Irish Escapees and Escapades in Freo

FREMANTLE WAS ONCE AGAIN AWASH WITH IRISH HISTORY AND CRAIC OVER THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 12/13th.

Kidogo Arthouse in Bathers Beach was the perfect venue for the frolic filled fun of Céilí in the Kitchen on the Saturday night. Presented by Caroline McCarthy and members of Torc Céilí Club accompanied by a collective of traditional musicians the evening event opened allowed the world of Irish music and dancing – and even cuisine – to run riot with the broom dance a particular highlight.

Sunday, on the following day, saw another sold out Irish event in Fremantle’s Maritime Museum – the 2021 Wild Goose Lecture, organised by the Fenians, Fremantle & Freedom Festival. This year’s lecture was titled ‘The Life and Legacy of the Galtee Boy John Sarsfield Casey – Fenian political prisoner, writer, keen observer of colonial life’. After a fascinating presentation by Chair Margo O’Byrne and other speakers, the event saw a live cross to Dublin for a Q&A session with Sarsfields relatives, internationally renowned Irish historian Dr Patrick Maume & his mother and co-author Mairead Maume worked with Casey’s granddaughter to compile his writings into two books: ‘A Mingling of Swans’ (an unpublished account of his experiences as a convict on roadwork parties in the colony) and ‘The Galtee Boy’ (articles by Casey on his impressions of Western Australia, published in Dublin separatist newspapers). Casey was a 21 year old native of Mitchelstown, Cork. As things transpired, he returned, lawfully, to Ireland in late 1869 and died in 1896 and was a prolific writer. Many of the approximately 150 people who packed out the auditorium carried on to Kidogo where the traditional Irish music, fare and fun continued unabated!