Irish Scene Mar/Apr 2022

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Contents Around the Irish Scene..................... 48 Australian Irish Heritage Assoc...... 53 Australian Irish Dancing Association WA................................ 86 Belfast boys strike a harmonious chord....................................................69 Bill Daly - The Axe............................ 50 Book Reviews.....................................76 Claddagh Report............................... 66 Comhaltas Perth.................................70 Family History WA.............................72 GAAWA............................................. 90 G’day from Gary Gray........................42 G’day from Melbourne...................... 44 Geraldton & Midwest Irish Club.......62 Gerry McGough................................. 82 Great Tales of Whales and Gaels.... 30 I was relieved when nobody died.....22 Irish Fishermen Get Shirty About Whales................................................26 Irish Choir Perth..................................61 Irish Theatre Players......................... 85 Kilrush................................................ 64 Na Fianna Catalpa GAA....................94 Paddy’s Whale of a Sceál!................ 10 Shamrock Rovers FC......................... 89 Slán Abhaile Father Joe......................4 St. Brigid’s Festival........................... 46 The Tooth, The Whole Tooth, and Nothing but The Tooth.............. 58 Ulster Rambles.................................. 54 Vale Patsy McArdle........................... 81 VC out of reach for daring Irish captain of Australia’s first submarine.......................................... 36 Whaling was his Station in Life....... 20

Slán abhaile Father Joe

BY LLOYD GORMAN

ONCE WHEN I WAS INTERVIEWING FR. JOSEPH “JOE” WALSH AT ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR A STORY FOR THE SUBIACO POST I ASKED IF WE COULD TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OF HIM INSIDE THE CHURCH.

Photo courtesy Post Newspapers

It was a weekday and we were the only people in the church. He thought a picture with an empty church in the background would reinforce a negative media bias about the numbers of church goers so we shot him inside a section of the church that had been recently renovated under his watch. The church in Salvado Road where he was parish priest for 16 years was the opposite of empty on the morning of Thursday February 10 for his funeral. Arriving early for the 10am Thanksgiving mass was no guarantee of a seat or even a standing spot inside so that many mourners found themselves outside listening in.

The service – which was recorded and live streamed on the Bowra O’Dea website for people in Ireland, Australia and beyond – was watched on the day and afterwards – an incredible 4,000 thousand times.

There were a large number of condolences messages published in the West Australian and even hundreds of messages posted on the website of Midwest Radio in Mayo, after it published details of his death and the funeral service.

Clearly Fr Joe inspired intense loyalty, love, trust and friendship in very many people. But there are others – including within the church and Irish communities

4 | THE IRISH SCENE

– who held a very different opinion about him, even before the allegations and investigations about the alleged theft of parish funds of up to $500,000 – an affair that was eventually settled out of court – that marred most of his final years alive and as a priest.

The painful episode was mentioned by those who knew him best but was not allowed to overshadow happier and fonder thoughts about him. Amongst the many stories and memories shared about him at the service his Irish heritage shone through.

The Irish tricolour and the Australian flag (carried by Lee McKay and Rick Ferdinands respectively) led his coffin in and out of the church but there was so much more. Shortly after the opening prayers the second reading near the start of the mass was a reading of the poem ‘Beannacht’ (Blessing), by Irish poet John O’Donohue.

“Fr Joe Walsh was fond of poetry, as is evidenced by the reading of that poem we just had,” his close friend Fr. Peter Black said. “There was another poem he liked so much in fact I remember that he had every verse framed and placed upon the wall in St. Joseph’s presbytery...The Lake of Isle of Innishfree by William Butler Yeats. Why this poem?,” he said. “Because it

FATHER JOE ST. PATRICKS FESTIVAL Huge reception in Galway for JFK during Irish visit

is set in his beloved country of birth, the words peace dropping slow must have struck a chord with Joe especially during the hard times of the recent years and in those years he continued to hear something in his own deep hearts call.”

Over lunch one day he met Fr. Joe to discuss the arrangements for the mass including that his friend was to be the main celebrant and homilist.

“He said: “Now don’t focus on all this rubbish that has recently overtaken my life remember its a homily, focus on the gospel and what really matters and keep it short,” Fr Black smiled.

“So loyal to the instructions I dare not disobey them I will not dwell on but rather simply to have to acknowledge the great anguish that Joe endured these last few years...Joe was happy and proud to be Irish, to be Australian and to be a Catholic Priest he would be very happy to see some of his fellow priests here including emeritus archbishop Hickey...the number of lives Joe touched and changed as a caring priest cannot be calculated...he brought a special warmth, a practical help a loyalty to each encounter, be it at All Hallows in Ireland or here at St. Jospeh’s Subiaco.”

The eulogy was delivered by Eoin Byrne, who was supported on the alter by his brother Donnie and sister Deirdre.

“Failte, welcome everybody,” he began.

“Back in 1963 Joe couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard one of the most influential couples on the planet were coming to a local town of Knock, a town known for its devotion to the Catholic Church.

At 10 years old Joe was disappointed that he didn’t secure an invite with his parents to this exclusive event not content with this outcome Joe took it upon himself to contact the pair directly. He went to our grandparents shop in Knock and with his pocket money bought two pairs of rosary beads and sent them with a handwritten letter to America. Several weeks later he arrived home from school and was surprised to see his family sitting around with an unopened letter addressed to him from the white house a personalised letter from the desk of John F Kennedy the sitting president of the United states of America. This letter is framed and now hangs on my wall in Perth.”

Joe Walsh was born on 21 January 1952 in Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo – which he used to like to say was the best place in Ireland.

“Fr Joe was blessed with a close knit family one of seven parents of our grandparents John Joe and Mary Walsh. Joe grew up in the picturesque village of Kiltimagh, where his family owned the bustling general store and a progressive agri business. In 1960s Ireland before TV and social media the family store was the social heart of the village, it was where you went to hear what was going on around the town and surrounding areas it was where he went to buy groceries, hardware for a chat and for many it was their only social outlet and in true Irish spirit the Walsh home was always warm and welcoming, the door was always open the kettle was always on and there was always room at the table, we would say Joe embraced these values in his life as a priest.”

He shared a story about how even from a young age Fr Joe demonstrated his well known abilities as a ‘connector of people’ and entrepreneurial spirit.

JFK in Galway (photos from JFK Memorial Library)

He added: “Fr Joe started his journey of faith in 1970 by attending All Hallows College Dublin during his six years there he embraced every opportunity he was given, including a four month position in Rome.

His love of travel knew no bounds and in 1973 he was given a scholarship to travel to Perth by the Australian ambassador to Ireland his excellency

THE IRISH SCENE | 5

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FATHER JOE

Vincent Gair. This scholarship did not include any money so with his infectious zeal and enthusiasm that we have come to know and love Joe got a job as a sandblaster in Kinwana – could you imagine Fr Joe with high viz and workboots on?,” he laughed.

The young Walsh returned to Dublin that year to finish his studies with the intention of returning to Perth after his ordination, both of which happened in 1976. In 1984 he was called back to Ireland to take up the role of director of development at All Hallows College in Dublin for the next six years..

“His mission there was to reinvigorate and renovate the campus, expand the staff and realign the ethos of the college,” said Mr Byrne.

This included travel to seminaries around the world to learn and implement best practices and a development course in Boston. “This is where his talent and acumen for fundraising really excelled he even set up two offices for All Hallows (one in Virginia) near Washington DC and another in San Diego. By the time he left All Hallows in 1990 the grounds were fully refurbished, dining rooms upgraded and the campus completely renewed and the student base grew from 60 to over 500 students.

Everything Joe did he did it with pride, and he gave it 200%.”

He said that amongst the other things he did Fr Joe also established a successful Irish mission – St. Killian – where he had a church built and even learned German so that he could give a mass there.

“He was fortunate enough to meet Mother Theresa in the 70s who inspired him to collect and send unused medicines from Irish pharmacies to a mission in India,” added his nephew. “The project was so successful that the Irish Red Cross Invited Joe to the Mission in Mombai to see the impact of his work.”

The restoration and renovation of the presbytery

and the beautiful heritage renovation church made it a safe haven physically and spiritually for people today and generations to come he added. As well as Subiaco Fr. Joe also served at parishes in Osborne Park, Leederville, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Northam, Gingin-Chittering and Nollamara/Yokine.

“He was a rare diamond, he dared to be different.

Joe’s world unravelled in 2018 when the institution he served so loyally turned on him in an unimaginable way that no one should ever experience,” Mr Byrne added. “The next few years would take a huge toll on Joe as he fought a gallant and brave battle to prove his innocence. During this period his health deteriorated from open heart surgery to major gastric operations followed by rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, he faced these huge challenges with great stoicism...he never uttered a word of complaint.” He finished the eulogy with the traditionalIrishblessing: “May the road rise up to meet you/May the wind be always at your back/ May the sun shine warm upon your face/the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

Next to take the pulpit was Denis Glennon – the father of the late Ciara Glennon – to bid his friend goodbye.

THE IRISH SCENE | 7

stronger from his crucible of suffering his absolute love for the church and priesthood remained resolute and steadfast by then his body was broken, his work here was done...I am honoured Joe was my friend my good friend he is gone but it is only until we meet again”.

Mr Glennon rounded off with a short blessing (Beannacht) ‘as Gaeilge’.

“Joe and I first met 25 years ago in the weeks before our daughter Ciara’s body was found when one evening Joe and a parishioner arrived at our home bringing words of sympathy, prayer and a cooked meal,” said Mr Glennon. “Prior to that I did not know him, he saw a family in strife he extended his compassion and friendship… we are from the same county in Ireland in the west of Ireland, Mayo, and since then his friendship has warmed and brightened my life. It was a friendship in which we understood and accepted each other as we were without mask or pretension...we trusted and helped each other….our friendship was important to each of us.”

He said Joe was “born to be a priest” and lived his life with kindness. “As a friend, a good friend, I found him to be patient and kind, never rude or selfish, humorous and a perpetual twinkle in his eye and always always optimistic.”

In the last few years the two men spoke or met each other every day. “While he recently navigated the turbulent waters of judicial proceedings our friendship deepened,” Mr Glennon added. “We spent a great deal of time together in those three or so years.

Two of Joe’s great loves the Church and his priesthood were severely tested then, nothing can hurt as deeply as a breach by what we hold dearest. This period tested every facet of my friends profound affection for the church, his deep love of the priesthood, his spirit and his courage. His sense of belonging had been fractured, his life would never be the same again...I witnessed the blade of abandonment cut deeply... his spirit was challenged but never broken….several times he said to me no matter what we have to endure we will hold our chin up and walk with the grace and dignity, we are Mayo men!”.

“I believe Joe emerged emotionally and spiritually

8 | THE IRISH SCENE

The presentation of gifts – including a wooden harp – was accompanied by a forceful rendition of the ‘Fields of Athenry’. At the end of the mass Fr. Blake read the traditional Irish blessing “May the road rise to meet you...” once more. As his coffin was being taken out of the church the large congregation of masked but not very socially distanced mourners started clapping enthusiastically as a one final act of appreciation. His remains were taken for a private cremation after the mass.

A sizeable crowd who came to pay their respects waited outside the front of the church on what was a beautiful summers day. Amongst them was a woman with a distinct Dublin accent who captured the mood of the mass of mourners in a few words when she said:

“We love you Fr. Joe. Slán abhaile.”

☘

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Paddy’s whale of a sceal*! *IRISH WORD FOR STORY

BY LLOYD GORMAN Photo courtesy of Albany Advertiser

DUBLIN MAN JAMES FREDERICK (PADDY) HART WAS THE SKIPPER OF THE LAST AUSTRALIAN WHALING SHIP WHEN THE FINAL HARPOON IN THAT BARBARIC TRADE WAS FIRED AND COMMERCIAL WHALING FINISHED IN 1978.

He spent 14 years at sea hunting these magnificent creatures to be carved up and processed at the Albany Whaling Station for their valuable oil, blubber and other parts.

Later in life he joined Greenpeace and travelled to Japan to lobby the government there to end its whaling activities.

Part of his inspirational story is told in some of the exhibits on display at the whaling station, including the ship itself, which a small group of us visited in late 10 | THE IRISH SCENE

January while on a trip to WA’s beautiful Great Southern region over the school holidays.

Not long after our excursion, I decided to find out more about this legendary figure whose life has been well documented in the local newspaper (The Albany Advertiser). But at first, try as I might, I couldn’t find much about his background in Ireland, except that he was born there and was a great talker, had a deep intellect and loved to have fun.

Fortunately, however, with

PADDY’S WHALE OF A SCEAL!

the help of the whaling station operators, Discovery Bay Tourism, I was able to speak with his daughter Angela and his elder brother Rory, who lives in Churchtown, Dublin.

Home to the brothers when they were growing up was Pearse Street in inner city Dublin and going to sea was something of a family tradition. Paddy, as you will read later, was a powerful swimmer and I was curious as to how a city boy could have been so good in the water.

“Uncle Charlie brought us to Tara Baths and threw us into the sixft deep end and that’s how we learned to swim,” said Rory (83).

The brothers – separated in age by 18 months – were close and hung out together. They lost their mother when they were aged just four and two and were raised by an aunt.

“We used to go down to Burgh Quay in the city and swim there or board the ships and dive off them into the water,” Rory said. “It was illegal to swim there and we were often chased by the river police. We’d grab our clothes and run down Lime Street and into our block of flats. There was no devilment in what we were doing but it was part of the fun.”

Rory described his brother as a prankster and “a great rambler”, so much so that he was always late for meals as he would go for long walks, including from the city centre to Cabra where their grandmother lived.

Paddy’s first job was in a Woolworth’s cafe in Henry Street in the city centre and then the Wicklow Hotel in Wicklow Street. After that he worked at the Paradiso Nightclub, which was above the Irish Times office in Westmorland Street.

Paddy then trained as a chef and, after qualifying at age 19, he went to work with Irish Shipping. His first ship was the Irish Willow which sailed to Africa, followed by the Irish Spruce.

“He jumped ship in Albany,” said Rory, “but they brought him back and locked him in his cabin. However, when they were leaving, they opened it to let him out and he jumped overboard again and ran into the bush.”

While he was at large Paddy found work building a school for a Russian. But the end of the working relationship did not go well for either man and about six weeks later Paddy found himself in police custody in Albany, after which he was transferred to prison in Fremantle.

Rory, who was a steward on the British-owned ocean liner, SS Southern Cross (built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast and which sailed from the UK to Australia and New Zealand), happened to be in Fremantle when he got a letter about his brother’s predicament. But when Rory went to the jail, he found he had missed his brother by a week.

Meantime, after the authorities had checked Paddy’s background

Paddy (centre) with crewmates at installation of new plaque at The Gap Paddy and Ches Stubbs

Paddy at hom in St Stephen Green, Dublin

THE IRISH SCENE | 11

• A general whaling image of a Sperm whale being prepared for removal to the whaling station site.

• Paddy Hart as Master Gunner (Skipper) • The Cheynes II whale chaser at the Continental Shelf Photos courtesy of Albany’s Historic Whaling Station

and found no criminal record, he was allowed to stay. Two years later in 1960, he found work with the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company, including on its chaser ship, Kos VII. Over the next 15 years, after working his way up through the ranks from fireman to mate, he became a relieving skipper/gunner on the firm’s three catchers, and then took over as permanent skipper of Cheynes II, which also happened to be the last seagoing steamship in WA. The skipper’s job was demanding and dangerous. Two articles about the Cheynes II in the September 1994 edition of the Maritime Heritage Association Journal, published in Perth, offer a fascinating insight into what was involved.

According to one story, titled “A Day Whaling On Cheynes II”, the skipper and the mate would be alongside on the bridge. Information would come in from the spotter plane, the deckhand in the barrel and the sonar room. The skipper would move quickly down the narrow catwalk to the gun-deck from the spotter plane via the bridge.

The information was vital to help the skipper prepare for a good shot. He would direct with hand signals to the wheel and bridge for manoeuvres. Quite often he would rely on the call from the deckhand in the barrel as the latter had a better view and was close at hand. When the skipper fired the gun and hit the whale, the 12 | THE IRISH SCENE

call from the bridge would be “fast fish” by voice tube to the engine room.

Engineer Bob Wynch would already have heard the gun and stopped the engine dead by putting her into “mid-gear”.

This was very important as the ship could overrun the whale and the harpoon line might foul the prop. The chase and harpooning manoeuvres were the most dangerous. Rapid decisions had to be made, involving a large (steel) harpoon (weighing over 70kg), a gun (with a 90mm bore), explosive grenades (with a 9kg grenade head), fuses, harpoon shell and charges lines and winches – all of which were on the foredeck. Naturally, in a heavy swell, a lively ship such as the Cheynes II would make the task more difficult. Tensions could run high if mistakes were made during the chase and harpooning.

In 1965 Paddy saw just how perilous and unpredictable the job could be, but he proved his courage in the most deadly and difficult of circumstances as shown by this story, based on a Voiceprint of the men talking about the incident. It was created by Albany oral history enthusiast Kim Lofts with help from historian Malcolm Trail.

“I actually witnessed the incident,” Paddy said.

“I can recall the day quite well because nothing had gone right; we had a lot of misses and it was quite frustrating and hectic.”

Skipper Ches Stubbs recalled it was a rough day with waves coming across the gun deck where he was firing harpoons. His leg got caught in the rope of the final harpoon fired that day.

“Boom she went and severed the leg straight off,” Ches said. “I went on me back on the gun deck with the leg up in the air and there was blood spurting out of it. My first thought when I saw it was, what a way to die, out here bleeding to death.”

PADDY’S WHALE OF A SCEAL!

The ship was about 50km from Albany and time was of the essence if they were going to save the skipper’s life. Paddy was the first crew member to get to the stricken skipper.

“It was quite shocking to see a man who had just lost the bottom part of his leg,” he said.

“Ches was in a bit of shock, I don’t think he realised what had happened because he kept trying to stand up and it took everything I had to keep him sitting down and get it through to him that he was hurt.

“Someone went up to the medicine chest and got some morphine tablets and they seemed to help, so a tourniquet was applied to stem the flow of blood. I raced in and called the other whale catchers on the radio to let them know we had had an accident.”

John Bell, the pilot of the spotter plane (a small single-engine Cessna with floats), heard the call over the radio as he was heading for home.

“One of the crew called up and said the skipper had had an accident and what were the chances of picking him up and whipping him into hospital?,” John said. “I had to make a quick decision. Although it’s called a sea plane, it’s really a calm water machine, so I had to be very careful about landing in the open sea, it can be quite dangerous.”

When John landed and taxied up to the ship he had a much better idea of what they were were up against.

“I said heck we’ve just got to get on with this, it

would have been rather awkward to have landed and taken off and left him behind.”

John got as close as he could, but as the link between the ship and the plane, they needed to use a rubber raft, which he carried in the plane, Paddy jumped into the heavy waters to get the raft from the plane and bring it to the ship. Once there Ches and chief engineer Alf Laurence were put into it.

“But when they tried paddling towards the plane they just kept going around in circles,” said Paddy. “I could see they weren’t going to make it, so I dived back in, pulled the raft across to the plane, loaded the two men on board, and I swam back to the ship with the raft.

“But when the plane tried to take off the sea was so rough it couldn’t get airborne, so John decided Alf would have to get off as he was making it too heavy . Then we discovered that Alf couldn’t swim, so I tugged the raft back over to the plane, got Alf back in, and pulled it back to the ship.”

John described Paddy’s actions as “pretty brave” because it was highly likely the waters would have been infested with sharks due to the whaling activity.

Even with a lighter load, John struggled to take off. But in a skilful display of seamanship the Cheynes created a more stable area for the plane to take off by sailing around in a circle and the plane was able to get away. Just six months later, Ches, sporting a prosthetic leg, was back at work!

MIND THE GAP South Australian tourist Stephen Matthews was with friends at the beauty spot The Gap taking photographs when a freak wave knocked him into the water. His companions raised the alarm and Paddy Hart skippered his 440-ton steam ship, Cheynes II, out from the whaling station, 17km away, not expecting Stephen to be still alive but willing to run a rescue attempt in any case.

THE IRISH SCENE | 13

PADDY’S WHALE OF A SCEAL!

The whaler’s spotter plane reached the scene first and flew over it time and time again with his landing lights flashing to let Stephen know they were looking for him and that help was on the way.

However, it was dark when the ship joined the search, and the engine and radio communication made it hard to hear as the crew listened for Stephen’s cries.

At that point Paddy made the brave decision to cut the engine and ordered radio silence. The ship was dangerously close to the cliff face and switching off the engine was a risky move. So rough were the seas that when the ship went into a trough she could not be seen from the shore.

In the silence of the night a cry for help was heard and a light was trained in the general direction of the cry. Stephen was spotted. Crew member Keith Richardson then stripped and, trailing a life-line, went over the side. Once Stephen was on board it was time to save the ship, so Paddy ordered full astern. The Cheynes II, crew and Stephen all returned to the town jetty safe and sound.

This will be fremembered forever and the names Paddy Hart, Keith Richardson and the crew of the Cheynes II have been immortalised in the hearts of the people of Albany and the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company.

Stephen, who was moments from certain death when he was plucked out of the water, spent a short time in Albany Hospital. Then, amazingly enough, when he got out he joined Paddy and the Cheynes as a crew member for some of the vessel’s final months as a whaling ship. Later, when Stephen decided to leave, Albany Council organised a reception for him and the brave men and women who came to his rescue.

14 | THE IRISH SCENE

POACHER TURNED GAMEKEEPER Paddy Hart’s incredible story was featured in the book, Irish Lives – The Irish in Western Australia, by Bernard Neary, with a foreword from then Premier Brian Burke, who described himself as “being of Irish descent myself”. It was published in 1987 when Paddy was 48.

Nine years earlier, when the whaling station closed it was a big blow to the Albany economy. The station pumped a million dollars a year in wages into the pockets of its workers.

Between 1952 and 1978 some 1136 humpbacks and 14,695 sperm whales were caught and processed there.

Paddy then found employment as a maintenance man at Albany Woollen Mills where he remained for the rest of his working life. But amazingly his connection with the world of whaling would later resurface in a way few could have predicted. In fact, it could be said that the seeds of this were sown in an episode that occurred in the final days and months of his time at the helm of Cheynes II. The episode involved a small group of activists from the Whale and Dolphin Coalition based in Sydney who organised and executed a three-week protest that made international headlines and turned the tide against whaling in Australia, leading in turn to the birth of Greenpeace Australia.

At great danger to themselves the activists piloted a small inflatable raft (the Zodiac), fitted with an outboard engine, into the line of fire of harpoons to shield the gentle giants. Paddy and Cheynes II were often their target in this high stakes game of cat and mouse.

In one incident a harpoon was fired at a whale and the Zodiac got badly caught up in the rope

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Left & below: Paddy in Japan

from the weapon. The protestors reported the incident to local police in no small part to try and generate further media attention in their campaign.

“I would not have fired had there been any possibility of danger to those men,” Paddy told police. There is nothing to suggest Paddy bore any malice towards them, even if they were trying to put him out of business. In fact, he was more sympathetic to their cause than they could have known.

“My dad had felt bad about killing whales for a long while before whaling finished in Albany,” said daughter Angela. “He told us he was having trouble sleeping due to the often inhumane method of killing them. However, with a family of five children and often up to four foster children to provide for, it would have been difficult to earn as big a wage as the whaling company paid.”

But then when synthetic oils were introduced,

16 | THE IRISH SCENE

the cost-effectiveness of producing whale oil went into decline.

“Dad had predicted the demise of whaling in Albany,” Angela said, “and he realised there was more money to be made in whale watching tourism. So I think he wanted whaling to finish when it did.”

Brother Rory said Paddy was committed to whaling while he was doing it, then committed himself to its end. “He was a poacher turned gamekeeper,” Rory said.

Journalists, researchers and historians often interviewed Paddy and the other chaser skippers for their experiences and attitudes towards whaling. He was always open and honest about the good and the bad aspects of it, and had no hesitation in declaring that he was glad it was no longer happening in Australia.

His story was told in The Last Whale, written by Chris Pash, a cadet reporter with the Albany Advertiser in the 1970s. The book, published

by Fremantle Press, was officially endorsed by Greenpeace.

Former Greenpeace Pacific CEO Steve Shallhorn described it as “an important contribution to Australian history and the protection of whales.

From a historical perspective it chronicles the people and events which created Greenpeace in Australia and it also seeks to understand the minds and thinking of those who hunted whales in Australia.”

The book was important for another reason.

Paddy and Mr Shallhorn met at the launch event and the two former opponents hit it off, so much so that Paddy was invited to

join Greenpeace to promote the anti-whaling message in Japan.

In Tokyo, Paddy told reporters: “Greenpeace asked me to come along and tell Japanese people that there’s life after whaling, and I am honoured to be here.”

He was an eloquent and authoritative speaker in the delegation to Japan that delivered a letter to the then Prime Minister calling on his government to halt whale hunts.

“They’re spending money and losing money on food people don’t even like anymore,” Paddy said. “Also, speaking from experience as a whale gunner, there’s no humane way to kill a whale. I have sympathy for the whalers in one sense because I’ve been in that situation. But, if whaling stops, like us, they can get on with it and find something else to do.

“If they want to start killing humpback whales, they should know that they’re the backbone of a $300 million industry in Australia. It’s taken 40 years for the whales to come to trust us and let the boats come close to see them.

As soon as these fellows start shooting them, we’ve lost that trust and that industry, and our grandchildren will never see a whale.”

THE RAMBLER RETURNS Most people who knew Paddy Hart called him Paddy, but to his Australian family he was always Jim ... meantime his family in Ireland called him Seamus!

In his book, Irish Lives, Bernard Neary wrote that Paddy never

returned to Ireland. In fact, when he set off on his first sea voyage Paddy told his family not to expect a letter, and that he would tell them about his trip when he got back.

That was meant to be in three months but the three months became more than 30 years as Paddy was busy working, then raising a family with his wife, Lorna Casey, from Albany. “I was a terrible writer,” Paddy confessed to Neary. But this changed not long afterwards.

“After making contact with his family again, Dad made his first trip back to Ireland to celebrate his 50th birthday in 1989,” said Angela. “Thereafter, he went back every two or three years.

“Eventually, his eyesight failed badly, due to macular degeneration and when mum passed away in 2016 he came to live with me In 2018, he told me he would love to visit Rory one last time. He couldn’t travel by himself, due to his eyesight, so I said I’d go with him.

“We booked our tickets for a six-week stay as soon as my passport arrived. We travelled to Dublin in June but we’d been there only a few days when we received a phone call from home to tell us that my younger sister had died unexpectedly. In a state of shock, we were back on a plane home within 24 hours.

“The following year after listening to dad talking to his brother on the phone on a regular basis, I asked him if he had it in him to do another trip to Dublin? He said ‘of course, why wouldn’t I?’ So with that our trip was booked again and off we went.

“Dad was unwell when we arrived and he was treated for pneumonia. He was very poorly when we arrived home three weeks later and was diagnosed with lung cancer in September.”

Paddy died in June 2020 and the passing of this local icon was marked on the front page of the Albany Advertiser and by other media. His funeral was held at the whaling station and his ashes were spread on the waters of the jetty where the whaling ships used to dock.

Left: Angela and Paddy heading for Ireland

THE IRISH SCENE | 17

PADDY’S WHALE OF A SCEAL!

Above: Dan Teehan left loves a good beach Above: Misery Beach, Torndirrup NP

MISERY AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE! Australia’s top 20 beaches for 2022 were named

by Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan in January -- and the honour of being Number One went to Misery Beach, about 20km south of Albany. In fact, it was the only beach in Western Australia that made the list.

“With more than 11,000 beaches to choose from, narrowing down the top 20 must be one of the toughest jobs in Australia,” said Mr Tehan, whose parents are both Irish.

Misery Beach is a small, secluded and very beautiful north-facing beach that offers shelter from most weather conditions along the beautiful coastline. It is a good place to go for a dip in the water or for snorkelling, surfing and Join Oliver McNerney Saturdays 3-5pm

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fishing.

Tourism Australia’s beach ambassador Brad Farmer said Misery Beach was world-class.

“It’s stunning,” he said. “It ticks all the boxes of what the typical beachgoer is looking for — uncrowded, crystal-white sand, turquoise waters and a very dramatic granite backdrop.”

The beach earned its grim name from the time when the blood, guts and gore of dead and processed whales from the nearby whaling station would wash up in the water and on the sand..

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SHIPWRECKED After whaling in Albany stopped, it was intended that the Cheynes II would get a new lease of life as a restaurant. But the plan fell through when the restaurateur went bankrupt.

Albany Port Authority then towed the ship to the town jetty. In 1992, during a gale, she broke free of her mooring and ran aground on a bank on the east side of the harbour.

Today, the ship, which can still be seen from Albany, looks like she is frozen in time and place -- trapped somewhere between a desire to head back out to sea in search of whales and the decision to cease whaling.

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Whaling was his station in life

BY LLOYD GORMAN

IF PADDY HART WAS ONE OF THE LAST OF HIS KIND IN AUSTRALIA’S 178 YEAR HISTORY OF WHALING THEN ANOTHER IRISHMAN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST. PATRICK MARMION WAS ONE OF WA’S EARLIEST AND MOST ENTERPRISING SETTLERS. A native of Downpatrick, Ireland the 26 year old arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1841 seeking adventure and fortune. He settled in Fremantle and worked as a clerk, as he had done in Ireland. But before too long the energetic and ambitious young man was branching out into new ventures. He became a shareholder in two mining companies – including the very to be set up in Western Australia.

In 1849 he was the licence for the Commercial Hotel and in 1852 for the Emerald Isle Hotel, where the Orient Hotel now stands.

These and his other commercial interests were typical of the business dealings followed by so many at the time as they eagerly worked to build their wealth, reputation and position in the fledgling colony. It was his interest in the whaling that set him apart. Two whaling companies were set up in Fremantle in 1837, helping to develop the sector that has been called WA’s first industry. In 1848 Marmion got the license to operate of them and he assumed the soubriquet of ‘Master Whaler’. However, when he lost the licence in the following year he petitioned the Governor – Captain Charles Fitzgerald born in Co. Clare in 1791 – for the right to establish a completely new whaling station in the area now known as Sorrento, in the present day City of Joondalup. Patrick Marmion’s great-great-great grandson Bill Marmion (former Liberal member for Nedlands) told Irish Scene that

20 | THE IRISH SCENE

the Governor fast tracked his request, so much so that he approved it in a single day, something which caught out his ancestor by surprise. The would be whaler had to wait three months for the building materials he needed to arrive from England. In any case a shore whaling station was built on a site of ten acres of leased crown land at the coastal location in 1849. Smaller rowing boats would set out from the shore station and chase passing whales as they migrated to Monto Bello Island, west of Dampier.

When they caught and killed their prey the small boats would tow the bodies back to shore for processing. The station operated until 1852 when it closed permanently, possibly as a result of reduced whale numbers and a shortage of men with the necessary skills as huge numbers of working men opted to try their luck and follow the gold rush to Victoria. The station lay empty and abandoned for decades but it retained a useful function. Its large brick chimney was a helpful navigation point for passing vessels. Maps and charts up until the late 1930’s document it as ‘Marmion’s Chimney’. An oral history interview with a local resident carried out by Joondalup council recalled that ‘substantial parts of the ruin’ cold still be seen there during World War II and until the site (just south of the Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club) was finally demolished in 1953.Just four years after his whaling station closed Patrick Marmion died. He was married to his wife – Charlotte Stone from Limerick – on his death bed.

Bill Marmion said that the legality of their wedding day was questioned because of the amount of drink

WHALING WAS HIS STATION IN LIFE

the priest had on him for the ceremony. In order to avoid any potentially embarrassing issues for their son William Edward – who would go on to become a successful merchant and member of parliament (MLC Fremantle 1872-1890) – tied the knot again just to be sure scandal would not ensue. His widow continued on the licence of the Emerald Isle where she employed five ticket-of-Leave men between 1857 and 1866. She died in June 1869.The Marmion family suspects, but has no hard proof, that Marmion, who was a generous donor to the Church, was also sympathetic to the Fenian cause of John Boyle O’Reilly and his comrades and may well have been involved in some way in their escapes (on whaling ships).If his whaling station was eventually swallowed up by time and progress Marmion’s legacy is not entirely forgotten. A plaque erected on a limestone rock in Geneff Park, Sorrento in 1970 by the City of Wanneroo is still there. A second memorial to him was erected by Joondalup council, near the entrance of the Sorrento Beach carpark in 1998.The Odyssey sculpture (created by artist Albie Herbert) is a 2.5 metre totemic cement sculpture with scenes from the old whaling station carved out on panels.

The nearby suburb of Marmion and Marmion Avenue are named after him.

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Above: The ‘Odyssey’ at Sorrento remembers the areas association while the Patrick Marmion Memorial can also be found in the nearby Padbury Circle, Geneff Park

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I was relieved when nobody died!

IRISH ACTOR COLIN FARRELL IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE ALIVE TODAY WITH A GENUINE IDEA AND INSIGHT INTO WHAT LIFE MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR THE MEN WHO MADE THEIR LIVING BY HUNTING WHALES. Farrell (45) plays the lead role of Henry Dax in a brutal five-part 2021 mini-series about a whaling ship that sets out from Hull in the UK in the 1850s. Dax’s murderous tendencies extend beyond harpooning whales.

The hard-to-watch series opens with a murder and more and then goes into bloody and gruesome scenes of seals being butchered and whales being slaughtered.

“I was sent the book and my agents thought it wouldn’t necessarily be in my wheelhouse,” Farrell, who is from Dublin, told a newspaper reporter, “but within 50 pages I knew I wanted to make it.

“To some people it’s bleak and violent, but I love that about it. It seems to say something very important about what drives us as human beings, so it made sense for me, somehow. It tuned into everything else I’ve done.

“I’ve never played a character with so little compunction or apology, or who does things this despicable. The day they said: ‘we’re heading back to open water’, I’ll never forget the relief I felt that nobody died.”

22 | THE IRISH SCENE

The production went 81 degrees north to film and create the Arctic wasteland in which the barbaric story is set. Apparently, this is further north than any film crew – outside of documentary makers – has filmed before. The actors and crew spent weeks living in close quarters in the icy conditions. One way Farrell prepared for the role was by not wearing gloves, no matter how cold temperatures dropped, so that his hands would bleed in the same way they did for the whalers back then. The fact that he could not change out of his period appropriate costume for up to six weeks helped him become one with the character and experience of Dax. “We were right on the top of the planet, about 500 miles from the North Pole,” Farrell said. “Five weeks on the boats without being on dry land, about 500 miles from the nearest town. It felt dangerous, it felt very dangerous.

It was really cold and, even though you were well covered and clothed, you could feel the body kicking into a sense of survival. But it was beautiful.”

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Perth vigils for Aisling

Perth’s Irish community – like many others in Australia and across he world – came together to hold a vigil in the wake of the shocking murder of 23 year old Tullamore teacher Aisling Murphy while she was jogging in broad daylight in her home town of Tullamore, Co. Offaly in January.

Hundreds of Irish people – including families with young children, took part in an evening time vigil and walk at the Flame of Remembrance in Kings Park on January 19, organised by the Claddagh Association and supported

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by every Irish cultural and sporting group as well as several Irish run businesses in Perth. Organisers of the event called her murder, “a dark day for the Irish community and women all over the world”.

A group of musicians played traditional Irish airs and a flute and fiddle as well as a top with her county’s colours were amongst the tributes laid out for the young Irish woman who was in adition to being a promising and popular educator was also heavily involved with her local GAA club and a musician in her own right. Elaine O’ Grady who attended the vigil tweeted: “The beautiful song of the kookaburra who sang along to the stunning traditional Irish music at the vigil tonight for #AshlingMurphy in Perth,”.

Similar events were staged across Australia, including one at the Amphitheatre at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane “to remember her and all who have died by genderbased violence”, organised by the Irish Australian Support Association Queensland. A piece written for her.ie

by Anna Rourke described a sunrise

vigil in Sydney attended by dozens of people on the hill above Bronte Beach and spoke to the emotions felt by all who were touched by her death.

“In front of the crowd on the grass, a row of candles illuminates a framed photo of smiling young woman,” she wrote. Sunrise-watching at beaches across the city is a staple social activity for lots of Sydney’s Irish expats.

It became more popular than ever during last year’s lockdown, when outdoor meetups were the only opportunity for many of us, living thousands of miles from our families, to see friends. But Saturday’s clifftop gathering is by far the biggest I’ve ever seen at Bronte... The primary school teacher’s murder has deeply shaken many of us in Sydney. The mood among those gathered with their candles on the hill this morning is of sadness – and utter disbelief.”

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DAT E FOR YOU R DI A RY WAIFC

Annual An Gorta Mor Famine Commemoration Sunday 15th May 2022 @ 3pm

At An Gorta Mor Memorial, Market Square, Subiaco Will include the handing over of a Travel Box to The Geraldton Historical Society.

ENQUIRIES: Jim Egan 0413 866 320 or Fred Rea 0418 943 832 From Left: Fred Rea, Chair WAIFC, Heather Henderson, Mayor Subiaco, President Michael D Higgins and Sabina Coyne at unveiling of memorial.

The event is dedicated to the young women who came to Western Australia on the Travancore and the Palestine following the Famine years of 1845 to 1848. They came from workhouses in Ireland. All were destitute and some had lost their parents and families. Many were 'orphans' and others were simply unable to support themselves within the family.

'I am an orphan girl, in Westport I was found, The workhouse is my world, since the praties took us down, What time in life is left to me, if I don't leave Westport town, But the crown is sending girls to sea, for far Australia bound.

Sail, sail, sail me away, Sail to Australia, Sail, sail, sail me I pray, sail me away to Australia.

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Irish fishermen get shirty about whales

BY LLOYD GORMAN

A BUNCH OF PLUCKY IRISH FISHERMEN HAS DONE WHAT A FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER PROMISED BUT FAILED TO DO. IN 2014, TONY ABBOTT SAID HE WOULD “SHIRTFRONT” RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN OVER THE DOWNING OF MALAYSIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT MH17 IN EASTERN UKRAINE, IN WHICH 38 AUSTRALIANS LOST THEIR LIVES. “I’m going to shirtfront Mr Putin ... you bet I am,” he said on TV. In the end his bark was worse than his bite.

Admittedly, it would take a lot to stand up to Putin whose country does not muck around with defence issues, but it seems Russia bit off more than it could chew when planning to carry out maritime war games in the Atlantic Ocean, about 150 miles off the west coast of Ireland, in an area inside the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone in a spot fished by Irish trawlers, mainly from Castletownbere, West Cork. The welfare of whales and other sea creatures formed a big part of why the Irish were so defiant.

The fishermen and their representative organisation – the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (ISWFPO) – met with Yuriy Filatov, the Russian Ambassador to Ireland, in late January to make their case. They said they would continue to fish the area as normal, despite the danger posed by Russian vessels going through their drills.

26 | THE IRISH SCENE

“We don’t want anyone doing live fire in our waters; it’s our backyard, it’s where we make our living,” fisherman Alan Carlton told an (Irish) CNN reporter.

“We’re worried about what live fire might do to fish stock and marine life. There’s whales and dolphins out there, it’s bound to interfere with them and frighten them like. It’d frighten me if a bomb went off there, so it’s bound to frighten them.”

The reporter, Donnie O’Sullivan, asked Carlton what message he would send to the Russian President.

“Maybe they could go out to deeper water where they wouldn’t affect the fish stock as much,” he replied.

Around the same time as the fishermen were rocking up at the Russian embassy the Irish government – which, some said, came late to the party – was throwing its own shapes. On January 25, CarlowKilkenny TD Malcolm Noonan issued a statement saying he was deeply concerned about the military exercises planned by the Russians.

“While we do not know the nature of these exercises,”

IRISH FISHERMEN GET SHIRTY ABOUT WHALES

he said, “we do know that underwater sounds, such as active military sonar, can have devastating consequences for cetaceans, including some of our rarest marine mammal species, notably the deepdiving and rarely-seen blue whale, sperm whale and beaked whales.

“It can cause significant disruption to their hearing systems and normal behaviour, and may lead to permanent or even lethal injury. I have written to Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and the Russian Ambassador to express these concerns,” the Green Party TD said. “Ireland’s marine mammals have been the focus of considerable research efforts over the past three decades and the understanding of species occurrence, abundance and distribution has improved markedly in that time.

“Most recently the ObSERVE project, run jointly by my Department (Heritage) and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, mapped cetaceans through aerial and ship-based surveys over a three-year period and across an extensive area of our offshore waters. The second phase of this project – ObSERVE 2 – is currently ongoing.”

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The message must have got through. On January 29, Mr Filatov issued a press release confirming that Russia had capitulated to the Irish demands.

He said: “In response to requests from the Irish government and the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, the Minister of Defence Sergey Shoigu has decided, as a gesture of goodwill,

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to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy, planned for February 3-8, outside the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone, with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.”

When word of the Russian backdown came through, Patrick Murphy of the ISWFPO was astonished.

“Wow, I’m shocked,” he said. “I didn’t think little old us in the Irish south and west would have an impact on international diplomacy.”

Among those taking note was a big fish in the European Union -- Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.

“Irish fishermen got their diplomatic game on!,” he tweeted on January 30. “They managed to stop Russian military exercises that would undermine their activities and marine life. Real custodians of the sea on duty! The world could use more of you!” Not surprisingly, this story made headlines around the world, but it is worth remembering this is not the first time Cork locals have eyeballed the powerful country. In September 1898, the Skibbereen Eagle published an editorial that gained international attention and earned it a place in Irish history. “We warn the Tsar,” it said.

“This newspaper will keep its eye on the Emperor of Russia, and all such despotic enemies – whether at home or abroad – of human progression, and man’s natural rights, which undoubtedly include a nation’s claim to self-government.”

WHEN WARSHIPS BECOME ACCIDENTAL WHALING SHIPS Military exercises at sea involve the firing of munitions and an increased use of sonar and other technology that have been shown to be damaging to marine life, including whales and dolphins.

Often these creatures become casualties of a phoney war in other ways. In May last year, the Australian destroyer HMAS Sydney (7000 tonnes and approximately 147m long) conducted joint training exercises with the American navy in Southern California. As the Sydney pulled into pier at an American naval base in San Diego it became clear the carcasses of two fin whales had been caught and trapped underneath its hull.

Fin whales are the second largest cetacean in the world, next only to the blue whale. One of the trapped whales was reported to be 65 feet (19.81 metres) long and the other 25 feet (7.62 metres).

28 | THE IRISH SCENE

“The Navy takes marine mammal safety seriously and is disheartened this incident occurred,” a US Navy statement said. Both navies were due to review the incident.

Closer to home and a bit further back in time, a big humpback whale came off worse in an encounter between it and HMAS Perth. In October 2009, the animal was killed when it breached and hit the port bow of the 118-metre, 3600-tonne frigate about six nautical miles east of Rottnest during routine exercises. A Navy spokesman said it was not possible for the ship to have taken evasive action.

No damage or harm was caused to the ship and crew. “Incidents like this are sometimes unavoidable and any injury to the whale is regretted,” he added.

TITANIC TRAWLER SPOOKS IRISH FISHING GROUNDS Foreign warships are not the only ones taking liberties with Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone that stretches about 200 miles (320km) west into the high seas of the Atlantic ocean.

No sooner had the Russians backed away when the next threat emerged. The Dutch-owned FV Margiris – a so-called super trawler said to be the same size as the Titantic and sailing under the Lithuanian flag – was in waters off Mayo.

Just a week earlier, the same ship – the world’s second largest fishing vessel – spilled 100,000 dead fish into the Bay of Biscay creating an environmental disaster and alarm for French maritime and government authorities. The Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association, which represents the ship’s owner, described it as “a rare occurrence” that was caused by a ruptured net. Appropriate legal steps were taken after the incident, the association added. But the French branch of the environmental watchdog, Sea Shepherd, filmed the incident and said it believed the

IRISH FISHERMEN GET SHIRTY ABOUT WHALES

Right: Greenpeace campaigners protest the FV Marigis in South Australian waters. fish (blue whiting) were deliberately dumped because they were not the type the trawler wanted to process.

This practice – known as discharging bycatch – is illegal under EU fishing rules. The presence of the massive trawler raised serious concerns for activists, authorities and commentators in the marine sector.

Dr Simon Berrow, from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, said there needed to be greater transparency and monitoring of these vessels.

“The evidence on (Irish) beaches, especially at this time of year, is that there is a big bycatch,” he told the Irish Independent. “There has been an increase in the number of common dolphins stranded since 2011; it gets bigger every year. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is concerned about the bycatch of dolphins by large vessels, and independent observers recording the incidental catch of non-target species is essential.

It has to be an EU decision.”

Marine biologist Kevin Flannery agreed there needed

to be closer scrutiny of these super trawlers. “It’s a ship the size of the Titanic,” he told the Irish Independent. “You’re looking at a net with the opening of Sydney Opera House or Croke Park. You’re looking at huge volumes. Ireland’s fleet is a fresh fish fleet, but these factory ships are freezing (what they catch). “What has already occurred in the past week leaves serious, serious doubts in the mind in relation to what’s going on without full-time monitors. The pictures were shocking — and then they steam out of there and go up the west coast of Mayo.”

The 9500-tonne FV Margiris – previously known as Abel Tasman – already had form in other parts of the world, including Australia. Ten years ago a campaign

by Greenpeace about the ship – which had a quota to catch 18,000 tonnes of fish in Australian waters – led to such a public outcry that it was banned by the government of the day which was later upheld by the federal court.

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Great tales of whales and Gaels!

BY LLOYD GORMAN

ON FEBRUARY 2 IT WAS EXACTLY 100 YEARS SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF JAMES JOYCE’S SEMINAL NOVEL ULYSSES. In its simplest form, this ground-breaking book is the story of various characters over the course of one day (June 16, 1904) in Dublin. While the narrative contains literary techniques and tricks that had never been seen before, Joyce also went to painstaking lengths to make sure everyday background details were accurate and true-to-life for that moment in time.

Interestingly, it contains seven references to whales and whaling, reflecting a commonplace familiarity with them. The use of “whalebone busk” is mentioned in relation to the “vice-like corsets” used by ladies at the time to artificially achieve a “diamond-trimmed pelvis”.

In one heated scene between two of the main characters – Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan – Joyce makes an interesting description of a wellknown local landmark: “They halted, looking towards the blunt cape of Bray Head that lay on the water like the snout of a sleeping whale. Stephen freed his arm quietly.”

There is even a graphic description of a beaching event and subsequent slaughter: “A school of turlehide whales stranded in hot noon, spouting, hobbling in the shallows.

Then from the starving cagework city a horde of jerkined dwarfs, my people, with flayers’ knives, running, scaling, hacking in green blubbery whalemeat. Famine, plague and slaughters. Their blood is in me, their lusts my waves.”

30 | THE IRISH SCENE

By sheer coincidence, the centenary of Ulysses was celebrated about 7km down the coast from the “snout” of Bray Head in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, with a literary and performance event at the Whale Theatre!

“Whales are mysterious, mesmerising creatures -- that’s what we hope to provide with our theatre,” owner and real estate agent Ross McParland told the Wicklow News when he opened the venue in 2018.

IRELAND HARPOONED BY JOHN BULL Australia and Ireland both make an interesting, albeit brief, entry in the world’s most famous book about whaling, Moby Dick or The Whale by American author Herman Melville, published in 1851.

“That great America on the other side

GREAT TALES OF WHALES AND GAELS

of the sphere, Australia, was given to the enlightened world by the whaleman,” the book’s narrator, Ishmael, tells us in chapter 24. “After its first blunder-born discovery by a Dutchman, all other ships long shunned those shores as pestiferously barbarous; but the whale-ship touched there.

“The whale-ship is the true mother of that now mighty colony. Moreover, in the infancy of the first Australian settlement, the emigrants were several times saved from starvation by the benevolent biscuit of the whale-ship luckily dropping an anchor in their waters. The uncounted isles of all Polynesia confess the same truth, and do commercial homage to the whaleship, that cleared the way for the missionary and the merchant, and in many cases carried the primitive missionaries to their first destinations.

“If that double-bolted land, Japan, is ever to become hospitable, it is the whale-ship alone to whom the credit will be due; for already she is on the threshold.”

Ireland’s troubled relationship with England is couched in whaling terms: “What to that redoubted

harpooneer, John Bull [England], is poor Ireland, but a Fast-Fish?”

What this means and why Ishmael makes this comment are best understood in the context of the argument Melville makes in the book. But something in another chapter helps us understand the whaling allusion.

“What is a Fast-Fish?” Ishmael asks. “Alive or dead, a fish is technically fast, when it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, by any medium at all controllable by the occupant or occupants -- a mast, an oar, a nineinch cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the same.

Likewise, a fish is technically fast when it bears a waif, or any other recognised symbol of possession; so long as the party waifing it plainly evince their ability at any time to take it alongside, as well as their intention so to do.”

Some 105 years after Moby Dick was published, it was adapted for the silver screen as a major Hollywood blockbuster with a star-studded cast. The role of the

THE IRISH SCENE | 31

GREAT TALES OF WHALES AND GAELS

ship’s carpenter (who gets two chapters in the book) was played by Dublin actor Noel Purcell .

With his unmistakable Dublin accent and distinctive beard, Purcell stood out but he was not the only Irish person in the movie – as anyone from Youghal can rightly tell you.

MOBY’S IRISH TRICK In 1954, the film’s director John Houston chose the east Cork coastal town to be New Bedford in Massachusetts, the setting for Moby Dick. The presence of some of Hollywood’s biggest actors – Gregory Peck played Captain Ahab - and the task of transforming it into a historical facsimile saw Youghal become a boom town and a tourist attraction.

Until recently, Youghal’s link with the film was mainly defined by a pub which, even today, is stuffed with old photographs and memorabilia of the film shoot.

Originally called Linehan’s (after its then owner, Paddy Linehan), it became the Moby Dick not long after filming ceased. It was used by Houston as his base of operations during filming. Its waterside location and A list clientele meant it was a very busy and popular watering hole. Linehan died in 2004 but in a recent interview with the Irish Times his son Kevin recounted that his father had many yarns about the film.

“The place was buzzing,” he said. “They had to bring in fellows with picks and shovels to dredge the quays to get the Pequod moored and I remember my father saying we sold enough sherry that summer to float the ship. He said it was like sitting on a top of an oil well.”

Not only did the production create plenty of work

for local labourers and tradesmen it also provided an opportunity for some locals to get a taste of silver screen excitement by becoming paid extras.

The Pequod is the name of the 19th century Nantucket whaling ship featured in Moby Dick but the ship used in the film was built in the UK. The two schooners in the movie, Harvest King and James Postlethwaite, were both from Arklow, Co. Wicklow.

Recently, the local community renewed its Moby Dick heritage through a new piece of public art -- a sculpture depicting Captain Ahab (also known as Old Thunder) at the helm of his whaling ship. The €35,000 sculpture was designed and developed by Cloyne-based artist Matthew Thompson and paid for by government and community groups. Mary Linehan Foley, County of Cork mayor at the time, said: “It is an honour to unveil this commemoration for such a fondly remembered occasion in my hometown of Youghal. Our family business at the time, Linehan’s Butchers, formed an important part of the set and, having been used as a pub in the film, my mother subsequently had the idea to turn the business into the Moby Dick bar. “Much like a Hollywood movie, this latest project has been made possible by the collective efforts of many people. This statue will be a wonderful addition to the town, an attraction for tourists and a reminder of an iconic time in the town’s history.”

☘

32 | THE IRISH SCENE

There has never been a better time to migrate to Australia!

Australia’s borders are now open and there are jobs-aplenty! Wages have risen in many industry sectors over the past 2 years and Australian employers are prepared to pay top dollar for top people. EasiVisa is working closely with a number of large Western Australian employers who are recruiting overseas because we don’t have enough Australians to fill the available jobs. Our client employers are ready, willing and able to sponsor experienced skilled workers for a subclass 482 or 494 visa. A 494 visa is a provisional residence visa that is granted for 5 years, and comes with access to Medicare and free schooling for children in our State schools. The visa holder (and family) is able to apply for permanent residence completely independently of the employer sponsor once they’ve worked for the employer sponsor for a full 3 years on the 494 visa and met all of their visa conditions. Most visa applicants must be under 45 years of age; will need to prove a minimum of 3 years’ work experience in their nominated occupation and must have a positive migration skills assessment to apply for a 494 visa. English tests are not required for Irish and UK passport holders. After 3 years, as long as the visa holder has ticked all the necessary visa boxes, they can apply for a subclass 191 permanent residence visa.

You can read about both of these visas at

www.homeaffairs.gov.au .

A 482 visa is a temporary work visa that can be granted for up to 4 years. The visa applicant usually needs a minimum of 2 years’ work experience in their nominated occupation but is unlikely to require migration skills assessment. Again, no English test required for Irish and UK passport holders. This visa is often applied for by migrants who aren’t able to apply for a PR visa or have work experience but no qualifications. There is no upper age limit with the 482 visa. Lots of 482 visa holders secure a pathway to permanent residence even though they have no qualifications. Age is important at the PR stage. You can read more about this visa at www. homeaffairs.gov.au .

The Western Australian businesses that we work with are currently seeking Registered Nurses (particularly ICU and ED), Doctors (ICU and ED), General Practitioners, Psychiatrists, Dentists, Physiotherapists, Hospitality Managers, Chefs and Cooks, Hairdressers and Barbers, Child Care Centre Managers and Child Care Educators (Diploma Qualified). If you have family or friends overseas who are looking to transform their life and move to WA … please ask them to reach out. There has possibly never been a better time to migrate to Australia!

☘

THE IRISH SCENE | 33

MARTIN KAVANAGH

HON CONSUL OF IRELAND

ST PATRICKS FESTIVAL It’s time to celebrate our national day again. St Patrick’s day is a time when the world turns its attention on Ireland and a time where we reflect on our own sense of identity. As so many of us know, being away from Ireland on St Pats can be both a positive and challenging experience.

Positive because we are reminded of how good a life and future many of us have here in Western Australia and challenging because the tyranny of distance can make us homesick and sad at times. Covid-19 has only increased the sense of isolation. About the only thing we know for certain about Covid-19 is that nothing is certain.

However, it finally seems that we will soon have the opportunity to travel to Ireland with much less difficulty and we hope to welcome friends and family to WA. There is at least hope. In the words of Irish poet Derek Mahon:

2022. The Government of Ireland is delighted to financially contribute to the festival through the Emigrant Support Programme. On behalf of the Irish community in Perth may I thank Olan and his wonderful team of volunteers for all their hard work and enthusiasm in bringing us such a wonderful event. Tickets are limited due to Covid- so please book your ticket early. More information is available at:

www.stpatricksfestivalwa.com.

TRAVELLING TO IRELAND Health requirements for travel to Ireland are subject to change. At the time of writing this is the best information we have.

1.

Everyone arriving in Ireland must complete a Passenger Locator Form within 72hrs of before boarding a flight or taking a boat to Ireland.

2.

You must also have one of the following when you arrive in Ireland:

•

The sun rises in spite of everything And the far cities are beautiful and bright.

I lie here in a riot of sunlight watching the daybreak and the clouds flying.

Everything is going to be alright.

An EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) that shows you are fully vaccinated with an EMA approved vaccine, or have recovered from COVID-19, or

•

Other acceptable proof that you have been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine, or you have recovered from COVID-19, or

1.

Hopefully, everything will be alright. Richard and I wish everyone a very happy St Patrick’s Day. Beannacttai na Feile Padraig.

Proof of a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before your arrival

2.

People arriving in Ireland do not need to quarantine.

3.

You should follow public health advice if you develop symptoms of COVID-19 or if you are a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19.

•

You do not need a COVID-19 test before arriving in Ireland if any of the following applies to you:

ST PATRICKS FESTIVAL It’s great to see that the St Patrick’s festival will return to Leederville on Saturday 12 March

165/580 Hay Street, East Perth WA 6004 By appointment only CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Tel: (08) 6557 5802 Fax: (08) 9218 8433 Email: info@consulateofirelandwa.com.au Website: www.consulateofirelandwa.com.au Office Hours: Mon-Fri 10.30 - 2.00pm 34 | THE IRISH SCENE

•

You have an EU Digital COVID Certificate that shows you are fully vaccinated

•

You have an EU Digital COVID Certificate that shows you have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 180 days

•

You are aged 11 or under

•

You have another acceptable proof that you are fully vaccinated with an EMA approved vaccine, or that you have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 180 days

1.

If none of the above applies to you, you must have a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before your arrival in Ireland.

2.

You may find the following websites useful for further information.

Entering Ireland

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_ and_recreation/travel_to_ireland/travel_to_ ireland_during_covid.html#l2ca04 Passenger Locator Form – completed within 72 hours before travelling

https://travel.eplf.gov.ie/en

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THE IRISH SCENE | 35

VC out of reach for daring Irish captain of Australia’s first submarine

BY LLOYD GORMAN

An Australian submarine – skippered by a fearless Dublin naval commander – played a defining role in the military events of April 25 at Gallipoli, the date that has become enshrined as ANZAC Day. At a highly critical moment for the massive land sea operation

by Allied forces his actions determined the course of the whole campaign and it even helped to give us the popular term Diggers to describe the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

At the outbreak of World War I Australia was not short on enthusiastic and proud men willing to do their part for ‘King and country’. But as the drums of war were beating harder the still fledgling former colony – which had just federated 14 years earlier – was poorly equipped in terms of the military hardware needed to take the fight to the enemy. For one thing, while it had ships and a long naval and maritime tradition the Royal Australian Navy did not have any submarines in its fleet. The RAN turned to the British for help. Two E Class subs (AE1 and AE2) were built in English

36 | THE IRISH SCENE

ship yards in 1913 and commissioned a year later with a mixed crew of sailors from the more experienced Royal Navy and RAN. The two new underwater boats set out from England on March 14 1914 and arrived into Sydney Harbour on May 24. At the time it was the longest distance travelled by submarine anywhere in the world. AE2 sailed under the command of Lieutenant Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker, who was on loan from the RN to its Australian equivalent. Months after their arrival WWI broke out and the submarines were quickly despatched with the naval force sent to capture Germany’s pacific colonies, including New Guinea. Their role was to help protect the flotilla but unfortunately for the 35 crew members of the AE1 she disappeared without trace or explanation on the first day of action in mid-September.

The mysterious loss marred what was otherwise a successful operation to occupy the islands (which were renamed, including New Ireland and New Britain).

It would also have weighed

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| 37

VC OUT OF REACH FOR DARING IRISH CAPTAIN OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SUBMARINE

particularly heavily on their comrades in AE2.

Just a week before Christmas 1914 Stoker and his men sailed out of Sydney headed for Albany in WA where she was to join the second convoy of Australian Imperial Forces gathering in King George’s Sound. After an uncomfortable and difficult voyage the convoy arrived in Suez at the end of January 1915. In February they joined a squadron of RN ships preparing to take part in the upcoming campaign. Just before April 25 Stoker presented his superior officer a bold plan to cut a passage through the 35 mile long, heavily defended Dardanelles Strait to reach the Sea of Marmora and cause as much damage and confusion to the enemy as possible.

Other Allied submarines had tried to breach the dangerous passage which was awash with minefield, Turkish ships, gun batteries, sweeping spotlights and other defences. Their first attempt on April 24 was foiled by a technical problem with the sub, but they were ready to go the next day.

“I lay at the entrance off the Dardanelles until moonset and at about 2:30am on 25th April entered the straits at 8 knots,” Stoker wrote. “Weather calm and clear. As the order to run amok in the Narrows precluded all possibility of passing through unseen, I decided to travel on the surface as far as possible.”

For two hours AE2 cruised along on the surface before she was spotted and artillery from nearby forts rained down while she submerged quickly.

For the next thirty minutes she moved gingerly through the minefield and often had the tethers of the mines scrapping against the hull of their vessel.

Twice Stoker had to surface in minefields so he could take navigational readings. At one point AE2 became grounded – in fact she became grounded twice – and was left exposed to a group of Turkish ships, including two torpedo boats, a gunboat and various other boats, all of which opened fire on the nearby stranded submarine. Stokes and his crew were somehow able to dislodge their vessel and slip back into the water, and continued their raiding efforts.

“In connection with these two groundings, I have to report that the behaviour of the crew was exemplary,”

38 | THE IRISH SCENE

Stoker wrote. “In these two highly dangerous situations it was only their cool and intelligent performance of their duties which enabled the vessel to be refloated.”

AE2 spent 16 hours submerged, picking targets, dodging attacks and doing as much as possible to harass and the Turks.

About 9pm they surfaced to find they were alone in the water.

Sitting on the surface in the open air was a perfect opportunity to recharge the sub’s batteries. Stoker also used the moment to send a message (through morse code) to the Commander-in-Chief Sir Ian Hamilton to report they had broken through the heavily defended sea passage and penetrated deep into Turkish territory. As the signal went through the AE2’s aerial purple and blue sparks came off it. The 22 year old seaman who sent the message tried again and again to confirm the message had gotten through but the unexpected fireworks display convinced them it had not gotten through and they carried on with their campaign of chaos.

It was a critical moment in Australian military history.

Around the same time as they were able to stop and have a breather Hamilton and his generals were holding a crunch meeting onboard the British flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, just off the Gallipoli peninsula.

They were assessing the events of the first day of the sea borne invasion of

VC OUT OF REACH FOR DARING IRISH CAPTAIN OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SUBMARINE

to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.

Stoker and his men were captured and spent the rest of WWI in a Turkish prisoner of war camp.

True to his duty as a British officer he hatched three escape attempts but he also used time in captivity to keep up the morale of his fellow POWs, by entertaining them! As well as a flair for military action and being a naturally gifted sportsman Stoker was talented in other departments. A first cousin of Bram Stoker – author of Dracula – also from Dublin, Henry was creative in his own right. In 1925 he published an autobiography ‘Straws in the wind’ and between became 1930 and 1950 acted in dozens of movies and became a playwright. the Turkish region, and the heavy losses the Allied and Anzac forces suffered in the attack. Lieutenant General William Birdwood who was in command of the Anzacs recommended an immediate evacuation his forces to his superiors.

“The council of war was dramatically interrupted when one of Hamilton’s aides handed a copy of Stoker’s signal to Commodore Roger Keyes who announced “Tell them [the troops on the shore] this.

It is an omen. An Australian submarine has done the finest feat in submarine history and is going to torpedo all the ships bringing reinforcements, supplies and ammunition into Gallipoli,”, an article about AE2 on Navy.gov.au said.

“This was a tremendous fillip and in his response to Birdwood, Hamilton wrote “Your news is indeed serious. But there is nothing for it but to dig yourselves right in and stick it out. It would take at least two days to re-embark you, as Admiral Thursby will explain to you. Meanwhile, the Australian submarine has got up through the narrows and has torpedoed a gunboat…Hunter-Weston, despite his heavy losses, will be advancing tomorrow which should divert pressure from you. Make a personal appeal to your men…to make a supreme effort to hold their ground. P.S. You have got through the difficult business, now you have only to dig, dig, dig until you are safe.” The Australian ‘Digger’ was born.

He stepped back from the navy and his own submarine command shortly after the end of the war but would serve again in World War II. In 1962, Stoker, who was by now 77, became Croquet Singles Champion of Ireland. He died on his 81st birthday, in 1966.

For his command of AE2 in Gallipoli Stoker was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918.

Three other submarine commanders who served at Gallipoli, all British Royal Navy [RN} officers, including Lt Commander Boyle, were recognised with Victoria Cross medals, the highest decoration that can be paid to any member of the British or Commonwealth forces. Like his counterparts Stoker was a RN man but he was on loan to the Royal Australian Navy [RAN] at the time.

Stoker has long been spoken about as a worthy candidate for a VC under the Australian system. He was one of 13 historic Australian military personnel to have their cases reviewed in 2010 by the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. There were 13 written and seven oral submissions made in support of Stokers plight.

Other Allied submarines would follow in the path of Australian sub and at one point she briefly met a British counterpart E14, commanded by a Lieutenant Commanders Edward Courtney Boyle.

After five days in action AE’s mission ended on April 30 when she was badly damaged in a fight with a torpedo boat. Stoker and his crew scuttled their sub THE IRISH SCENE | 39

VC OUT OF REACH FOR DARING IRISH CAPTAIN OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SUBMARINE

The comparison with the other three submarine commanders but in the opinion of the Tribunal no two cases were exactly the same.

“Stoker lost his submarine; the other captains mentioned above did not,” the Tribunal reported.

“No new or compelling evidence was produced by the submitters leading to a review of Stoker’s action.

The Tribunal concluded that Stoker was appropriately awarded the DSO. The Tribunal recommends no action be taken to award Lieutenant Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker a VC for Australia or other further form of recognition for his gallantry or valour.”

Lest we forget!

THEY MADE THEIR MARK! Three Men. Three Victoria Crosses.

One Rugby Club. What are Heroes made of?

Three rugby players, all from the same club went on to play internationally, but then all three went on to be awarded the highest military honours for valour, the Victoria Cross. It has only happened once and is unlikely to ever happen again. So why do so few know their names or even the club they played for?

What was it that made these three men so special, was it the rugby club they belonged to, was it their upbringing or was it the sport of rugby union?

Mark Our Place – a documentary by Ashley Morrison Musical Entertainer / Teacher

– tells the story of these three remarkable men, in the hope that their achievements will never be forgotten.

It will be screened at The Blacklot Perth, 21 Simpson Street, West Perth, between 2pm and 4.30pm. For bookings and further details go to eventbrite.

☘

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THE IRISH SCENE | 41

G’day from Gary Gray AUSTRALIA’S AMBASSADOR IN IRELAND

Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Australian Embassy, Ireland by following:

@ausembire

Australian Embassy, Ireland

@AusEmbIre

42 | THE IRISH SCENE

Australia Day is about the future and the past Last month, all of Australia was in celebration with the announcement our government has acquired copyright to the Australian Aboriginal flag so it can be used freely by all. Since it was first used in a demonstration in 1971, it has grown to become a symbol of indigenous unity and pride. This announcement came on the week we celebrate Australia Day and is fitting of the new and multifaceted nation we have become.

Of course our journey has not been smooth sailing. On January 26th, 1788, Arthur Phillip arrived at what is now Sydney Cove, Australia and raised the national flag of the United Kingdom. In doing so, he founded the British colony of New South Wales and, at the same time, commenced the dispossession and marginalisation of Indigenous people who have occupied the land for at least 60,000 years. This is now, a sad and undisputed reality which it took much too long for the Australian people to acknowledge.

During this time, many Indigenous people were removed from their traditional lands and stopped from practicing their language and culture by the burgeoning administration.

This is an enduring hurt that still has consequences in modern Australia today.

It is understandable therefore why some Irish people in Australia and here in Ireland might wonder why our annual national celebration of Australia Day marks this occasion.

When considering this question, it is important to recognise what we are celebrating and why. Though not everything is perfect in contemporary Australia, Australia ranks as one of the best countries to live in the world by international comparisons of wealth, education, health and quality of life. This is something we are and will continue to be proud of. As well as these very tangible measurements, Australia legislated to legalise samesex marriage in 2017 and continues to be one of the most multicultural societies in the world.

Australians carry our weight and more in the great challenges of the world. We will meet and exceed our Paris Climate Targets for example, and we strongly support the net zero emissions by 2050 pledge made at COP26. More recently we have, and will continue to support our Pacific neighbours in their ongoing response to covid-19 by helping in the logistical distribution and donation of vaccines. These are achievements of our modern, strong and diverse

G’DAY FROM GARY GRAY

democracy and that is what we celebrate on January 26th. There is simply no way to deny that the story of modern Australia; its rule of law, equality of the sexes, scientific curiosity, technological progress, its responsible government and the reflectiveness that makes us conscious of our failings towards Aboriginal people started from this date. For in all walks of life, one’s response to adversity demonstrates the content of one’s character and while we look back with deep regret, we must also look forward.

Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins understood this concept intrinsically when he made an historic apology to the Aboriginal people of Australia in 2017 when he visited Perth. While recognising the hardship of Irish arrivals to the British colony, President Higgins said, “If we are to be truly unblinking in our gaze, we must acknowledge that while most Irish emigrants experienced some measure - often a large measure - of prejudice and injustice, there were some among the number who inflicted injustice too.”

A country’s national holiday is not designed therefore to reflect the values at the time of its origin, nor is it supposed to be an unfiltered celebration of everything that has ever happened within the state or by its people since that time. St. Patrick’s Day for example was introduced by the British Government in 1903 after James O’ Meara MP brought it before the House of Commons.

However when Irish people take to the streets in 2022 to celebrate the day, thoughts will not be of 1903 and James O Meara, nor of 461AD and the death of the Welsh man, St. Patrick. Their thoughts will not be of how women were treated in 5th Century Ireland,

nor of how Ireland had yet to gain its independence from the United Kingdom in 1903. Instead, reflections will consider how its people have used their time and resources since then to build the modern Republic we see today: A Republic to be proud of and to be celebrated.

In Australia that is our desire as well. None of this is supposed to take away from the immeasurable suffering but rather to recognise and understand better the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to elders past, present and emerging by seeking a new and modern nation state that brings together all of its people into a single shared vision.

Nations are like people, we all go through a personal growth journey, reconciling who we were with who we are is part of a journey, it’s a journey to who we want to be. So Australia is on a difficult journey, on a pathway of our making, it’s a journey of growth.

OUR PAST CONTAINS SADNESS AND PAIN, WE MUST OWN THAT AND BY DOING SO, WE WILL GROW. THIS IS MODERN AUSTRALIA AND JANUARY 26, 1788 WAS THE MOMENT WHERE THE JOURNEY TO OUR MODERN AUSTRALIA BEGAN. I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED A HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY. ☘ THE IRISH SCENE | 43

G’Day from Melbourne.

BY MIKE BOWEN

was told later) onto the road and then proceeded I’VE SAID AND WRITTEN MANY TIMES (Icrossing three busy major road junctions and finally coming to a holt approximately 8 KS away from my OVER THE YEARS WHY THERE IS home. The police cars, and a helicopter arrived to ALWAYS HOPE, EVEN WHEN YOU check out the sight to see, if I might have hurt others while driving and for any damage that I might have ARE AT YOUR LOWEST EBB. PRIOR caused. They agreed that I was not a car jacker or TO FEBRUARY 22ND LAST YEAR a hit and run driver. The result of that was, being whisked away by ambulance and spending three LIFE WAS FAIRLY NORMAL FOR ME, days in emergency and having multiple scans, x-rays, blood test and constant monitoring my nurses and CONSIDERING THE BLACK CLOUD doctors.

(COVID 19) THAT WAS AND IS STILL HANGING OVER OUR HEADS. I SAID EARLIER, EVEN IN YOUR LOWEST EBB

THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.

Thinking I was lucky up to that date that I had side stepped covid-19, there was a rude awakening just about to tap me on the back right hand side of my head to let me know how life can change in a matter of seconds. Fairly normal up to that time then changed for me to life threatening by having a blood clot (Stroke). In the haze of my mind, I drove my car

44 | THE IRISH SCENE

In my case I am the must optimistic person you would ever wish to meet, considering that was the fourth time I have escaped near death. Amazingly I have recovered all functions and escaped without a scratch. Do I believe in miracles you might well ask?

You met I do.

G’DAY FROM MELBOURNE

Now to the rewards for of my optimism and belief that a Phoenix can rise from the ashes. Late last year I finally got to travel again, having a few trips in Victoria and getting back on an airplane again to meet with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce as you may have read, in the last issue of Scene. I took Alan’s advice on the do and don’t on international travel. On March 1st my son Jonathan who is also a contributor to (Irish Scene Magazine) and I, will be flying off to the land where God spends his summer holidays.

(Ireland of course). What’s in store for us, is spending time with family, lifelong theatre and muso friends in Cork. Then traveling on to Co Kerry to spending more time with friends in Tralee. I fell in love with Kerry the first time I crossed over the Cork and Kerry border well before Mobil phones and the internet was invented. In the hundred plus times I have returned to Ireland since migrating here in 1974 I have always had Kerry on my return to visit list. Dingle, the peninsula and Dun Caoin Slay Head is always at the top of my must visit list. That’s where the Academy award winning movie ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ was filmed and it’s also where I wrote some of my books (The attached picture, is of the School House from the movie after weathering many years of the Atlantic storms on the cliff top. From Kerry its then on to the most popular city in Ireland, Galway. Again, to visit friends, family and to meet with some very special people (Unsung Hero’s in my book) who run a charity called Hand in Hand, that supports children with cancer and their families.

AS WAS SANG IN AS SONG MANY YEARS AGO ‘IT’S ANOTHER TANK OF GAS AND BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN’

heading to Cork to catch a flight to London, to watch Ireland play England at Twickenham in the six nations tournament. A visit to Abby Road recording studio to cross the famous Zebra crossing should fit in nicely also. Then its time to take a train trip to,? where else but Liverpool. No, not what you’re thinking a football game. Its time to visit the Cavern and strawberry fields and a few other musical icon destinations. Next stop is Manchester after a short train ride to see Manchester United play Atletico

Madrid in a European cup game. Next day and another train ride from Manchester to London to catch a flight back to Cork, to be early for St Patrick’s Day in my hometown. Another catchup with friends to celebrate this prodigal son’s return after the longest time between return trips home, no thanks to Covid19.

I haven’t had a St Patrick’s day celebration in Australia for the last seven years as Covid-19 prevented me attending two of those here in Australia, the previous five were spread between Tokyo two, Cork, Killarney and Dublin one each.

No doubt, the St Pats celebrations in Cork will have a huge make up plus, for the previous lost two years. Assuming we’ll survive the St Patrick’s Day celebrations? it’s another train ride to Dublin the day after, to watch Ireland play Scotland in their last match of the six nations series at Aviva stadium.

While in Dublin we will also be catchup with Jim Geraghty, who is the international market manager for Heineken. I, Jonathan and Emmett my other son in Tokyo who is also a contributor to Irish Scene met and spent some time with Jim, his wife Orla and his young son Jack, while Jim was setting up Heineken’s promotions for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

He was kind enough to share some of Heineken’s hospitality with us, now its time to return the favour.

What better way could we wish to end a trip like this. How about having the last gem in our travel crown before we leave God’s holiday paradise, attend backstage at Vickers Street in Dublin to be with my best mates George and Eddie Furey and having a bit of strum and a few quite beers. Did I say quite beers?

I must have had a bit of confusion left over from that blood clot I had last year. Hope, there is always hope. Yes, I’m one of the lucky ones and for that I’m very grateful, for having survived that catastrophe experience on Feb 22nd last year. I’ll let you know how the trip went on my return.

UNTIL THEN, STAY SAFE AND BE GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE YOU. SLAINTE FROM MELBOURNE ☘ THE IRISH SCENE | 45

ST BRIGID’S FESTIVAL 2022

dance show - The Journey, a tale of strong Irish women told through song and dance.

The show was an emotional experience with clever choreography from Samantha McAleer and beautiful dancing from the dancers at The Academy Irish Dance Co.

St Brigid’s Festival 2022 Caroline McCarthy from Torc Céilí Club organised the inaugural St Brigid’s Festival that took place from Friday 28th to Sunday 30th January to celebrate the creativity of women through music, dance, food and art.

The Imbolc Feast on Friday 28 January was held at Kidogo Arthouse, Fremantle. The menu created by chef Seanéen Sullivan was a highlight of the festival.

Brigid is the patron of flame, hearth and forge, as well as grains, ale and dairy. She has strong connections with bees, herbs and healing. The menu celebrated the spirit of Brigid while using the finest of Western Australian ingredients (and a few Irish twists!). A huge thank you to McLoughlin Butchers for supplying us with some amazing ingredients for the meal. The party continued into the night with live music by Fiona Rea and Val Cutler and some Irish poetry from Clár Ní Chonchúir.

Saturday 29 January brought us to Corpus Christi College in Bateman for the unveiling of a new Irish 46 | THE IRISH SCENE

The songs and tunes told many tales with music from the extraordinary Fiona Rea, Val Cutler and Jon Edwards. The show also included some narration from Eimear Beattie and Hilary McKenna. It was a huge success from a wonderful team of people and we can’t wait to see it on stage again!

And to round out the festival we had a huge number of Irish community groups come together to celebrate the very best of Ireland’s cultural at the Family Day. We started the day with a trad session by Comhaltas Perth, Sean Doherty Branch. We had a number of fantastic musicians playing throughout the day Ciaran O’Sullivan, Brendan & Matilda Geraghty, Jerry & Saoirse Murphy, Fiona Doyle, Ben Christiansen, Brendan Doherty, John Battista, Tommy O’Brien, Donough O’Donovan, Kevin Giang, Lucy Hosking, Teresa & James Kelleher.

We were making St Brigid Crosses inside in the gallery, we had a children’s Storytime presented by the Irish Theatre Players, a presentation by The Australian Irish Heritage Association, a Cúpla Focal from Sean Byrne, butter making by Seáneen Sullivan and finished the day with Irish dancing from The Academy Irish Dance Co. Perth and Torc Ceilí Club and more music! A huge thank you to Claire Wynne, the Claddagh Association and Fenians Fremantle & Freedom committee for your help on the day!

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the kind support from Kidogo Arthouse Fremantle, Irish Embassy Canberra and CLRG Dance Development Fund.

A huge thank you to everyone that attended and took part in all the activities! Can’t wait to do it all again next year!

☘

THE IRISH SCENE | 47

Around The Irish Scene Pat Hickey Pat Hickey sadly passed away in December 2021.

Pat presented the Tim Hickey Hurling Cup each year at the annual tournament in Morley following the passing of Tim, a GAA stalwart, some years ago. Condolences to Pat’s family and friends. Rest in peace a chara.

Vale Sean Healy It is with deep sorrow we heard of the death of beloved Sean Healy, (originally Magdalene Street Drogheda), peacefully surrounded by his family.

Sean was the father of local rock/folk Irish band, The Healy’s Perth. Condolences to Sean’s family and many friends. Go raibh a anam ar dheis Dé.

Mia Alacoque Gogarty Stephen and Alison Gogarty would like to thank family and friends for their support during this sad time. We would like to acknowledge The Claddagh Association and Bowra & O’Dea for all their help with the passing of our beautiful daughter Mia. Our family chain is broken, And nothing seems the same, But as God calls us one by one, The chain will link again.

Admiring a good drop of the black stuff!

Frank Smith at Rick O’Shea’s in Fremantle

Andy Creighan RIP We would like to express our deepest sympathies to the family of Andy Creighan who passed away recently. Andy, originally from Fermanagh played Gaelic football with Greenwood and a stalwart of the club.

Condolences to Andy’s wife Jackie, their children and grandchildren and all relatives back home in Fermanagh and further afield. Andy was son-inlaw of Tommy and Kathleen Kearns.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Happy Birthday John (Bravo) McCarthy Happy birthday to John McCarthy (with Caroline) on his recent birthday.

How many years?

Not sure but a few!

If you would like to be featured in the next issue, please send your photo/s to irishsceneperth@gmail.com along with a short description 48 | THE IRISH SCENE

Congratulations David and Ann McKelvie Congratulations to Dave and Ann on the birth of Nora May in February.

Carl visits Ashok in Kalgoorlie Carl Holmes took a break from Masonmill and headed to Kalgoorlie. You can’t go to Kalgoorlie without dropping in on local Irish identity, Ashok Parekh (for a cup of tea!).

Neff & Murphy at Rick O’Shea’s Brenda Neff and Michael Murphy enjoying the dulcet tones of the Irish Balladeer Sean Roche, at Rick O’Shea’s in Fremantle.

Paddy Costello celebrating his 95th birthday Paddy pictured above with wife Lena, and they also celebrate their wedding anniversary on St Patrick’s Day.

Happy birthday Gerry Happy 60th birthday to GAA stalwart and all round good bloke Gerry Crowley.

Happy Birthday Moira.

Moira Malone celebrated a special birthday with a beautiful high tea in the Swan Valley.

Proud dad, Des Kavanagh with his beautiful daughter in the south-west at a recent wedding.

Masonmill Craic Jean Rogers and Lilly Rea enjoying good time and fine food at Masonmill in Carmel.

THE IRISH SCENE | 49

The Axe

BY BILL DALY

AS THE OUGHTERARD SUPPORTERS BUS HEADED TO CASTLEBAR FOR THE INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL FINAL ON SATURDAY 16TH NOVEMBER 2019, MARY KYNE, OF THE OUGHTERARD CULTURE & HERITAGE GROUP IN COUNTY GALWAY AND LOCAL RESIDENT MARTIN LEE HAD A BRIEF CHAT. In the course of this conversation Martin happened to mention that he had come across what looked like a few old objects over the years. Mary then said that the replica archaeological material would be on display in The Courthouse on the following Wednesday, in preparation for a film shoot by the Museum Of Country Life in Castlebar. Martin agreed to come along.

True to his word, Martin arrived in the door on the Wednesday morning, carrying a bag. The first object he showed us was a large molten limestone rock with an impregnated shell fossil. I had a couple of similar ones on display already and told Martin that this fossil was approximately 350 million years old.

I also explained that when that particular fossil was formed, Oughterard and indeed all of Ireland, was 50 | THE IRISH SCENE

submerged under a warm tropical and coral sea close to where Australia is now situated. Martin then said he had something else to show us, and as he reached into the bag again, the day would take an unexpected but very exciting turn!

In the earlier part of this year I had been researching the Neolithic period (4000 – 2500 BC). This was the phase that heralded the beginnings of settled agriculture and the building of the megalithic monuments. I was convinced , during my research, that the origins of the Neolithic in Oughterard was roughly in a line from the Peaks of Rusheeney (the Cloosh hills), along the fertile uplands of Maghera and onwards towards Lough Corrib in the area around Gortrevagh and Aughnanure Castle. As the research progressed, I was able to find solid evidence for a Neolithic presence around Aughnanure, and have already unearthed some potential monuments in Maghera/Raha that I also believe to be of Neolithic origin also. However, I was a bit light on evidence around the Peaks of Rusheeney/Cloosh, even though I knew it had to be there. I wondered would this evidence ever come to light to substantiate my original theory. I wasn’t too hopeful, possibly not in my lifetime anyway!

Back to Martin’s story, and as he reached into his bag for the second artefact, and slowly drew it forward,

THE AXE

the hairs literally stood upright on the back of my neck. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In his hand, Martin was now holding a most beautiful polished stone axe from the Neolithic period, and I finally had the evidence I was looking for! Martin told me he has found it when he was building his house, many years ago, and had kept it all this time.

This unexpected find is of major significance and importance to the Oughterard Heritage Group, and finally gives us hard evidence for a Neolithic presence in and around the Cloosh Hills.

The axe itself (see accompanying image) measures 11cm x 5cm, potentially 4000 to 5000 years old , and the polish and smoothness of its surface is as good as the day it was made all those millennia ago. It has a brownish colour after being soaked and buried in the brackish bog water for many thousands of years. The material used in the axe manufacture is a very sharp stone called flint or perhaps the even sharper porcellanite. However, flint/porcellanite is

only found in the North-East of the country, in and around Antrim, and this demonstrates that there was extensive trading going on across the island of Ireland all those years ago. We are deeply indebted to Martin for preserving this beautiful artefact for so many years, and for also recognising its inherent archaeological value to our local landscape.

☘

‘Stone Age. Bronze Age. Iron Age. We define entire epics of humanity by the technology they use’ – Reed Hastings.

BILL DALY Originally from Tallow in West Waterford, Bill spent 30 years in Cork as a Senior Manager in the Electronics Manufacturing industry with such companies as Apple, EMC and Logitech.

He has now been working on his own as a Consultant/ Contractor for the past 20 years in Lean Manufacturing and Materials principles.

Bill has been resident in Oughterard since 2009, and for the past few years, working as a Local Archaeologist, has been undertaking a project with the Oughterard Heritage Group to research the prehistoric roots of the village.

THE IRISH SCENE | 51

Message from Irish Ambassador H.E. Tim Mawe

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ar Ghaeil is cairde Gael san iarthair Ástráil. Guím gach rath agus séan ar gach éinne atá ag ceiliúradh na Féile i mbliana.

No matter where we have been since 2020, the impact of COVID has been felt. And continues to be felt. In Australia, one of the most severe impacts has been to hinder our travel possibilities. But I hope we will soon be able to find our way to meet loved ones, to revisit favourite places or to explore new ones.

As the various lockdowns have drawn our focus to things that are close to us – in our town, in our city, or in our State, there has been a welcome uptick in local pride. I see this local pride in the way in which Irish people have been looking out for each other and in the renewed interest in the many Irish organisations across Australia.

However, this engagement with the local does not fully address the sense of yearning for home – the sense of cumha that sits with many Irish people here. Or, as St Patrick’s fellow Welsh-people have it – a feeling of hiraeth. There does not seem to be an exact English translation of this term, but to Welsh people, it conveys a feeling of deep longing for something, especially their home.

Hiraeth recalls St Patrick’s initial days in Ireland. He spent about 6

52 | THE IRISH SCENE

years tending to pigs on a hillside in Antrim. Great must have been his yearning for home and heartland. For him, in 5th century Ireland, his exile and lockdown eventually ended, and he was able to reunite with the place of his birth before ultimately making Ireland his home.

As we work our way through the COVID constraints, I nevertheless see three straws in the wind that point towards a better future for Ireland. Or indeed, three leaves on a new shamrock:.

•

The first leaf is the fact that last April the population of Ireland broke through the 5 million mark – the highest it has been since 1851. We are still not back to pre-famine levels but we are moving in the right direction.

•

The second leaf is that in recent weeks, the ratings agency Fitches have upgraded their assessment of Ireland. This offers some reassurance that, despite the impact of COVID on the economy, the fundamentals are rebounding positively. Recent data on employment, exports and tax revenue endorse this assessment.

•

The third element of this socio-economic trinity is the fact that the 100 years of the independent Irish State is now split more or less 50/50 before and after membership of the European Union. That membership has been transformative of Irish society over the past five decades and offers a strong platform for our continued development.

Future success is not of course guaranteed but as we draw on our collective resources and our sense of community, I think we can give ourselves the best possible opportunity of carving out a prosperous and sustainable future for Ireland and Irish people in a globalised economy and society. A future that is entirely modern in outlook but that retains all the essential Irish values.

So, as we collectively shake off the effects of COVID, I am confident that the future for Ireland and the future of our relations with Australia is indeed bright. By cherishing the values that have sustained us, and by taking advantage of the positive disruptions of the past two years, we will continue to go from strength to strength together.

This year has to be the last one that we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day within the constraints of COVID. All the auguries are positive for a better 2022 and beyond. And make no mistake; we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year to the maximum possible. In doing so, I am happy to

invite the readers of Irish Scene Magazine to join us for an on-line celebration of St. Patrick on the 17th.

It can be found at www.ireland.ie/australia.

Let’s take this opportunity to connect with each other locally, to use the technology to connect with home and above all to seek out and find that other untranslatable term “the bit of craic”.

☘

EASTER MONDAY CATALPA COMMEMORATION ROCKINGHAM, 11AM

Australian-Irish Heritage Association Be proud of your Irish heritage

18TH APRIL Annual commemoration of the escape of six Fenian convicts on 17-18 April, 1876. With oration, verse, music and song at the Catalpa Memorial. Guest speakers and dignitaries in attendance, coordinated by David McKnight DATE: Easter Monday, 18 Apr,11am.

VENUE: Catalpa Memorial, Rockingham Beach, walking distance south of Township.

ENTRY: Free public event.

THE FOURTH TUESDAY BOOK CLUB MEETS FOURTH TUESDAY OF THE MONTH, WITH EXCEPTION OF DECEMBER, 7.30PM MARCH 22: ‘The Happiest Man on Earth’,

by Eddie Jaku, to be presented by Tony Bray APRIL 26: ‘Hamnet’ by Marie O’Farrell, to be presented by Mary Purcell VENUE: Irish Club Committee Room, 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco

JAMES JOYCE LITERARY COMPETITION OPEN TO FANS, SCHOLARS AND THOSE CURIOUS, OF JOYCE It’s been one hundred years since Ulysses was first published. A book that is widely considered to be a literary masterpiece yet is also described as being one of the most difficult books ever to read. It was loved by Vladimir Nabokov and hated by Virginia Woolf. At the Australian Irish Heritage Association, we are inclined to agree with Nabokov while acknowledging that the book can at times be off-putting for its size and archaic use of the English language. So, in a bid to make this book more accessible to a modern-day audience we are seeking your help! We are inviting people in WA to take up the challenge of capturing some content of James Joyce’s Ulysses in any of four formats (poetry, play, prose or song) as a 15-minute piece that can be presented to a live audience.

To mark the 100th anniversary, the AIHA will hold a celebratory event on June 16th, which is officially known as Bloomsday, after Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. At the event, the shortlisted entries will be given a performance fee of $150 each. The overall winner will be chosen by popular vote on the night and will receive a cash prize. Whether you choose to work as a team, or go solo, it’s up to you. It’s time to unleash the creative in you!

ADMISSION: Free. All welcome. Light refreshments provided. Tea and coffee from the Bar $2

Entry is free, but please submit your work as a Word document, in 12pt Times Roman, double-spaced and outlining clearly how the work is to be presented. And please note that if your entry is short-listed you will be required to perform your piece at a Perth venue to be determined. COVID guidelines at the time will be adhered to.

ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION

An independent expert will select the shortlist.

MONDAY 25TH APRIL AIHA at invitation of Subiaco RSL lay wreaths for Irish ANZACS. Morning tea follows. Subject to confirmation Non Political - Non Sectarian Emphatically Australian

PO Box 1583, Subiaco 6904 Tel: 08 9345 3530 Secretary: 08 9367 6026 Email: secretary@irishheritage.com.au or admin@irishheritage.com.au Look us up on Facebook @australianirishheritage or check out our website irishheritage.com.au

Please send your submissions to Diana McTiernan by email at mactiernan@ bigpond.com no later than April 22nd. The shortlist will be announced by the middle of May.

AIHA COMMITEE: Planning and Review session will be held in May and we welcome input and ideas.

MEMBERSHIP DUE 1st JANUARY – Membership fee includes tax deductible donation of $20

Family $65 • Concession $55 • Distant (200kms from Perth) $45 Members enjoy discounted rates to dinners and functions, exclusive events, quarterly Journal, voting rights, and opportunities to participate in activities which promote an awareness of Australia’s Irish Heritage 90-page Journal publication is issued free to members quarterly and available for purchase at $10.

THE IRISH SCENE | 53

Ulster Rambles

BY DAVID MacCONNELL

I SUPPOSE BY THE TIME YOU ARE READING THIS ARTICLE; ST. PATRICK’S DAY WILL HAVE COME AND GONE; FOR ANOTHER YEAR ANYWAY. I HAVE NOT BEEN BACK TO THE OLD SOD IN RECENT TIMES (I NOW DEFINE TIME AS B.C.) SO I GOOGLED “ST. PATRICK’S DAY IN BELFAST” AND WAS SOMEWHAT SURPRISED BY THE RESULT. It appears (to me) that the Ulster folk have become more “Irish” than when I lived there. Well, it was fifty years ago!

The celebration in Belfast nowadays is what you might call a real one. They used to close all the pubs when I was there except for the one at the Rugby Union ground Ravenhill which is now known as Kingspan. History tells us that on 5 June 2014, the powers in Ulster signed a 10year contract with the Kingspan Group for the naming rights to Ravenhill, meaning that the stadium will be known as the Kingspan Stadium until 2024 anyway.

“Ever eaten a boxty? Or sipped on an Irish coffee after a tasty, traditional meal?” was what greeted me on the screen. “Find out where to discover authentic Irish food and drinks in Belfast.”

The information continued about “An expertly-poured pint of Guinness is as much a part of the Belfast experience as our world-class attractions, live music and warm hospitality. Though it might find its home in Dublin, Guinness is as popular in Belfast and Northern Ireland as it is across the rest of the island. Belfast has a thriving traditional pub scene, and with it comes a host of places where you’ll find a topquality pint of Ireland’s favourite drink.”

54 | THE IRISH SCENE

I was then informed of twenty or more Belfast pubs (which were not there in my day) boasting various promotions which included mirrors, memorabilia, history, beer gardens and of course screening live sports and a wide range of tap beers. Years ago, the “Egg”, the “Bot”, the “Club Bar” and even the “Welly Boot” basically had only two or three tap beers. Harp Lager, Carlings and the ubiquitous Guinness. The “Egg” trialed “Thwaites” for a month. We called it “throwing beer” for two reasons.

The next promotion was much to my liking: Pull Your Own at Granny Annies.

“Think you can pour the perfect pint yourself? Have a go at pulling your own Guinness at Granny Annies from Mondays to Thursdays, 3pm to 6pm. You’ll also receive a Guinness t-shirt, certificate, a photograph in front of the Guinness Gate and a piece of Irish peat in a branded bag, all for £10 per person”. There must be quite a few Americans touring Belfast. I cannot imagine what the locals would do with the photograph never mind the peat.

(OK, I must admit that I do have a piece (supposedly) of the Berlin Wall on my souvenir shelf.)

This reminiscing takes me back to another story of what it was like to live in the province in the seventies. I had returned home from gallivanting around Europe for a few years and was learning all about life in Ulster again. I quickly decided it was not for me.

How was I going to leave? I had been doing jobs as a teacher in various schools and had made some elementary mistakes when driving over speed bumps as I have reported in previous articles.

It was time for action. I took a course in Canterbury (Kent) to obtain qualifications to teach English as a foreign language. I persuaded a girl (Jane) to come with me and she asked if I could ‘give a lift’ to two other girls and collect them on the return journey. The course was highly entertaining, and Jane and I won a prize in the talent show singing ‘The Seven Drunken Nights’ which was actually most appropriate. It was a long drive back through London, Stratford Upon Avon (where we picked up Jane’s two friends), Birmingham, Carlisle and on to Stranraer in Scotland before we (luckily) caught the ferry to Larne. I was so fatigued that I barely remembered dropping the girls off near Dunmurry before crashing at my sister’s house situated near Finaghy. Here

ULSTER RAMBLES

I quote from my unfinished book (doesn’t everyone have one?) about the event.

as if someone was playing a joke on me. Perhaps some pranksters had pushed it around the corner.

I arrived at my sister’s house absolutely exhausted. It was quite late, and she was in bed. I hit the sack and was probably asleep within seconds. Driving such a long distance after the hectic ten days does tire one out. I slept well and did not wake up until around 10:00 when I surprised my sister by turning up for breakfast.

After I had calmed down and had eaten a bowl of cereal, cornflakes, (well it was all my sister had), I walked out the door fully expecting to see the car around the first corner. I walked towards that corner with purpose; you guessed it ….no car.

‘You did not hear me come in last night then?’ I stated.

‘What do you think I should do?’ I asked my sister reluctantly after returning to her house a few minutes later. I rather suspected I knew what her answer would be.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘Nor did I hear or see your car. How did you get here so late?’

‘You should phone the police right away,’ she instructed me.

‘Oh, you made me jump,’ she let out.

‘The car is outside the door,’ I casually replied.

‘I don’t think it is, or at least I did not see it earlier on this morning.’

I looked out the window and sure enough there was an ominous space where I had parked it. It is always difficult to believe an object is not there when you know it is; or in this case was. I looked a second time

Yes, that is what I thought she was going to say. Now most people would agree that it was a good idea, but I was somewhat worried by this response. The police and I had various run ins over the years about such small matters as road tax, poor tyres and the like. I quickly concluded that no car at all was probably less acceptable than paying a fine.

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THE IRISH SCENE | 55

UKSTER RAMBLES

I asked in a subdued tone. ‘

I phoned them giving details of make and the plate number.

Anything that looks different or out of place,’ he replied nonchalantly.

It was around two hours later that they kindly returned my call. After inquiring about my whereabouts, they informed me that my car was in a residential square about half a mile away. They gave me the address and advised me to get there promptly if I wanted to claim it.

I looked at the car but could see nothing different than it looked yesterday. Blue, four wheels, no tax disc, 3 bald tyres.

‘What about inside?’ he encouraged.

I did not get the gist of what they meant but set off immediately with admittedly some trepidation and a fair amount of haste.

I arrived at the scene some minutes later. The first thing I noticed was that where there should have been at least a few people, there was no one in sight.

I say no one but there were one or two at a discrete distance away from a car. On looking closer, I realised they were all policemen and the car looked very like the one that belonged to me.

I walked towards the sandbags which were placed some distance away from the car. It was then that I observed some people behind some larger sandbags which were much further away. Afterwards, I found out they were reporters and onlookers awaiting some dramatic action which perhaps I could provide.

‘You the owner of this jalopy?’ One of the policemen asked in a condescending tone.

‘Probably,’ I replied somewhat laconically.

‘Well,’ he continued, ‘we are about to blow it up so if you want to claim it you better speak up quick son.’

I hate when they speak to you like that, but I was in no position to mention that fact to him.

‘What’s the deal?’ I asked him instead.

‘Well you and I will approach the car and have a look around and if you see anything suspicious, you tell me right away and we will take it from there.’

Without thinking what I was really doing, I set off towards the car. I presume that after the hectic two weeks and the long drive home and despite a good sleep, I was not thinking straight.

I looked at the car.

‘What exactly am I looking for here?’

56 | THE IRISH SCENE

I looked inside but the steering wheel was where it should be, and I could see nothing out of place in the front. There was even the mars bar wrapper that I had left after devouring the contents after coming off the boat in Larne.

‘Looks OK,’ I mumbled.

‘What about the back?’

I glanced in at the back seats not expecting to find anything. I did. That is there was something there which I did not recognise. I was never quite so organised as to have a rug in the back of my car but there sitting silently, was a rug of sorts. It was the kind of rug my granny might have to wrap around her knees on a cold, winters day.

‘There’s something in the back seat that isn’t mine,’ I told the officer, and I could sense his immediate alarm.

‘I don’t remember having a rug in the back and it

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CRAIC, CEOL AND CEILIDH AT TORC IRISH DANCING CHRISTMAS PARTY

certainly isn’t mine!’

I suppose what disturbed me most was that the rug could easily be hiding something underneath.

‘Any idea how it might have got there?’ the constable asked.

Finally, my brain began to stir.

‘Ah yes,’ I started, ‘I gave a lift to a few friends last night and I presume one of them must have left it there.’

I could hear his sigh of relief as he gladly accepted this explanation. ‘Ok’, he began, ‘the next step is to open the car. If that is successful, then you can try the bonnet and then the boot.’

‘Does this step actually take two people?’ I asked.

‘Surely one of us would be sufficient.’ (Hopefully, him I thought to myself).

‘Well, it’s like this son. I am here on a professional level, and you are here because it is your car. Is that OK with you?’

I didn’t have time to think so I kind of mumbled a half agreement.

With trepidation, heart thumping, hand shaking, I opened the car door, driver’s side. Nothing happened.

Then the bonnet; still nothing happened and then the boot. I’m not sure how everyone else felt from behind their safety barrier but needless to say I was more than ecstatic. On reflection, I suppose that they had the sniffer dogs around before I arrived and were extremely confident that there were no explosive devises attached. I wish they had told me that. I really did not want to give up my life for a car nor for some political stunt that I did not believe in.

Faced with the same problem, would I have made the same decision today? Probably as I really value the freedom a car can bring you and the alternative was unthinkable when you are young.

I hope you had a great one on St. Patrick’s Day and every other day for that matter. As Humphry would say “it’s the thin end of the wedge and life has changed from the way we know it.”As always may your God go with you.

☘

THE IRISH SCENE | 57

KILRUSH

The whales tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth

BY FRED REA

In 1961 four Irishman clad in fisherman’s sweaters appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in the USA singing a brand of Irish music that had never been heard in that form before. From that point on the career of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem became an industry. The years that followed were hectic ones for them with concerts all over America, Ireland and the world. Following the success of the Clancy’s, in 1968 Tommy Makem began a solo career would sell out concerts.

Liam Clancy went solo in 1972, while still doing shows with The Clancy Brothers. As a duo, Tommy and Liam found themselves by accident while singing at the same folk festival in Ohio in 1975. They decided to do perform together, and the result was electric. The audiences applauded for five minutes before a the next song could be sung. Makem and Clancy were born.

Now back together again, and touring, these two fine 58 | THE IRISH SCENE

Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy

entertainers appeared all over North America and Ireland. Both were well qualified. Tommy and Liam came from families steeped in the folk traditions of Ireland.

Each spent early years involved in folk music, theatre and research.

Liam and Tommy were more than just folksingers and when they combined their talents it was something special after years apart. When they performed, it much more than just another Irish music concert.

In 1976 Makem and Clancy toured Australia and performed at the Perth Concert to a sell out audience. At the time I was a member of a local Irish band The Quarefellas and we were lucky enough to be the support act.

Those of you who attended that night would remember Liam’s unforgettable rendition of the Eric Bogle song The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. During the singing by Liam, Tommy was back-stage directing the lighting to create the moods of the lyrics, amazing! It was unforgettable night and without doubt the highlight of my time with The Quarefellas.

Following the Perth concert, Tommy asked me where he might find a shark’s tooth for one of his

The Quarefellas: Anita Webb, Fred Rea, Alan Ferguson and Mick McAuley RIP

sons. All I could offer him was a whale’s tooth I had bought at the Albany Whaling Station the year before, 1975, when honeymooning with Lilly. (In 1978, the Albany Whaling Station, the last shore based whaling station in Australia closed and 178 years of whaling in Albany waters came to an end). Tommy appreciated my offer and I drove to my home and collected the tooth. I handed it over to Tommy and he showed his appreciation by signing a program. Not sure where the whale’s tooth is now but for me it carries a wonderful memory of sharing the stage and meeting two fine men who played a major

NO TOOTH OF A LIE

role in defining how the world heard Irish popular music over the last half century. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

The Canberra Times said in a concert review: “There is something about their music that puts a lilt into the voice, a terrible thirst in the throat and a glint in the eye. One cannot walk away from a concert; one has to reel. The sense of fun and the richness of Makem & Clancy will always be welcome here... even if it only turns the English Irish for a few hours of their otherwise dreary lives. They carry the soul of Ireland everywhere they go. It is an infectious spirit. That they are also marvellous professional entertainers is a mere bonus”.

Makem known as the “Bard of Armagh”, was an Irish nationalist passed away in 2007. Although he had no extremist sympathies, his best-known composition, Four Green Fields, written before the outbreak of the Troubles, told sorrowfully of Ireland’s four provinces, one of them, his native Ulster, “trapped in bondage/ In strangers’ hands”. Liam Clancy acted on Broadway alongside Dirk Bogarde, Walter Matthau and Robert Redford, but in the evenings joined his brothers and Makem singing at the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village. Liam died in 2009, also aged 74 in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork.

‘Whaling And Sailing Songs From the Days of Moby Dick’ by Paul Clayton, in 1965. Born in the historic whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts where his ancestors were whaling captains and seafarers Clayton became very interested in the traditional songs his grandfather – who fitted out whaling ships – sang.

“For many years it was thought that whalers did little singing, but this is hardly true as some of my research in whaling songs has shown,” Clayton said in the sleeve notes for the album. “The whaler probably had more opportunity for singing forecastle songs than did the merchantman. In this recording will be found the forecastle songs, both happy and sentimental, with which the whalers whiled away their free time, as well as the shanties to which they worked: shortdrag shanties which were used for hauling jobs that

Makem and Clancy were nationally and internationally renowned folk singers and an example of an absolutely dedicated artistic craftsmen. This generous and life-giving personalities enriched all our lives with memorable songs and was part of the fabric of Ireland’s proud traditional music culture.

WHALING MUSIC AND THE SOUND OF THE SEA

As well as being prolific performers The Clancy Brothers and Tommmy Makem also owned a profitable music label. Tradition Records specialised in folk music and was a very successful enterprise that existed from 1955 to 1966. Paddy Clancy was president and director of the music company while Liam Clancy created its maple leaf logo. Paddy stepped back from the running of the label in 1961 and five years later they sold on the Tradition catalogue to another music pubilsher.

One of the first records Tradition produced was

took only a few good pulls, halyard shanties for prolonged jobs such as hoisting the yards, swaying a heavy object aloft and so on, and capstan shanties, more elaborate, often more beautiful, for hoisting the anchor, warping ship, or for use in pumping the boat.

For this recording, I have tried to assemble songs and shanties dating hark to the middle of the 19th century when Melville’s novel first appeared and preserved the history of whaling in that day better than any other account could. This is, therefore, an album, of sailing and whaling songs from the days of Moby Dick.”

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THE IRISH SCENE | 59

60 | THE IRISH SCENE

Irish Choir Perth

@irishchoir

2022 FOR THE IRISH CHOIR PERTH WILL EITHER BECOME A GREAT WORK OF FACT, OR A GREAT WORK OF FICTION. THERE ARE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN EVER TO PERFORM AND ENGAGE WITH AUDIENCES AND OTHER CHOIRS. WHETHER OR NOT THEY EVENTUATE IS ANOTHER THING, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, THEY HAVE MOTIVATED US TO PUT TOGETHER A GREAT CALENDAR OF REHEARSALS AND EVENTS. We are coming back fresh with plans to shake up our repertoire with new material, as well as refining and working on a few of our favourite songs from last year. It’s a great time for new members to come along and start from scratch with the rest of us!

Learning new material can be intimidating, even to those of us who have been in the Choir for years.

At the Irish Choir Perth, we don’t expect everyone to read music, so we learn mostly by ear and your average chorister will go through many of these mental states when learning it – denial: my brain will

never learn this, followed by reluctant absorption: ok, I’m taking this line in a little, but I’ll never remember it, to surprised memory: lads, where did that line come from, to a general acceptance: ok, I’ve got this…I think!

There is definitely a knack to listening to yourself sing and trusting your voice, but at the same time paying attention to what’s going on around you. Often we as a choir will be delighted with ourselves when we get through a song and the harmonies blend – and that’s when the real work begins. We are constantly amazed by what a good conductor can do with a group of voices singing in unison. And Hilary is more than just a good conductor – she is exceptional. She can change the sound and feel of a song simply by moving one or two people to a different place. She understands how to make a song come alive and she works hard to teach us and refine our work. It’s actually very exciting to be a part it when everything comes together.

The first term of the years runs from February to the beginning of April. Keep an eye out on our socials @irishchoirperth for more information. We’re looking forward the year ahead, whatever it brings!

☘

Glen McLeod Legal sends its best wishes for St Patrick’s Day to the Irish Community in Perth and all those associated with it. We are a boutique town planning and environmental law firm, now in our tenth year of service to Western Australia.

Contact No: Email: Website:

(08) 6460 5179 admin@glenmcleodlegal.com www.glenmcleodlegal.com

THE IRISH SCENE | 61

The Midwest Irish Club Inc. Gearldton

PO BOX 346 GERALDTON 6530

LÁ MAITH FROM THE GERALDTON & MIDWEST IRISH CLUB. AS I SIT HERE AND WRITE THIS, I CAN’T BELIEVE WE ARE GOING INTO THE MONTH OF MARCH ALREADY. The start to 2022 has been busy one as we now adapt to the new covid mandates including ensuring all members and visitors are vaccinated whilst attending the club.

Our members and supporters have been very understanding of the new mandates which has made the transition to the new way of business seamless.

On 16 January, the club hosted a fundraising event for a local family doing it tough. Lead singer from the duo, Harmonies, Anne Williams promised to shave her head if her targeted amount was raised. To assist with this target, the club called on our members to help support by way of donating gifts to a raffle and hosting a cake stall. The target was smashed and after the Harmonies performance, Anne stuck to her word and shaved off her hair. It was an emotional day for many and just showed the community spirit within

62 | THE IRISH SCENE

Geraldton and in particular our club and its members.

Refer to the photos from this event.

Also in January, the club was horrified to hear that original and life member Finbar Kelly had suffered a stroke whilst at home. Finbar spent time at Geraldton Regional hospital and with the milestone of a nice cold Guinness waiting for him at the club, he was determined to get out of hospital as quickly as possible and tackle the road ahead of him. Finbar is doing well and receiving further treatment at home. He is aiming to return to the club for that nice cold Guinness on St Patricks Day and I think I say for all members, we can’t wait. Sunday afternoons haven’t been the same with Finbar not being there and having to look at the empty chair where he usually takes up position for a Sunday session. We wish him all the luck for his recovery.

On Saturday 5 February, the club advertised a busy bee at the club and asked members if they could give up some time to assist with a list of jobs that needed actioning. The forecast for the day was 42 degrees but this did not stop our wonderful members from turning out. We were overwhelmed by the response with approximately 25 members attending, all with

various skill sets. Some were handed a paint brush, others high pressure cleaners and the members with trade certificates were put on the tools. The old saying of “many hands make light work” resulted in all tasks being ticked off the list prior to midday with some light refreshments and food being supplied by life member and Treasurer, Grace.

Like many areas of WA, Geraldton has sweltered through January and February with consecutive days above 40 degrees. This has not stopped our members attending the club to watch our live music on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. We have had local music from the Harmonies, Bro, Good Strife, The Irishman n The Aussie, Zain, Geoff Udy, Craig Pickett, James McDonald, Hippy Campers, Donelle and Solitary Sounds. On 12 February, the club again hosted the Broken Pokers for a night of authentic Irish music which again was a sold-out event.

The club’s focus is now on the upcoming St Patricks Day event. Like many clubs and pubs, this is one of the busiest days on the calendar. This year the club will open from 10am to 11pm kicking off with a morning tea followed by the bar opening at Midday

with Irish Stew on the menu. We will have live music in the afternoon from local legend Geoff Udy followed

by Good Strife in the evening who will dish up some Irish tunes along with some of their classics. Due to the current COVID restrictions we will be limiting capacity to 75 persons to ensure we comply.

We look forward to the event and wish everyone a happy St Patrick’s Day. New members are always welcome with our opening Hours being Friday 5-11pm and Sunday Midday to 6pm. You can keep up to date with our events and the goings on at the Geraldton & Midwest Irish Club by following us on Facebook.

Regards Simon Miller, Committee Member

☘

FRANK MURPHY PRESENTS

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Celebrating the Ireland of today and past times.

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THE IRISH SCENE | 63

THE TOWN HE KNOW’S SO WELL

Kilrush

MEMORIES OF AN IRISH MARKET TOWN 1879 TO 1979 Reviewed by GERRY GROGAN

KILRUSH AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY This historical account of Kilrush County Clare over a hundred years in a beautiful hard back book that sits permanently on my coffee table, within reach.

I love looking at familiar pictures of towns people I once knew, and indeed family members. I received it at Christmas from home as a personal gift. It starts in 1879 with the beginning of the Land War although it references earlier events leading up to and beyond to 1979,I was all of 24!! Like so many parts of Ireland of the time that were governed by English landlords, KIlrush was ruled by the Vandeluer family. The family seat of west Clare where they built their home Kilrush House, was commonly called the burnt house in my youth. Colonel Crofton Moore Vanderluer left his mark on our town by giving land on which the Catholic church was built, also the convent and the workhouse along with the fever hospital.

However all this largess is greatly eclipsed by the Vandeluers’ terrible treatment of their tenants during the Great Famine, and the brutal evictions during the highly charged period of the Land War. Looking across across the square, where the town hall or formerly the Market House,is the Maid of Erin Monument. This shows defiantly the support for Irish Political independence in the Kilrush area.

My grandad did tell me in our many walks ,on his regular visits from London about the Black and Tans and the damage that was done to her and the railings that were left unrepaired as a reminder in defiance with confronting and resonant symbolism.

64 | THE IRISH SCENE

My earliest memories subjectively of what was of great excitement to a young boy of 11years was the burning of Riedys Garage. We were told if the petrol tanks underground exploded we were done for....so we told that the best thing we could do was to say a prayer and promise to go to confession.! The next big spectacular was the burning of Patterson’s Buildings.

This was an enormous five story building that was burnt to the ground in 1967. The glow of this could be seen for miles around the countryside. It is still a vivid memory. We all as young boys loved the excitement of the ball and chain as it was demolished. Kilrush was a very vibrant business town with shipping, timber mills, ceramics, creamery and the seaweed factory. There was also a lot of entertainment in music,both traditional and popular. We also had an opera house from the fifties to the late sixties, I have a vivid memory of the transformation of Mars Cinema into a fully operational mini opera house with elaborate sets and a full orchestra. Many overseas Guest Artists were welcomed to the town with a sort of awe. The late Veronica Dunne’s Carmen complete with castenets would sweep across the wide street with a total theatrical flourish.

The Fleadh Cheoil an Chlair was a great event all through the sixties and seventies with up to 25 thousand people estimated to have attended. The craic was mighty. There is an enormous amount of research in this book and is a real pleasure to read as a Clare Man and for all of us in the Irish Diaspora in Western Australia. I’m sure there are a lot of people in Perth who originally came from Kilrush or surrounding areas who would love this wonderful book. In conclusion as I hold this book in my hand ,40 years later in Perth, It still creates a vivid kaleidoscope of images of memories and educates in historical events but what stands out for me so aptly put by the introduction by Laura Hogan are the images of the same people enjoying themselves as in every town: dancing, drumming, going to mass, walking, posing,learning, smoking , leaning at the corner,going to fairs of various kinds, playing football,golfing ,fishing,simply surviving. They have been about living and surviving for hundreds of years, through the highs and the lows. Through the prosperous times and the not so prosperous. We as a people and a nation and a unique culture will prosper into the future. This is what this amazing book has given me.

This is our town. It is Kilrush. My Kilrush.

☘

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Claddagh Report CLADDAGH SENIORS The Claddagh Seniors Group rounded out 2022 by attending The Irish Theatre Players panto ‘Cinderella (The Slightly Deviated Version)’. It was a very enjoyable performance and everyone had a great time. Our thanks to the Irish Theatre Players who offer Claddagh’s Seniors wonderful hospitality. We love going to their shows!

The Seniors Subcommittee have been busy planning events for 2022 starting with a light lunch and private cinema screening of the film ‘Marry me’ at Greater

Union Morley in the Galleria on Monday the 28th of February. Book early to get a seat!

All senior members of the Irish Community in WA are welcome to join the group. If you, or a senior you know from the Irish community, would like to attend events in 2022 you can register by calling Patricia Bratton of the Seniors Subcommittee on 0417 099 801/08 9345 3530 or by contacting the Claddagh office via admin@claddagh.org.au/08 9249 9213.

Seniors Save the dates

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Monday 28 February

Movies at Great Union Cinema with light lunch

Monday 28 March One last round of St Patrick's Day Festivities Wednesday 27 April Picnic lunch 66 | THE IRISH SCENE

CLADDAGH REPORT

ST PATRICK’S DAY Claddagh are looking forward to all the festivities in March. We will be hosting a stall at the St Patrick’s Festival in Leederville on Sat the 12th of March. Get your tickets early so you don’t miss out and while you’re there pop over to say hello to the Claddagh volunteers at our stall!

On the 17th of March some of our committee members will be attending the St Patrick’s Day Mass at St Joseph’s in Subiaco which is again being organised by members of the Irish community in WA. Other Claddagh committee members will be volunteering at the Irish Golf Club’s St Patrick’s Day tournament at the Maylands gold course. This annual event raises money for

CHARITY TRUCK RUN FOR CLADDAGH Join us in a wonderful celebration of all things trucking and help raise money for Claddagh on Sat 5th March. Shane Glynn, Corra-Lee Gamble, and many of their friends in the trucking community, are organising this amazing fundraiser for Claddagh. The truck run starts at 11am from the Bedfordale Road Train Assembly Area heading down to Pinjarra and then returning home.

There will be a free celebration that evening at the Irish Club from 5:30pm. Come along and enjoy the raffles, awards for the best truck of the day and music from special guests, Craic’n On and Jonny Reid. Check out Claddagh’s Facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/claddaghwa. Register your truck for the run at https://charitytruckrunregistration.eventbrite. com.au and get free tickets to the afterparty here: https:// charitytruckrunafterpartytix.eventbrite.com.au. We can’t wait to see you there!

the Claddagh Association and the Charlotte Foundation and is always great fun. Call Peter McKenna on 0447258000 for info and tickets.

13/15 Bonner Drive Malaga.

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

| 67 IRISH972 SCENE265 Crisis Support: THE 0403

www.claddagh.org.au

CLADDAGH ORAL HISTORY PROJECT This month we share the migration story of Gerry McGough from the Claddagh Oral History Project 2020. We know you will love Gerry’s great stories and be fascinated, as we were, by the journey that took him from Ballinaclash, Co Wicklow to Western Australia. Gerry was interviewed by Claddagh Coordinator, Anne Wayne. Anne is from Fremantle but lived near New Ross, Co Wexford for many years.

All the interviews from Claddagh’s Oral History Project 2020 were edited and collated as a book, From Home to Home: Oral Histories of Irish Seniors in Western Australia. The full book is available as a free digital download at the Claddagh website here:

https://claddagh.org.au/claddagh-oral-historyproject/.

CLADDAGH COORDINATOR, ANNE WAYNE, MOVING ON After three years here at Claddagh I will be moving to a new job and Friday 4th March will be my last day in the office.

I will be taking up a new role at the Consumer Credit Legal Service WA (CCSLWA) managing their community education and communications. CCSLWA are a community legal centre who focus on debt and consumer credit issues for vulnerable individuals so I’ll still work in the same sector and look forward to taking referrals from Claddagh and supporting them in other ways in the future.

I have enjoyed working within the Irish community in WA and am very proud of the work that Claddagh has achieved since I started in 2019. It has been a challenging period with big increases in case work and projects as well as the difficulties presented by COVID-19. However, with a small but dedicated committee, wonderful volunteers and incredible supporters Claddagh has been able to respond to the needs of the Irish community in WA. Claddagh’s work is an incredible testament to the strength, kindness and generosity of the Irish community, both here and in Ireland, and I am so glad to have been a part of it.

☘

CLADDAGH SUPPORT WORK Claddagh recently submitted their annual funding application to the Irish Governments Emigrant Support Programme. This funding covers office and project costs but cannot be used for client support. To cover the needs of individuals and families in difficult circumstances Claddagh must fundraise through the year. If you would like to support Claddagh’s work in 2022, you can donate at our website:

https://claddagh.org.au/support-our-work/make-a-donation/.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know needs Claddagh’s support, please contact the Claddagh office via admin@ claddagh.org.au/08 9249 9213. If your need is urgent, you can call Claddagh’s crisis line on 0403 972 265.

68 | THE IRISH SCENE

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Film Reviews: Belfast

Belfast boys strike a harmonious chord Van Morrison (Ivan) has been a favourite artist of mine since the release of Moondance in 1970. I have travelled the world to see him in concert and now we are in Ireland it should be easy to catch Van. The Australian residence in Killiney is not far from a house he paid for in Dalkey although he has never lived there, so it is a tenuous link I hold to him as an ‘almost a neighbour’. Kenneth Branagh grew up on a street nearby Morrison’s own home place, and “Belfast” brings these two great talents together. Choosing Van’s music as the soundtrack is so shrewd, so evocative so brilliant it brings to life and colourises a black and white film.

“I’m Stranded” is so heart felt but as Van writes; “There ain’t nowhere else to be accept right here and I’m stranded.”

“Days like this” with its sophisticated words and funky sax and horns tell us that life is full of set backs, big and little, but momma told Van “...there’d be days like this”.

“Warm love” is ever present everywhere Van sings and in this film love is everywhere, it is a story of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, but its music is the music of love, romance and youth. “...And the Healing has begun...” tells us that no matter the pain, we will again walk down the avenue with a smile.

I love Van’s optimism and his love for his people, and the people in his life. We move then to “Philosophers stone”, which poetically and beautifully describes Van’s journey to be who he is, the harmonica is redolent of the time, a little Dylanesque - but very Van. “Love should come with a warning” reminds me of a line I heard from an advertising guru friend of mine in the 1980s who said, “It’s easier to find a woman that hates you and buy her a house.” I am sure that’s an apocryphal piece of advice. Turn to the brilliant “Moon Dance”, an album I bought from Trev’s records in Whyalla for $4.95 back in the day, it still has the price tag on it because nobody was allowed to play my records, pristine they are. And I love them. Branagh lifts into the mystic from this brilliant music.

“Domino” finds its place as a funky well produced signature tune from a true genius. Thank you Kenneth Brannagh.

Thank you Van. Finally and importantly, “Down to Joy” – an original track for the movie, pulls and yearns at the heartstrings of the people who make up the stories of this film and of those who are watching it. That track has been nominated now for an Academy Award for best Original Song and I can’t think of a man more deserving. This is a film about opportunity love and courage, it’s a soundtrack deftly constructed to create colour depth and hope. It does all this and I cannot wait to get back to a venue to witness this grumpy genius who is not living in Dalkey. He lives in Belfast and he loves the place.

REVIEW: THE HON GARY GRAY AO

ROSE-TINTED TALE OF THE TROUBLES When the first lockdown of the pandemic hit in 2020, veteran actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh sat down to write the story of another tumultuous time, featuring a different kind of lockdown, growing up during The Troubles in 1969 Northern Ireland.

He describes his movie, Belfast, as a fictionalised memoir that remembers the idyll of his boisterous boyhood right as the violence begins to get frighteningly close to home.

Indeed, his own street is soon barricaded, separating Protestant loyalists from their republican Catholic neighbours.

Despite the political context, this is an affectionate, rose-tinted coming-of-age story told through the eyes of Branagh’s nine-year-old avatar, Buddy (charming newcomer Jude Hill), who really only in the broadest sense comprehends what’s going on around him.

What he does know is that his Ma (Caitriona Balfe) is fierce and loving while his devoted Pa (Jamie Dornan) works away in England, his beloved grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds) live just around the corner, and he’s trying hard in class so he might earn a place sitting next to the girl he loves (Olive Tennant, daughter of David).

After a colour-filled aerial tour of the present-day port city that will surely bolster tourism numbers post-pandemic, Belfast is shot mostly in velvety monochrome (by Haris Zambarloukos), underscoring the dreamy, creamy quality of memory and often shot from steep angles to signal a child’s sightline. Moments of first-person perspective spring into colour, as do the films of Branagh’s childhood (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, One Million Years BC, High Noon), which he sees on family trips to the cinema and home on TV, and clearly made an impression. Belfast is Branagh’s ode to those formative years, to his family, to the stories he grew up on as well as the city he remembers so vividly and which his parents finally, reluctantly, end up leaving. Apart from a romantic, and starrily romanticised, scene in which the dashing Dornan serenades Balfe’s Ma to the 1968 classic Everlasting Love, it’s Belfast rocker Van Morrison’s string of indelible hits that dominate the soundtrack. Branagh’s memoir may recall films you’ve seen before, most recently Alfonso Cuarona’s masterful, personal 2018 film Roma, set in 1970s Mexico, but the movie-loving filmmaker has made a nostalgic crowd-pleaser that’s a tonic for tough times.

☘

REVIEW: PIER LEACH FIRST PUBLISHED IN POST TIMEOUT, FEB 5,2022

AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND

THE IRISH SCENE | 69

COMHALTAS PERTH

Comhaltas Perth, Sean Doherty Branch 40-year anniversary BICKLEY CAMP OPEN DAY It was a beautiful and sunny weekend spent at the Bickley Recreation camp as part of Comhaltas’ 40-year anniversary celebrations and a great way to close out 2021. The sun was shining and the tunes were flowing all weekend.

Friday evening kicked off the anniversary celebrations with a session in the main Bickely hall. Saturday morning started with a series of group workshops in Irish language (Bridie Higgins), dance (Torc Ceili, Tom Tallon and Anthony Ward), fiddle (Sean Doherty and Ciara Sudlow), whistle (Dympna Finch and Scott Hannah), uilleann pipes (Brendan Doherty), button accordion (Ronan Collins), bodhran (David Johnston) and song (Ciaran O’Sullivan). All the workshops were greatly attended and we would like to say a special thanks to all the tutors who facilitated the workshops on the day and to those who attended.

Throughout the weekend a collection of photographs was presented in the main hall and on video reel of the large screens. The photos documented the 40 years of Perth Comhaltas ‘Sean Doherty Branch’, from 1 December 1980 to the present day. Comhaltas received a wonderful message and a set of tunes (via video) from Comhaltas Paddy Killoran, Ballymote, County Sligo, ‘Long may the music, singing and dancing continue in the ‘West’. Comhaltas also received a lovely message and a set of tunes from Paddy Tunney and friends in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal (Letterkenny Comhaltas).

It was a wonderful contribution to the weekend’s celebrations. Thank you everyone at CCE Ballymote and Letterkenny.

The workshops concluded late in the afternoon and this was followed by a few words of thanks from our CCE Perth chair Brendan Doherty. As the sun was setting, the preparation of evening supper was in full swing.

We could smell the roast while the tunes were flowing 70 | THE IRISH SCENE

outside in the evening sun. Once dinner was settled, it was all systems go for the evening session in a packed main hall. A special thank you to all the Comhaltas team for preparing a lovely evening meal and to those to assisted in making the weekend possible. Thank you also to everyone who attended and to the team at Bickley camp for making the weekend the special weekend that it was.

We look forward to returning to the camp again this year (further details below).

PAST COMHALTAS STUDENT – CIARAN SUDLOW Comhaltas Perth would like to wish Ciara Sudlow, one of Sean’s past students, the very best of luck for the future as she travels to London to pursue to her master’s at the Royal Academy of Music on baroque violin. Before Ciara sets off, she will be presenting two concerts on Sunday 6 March, 2pm at The Orangey Gallery (Shenton Park) and Thursday 6 March, 6.30pm at Kidogo Arthouse (Fremantle) to raise funds for her study project. The concert series is titled ‘Treasures of the Italian Baroque’ and promises to be a wonderful evening of classical music. Tickets are on sale at the following Try Booking links: The Orangey Gallery

trybooking.com/BXNWQ Kidogo Arthouse

http://itbaroque.eventbrite.com.au Wishing you all the best for your future studies Ciara and safe travels from everyone at Comhaltas.

COMHALTAS PERTH

UPCOMING CCE PERTH EVENTS Bickley Camp Open Day: CCE Perth will be hosting its first outdoor camp of 2022 at Bickely outdoor recreation centre from 6 – 8 May 2022. The camp will include language, music and dancing workshops over the course of the weekend with lots of fun activities for kids. Please check our Comhaltas Perth’ Facebook page for future updates.

Fleadh Cheoil: It’s been a few years since CCE Perth hosted its last Fleadh Cheoil event and we are delighted to announce that this year’s Fleadh Cheoil event will take place at the Irish Club, WA on Saturday 21 May 2022. The event will host a series of competitions for all traditional music instruments and song. Please check our Comhaltas Perth’ Facebook page for future updates and feel free to get in touch via email should you have any queries regarding the event at perthcomhaltas@

gmail.com.

Please get in touch either via email at perthcomhaltas@gmail.com or the branches Facebook page at www.facebook.com/perthcomhaltas/.

We would love to hear from you. Details of our membership prices are included Comhaltas welcome and encourage aspiring musicians of all ages and levels to get in touch. Members of our committee will be able to assist in the many areas of Irish music, song, dance and language, whether that be learning the bodhran, to gain an understanding of sheet music and common tunes played at the Irish sessions, the basics of Irish language and set dancing, amongst many more.

From the committee at Comhaltas we would like to thank our all our members and musicians and the Irish Club committee and staff for your continued support. We also look forward to welcoming new members in the future.

☘

Comhaltas Membership Details (lessons session every Monday at 7pm at the Irish Club, WA Pensioner:

$20.00

Child:

$20.00

Family:

$65.00

Adult single:

$40.00

Adult (couple):

$55.00

Monday night lessons: $5 (Comhaltas member) $10.00 (non-member) @ The Irish Club of WA 61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco WA, 6008 Slow session 2pm to 4pm every Third Sunday of the Month (no charge) @ Victoria Park Arts Centre Kent Street, East Victoria Park Music Weekend 6 – 8 May 2022 Bickley Outdoor Recreation Camp Hardinge Rd, Orange Grove WA, 6109

THE IRISH SCENE | 71

A PLACE TO CALL HOME To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch, to force the way.

Lines from a verse written inside the front cover of the pulpit Bible from the former Wesleyan Preaching House in Killeheen, Co Limerick, exhibited in the Irish Palatine Museum and Heritage Centre, Rathkeale.]

What was it that made Chris Timoney’s Tipperary-born emigrant greatgrandmother, Susan Cooke, different from all her other Irish ancestors?

Though Susan was raised on a farm in Ireland’s rural heartland, her surname hinted that her people had not always been Irish. But Susan’s story, which Chris had expected to be typically Anglo-Irish, took another path altogether. Exploring the evolution of the surname in Ireland from Koch in 1709 to Cough in the 1770s to Cooke in the 1800s, Chris learnt that Susan was descended from Irish Palatines.

Delving further into the Palatine story, Chris discovered a pattern of recurring cycles of migration. She found the analogy between the Palatines’ peregrinations and the Biblical ‘wandering in the desert’ irresistible, especially since the Palatines wore their religious difference with pride.

A Place to Call Home is the multigenerational saga that focuses on the Cooke family to trace the Irish Palatine story, from their exodus from Germany in 1709, through the settlement in Co Limerick and the creation of a satellite community in Co Tipperary in 1772, to yet another disruption and dispersal as many Palatines joined the mass emigration from Ireland in the second half of the nineteenth century.

72 | THE IRISH SCENE

FAMILY HISTORY WA

Left: The quiet rural road in Bawnlea, Kilcooly, Co Tipperary, where the Cooke family have lived since the 1770s. [Photo by the author, 2018] When my paternal great-grandmother, Susan Cooke, boarded the threemasted sailing ship Shenir in Plymouth on 20 May 1880 for the three-month voyage to Brisbane, she may have looked like a typical eighteen-year-old exchanging a bleak future in rural Ireland for the promise of plentiful employment and good marriage prospects in Queensland, but Susan carried a secret weapon she probably believed would set her apart from the crowd. She was descended from proud Palatine Protestants, farmers described by John Wesley, who had preached to them in 1756 under an ash tree in Adare, County Limerick, as ‘a plain, artless, serious people … [whose] diligence turns all their land into a garden’. While Susan probably spoke with an Irish accent, she was more German than Irish and the tradition of epic journeys undertaken by her Palatine ancestors must surely have fuelled her courage for the voyage ahead. But who exactly were the Irish Palatines?

In March 1709, in the Rhineland Palatinate region of Germany, an exodus had been gathering momentum as approximately 13,500 refugees, encouraged and funded by the English queen, fled the triple threats of the persecution of Protestants under rising Catholic dominance in Europe, repeated French incursions particularly during the War of the Spanish Succession, and – the final straw – the notoriously harsh winter of 1708-09 that caused catastrophic crop failures. Several thousand of those ‘poor Palatines’ made it to America while thousands more dispersed across Britain, buoyed by the passing on 23 March 1709 of the British Parliament’s Naturalisation Act that facilitated the settlement of foreign Protestants in England and her colonies, especially the American colonies.

Among one hundred Palatine families arriving on Sir Thomas Southwell’s Irish estate in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, were Johan, Martin, Philip and Matthes Koch. Listed as husbandmen and vinedressers from Massenheim, near Weisbaden, they would have felt themselves fortified by the moral armour of their Lutheran faith as well as the skills and work ethic to continue their agricultural traditions and lifestyle. In Ireland the Palatines initially aligned themselves with the ruling British by attending the Church of Ireland, thereby distinguishing themselves from the majority Irish Catholic population. After hearing Wesley preach, many Palatines formed Methodist congregations and built Methodist chapels in their rural communities. I wonder if the eight-year-old John Cough, Johann Koch’s Irish-born grandson and Susan’s greatgrandfather, had been among the crowd listening to Wesley under that ash tree in 1756.

COULD YOUR IRISH ANCESTOR HAVE BEEN AN IRISH PALATINE? The Irish Palatine Association, based in Co Limerick, have established themselves as the main repository of the known Palatine history and curators of the Irish Palatine Heritage Centre at Rathkeale. They also cooperate extensively with the Irish Palatine Special Interest Group of the Ontario Genealogical Society in Canada.

If you have Irish Palatine ancestors, or you are intrigued that you have Irish ancestors with German-sounding names such as Switzer, Bovenizer, Teskey, Winter – and in Wexford even the family name Keough, easily confused with the Irish name Keogh – the Irish Palatine Association would love to hear from you.

WEBSITES FOR IRISH PALATINE HISTORY: www.irishpalatines.org – Irish Palatine Museum and Heritage Centre, Rathkeale, Co Limerick. www.ip-sig.ogs.on.ca/ activities/past-webinars - take the free Virtual Tour of the Irish Palatine Heritage Centre. The tour was delivered by Austin Bovenizer from the heritage centre in Rathkeale, and recorded at an online meeting of the Irish Palatine Special Interest Group of the Ontario Genealogical Society on 8 May 2021.

THE IRISH SCENE | 73

THE IRISH SIG IN 2022 The Irish Special Interest Group (Irish SIG) at Family History WA (FHWA) continues to meet quarterly, though the option to meet online via Google Meet can be exercised at short notice if the Covid-19 situation changes. Next ISIG meeting will be on 3 April 2022, when we will hear from members who have utilized DNA testing as another tool to sharpen the accuracy of their Irish family history searching. New members and visitors are always welcome - simply book your place using the online booking site TryBooking, details below.

FHWA also hosts many other face-to-face and online presentations, workshops and meetings, some for beginners and others for experienced researchers. Bookings are essential, and a small payment may be required for some events. See links below.

We invite you to visit FHWA’s extensive library and resource centre at 6/48 May Street, Bayswater. Please consult the FHWA homepage for current opening hours, capacity limits and conditions of entry, if applicable. Happy and successful researching!

USEFUL LINKS Contact Robyn O’Brien, Convenor Irish Special Interest Group: irish.sig@fhwa.org.

au

Book a place at the next Irish SIG meeting at TryBooking: trybooking.com/BLPZM Book for future FHWA events at trybooking.

com/eventlist/genealogy

Go digging for Irish resources at FamilyHistoryWA’s Irish SIG webpage Join FamilyHistoryWA Facebook group – researching family worldwide, open to all.

Join in the chat or ask a question.

FamilyHistoryWA (FHWA): fhwa.org.au T 08 9271 4311

For some Irish Palatines, however, Limerick would turn out not to be their Promised Land. By 1772, with the community already outgrowing the Rathkeale estate and Southwell’s heirs abandoning his original promise of permanently favourable rental conditions, more English landlords, having observed the farming successes of the original Palatine settlements, began to seek a piece of the action. One such landlord was William Barker, who invited a small group of disgruntled Limerick Palatines to his Kilcooly estate in the east of County Tipperary, and so began another exodus, a new generation joining the throbbing pulse of Ireland’s internal migration. Among the travellers was Susan’s great-grandfather, John Cough, who would have walked the eighty miles, perhaps driving a few cattle and transporting basic farm and household equipment, ready to apply himself to farming in another new location.

As John and his fellow Palatines climbed the hills above Kilcooly Abbey into Bawnlea and gazed down on the fertile, green plain of Tipperary’s Golden Vale, did they dare to hope their wanderings were finally over? The Griffith’s Valuation maps of one hundred years later reveal a Methodist chapel and preacher’s residence sandwiched between fields and cottages rented by Peter Cooke, Henry Cooke and Susan’s father, Adam Cooke, in Bawnlea. Even today Henry’s descendants still farm the same fields, and the original Methodist chapel is perhaps Ireland’s most enigmatic milking parlour, complete with stone portico and decorative arched windows. In the 1880s, however, it was Adam’s children who would revive the ancestral migratory behaviour.

Adam Cooke and Julia Bible had married in Kilcooly on 4 November 1845, a month after the blight, phytophthera infestans, was first identified in Irish potatoes. While the aftermath of the next six years of starvation and disease would halve Ireland’s population before the century was over, it was a domestic tragedy that transformed the fate of the Cooke family when Julia died giving birth to their seventh child in 1866. Ten years later Adam died and over the next seven years all of their children emigrated, two to North America, the other five – including my great-grandmother, Susan – to Queensland. Did this latest emigrant generation view themselves as desperate exiles from a bleak future in rural Ireland? Would this be their final journey to their very own Promised Land?

The Irish Palatines’ rock was their faith, but it was

74 | THE IRISH SCENE

FAMILY HISTORY WA

150 kilometres of the homes where the five settled. tinged with a lingering religious prejudice probably As that Bible verse suggested, perhaps my Palatine ingrained since the persecution of their ancestors ancestors having ‘lift[ed] the latch’ three times in back in the Rhine Palatinate. In 1827, Susan’s six generations, finally did ‘force the way’ to their forebears living in Tipperary had shown their Promised Land, a little corner of Australia that their contempt for the majority Irish Catholics by signing descendants could call home. ~ Christine Timone the anti-Catholic petition. I find it ironic that those Catholics to whom my own Palatine ancestors sought to deny rights and freedoms included all the other Irish lines of my ancestry: my Dwyer and Breen families in Donaskeagh, Tipperary South; my Costigans, Mahers and Nowlans in the Barony of Ikerrin, Tipperary North; and my McMahons from Portroe near the shores of Lough Derg, Tipperary North. In the Ireland of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Palatines had managed to marry within their Supporting: The Claddagh Association and the Charlotte Foundation Palatine community and retain to some extent their distinctive identity. In Australia, Susan would go on to marry two Protestant husbands in the 1880s and 1890s. I suspect Susan may have held some uncompromising ideas when it came to teaching the next generation about 1. NO BYO ALCOHOL obedience, self-discipline and responsibility, 2. Proof of re Galo VACCINATION judging by some Queensland court reports rizes P required that she beat her son and that she sued her 3. MASKS must be worn in PROSHOP and step-son for £3/1/- board. Twentieth century FUNCTION ROOM Australia, however, would prove a very different social environment, and I wonder Irish Club Golf Society Bank account details: what Susan, her parents or her grandparents BSB 306044 Acc: 0518027 would have thought of her many descendants’ Bookings, Format: TWO BALL AMBROSE. Maylands mixed marriages with Irish-Australian Catholic $75.00 per person - Two tee start from 7.30am Contact: Golf Course includes a BBQ lunch after the game.

Peter McKenna spouses, including those in my direct line.

Carts available at individual’s own cost.

Swan Bank Road

St Patrick’s Day

Thursday 17 March 2022

Conditions of Entry

The five Cooke siblings thrived in south-eastern Queensland and today, nearly a century and a half after their arrival, hundreds of Susan’s and her siblings’ descendants still live within

Maylands.

Registration from 7.00 am

0447258000.

Jack Ebbs 0450675167.

Tom Quinn 0412236498.

Booking for carts 93703211.

HOLE SPONSOR: $500.00 (includes two teams of two players, banners displayed on the day.

Raffle on the day, plus lots of novelties.

Phone 08 9401 1900

Info@mckeefunerals.com.au • mekeefunerals.com.au

Helping Your family

THE IRISH SCENE | 75

Book Reviews

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE REVIEWED BY JOHN HAGAN

THE BREATHING REVOLUTION

BY YOLANDA BARKER / GREEN TREE $24.99

When I first began my yoga practice over a decade ago, the mantra of my teacher was, ‘Listen to your breath’. After about four downward-dogs I had no trouble listening to my breath – it was roaring in my ears! For the ancient yogis, breathing exercises (pranayama) constituted the fastest path to enlightenment - peace, bliss and wisdom. Barker builds on, and enlarges, this principle, illustrating how the way a person breathes affects the body, mind and emotions, largely through the breath’s connection to the nervous system and the stress response. Barker believes that ‘very few people breathe optimally’, describing how inefficient breathing impacts negatively on physiology resulting in possible high blood pressure, anxiety, low energy, disturbed sleep, palpitations and other incapacitating issues. For those wishing to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling out of breath, calm their emotions, develop clarity, become more physically fit and 76 | THE IRISH SCENE

more energetic, Barker outlines a simple seven day programme of practical exercises, covering such elements as analyzing and recognizing personal breathing habits, use of the correct breathing muscles, exploring breathing rhythms and proper exhalation procedure. In the second section of the book, Barker describes simple breathing techniques including tips for enhanced posture, pelvic floor health, plus advice on how to evoke calmness and develop better sleep patterns. Drawing on her own experience of coping with anxiety and depression, allied to her background as a long-time yoga teacher, Barker shines a profound light on the physiology of stress, and its debilitating effect. Suggested exercises are in dot point form, and illustrated by simple line drawings; instructions are easy to follow making this a really practical book to read. Between its covers, this slim, 160 page publication has the potential to afford us all a new breath of life.

THE ICE COVEN

BY MAX SEECK / WELBECK $29.99

Following on from his bestselling Nordic noir novel, The Witch Hunter, Seeck again features police investigator, Jessica Niemi as she continues to lead a small, elite group of officers in Helsinki’s Violent Crimes Unit. Two popular social influencers have suspiciously disappeared after an album launch party

by Kex Mace, Finland’s biggest rap star. Next day,

BOOK REVIEWS

a female corpse is washed up on a frigid Finnish shore wearing a manga costume causing Jessica to confront what soon becomes a vast criminal conspiracy with a ruthless psychopath its heart.

Highly regarded as a talented, instinctive investigator, Jessica is still coping with mistakes from her previous case and hasn’t fully recovered from the loss of her boss, and father figure, Erne Mikson. To compound her troubles, Mikson has been replaced by the pedantic, bureaucratic, Chief Helena Lappi who seems to have taken an instant, and spiteful, dislike to Jessica.

The only survivor of a car crash which killed her parents and young brother, Jessica has inherited a family fortune and resides in an ornate mansion although she purports to live in a small grubby flat. She exhibits aspects of her personality which don’t necessarily reflect reality as she faces her own personal demons. With short pacey chapters told in the present tense, Seeck has developed a technique which ratchets up the tension producing an impactful thriller full of dizzying twists and turns, red herrings and dead ends. The intricately, intelligently plotted storyline, set in the bleak Finnish winter, will keep the reader engrossed and guessing. In Jessica Nemi, Seeck has created a heroine as complex and captivating as I can remember as she races to solve the crimes before an old enemy emerges threatening to destroy her. .

DUCHESS WHO DARED CHARLES CASTLE / SWIFT PRESS $ 22.99

The hit TV show in the UK over the recent Christmas period was A Very British Scandal depicting the real-life story of the turbulent marriage and bitter, brutal, expensive divorce proceedings of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. During 1963, under the glare of a rabid British tabloid press and a transfixed nation, theirs was a court case awash with revelations of violence, burglary, theft, infidelity, bribery and illicit photographs. Margaret, Duchess of Argyll and society beauty immortalized by Cole Porter in his hit song, You’re the Tops, was dubbed, the ‘dirty duchess’ for

her many liaisons outside their marriage (the Duke alleged there were 88 ‘other men’). However, the Duke himself, addicted to alcohol, amphetamines and gambling, was not without his own array of mistresses and infidelities. Believing she would win the case, the costliest divorce proceedings in British history, Margaret was in Paris with her married lover when the judge delivered the adverse verdict, granting the Duke a divorce. The Duchess was denounced by the judge as ‘a completely promiscuous woman’ who was apparently not ‘satisfied with normal relations and had started to indulge in disgusting sexual activities to gratify a debased sexual appetite’. Eleven years later, Margaret contacted author, Charles Castle, asking him to write her life story. Castle agreed on the condition he could tape all interviews and also requested copyright and legal protection against any unforeseeable litigation as he ‘was all too aware that her past had been bound up with treachery, adultery and deceit’. The Duchess candidly disclosed to Castle, details of her early life as a Scottish born socialite and heiress, her affair, as a 15 year old, with film star, David Niven, the break-up of her first marriage, and how her second marriage to Argyll eventually turned sour. She is revealed as a formidable, headstrong woman who during her eventful life experienced domestic violence, miscarriages, a near-death accident, abortion, estrangement from her daughter and eventually the distain of a nation. Castle’s portrayal of the Duchess is that of a vibrant, poised, fashionable, sexually liberated woman, ahead of her time and who, perhaps in this day and age might have been treated quite differently by the law and society.

None of the scandal and widespread calumny broke Margaret, who held her head high until her death in 1993. Accompanying all the intrigue, this is a tale peopled by actors such as Douglas Fairbanks Jnr and Moira Lister, a bevy of leading politicians, financiers and newspaper barons, and providing a fascinating THE IRISH SCENE | 77

and colourful peek into the mores and motivations of a past era of British high society.

LONG PLAYERS EDITED BY TOM GATTI / BLOOMSBURY $34.99

Originally a weekly series in UK’s New Statesman, those columns have now been reproduced into this intoxicating mix of memoir and music, demonstrating how a single long playing record shaped the outlook and identity of fifty noted authors. During childhood, I can recall hearing the crackly voices of Harry Lauder and John McCormick emanating from heavy, shiny, shellac records, spinning at 78 revolutions per minute, but it wasn’t until 1948 when the 12 inch record was launched heralding the introduction of the modern 33rpm LP. Over the years since, the popularity of the LP has

78 | THE IRISH SCENE

waxed and waned with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, released in 1982, becoming the top selling LP of all times with sales of 50 million. Gatti approached a selection of famous writers such as Deborah Levy, Patricia Lockwood, Billy Bragg, Clive James and Ben Orki, to recount the LP which most affected their lives. Colm Tobin cited the 1969 album Give a Damm, by Irish folk band the Johnsons as his choice because through it he was able, while a teenager, to imagine and fashion the world outside his Irish boyhood home. Marlon James declares that Bjork’s Post helped him come to terms with his identity, sexuality and faith. For Kate Mossman, Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints will forever be associated with a remarkable teenage holiday which the family won to the south of France. Ian Rankin, creator of Rebus, settles for John Martyn’s Solid Air as the one album which has been his constant companion through school, university, marriage and children – even through his punk days. ‘Each time when we moved, the first album on the turntable was Solid Air’, he states. Writers LP choices are widespread and eclectic, some mainstream (for Alan Johnson it’s the Beatles Revolver), while for some, like Fiona Mozley (Cassadaga by Bright Eyes), the selection is a little more idiosyncratic. Subjects range from Mozart

BOOK REVIEWS

to Ms Dynamite, with the pieces selected revealing something interesting about the writer, the music and the world at large.

As a post script, the album which radically changed my life, putting an end to my smoking habit, was jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery’s A Day in the Life. My choice is not based on the disc’s content (although I remain a big Montgomery fan), but on the album’s confronting cover. How about the LP which most affected you?

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE REVIEWED

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

A CURLEW’S EYE

swans wing, of what he has lost.

On the property remain the car that Magdalene was born in and it is only later we see the symmetry in her death. Greta is impacted by the appearance of a young girl who seems fascinated by the replicated birthmark that Joel and one his sons share. The wind chimes that mark the presence of the girl make her both heard and hidden. The swan in mythology is noted for its life long devotion to one partner and as the story and the mystery it becomes clear as the tragic inhabitants of the lake that Joel’s retention of the scars representing the wing of the swan symbolise his life long devotion to his sister. A Curlew’s Eye

by Karen Manton is out now published by Allen and Unwin.

BY KAREN MANTON

A Curlew’s Eye, Karen Manton’s first novel is at once a gothic novel and a supernatural ghost story. The gothic castle or manor house is replaced by a crumbling homestead. Into this scene arrives Greta, her husband Joel and their children, always travelling and never settling down they appear to not want to face reality. Joel returns to the home of his childhood that is tarnished by the tragic loss of his sister. He is here to repair his old home for sale but the repairs are not only on his home but himself as he seeks to recover from a childhood incident that as left visible scars on his body. The fairytale imagery of the story continues with the poisonous apple and spindle re imagined as a poisonous lake that acts like a mirror, not one asks who is the most beautiful of all but instead throws up images of unfortunate animals that chose to drink from its transparent depths. The mystery of the novel is not transparent however and it takes to the end to piece the story together.

Karen says the fairytale of the six swans is pivotal to the story. The six swans is a story about six brothers who turn into swans and the sister who has the ability to change them back, which she does but unfortunately the charm is incomplete and one brother is left with the vestige of a swans wing.

Joel is like this brother, incapacitated by an accident he is left bereft of fully functioning after the loss of his sister Magdalene, instead he brandishes scars the equivalent of the inconvenient reminder, like the

NED KELLY AND THE CONSTABLE, A STORY OF ANNE SOUTER AND DOC NEESON I spoke to Doc’s partner Anne Souter about the recent biography which she co-authored with Jon Bradshaw ‘The Life and Times of (Irish) Aussie Rock Legend Doc Neeson’, which explores the enigma of The Angels’ Bernard Patrick ‘Doc’ Neeson. Doc Neeson is a towering figure in Australian music and that is more than in his quite formidable physical height. Doc gave us a unique stage presence that inspired others, most notably found in the characteristic hand movements of Peter Garret, directly inspired by Doc’s own wild hand movements known as ‘Exploring space’. Doc arrived in South Australia from Ireland as a teen on the converted troopship Shrathnaver, with his father Barney a former British army officer, who would take up work as a prison warden and linesman, his mum Kitty, a nurse and his five other siblings. Doc got his nickname from his love of the wild west gunslinger Doc Holliday.An enigma like Doc had of course some interesting facts formed around his legend. At school he was athletic at the high jump but his singing oddly enough did not impress at least one teacher. Brother O’Doherty suggested it was wise for young Bernard not to follow a music career!nAlthough Doc wasn’t classically trained in music like his band mates the THE IRISH SCENE | 79

BOOK REVIEWS

Brewster brothers, he, like all Irishmen had a tradition of jamming the classics such as ‘Molly Malone’, ‘The Mountains of Mourne’ and ‘Whisky in the Jar’ with the family band. Doc loved learning and had a wide breadth of knowledge including a scope of Australia History which surpassed those who were Australia born! A fact about arguably the Angels most famous songs ‘Am I ever gonna see your face again’ was that part of the lyrics were penned by the teenage Doc about a girl with whom he travelled on the school bus.

CREEK-Y SECRETS AND DECEPTION IN COUNTRY TOWN

BY PAULA XIBERRAS

I recently spoke to Fleur Macdonald about her new novel ‘Deception Creek’. Set in the Flinders Ranges it involves Joel, returning from a time in jail, a religious family and rural crime. Fleur once again gives readers another great thriller that touches on topics of tragedy, abuse, forgiveness and new beginnings.

Deception Creek true to its name is layered with old secrets and suspicions that rise to the surface of the murky creek. The story centres on Joel Hammond who returns to Barker after a period in jail for the suspected murder of his girlfriend Maggie, and is subsequently alienated and harassed.

What follows is a tragic and shattering conclusion.

Fan favourite, Dectective Dan Burrows is again doing what he does best with care and compassion.

Fleur shares with me that she has a busy year ahead with three books in the pipeline.

Deception Creek by Fleur Macdonald is out now published by Allen and Unwin.

☘

80 | THE IRISH SCENE

VALE PATSY MCARDLE

BY BRIAN MCLOUGHLIN Patsy was the real old style newspaper reporter, always on top of his story whether it was a local Monaghan or Border happening during the Troubles or an everyday bread and butter story. His by-line appeared regularly in the national daily and Sunday papers and the broadcast media also used his copy.

I got to know Patsy when we freelanced for Eurolink along with Lloyd Gorman before Irish Scene’s editor Lloyd started a new career in Perth. We were commissioned by Jim O'Brien of the European Parliament Office in Dublin to write a weekly column for the provincial newspapers. Each of us had to write for the papers in a particular part of the country and how events in the European Union affected that area.

Doing this assignment meant travelling to Brussels and Strasbourg to get material and see the European Parliament in action.

Patsy was an entertaining and interesting companion with his Castleblaney accent. He was well-known by the politicians and I recall when we were in Strasbourg, we used to visit an ice cream parlour and sit on a high stool at a high table eating our ice cream and looking out the window at the city trams silently floating by. "You have nothing like this in 'blaney Patsy I once said' and he just nodded and continued licking his ice cream. One of the last of the old stock of journalists, may you rest in peace Patsy.

From the editor: I first learned about Eurolink when I was the news editor for the Wicklow Times in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Every week the office fax machine (remember them) would spit out pages of EU based stories – for free publication – produced by one Patsy McArdle. Little could I have guess that several years later I would be regularly travelling to Strasbourg and Brussels with him, Brian and other Irish journalists. I was a young reporter at the time and both Brian and Patsy were respected and seasoned journalists, I learned a few things from them and was lucky to have them as companions on those outings to Europe. News of Patsy’s death filtered through in January just as the last edition of Irish Scene was going to press. Apart from wanting to pay tribute to him I am sure there are a great many people here from the border regions who would have known his fearless reporting during those troubled and dangerous times.

His old newspaper The Argus described him as “A legend in his own lifetime”. He really was!

☘

HAPPY

ST PATRICK’S DAY from your WA Labor Irish-Australian team

Jessica Stojkovski Member for Kingsley

Caitlin Collins

David Michael

Member for Hillarys

Alanna Clohesy Member for East Metropolitan

Member for Balcatta

Stephen Dawson

Alannah MacTiernan

Margaret Quirk

Member for Mining and Pastoral

Member for South West

Member for Landsdale

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

THE IRISH SCENE | 81

Gerry McGough GERRY MCGOUGH WAS BORN IN 1951.

He is from Ballinaclash (Clash), Co. Wicklow.

I actually come from Annagassan, County Louth. That’s where my mother came from [but] I started off in an orphanage in Dublin, in Stillorgan. I always remember there was a nun there. And we’d be out kicking football. I’d be the last one coming in. I just wanted to kick a football.

That was it. So she’d often stay back for another five or ten minutes.

I was lucky because I was only there until I was five. I remember three ladies arrived and there was three of us picked for these first pair of football boots, he brought them ladies to have a look at to down from Dublin. So he must have said, adopt or foster. Next thing ‘Ah, this lad needs a pair of football boots’.

I knew, I was on a train They were Blackthorn football boots. I put heading for Wicklow. [I them on and I think I walked in the shit and was chosen because] the still went to bed with them. colour of my hair was I actually played in an something similar to Mrs. [The GAA] was a big thing for me, Carey’s [my prospective All Ireland hurling final especially coming from the orphanage foster mother]. I come and then coming to Clash and the school. for Wicklow’” on this train and arrive in I wasn’t a very happy chappy at school, Clash in Ballymoney and to be honest with you. Had a teacher there we stayed in Byrne’s that by the name of Baker. His idea of teaching night. Of course, word was roaring and shouting. Kids got beaten got around that there’s for no reason at all. I loved running and this kid from Dublin that playing football and soccer and hurling. I was going to stay at Mrs. actually played in an All Ireland hurling Carey’s. I got up and all these faces were looking into final for Wicklow. It would have been, 1967, it was a B the window. It was the local kids. And so now I know All Ireland, and we played Down in the finals and we what it’s like to be in the zoo! lost by a goal. I played all grades in Wicklow. With the

“

[Mrs Carey] was an angel really. She would have put up a lot now with me to be honest. Because I wouldn’t be a quiet child, let’s put it that way. It was like walking into a palace, and as far as freedom went I was very lucky. I enjoyed living there because you had your own room and then she had a few cattle and she used to have sheep and you had your hens and chicks and all that. Her brother, Jim Kenny, used to come visit and I’d be always running around with a ball. My 82 | THE IRISH SCENE

club at home, Ballinacor, we won two championships, the junior and intermediate [camogie]. I was coach.

I always had that great affinity with Ballinacor and it sort of gave me an identity and it meant a lot to me.

And the GAA, it’s a brilliant way of getting people together and bringing groups together. I am glad to say, I have played football, I have played hurling as well, I have coached football and camogie [in Australia and Ireland]. When I left school, I worked

GERRY MCGOUGH

go? Perth is the first stop’. I said, ‘That’ll do, grand’. in a bar in Rathdrum, Barry’s hotel. And that was I think it was four hundred quid for the two of us. We bar and grocery. We used to bottle our own beer in came in September ‘74. They brought the visa to get it, our own Guinness. [I] left Barry’s, and went to a into Australia in, in 1975. So we just got in before pub in Tinahely, Walsh’s in Tinahely. Then I joined the doors closed. Only for that we possibly wouldn’t the army, September ‘69. The army was very good have went through the paperwork and wouldn’t have for me. It gave me independence. I remember I was bothered. Because we looked at Canada and in the army at Bray, they gave a wheelbarrow load of papers and County Wicklow. Down needn’t tell you I didn’t go through them all. along the sea front they I looked at one, I went, ‘No, bugger that, I’m were having some sort not doing this’. of a carnival. They had this fortune teller.

We flew out on the second of September She says, ‘The letter A I actually played in an 1974. We were in transit to Singapore. So is going to be a very, of course, we had to get the hair cut because All Ireland hurling final very important letter they wouldn’t allow us into Singapore unless in your life’. There’s for Wicklow’” you had the hair above the collar line and we three things, army, my got all dressed up, shirt and ties and all. This mother’s name was ship was going to bring us from Singapore Annie, and Australia. to Fremantle and the name of the ship was So she must have had the Fedor Shalyapin, Russian ship. We had to some insight. Then I queue to get on this and we’re standing in the went to England, I was heat for maybe two and a half hours and we working in England. I weren’t in good humour. I walked in and they looked really enjoyed England. There was a very strong sort of anti-Irish feeling about it. You know what I mean? It at my book, and they said, ‘Yeah, no problems. Step in, thank you’. Next thing, my mate come up behind me, was like you were sort of embarrassed to be associated Declan, ‘No sorry, you can’t board’. So they’re looking with Irish. And a very good friend of mine, Declan at his paper, said ‘This not signed, this not signed’. You Burke, from Wicklow as well, came over to England. had to get injections you see, but his doctor in Avoca The two of us used to meet up and one day we made didn’t tick [the box]. I never heard as many curses on the decision, we’d move further on and the next step, a doctor in my life. So I said to the guy, ‘Well what really, was Australia. We looked at New Zealand and can we do?’ He says, ‘Oh you need to get a doctor’. we said, ‘No, there’s too many sheep in New I said, ‘Haven’t you got a doctor on the ship?’ ‘No, Zealand, seen enough of them in Wicklow’. We looked no, you must go see other doctor’. So we had to get a taxi and run around Singapore looking for a doctor. So at Canada and we went, ‘No, too cold in Canada’. eventually he got another jab. We eventually got on the We decided we were going to go to Australia. But we ship and we were on our way to Australia. needed more money. So we came back to Ireland [and I] work[ed] for a company called Gouldings.

Then we arrived in Fremantle. It was dark, actually, when we disembarked. And I looked around, and I saw I used to go to dances in Dublin. You had the Ierne, you had the National Ballroom, you had the Television a taxi. And I went over to them, and I said, ‘Can you drop us off in Perth?’ And with a Scottish accent, he Club. And I was in the Television Club one night, and there was a guy sitting at a table and there was a couple says, ‘Hop in’. He says to me, ‘Whereabouts in Perth are you going?’ I said, ‘Haven’t a clue. Just bring us to of spare chairs so we sat down and started chatting. the cheapest hotel you can find’. So, he dropped us off And he was home from Australia on holidays. I said, there in William Street, the Britannia Hotel. It was nine ‘What do you need to go to Australia?’ He says, dollars a week rent. We shared a room. We could lease ‘Basically, an airfare’. I said to my mate, ‘Let’s look this black and white television for a dollar. We walked into this’. So we went down to Club Travel in Dublin, around Perth and it was lovely. in Abbey Street. I said, ‘How much is it going to cost We had no pre-plan. You just get on and move on and to go to Australia?’ She says, ‘Where do you want to

“

THE IRISH SCENE | 83

GERRY MCGOUGH survive. We went to the employment office. And no, here’, he says, ‘That are not looking for work’. He you were wasting your time going there. So, I went says, ‘You’re wasting your time coming in here’. And down to the train station and booked a ticket [for he was actually working there! And I says, ‘Where in Sydney]. The train left at one or two o’clock in the the name of Jesus do you get a job in this country?’ afternoon, East Perth. This train tuttled along, tuttled He says, ‘BHP. Go down there and you might get the along. Looking at my watch, looking at Declan, saying, start’. So we went in and bingo. So, next thing we’re ‘Fecking hell, what’s going on here?’ So, she pulled back in the train again and we’re heading for South up eventually, and I got up, and ‘Jees, thank God this Australia, Whyalla. So the first six months in Australia is over’. One Aussie lad says, ‘Hey mate, I thought was nearly spent on the train! you said you were going to Sydney?’ I says, ‘Yeah, It would have taken us a long time to settle. we must be there by We always wanted to go back to Ireland. But now, we’ve been on this I’m glad I didn’t [go back]. You think about fecking thing for seven Ireland. You’d think, ‘What am I doing here hours’. He goes, ‘No in the bush and there’s flies and there’s 40 mate, she doesn’t get degrees and there could be snow and the rain’. there until Thursday’. I you go back there [to Ireland] and you turned around and says We had no pre-plan. You Then think, ‘What the feck am I doing here? It’s to Dec, ‘Jesus, Christ’, just get on and move on freezing!’

I said, ‘we’re on this The lovely thing in Australia, it was the open train for two days,’ I and survive” spaces and there was just that freedom. It said, ‘The longest train was like you could go anywhere. You weren’t journey you ever had’. restricted. If you’re prepared to give it a go, you’re accepted. Perth is big enough and it’s small enough. We have the Irish community [In Sydney we] went here and if you want an Irish day, you can go into the employment to the Irish Club. I’m Irish. But don’t get me office. Next thing this guy comes out and he says to wrong, I’m proud of the Aussies, proud to be here. me, ‘I’ve heard your accent, that’s why I come down’.

[He was from] West Wicklow, Baltingla¬ss. And I said, Gerry was interviewed by Claddagh Coordinator, Anne Wayne. Anne is from Fremantle but lived ‘What do you have to do to get a job here?’ He says, near New Ross, Co. Wexford for many years ‘Don’t come in here’. He says, ‘People only come in

“

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IRISH THEATRE PLAYERS

WE ARE BACK IN THE REHEARSAL SPACE AGAIN PREPARING FOR OUR APRIL PRODUCTION “THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT” UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR BRENDAN ELLIS. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Boasting a large, zany cast of characters, the play asks one of the most plaguing questions in the Christian ideology: What happened to Judas Iscariot? The facts (we think!) we know are these: Judas was the disciple of Jesus who betrayed his friend and teacher

to the authorities. He is seen as the man responsible for Jesus’s death; afterwards, Judas fell into despair and hung himself from an olive tree; since then, he has been suffering for his deeds deep in Hell and will continue to do so for all eternity. Is that really fair? Was Judas the duplicitous master of his own fate, a much-suffering pawn used for Jesus’s ends, or just a man who made a mistake? Set in a courtroom in Purgatory, The Last Days puts Judas’ case to a hilarious, riotous, piercing trial, the results of which are sure to make the inhabitants of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory — and the audience — reconsider what each thought they knew about forgiveness, faith, and the human inside one of history’s most infamous figures.

SHOW TIMES ARE APRIL 21ST, 22ND & 23RD AT 7.30PM.SUNDAY MATINEE 24TH AT 2.00PM THEN 28TH, 29TH & 30TH AT 7.30PM.

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED OUR AGM ON THURSDAY 17TH FEBRUARY AT THE IRISH CLUB OF WA. FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT, HERE’S OUR REVIEW OF OUR YEAR 2021.

Also, membership for 2022 now available; www.trybooking.com/BWUGC

irishtheatreplayers.com.au

IrishTheatrePlayers THE IRISH SCENE

| 85

AUSTRALIAN IRISH DANCING ASSOCIATION WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Thank You

AIDA WA would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations for the honour of life membership to AIDA Inc to Rose O’Brien ADCRG and Teresa Fenton TCRG. We thank you both for your hard work and dedication throughout your many years ‍♀️ ️

👯☘

AIDA WA would like to wish all our world qualifying dancers the very best of luck at this year’s 2022 World Irish Dance Championships!!

After the event has been postponed for the last 2 years due to Covid19, dancers and teachers worldwide are eager to make this year one to remember. The event will take place this April at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast Ireland.

WORLD QUALIFIERS LIST

✨ Abby Jansen, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Aislinn Healy, O’Hare School ✨ Alyssa James, O’Brien Academy ✨ Amelia Murphy Three Crowns SOID ✨ Aoibheann Ronan, Three Crowns SOID ✨ Ashleigh Hugo, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Ashling Hyndman, Three Crowns School ✨ Blythe Garry, Three Crowns School ✨ Caitlin Leahy, Three Crowns School ✨ Cassie Lin, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Charlotte Hunter, Celtic Academy ✨ Charlotte Langford, The Academy MA&WA 86 | THE IRISH SCENE

✨ Chloe Andrews, Trinity Studio ✨ Ciara Stobbie, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Dakota Courtney, O’Brien Academy ✨ Dara McAleer, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Darcy Guazzelli, Trinity Studio ✨ Eliza Beattie, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Eliza Jansen, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Ellie Murphy, O’Brien Academy ✨ Emily Patterson, O’Hare School ✨ Erin Carroll, WA Academy ✨ Faye Conway, Trinity Studio ✨ Fiona Lin, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Georgina Mackle, WA Academy ✨ Hannah Hughes, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Hayley Brooker, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Iona Braham, Trinity Studio ✨ Isabella Campeotto, WA Academy ✨ Isobel Ashley, Trinity Studio ✨ Joel Brooker, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Katelyn Steele – Gage, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Keira O’Brien, WA Academy ✨ Koral Smith, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Laoise McAleer, The Academy ✨ Lauren Bye, Celtic Academy ✨ Lauren Hawkins, WA Academy ✨ Lene Brady, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Lia Young, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Lilliana Dunstan, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Maeve Roberts, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Mairéad Van Osch, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Matilda Dillon, O’Brien Academy ✨ Medbh Flanagan, The Academy MA&WA

AIDA WA EXECUTIVE 2022

✨ Mika Barnes, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Molly Stenning-Alexander, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Monaye Foster, O’Hare School ✨ Niamh Glynn, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Niamh Leahy, Three Crowns SOID ✨ Niamh Mathers, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Orla Kellett, Celtic Academy ✨ Phoebe Hogue, O’Hare School ✨ Piper Ryan, WA Academy ✨ Ronan O’Reilly, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Ruby Driscoll, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Sahara Donelan, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Saoirse Pearson, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Sasha Brown, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Shae O’Connor, O’Hare School ✨ Shannon Kennedy, Kavanagh Studio ✨ Sian Fitzgerald-Cain, Trinity Studio ✨ Sinéad Lydon, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Sophia Schreiber, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Stella Ashley, Trinity Studio ✨ Tahlia Harris, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Tane Young, The Academy MA&WA ✨ Tara Collis, Celtic Academy ✨ Tara Fox, Three Crowns SOID ✨ Tess Dickson, WA Academy ✨ Vaughan Cooper, WA Academy ✨ Zoe Cahoon, Kavanagh Studio CALL FOR SPONSORSHIP

We are busy preparing for our 2022 Feiseanna! If you are in the position to be able to support us this year by sponsoring our 2022 State/Ceili championships we would be forever grateful. Business/persons have the option of either sponsoring a championship section or purchasing an ad for your business in our program.

Prices start at $100 and further information can be issued by contacting our sponsorship team at the following email.

sponsorship@aidawa.com.au

Thank you in advance for supporting AIDA WA

Stephen Dawson MLC Minister for Mental Health; Aboriginal Affairs; Industrial Relations 12th Floor, Dumas House​ ​​​​2 Havelock Street, WEST PERTH WA 6005​​​ Email: Minister.Dawson@dpc.wa.gov.au Telephone: (08) 6552-5800

President: Teresa Fenton TCRG Vice President: Katherine McAndrew TCRG Secretary: Caitriona Slane TCRG Treasurer: Martina O’Brien TCRG Registrar: Jenny O’Hare TCRG National Delegate: Siobhan Collis TCRG

SCHOOL CONTACTS: CELTIC ACADEMY East Victoria Park & Karragullen www.celticacademyperth.com Siobhan Collis TCRG 0403 211 941 LYONS IRISH DANCE Butler & Clarkson lyonsirishdancecompany@gmail.com Facebook: @LyonsIrishDance Roisin Lyons TCRG KAVANAGH STUDIO OF IRISH DANCE Maylands www.kavanaghirishdance.com.au Teresa Fenton TCRG 0412 155 318 Deirdre McGorry TCRG Melissa Kennedy TCRG Avril Grealish TCRG THE ACADEMY MID AMERICA & WESTERN AUSTRALIA Subiaco, Wangara & Pearsall Samantha McAleer TCRG Dhana Pitman TCRG Kalamunda Lara Upton ADCRG 0409 474 557 O’BRIEN ACADEMY Joondalup www.obrienacademy.com Rose O’Brien ADCRG 0437 002 355 Martina O’Brien TCRG 0423 932 866 O’HARE SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCING Doubleview, Wembley Downs & Craigie Jenny O’Hare TCRG 0422 273 596 SCOIL RINCE NA HEIREANN Rockingham irishdance@iinet.net.au Megan Cousins TCRG 0411 452 370 SCOIL RINCE NI BHAIRD Fremantle & Lynwood Tony Ward TCRG 0427 273 596 TRINITY STUDIO OF IRISH DANCING Morley, Midland & South Lake trinitystudiowa@gmail.com Eileen Ashley ADCRG 0413 511 595 Katherine Travers TCRG Nell Taylor TCRG WA ACADEMY OF IRISH DANCING Malaga Glenalee Bromilow ADCRG 0410 584 051 Sue Hayes TMRF 0412 040 719

THE IRISH SCENE | 87

THE IRISH CLUB is the only place to be this St Patrick's Day

THE IRISH CLUB OF WA • 61 Townshend Road, Subiaco WA Phone: 9381 5213 • info@irishclubofwa.com.au Become a member now at irishclubofwa.com.au OPEN FROM 5PM Mon-wed, Fri & Sat FOLLOW US on facebook & instagram: @irishclubofwa

Join THE CLUB

THE IRISH CLUB IS Proudly sponsored by

“Sharing our Irish Culture through Community Connections” The Irish Club is a members only club, and we welcome new members.

Application forms can be downloaded from the website.

88 | THE IRISH SCENE

Leo Barry BA LLB • PRACTICE DIRECTOR/LAWYER T: 6111 4890 www.vibelegal.com.au

CARRAMAR

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WE ARE FAST APPROACHING THE START OF THE STATE LEAGUE 2022 PLAYING SEASON. WHO KNOWS WHAT IS IN STORE FOR US, WITH COVID OUTBREAKS IN ASSORTED LOCATIONS IN PERTH AND WA. FIRST TEAM CUP MATCH

19th March • v’s Wannaroo City at Grandis • 3:00pm

FIRST AWAY LEAGUE GAME

27th March • First team, Reserves and Under 18s • @ Canning City We’ve had a reasonable Night Series campaign with a draw, a loss and a win. It gave Gerry an opportunity to play some of our under 18s in a competitive competition, and the young lads more than held their own.

This helped Gerry rest some of the senior players who are carrying minor injuries. Hopefully we can all stay largely covid-free as we look forward to the footballing challenges ahead.

Sadly we lost a long-serving player and member of the club, Nick Ryan, who recently passed away suddenly. We had a minute’s applause before the UWA night series game in honour of Nick. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this sad time. Rest in Peace Nick.

On a happier note, Bruce McComas has been appointed as Junior Coordinator. Bruce brings vast experience to this role as he held a similar position over east for many years, with a large cohort of over 600 junior players. We are delighted to have Bruce on board.

Once again thanks to all of our volunteers and committee members. If you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member – please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com

The girls are looking to put the gang back together for 2022. Anyone interested, give us a shout.

And if you are interested in getting involved with your local club in any capacity – coach, volunteer, committee member – please contact us at CSRFC2020@gmail.com

As always, thank you to our major sponsors, and also to Nicky Edwards for his continued support:

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@GAAINWA Gaels and brought back many happy memories. GAA WA secretary, Tom Murphy took on this mammoth task and managed to put it all together for us to enjoy.

50th Anniversary Celebrations The GAA of WA was lucky enough to finally be able to celebrate its 50th Anniversary at the back end of last year. Originally pencilled in for late 2020, it was definitely worth the wait when the Irish club finally

On Sunday evening crowds enjoyed music upstairs followed by WA GAA president, John Whelahan, presenting several lifetime memberships to worthy recipients. Our games in Western Australia simply would not be running with the same success and vibrancy as they are today without these people.

Theirs is an impressive legacy and our admiration and gratitude goes to them for their work in WA’s GAA Lifetime membership recipients: Gerry Crowley Tim Hickey Mick O’Connor Gerry McGough Debra Cashman Marty Greene Denis Burke Sean O’Casey Gay Collins eter McKenna

played host to a wonderful evening of catching up, reminiscing and celebrating our WA Gaelic legends.

The day got off to a lively start with some exhibition Gaelic games in Bayswater. The state’s newest club, Na Fianna Catalpa took the opportunity to show off their talented players, new and old, as they represented in good numbers. It was then on to Townsend Road where an impressive exhibition of WA GAA memorabilia had been open downstairs in the Irish Club all weekend allowing large numbers to enjoy the experience without overcrowding. The exhibition was met with much appreciation from all 90 | THE IRISH SCENE

Adrian McGuinness Barney McKenna Ray Vasher Pearce Kerr Fred McCormack Lillian O’Callaghan Damien McCaige Eddie Farne Linda Burke Tom Kearns

Brendan Award for Sean

On the same night, the Australian- Irish Heritage Association presented their annual Brendan Award.

As a mark of his own humility, it was with much surprise that our very own Sean O’Casey, pictured above with Siobhain, made his way to the front to

GAAWA

CLUB DETAILS FOOTBALL CLUBS GREENWOOD Mens Senior Football greenwoodgfc@hotmail.com

MORLEY GAELS Mens & Ladies Senior Football morleygaelsgfc@hotmail.com

receive this prestigious accolade. Although he may not have been expecting it, there would have been plenty in the room who would have been confident of Sean receiving such an honour. The Brendan award is after all meant for those who are deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to Australia’s Irish Heritage. Anyone who spends time at Tom Bateman Reserve during the Gaelic football season can testify to Sean’s continued contribution even now, after years of dedication to GAA in the state. Although he lined out for the St Finbarr’s club in his playing days, the Tyrone native has become a friend to all clubs through the years. It probably helps that he is the man cooking the chips and opening the bottles but we think his

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS Mens & Ladies Senior Football southerndistrictsgaa@gmail.com

ST. FINBARR’S Mens & Ladies Senior Football stfinbarrsgfc@outlook.com

WESTERN SHAMROCKS Mens & Ladies Senior Football westernshamrocks@hotmail.com

HURLING CLUBS ST. GABRIEL’S Mens & Ladies Senior Hurling & Camogie stgabrielsperth@gmail.com

WESTERN SWANS Mens & Ladies Senior Hurling & Camogie westernswansgaa@gmail.com

PERTH SHAMROCKS Mens Senior Hurling perthshamrocks@gmail.com

SARSFIELDS Mens Senior Hurling

sarshurlingperth@gmail.com

NICHOLS ON RD

HIG

HR

HWY

ED

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H LEAC < TO

AY IGHW

H ROE

R ILF

NIC

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RD

D RR

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sharp wit and dry humour may have something to do with it too.

Sean is GAA mad and follows as many games as he can both here and in Ireland. He is the first one to arrive and last to leave. Sean has been a champion of women’s football and was pivotal in its successful introduction to WA. Despite Sean having lived in Australia for most of his life, his home club of Dungannon still hold him in extremely high regard and penned a letter of congratulations and appreciation for the occasion. Sean’s wife Siobhan spoke eloquently on his behalf on the night. The power couple looked glamorous as ever and no doubt enjoyed celebrating Sean’s success. Siobhan finished by pointing out something we who have come to know and

D

N BA

GAA GROUNDS

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

THE IRISH SCENE | 91

@GAAINWA

love our manager at Tom Bateman are altogether aware of; “Sean says plenty. You just have to listen.”

All of our clubs have gotten things off to an exciting start this year. With plenty of social events and a wide variety of preseason workouts taking place their really is a club to suit everyone. All our football, camogie and hurling clubs are welcoming new members from the inexperienced to the elite.

Simply check out our social pages or that of the clubs to find out more. Don’t be afraid to get in touch with our clubs or simply go along to a social or training event.

We wish all our clubs the very best for 2022 and encourage them to keep us updated of all their goings on on our social pages. A special shout out goes to Perth Shamrocks Hurling club who recently celebrated their ten year anniversary with a night at their sponsors, JB O’Reilly’s. As always, we extend our deepest gratitude to all sponsors of all clubs who help our clubs compete each year.

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You Are Invited

St Patrick’s Day Mass 2022 St Joseph’s Catholic Church Salvado Rd, Subiaco Western Australia

on St Patrick’s Day Thursday 17th March 2022 at 10.30am Principal Celebrant & Homilist:

Rev Fr Michael McMahon, omi

Enquiries: Eimear at irishinperth@hotmail.com or Phone 0474 481 297 Organised by The Irish Community of WA working with St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Subiaco Western Australia COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS AND PROTOCOLS TO BE FOLLOWED THE IRISH SCENE | 93

Na Fianna Catalpa GAA going strong NA FIANNA CATALPA GAA STARTED THE CATALPA YOUTHS AT THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY AND THERE HAS BEEN STRONG INTEREST AND PARTICIPATION. Three sessions in and had over 50 kids and young people take part coming from South of the river all the way down to the Peel region. Its great to see everyone enjoying themselves and of course a huge thank you to everyone for volunteering, coaching and supporting from the sides. We have had great feedback from parents so far who are hoping this continues on multiple occasion across the year.

94 | THE IRISH SCENE

THE IRISH SCENE | 95

Feed your family with the best of meats at the fairest of prices

y a D s k ic r t a P . t S y p p a H . u o y f o ll a o t s u f o ll a from Remember we are open 6 days a week Mon-Fri 9am-5pm & Sat 8am-3pm Products available at our Malaga address and selected IGA, Farmer Jacks and Coles

58 Westchester Rd, Malaga WA 6090. Phone 9249 8039 For any enquiries please contact : info@mcloughlinbutchers.com.au

McLoughlinButchers.com.au PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE IRISH COMMUNITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA