals from Enda Butler and Cian Breatnach. We finished the semi-final winning 7.4 to 6.3.

In the final we played High Wycombe and got off to a great start kicking some early goals and playing our best footy all year. We went into the break leading by three goals but we said to the boys at half time that the job was not done and the first five minutes of the second half would be vital. We got off to a great start with Pat Hartnett kicking two great goals.

The final score was Morley Gaels 10.4 High Wycombe 3.6. The cele-

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brations happened after wards in the Cure Tavern, Northbridge.

We would like to thank the management and staff of the Cure Tavern for their sponsorship and support in particular Marguerite O’Dwyer and Jamie Shine. Thanks also goes to Shane Berios for some great training sessions and Gerard Dinan, Mark Mulally, Ciaran Mulligan for all their efforts.

Calling U18 Footballers!

We are having a Minor Summer League here in Perth for boys U18 and we have started training girls for an U18 competition as well.

Both are firsts for Australia. We have also sent out a challenge to the other States to form Ladies Minor Teams to compete against our girls in the Australasian Championships this coming September. At the moment with what we are doing with this and what Gerry is doing with the Academy we are leading the rest of Australasia in Youth Development of Gaelic Games.

2012 was a very successful year for our fledgling development. We had over 60 boys train for our 2 teams in

the Australasian Championships. We had wonderful support from a group of very selfless people who gave up lots of their valuable time to support this re-development of the State Minors. Of those 66 boys 8 made the Australasian Allstars Team and the Captain of our Gold Team was voted the best player of the Championships winning the Kerry Murphy Trophy.

Training started for both our boy’s and our girl’s Summer competition last November and will re-commence on: For the Northern Suburbs: Forrest Park, Forrest Road, Padbury.

On Mondays and Fridays at 6.30pm from Monday 14th January 2013.

For the Southern Suburbs: The Southern Oval, Curtin University, Bentley.

On Wednesdays and Fridays at 6.30pm from Wednesday the16th January 2013.

League Matches will then follow with the Finals to be played at Leederville Oval as part of the St Patrick’s Day Family Day after the conclusion of the Parade.

We want everyone who is interested in participating either as a player or

any form of helper to contact; Michael O’Connor 0417096424 or mgcoo@bigpond.com facebook.com/WaMinorGaelicTeam

Ireland...

Winners of the Perth Amateur Soccer World 2012!

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Irish Golf Club of WA The Club Championship Round 1 & 2 at Collier Park Golf Club Yesterday was the second round of the club Championship at Collier Park.

It was a great day with the weather to match (part of the day until the lightning arrived and went). With 36 players on the day there was a lot of good golf..

Mark McLaughlin won the Club Championship with a total nett score of 130 points.

Results for the Club Championship Club Champion: Mark McLaughlin 130 pts.

Ist Round 1 Winner: Mark McLaughlin 67 pts.

2nd Round 1: Mick Connolly with 68 pts.

3rd Round 1: Andrew McDonald JNR with 69 pts.

1st Round 2 Winner: Jack Ebbs with 62 pts.

2nd Round 2: Andrew McDonald JNR with 64 pts.

3rd Round 2: Aidan O’Sullivan with 66 pts.

Lowest gross Winner:Andrew McDonald SNR. Mick Byrne & Mark McLaughlin Louis Byrne Whisky winner: Oddjorn Gjerde.

Round 1: N.T.P: Dominic Hyde, Jack Ebbs, Mick Byrnes, Jack Ebbs, 2 Ball: Dominic Hyde & Mike Byrne.

Longest Drive Gents: Robert Hennessey, Longest Drive Ladies: Sally Ann McDonald, Longest Putt: Sean Byrne & Aidan O’Sullivan.

Round 2: N.T.P: Mick McCann, Jack Ebbs, Dominic Hyde, Sean McHale, 2 Ball: Sean McHale, Jack Ebbs, Dominic Hyde.

Longest Drive Gents: Anthony Ryan, Longest Drive Ladies: Sally Ann McDonald.

Longest putts: Lawrence Brophy, David Kennedy. Andrew McDonald & Mick Byrne

Rory McIlroy says he wants to stay neither British nor Irish Golfer Rory McIlroy has claimed he doesn’t want to be committed to any flag as the furore surrounding his Olympic future grows.

The world number one has admitted in an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTE that he doesn’t want to be tied down to a flag.

In the documentary ‘Rory McIlroy – The Interview’, the County Down native admits that he doesn’t want to upset anyone in Ireland or Britain with his decision ahead of the Rio games in 2016.

The 23-year-old also claims in the TV programme, to be broadcast on Thursday night, that he is in an impossible position when it comes to choosing between Ireland or Britain for the next Olympics.

McIlroy said: “It’s a tough one. Being from Northern Ireland it brings its own difficulties whenever you have to choose who to play for or an allegiance.

“It’s just a difficult position to be in because you don’t want to let anyone down and you don’t want to upset anyone.”

McIlroy got a taste of the bitterness to come when he said in an interview in September that he was leaning toward

The Tim Hickey Memorial Trophy at Kwinana Golf Club

Kwinana Golf club was the venue for the inaugural Tim Hickey Memorial Trophy. It was a very well attended event with 47 players including 17 guests playing in memory of Tim. Bill Ross won the Club Championship on a count back with a score of 39 points.

Winner: Bill Ross on 39 points.

RossDunne & Mick Byrne 2nd Place: Michael McCann on 39 points. 3rd Place:Bill Sean on 38 points.

Winning Visitor: Jason Whellaman on 44 points.

N.T.P 3: E Fitzgearld, 6: S Byrnes. 14: J Sampson, 16: M Sheehan.

2 Ball: Martin Sheehan Longest Drive Gents: Jason Whellaman. Ladies: Chris McKenna Longest Putt: Niall Kelly Best second shot on the 13th: Noel Galvin Four Irish blokes are golfing. A Belfast man tees off and hits a dribbler about 60 yards. He turns to the Corkman (WHO PLAYED OFF SCRATCH) and says, “What did I do wrong?” The Corkman says, “Loft.”

The Kilkenny man tees off and hits a hook into the trees. He asks the Corkman, “What did I do wrong?” He repliess, “Loft.” The Galway man tees off and hits a slice into the lake. He asks the Corkman, “What did I do wrong?” He again replies, “Loft.” As they’re walking to their balls, the Belfast man finally speaks up.

He says to the Corkman, “Listen mate, the three of us hit completely different tee shots, and when we asked you what we did wrong, you answered the same exact answer each time. What is loft??”

The Corkman says, “Lack Of Feckin’ Talent.”

“Where we sported and played, on de banks of my own Lov’ly Lee......” representing Great Britain.

He was abused on Twitter before clarifying his position on the social network site.

Now he has told RTE that he doesn’t feel that he wants to be just defined by the tricolour or the Union Jack in his sports career.

McIlroy added: “I feel I’m more than just a flag. I play golf and I’m an international sports person and it doesn’t tie me to one flag or one allegiance.”

74

C e lt ic

Supporters’

C l ub

Perth WA

Visit the CSC website at www.perthcsc.com Visit Celtic FC at www.celticfc.co.uk/

Call the Hotline at 9315 2211

Club Hotline (08) 9315 2211

Committee for 2011/12 Office Bearers

President: Paddy Mconie paddymconie@hotmail.com Vice President: Willie Rice Secretary: Brian Doherty briandoherty@hotmail.com Treasurer: Davy Barklay davidbar@arach.net.au Merchandise: James Burns General Committee Cathie Rice Brian Mosson James Lynch Website Davy Barclay webmhaster@gmail.com Club Website www.perthcsc.com Postal address PO Box 614 Inglewood 6932

United, Arsenal and Celtic in for Champions League toils Manchester United’s clash with Real Madrid is unarguably the tie of the last-16 of the Champions League, but there are still plenty of mouth-watering clashes for punters to sink their teeth into.

In addition to United’s tough luck, Arsenal and Celtic have got mammoth tasks on their hands to progress to the quarter-finals, with Ladbrokes offering a price as short as 6/4 that all three remaining British teams advance no further in the competition.

Arsenal must overcome beaten finalists in two of the past three Champions Leagues, Bayern Munich, while Celtic have been handed a glamorous two-legged affair with last season’s invincible Scudetto winners Juventus.

Judging by the record books, it’s the Gunners who have the biggest mountain to climb.

Not since Norwich emerged victorious from Munich’s Olympiastadion in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup has an English team beaten Bayern on their own patch; 12 have tried and failed since. Compound this with the fact that Arsene Wenger’s men have lost seven of their last eight European knockout away days, whereas Bayern have claimed the spoils in 17 of their previous 18 home matches in continental competition; Arsenal supporters need fear the worst.

Celtic, on the other hand are not faced with quite so daunting a task when they take on the Old Lady.

They conquered Barcelona in front of their own fans in the group stage proving they can give anyone in the world a game on their own patch and they’ve got the better of Juve in both of their home games in this competition,

bagging five goals in the process. With their fans at their raucous best, it’ll be interesting to see if the Italians can cope better than the Catalan club in the Celtic Park cauldron.

Another big tie sees Barcelona the perennial favourites for the crown take on AC Milan in what will be the sixth renewal of hostilities in this competition since the turn of the century.

The Italians have won just two of these contests and have only knocked the four-time winners out on one occasion.

A dark horse with genuine title credentials is German champions Dortmund who cannot be ruled out given the way they expertly navigated the Group of Death. They travel to Shakhtar to begin their knockout campaign in a tie that will certainly churn out some sumptuous football given the attacking mantras both teams adhere to.

Juventus boss Antonio Conte has claimed that he will not underestimate Celtic as the two were drawn together in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Bianconeri will travel to Glasgow to face Neil Lennon’s side on Tuesday February 12, before hosting the Hoops on March 6.

And the 43-year-old Coach has admitted that the Scottish side will be tough opponents.

“Celtic are a good team,” he told reporters.

“They qualified from a group that involved Barcelona, Spartak Moscow and Benfica.

“They have good players like Giorgios Samaras and Kris Commons.

“We will go to this game with great enthusiasm, with the greatest respect for the Scots and will try to do our best.”

Perth Celtic Awards Night at Rosies

Clydesdale Bank Premier League Fixtures 19/01 26/01 30/01 09/02 16/02 23/02 27/02 09/03 16/03 30/03 06/04

Our Home Base....

NORTHBRIDGE

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Heart of Midlothian League 15:00 H St Johnstone Premier League 15:00 A Kilmarnock Premier League 19:45 H Inverness CT Premier League 15:00 A Dundee Utd Premier League 15:00 H Club 12 Premier League 15:00 H Motherwell Premier League 19:45 A Ross County Premier League 15:00 A Aberdeen Premier League 15:00 H St Mirren Premier League 15:00 A Hibernian Premier League 15:00 H

Memberships Now Open Contact Rosies on 9328 1488

SHAMROCK

Rovers

Hoops optimistic for 2013

Having consolidated themselves as a competitive State League club in 2012, Rovers are looking forward to going even better in 2013. Following the recruitment of some very strong players from overseas and interstate they are looking to push on for promotion to the State Premier League.

A high activity in player recruitment has seen the arrival of at least 12 new players to the club many of whom have played at a level equal to or higher than WA State league. Although this in itself does not guarantee success the club is looking to the new coaching staff of John O’Reilly (head coach) and Mike Ford (assistant first team coach) to produce a winning formula blended from players old and new. The alliance with Shamrock Rovers (Dublin) continues to bear fruit with the arrival of two more players from Dublin for 2013.

Pre season training has now commenced and players are invited to attend for the Senior squad and also for under 18 level. Details are available on the Club website: www.shamrockrovers.com.au A major boost to the club’s optimism is the arrival of OPEL MOTORS as a sponsor in a deal expected to last for a number of years. The deal, negotiated with WA OPEL distributor, Burswood OPEL, will see the OPEL logo once again appear on the shirt fronts of an Irish team, resurrecting the inspired performances of the Jack Charlton era in Irish football when, supported by OPEL, the National

Michael Manning President Shamrock Rovers

team produced some of its greatest ever moments.

Rovers hope that a similar inspiration will flow from this vote of confidence from OPEL Australia.

In confirming the sponsorship deal, Charles Kobelke, Marketing Manager / Burswood Opel issued the following statement; “The Opel brand is new to Australia, but similar to the Shamrock Rovers Soccer Club, we enjoy a rich history, steeped in quality, tradition and progressiveness. Burswood Opel in Victoria Park are proud to be launching in Western Australia with the Rovers as our close partner, just as we are excited to be bringing quality German engineering and design to West Australians at an accessible price. I look forward to building a great relationship in the future”.

Club President, Mick Manning has thanked Burswood Opel for this demonstration of support and is encouraging the Irish community in Perth to also show solidarity in supporting Rovers in their 2013 State League campaign and by coming to Harold Rossiter Reserve in East Victoria Park to provide further support and inspiration to the teams on Saturday afternoons during March to September.

“The Irish community in Perth is a significant one and I am calling on them to help Shamrock Rovers Soccer Club be a strong and successful representative of that community in WA State League Soccer”.

Bill Byrne

Bill Byrne, Secretary 0439 953 957 bill.byrne@hotmail.com

www.shamrockrovers.com.au 76

Construction Machinery

McIntosh & Son offer both New and Used Machinery. As stockist of New Holland and Challenger Agricultural equipment, Case, New Holland and LiuGong Construction equipment as well as Jacobsen, Verti-Drain and Howard Grounds Care equipment we can offer an extensive product range.

Below are a few machines from our vast selection of Used Construction. We also have a large selection of used Agricultural and Grounds Care equipment available.

Phone Steve direct

0408 940 265

9475 1600 547 Grt Eastern Hwy, Redcliffe WA 6104

Our full array of used equipment can be viewed at http://www.mcintoshandson.com.au/products/Used-Machinery Alternatively you can contact our Perth Branch on (08) 9745 1600 to speak to one of our Sales Staff or email lisa.p@mcintoshandson.com.au

www.mcintoshandson.com.au

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St Gabriel’s Hurling Club “New Members Welcome” to join contact.

Hurling: Steve 0408 940 265 Camogie: Bronagh 0405 582 123 Facebook: St. Gabriels Hurling WA

Our Major Sponsors:

www.periaus.com.au monford

www.monfordgroup.com

St. Gabriels WA is a newly formed Hurling & Camogie Club in Perth. We would like to thank all the Club Officials, Team Mentors and Players for their huge input in making the first year of the club such a success and we look forward to their support in the coming year.

Congratulations to all.

With the end of year around the corner and a new year ahead. We would like to wish everyone peaceful Christmas and best wishes for 2013.

“New Players Welcome for 2013”

We would like to thank all those who attended our Annual Dinner Dance which took place at the Duxton Hotel, with our congratulations going out to all those who received awards on the night.

Our award winners were...

Club Person: Damien Madden, Players player: Rory Foy & Bronagh Morgan, Managers Player: Shane Finnerty & Anntonia McCarthy, Most Dedicated: Eoin Coyne & Clodagh Glynn and Most Improved going to Amy Sweeney.

Shane Finnerty receiving Manager Award & Bronagh Morgan receiving Players Award.

“Upcoming event”

www.paddo.com.au

St Gabriels Hurling Club Annual Club Draw will take place at The Irish Club, on 23rd Feb. Prizes Include 2 x Return Flights to Ireland VALUED AT $4,500... Tickets available from Club Members

monford Construction & Mining Contractors - Earth Moving Contractors Monford Group is a group of three companies, Monford Plant Hire, Monford Labour Hire and Monford Constructions, performing works Australia wide.

Monford Group Pty Ltd has extensive experience and capabilities that include the construction of major mining, industrial and civil infrastructure projects, throughout Australia.

As a group Monford has completed projects involving concrete construction, civil construction, mining infrastructure, tilt-up construction, earthworks, equipment and labour hire.

One of the keys to their success is their professional approach to the construction of any project.

Monford has developed and implemented an Integrated Management System with the safety and well-being of their employees, partners and customers in mind.

Monford Group has proven that its resources and management systems ensure their projects are completed on time and within budget.

Monford Group has worked on some of Australia’s largest projects, namely; Pluto LNG Karratha, Sino Iron Cape Preston, FMG Solomon, Devils Creek Karratha, Perth City Rail Link Alliance Perth, Rapid Growth Project Port Hedland and the Nurrumbidgee to Googong Pipeline, NSW. Monford’s Clients include John Holland, Abi Group, Decmil, Georgiou, Kentz, AGC, Murphy Pipe and Civil and Construction Industries Australia.

McIntosh & Son is proud to be a major supplier of Case Construction Machinery to the Monford Group.

For more information please check out Monford’s website www.monfordgroup.com

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Irish Business Contacts / index

Page: hairdressing/ Beauty NRG Hairdressing 9444 3344 baggage (unaccompanied) 62 Exportair Tim 9477 1080 Butchers 55 Northside Meats Tel: 9249 8039 Meat Connoisseur Tel: 9309 9992 CAFE/DELI: 51 Donovans of Floreat - Phone 0450 319 320 ZigZag Cafe Kalamunda Anthony 0407 982 442 60 Taste32 Mt Hawthorn - 0448 328 112 Car Retailers: 35 John Hughes, Vic Park - Des Ruane Tel: 9415 0110 celebrant: 47 Marian Bryne Tel: 0410 345 224 50 Lorna Aylward Tel: 0419 926 830 computer services 68 MCN Technology Nick 0424 515 337 construction machinery: 77 McIntosh & Son Tel: 9475 1600 78 Monford Construction & Mining Counselling Fiona Carberry, Counselling Psychologist carberrycounselling@westnet.com.au Tel: 0439 549 481 employment: Skills Shortage Solutions Tel: 9275 4460 36 Final Trim Operators Tel: 1300 083 599 electrical 27 Iluka Electrice Tom Bowe 0422 440 588 Entertainment: “DublinUp” - Frank Glackin Tel: 0412 987 142 Brendan Woods Tel: 0448 399 928 Celtic Spirit Dancers Tel: 0401 340 229 Fiddlestick - David MacConnell 0413 259 547 Them Little Secrets: Fiona Rea 0404 831 445 FASHION clothing: Cinders Boutique: Tel: 9472 0724 FENCING: PJ Malone Fencing - Tel: 9401 7660 Finance/advice: 54 The Loans Café-Nik Silsby Tel: 0402 284594 Liberty Finance Shelley Winters 0407 992 646 Freight Handlers: 63 Exportair - Tim Hawdon Tel: 9477 1080 Funerals: 42 Hetherington Funerals Tel: 9459 2846 9 McKee Family Funerals Tel: 9401 1900

furniture: 56 Celtic Swan Gallery Tel: 9296 0728 6 First in Furniture Joondalup Tel: 9300 9010 house inspections: 11 Housemaster Inspections: Tel: 0405 632391 garage doors: 61 Buckley’s Garage Doors Tel 0425 125 889 immigration advice: 19 Carol-Ann Lynch Tel: 6263 4423 9 ASC Migration Tel: 93015905 11 Settle in Australia Tel: Raj 0432938542 Irish Heritage: 68 AIHA Denis Bratton (08) 9345-3530 holiday home for rent: 63 Bussleton Louise 0438 906 153 Irish Dancing: 30 Siobhan Cummins 0422 075 300 Irish Food: 55 Northside Meats Tel: 9249 8039 1 Taste Ireland Sydney - Tel: 02 9386 5522 Irish embassy (canberra): (02) 6214 0000 Jewellers: Albens Master Jewellers - Graham Tighe Tel: 9325 6318 7 Sean Carroll online: seancarroll.com.au Siopa an Caislean www.royalirelandgifts.com Mechanics / car sales: 1 Killarney Autos - Neil Lenihan 0439 996 764 47 BVM Autos - Mike Barton Tel: 0413 889 501 Music: Zenith Music, Claremont Tel: 9383 1422 Music Schools: Cottage School of Music Tel: 9312 2200 party hire: Juke & Jive Party Hire Tel: 9309 2043 plasterer: Plaster Master - Tony Tel: 0415 748 774 plumbing: Phone John 0407 920 044 Pubs, Clubs & restaurants: Bailey Bar & Grill Joondalup Tel: 9300 0633 71 Breakwater, Hillarys Tel: 9448 5000 40,41,51 Carnegies, Perth Tel: 9481 3222 47 Celtic Club, West Perth Tel: 9322 2299 Durty Nelly’s, Perth Tel: 9226 0233 3 Fenian’s / Novotel, Perth Tel: 9221 1200 Friar Tuck’s, Wannanup Tel: 9534 4788 80 Irish Club of WA, Subiaco Tel: 9381 5213 17 JB O’Reilly’s, Leederville Tel: 9382 4555

Kingsley Tavern, Tel: 9409 6767 39 Paddy Maguire’s, Subiaco Tel: 9381 8400 31 Paddy Malone’s Joondalup: Tel: 9300 9966 21 Rosie O’Grady’s Fremantle Tel: 9335 1645 2 Rosie O’Grady’s Northbridge Tel: 9328 1488 10 The Mighty Quinn, Tuart Hill Tel: 9349 9600 8,32,33 The Cure Francis St Northbridge Tel: 9227 9055 The Shed, Northbridge Tel: 9228 2200 28 Voyage Kitchen Tel: 9447 2443 22 Woodvale Tavern, Woodvale 9309 4288 38 Woodbridge Hotel, Guildford Tel: 9377 1199 Real Estate: 16 Professionals Kelly Team YokineTel: 9344 5544 Fergus - Tel: 0410 621 447 Tom - Tel: 0412 236 498 O’Rourke Realty - Rory 9341 6611 Rose of Tralee: Jessica Tel: 0402 427 709 SAFES: Tri-Star Safe Co. Tel: 94937911 SKYDIVING: Skydive Jurien Bay Tel: 9652 1320 Solar power: Town & Country Tel: 9403 6430 Solicitors & Legal: 25 Kavanagh Lawyers

Marty Kavanagh Tel: 0430 960 859 Sport - Clubs and Information: 75 Celtic Supporters’ Club Jon Tel: 9328 1488 70-73 GAA - Rob O’Callagahan 0407 421 224 76 Shamrock Rovers - Bill Tel: 0439 953 957 74 Irish Golf Club of WA Martin 0419934681 THEATRE: 48 Irish Theatre Players-Ivan 0417 903 256 Travel & Tourism: British Travel - Jenny Allen Tel: 9388 3114 5 Flightworld American Express Michael Deering Tel: 9322 2914 Tourism Ireland, Sydney Tel: 02 9299 6177 tyres, batteries, brakes wheels: 11 Tyrepower: Perth City - Fiona: Tel: 9322 2214 WEDDING RECEPTIONS: 47 The Celtic Club, West Perth Tel: 9322 2299 welfare (irish): Claddagh Association Joan Tel: 0403 972 265 Wines: Acolade Wines Damian McCague 0418 909 205

The Irish Scene

Publisher/Advertising: Fred Rea 0418 943 832 Editor: Lloyd Gorman 0479 047 250 - gormanlloyd@hotmail.com Proof Reading: Jack Cullen and Imelda Gorman Publisher: Gaelforce Promotions, 12 Dysart Court, Kingsley WA 6026 Email: fred@irishscene.com.au Tel/Fax 9309 3167 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.

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latest News!!!!

• 6 Nations games televised at the Irish Club. (Check our facebook page for kick off times).

• Live EPL and SPL every

weekend, fixtures on facebook page.

• Exciting new food menu being launched at the end of January.

Irish Club Membership

Visit the website at www.irishclubofwa.com.au. Join the club and enjoy the member benefits. $60 for a standard membership and $30 for country & concessional membership and, if there’s more than one member at the same address, the second and subsequent members pay half price, so just $30.

Membership is from 1 July to 30 June every year, download a form from the website today!

SENIOR’S LUNCH 1st Friday of each Month

at the IrISH cLUB, 61 tOWNSHEND rOAD, sUBIACO Bookings essential on 9381 5213

Book your Function at the Club!

Contact Gary 93815213.

3 function rooms and can cater for up to 200 people!

Full bar and catering options are available.

Facebook ‘irishclub western australia’

Wednesday Steak Night

Steak Nights at the club – every Wednesday & Sunday night. 10oz sirloin steak cooked as you like it, with chips and salad $15.

If you don’t want a steak at this amazing price then you can choose form the club’s extensive menu. The beer and wine’s good too!

Pie & Pint Night Every Thursday followed by live Irish music session from 7pm.

All welcome to join in.

OPENING HOURS & ACTIVITIES

MONDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late / Comhaltas - Music Lessons & Set Dancing from 8.00pm followed by the Seisiun TUESDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late WEDNESDAY: Steak Night open 4pm THURSDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late / Pint and Pie Night / Music session 8.00pm FRIDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late / Kitchen open 5.30pm - 9.00pm SATURDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late / Kitchen open 5.30pm - 8.30pm SUNDAY: Bar open 4pm to Late / Kitchen open 5.30pm-8.30pm / Music from 6.30pm

61 Townshend Road, Subiaco, WA 6008

Tel: +61 8 9381 5213 Fax: 9381 9764 irish1@irishclubofwa.com.au www.irishclubofwa.com.au 80