Sculpture by the we BY LLOYD GORMAN Statues are not easily toppled. A profound and rapid shift in society and an angry mob are two of the key ingredients needed to tear down these standing symbols. Neither are they easily erected. It takes a collective will, creative cooperation, community effort, luck, money and voluntary input. They never just happen or come about by mistake. I was not involved with the push to get the Famine Memorial An Gorta Mór installed at Market Park, Subiaco but I got some glimpses into the process and the staggering amount of work and worry involved. A million things can go wrong and any one of them can derail the project. More than anyone else, Fred Rea, chairman of the Western Australia Irish Famine Committee, summed it up best in his address for the unveiling. “Without the dedicated support, effort and vision of the Irish and West Australian communities it could not have happened,” he said. It is worth listing the names of those involved as a demonstration of how many people (who went over and beyond) and groups were involved in making An Gorta Mór a reality. There was the genius and generosity of the sculptors Joan Walsh-Smith and Charlie Smith (originally from Waterford but now local to WA), and donation of a site and a cash contribution by Subiaco council under mayor Heather Henderson.
WAIFC committee members Peter McKenna, Sheila Murphy, Sean McDonagh, Allan Smith, Jim Egan, Vince Gallagher. Peter McKenna was project manager and was helped by Frank Smyth, Mark Price, Denis Burke, Nathan Colgan, Olan Healy and Andy and Sally Ann McDonald, John Whelahan, Sean King, Mark Keogh, Gay Collins, Carl and Marie Holmes, Henry McLaughlin, Mike Frawley and Dan White.
December 2017 edition of Irish Scene. Once upon a time, the King decided he didn’t want to live on the same soil as criminals, so he established a penal colony in a far off land that would later be called Tasmania. Hobart Town was the main population centre. That was 1803. It was no fairy-tale back then. Today, Hobart is a thriving city, the state capital of Tasmania; population c.220,000. It is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world, boasting lush vegetation, diverse wildlife, a long coastline and marvellous weather. A great place to live.
In Famine footsteps The event at Subiaco marked the official start of the president's visit to Australia and New Zealand. About a week later the presidential tour was in Tasmania where, amongst other engagements, President Higgins unveiled another famine related bronze sculpture of four convict women called “Footsteps” on the Hobart waterfront. In his speech at the unveiling ceremony, the president said the 14,000 convicts shipped there were “victims of a harsh judicial system that valued property above people’s lives.” The following piece written by Brian Corr was originally published in the November/
And Hobart has grown up! Gone are the days when people hid the ‘stain’ of a convict ancestor, many of whom had been transported for petty crimes, such as the theft of food, or coins; stolen to help a starving family; destitute people trying to survive. So, when Uachtaráin na hÉireann Michael D Higgins, came to Hobart on the 14th October 2017, to unveil the life-size bronze sculptures of three women and one child - sculptures that represent the stories of women and children convicts, who arrived in Hobart more than 150 years ago - it was reason to celebrate.
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