The Victorian parliament is in the news a lot these days, mostly for the wrong reasons. Google “Victorian parliament” and the results over the past month frequently include words such as “chaotic scenes”, “turmoil”, “mess”. In this finely balanced parliament, with the speaker under fire from the Labor opposition and from an independent member who holds the balance of power, members are not behaving as paragons of propriety.… Read the rest
Category Archives: History
Searching for Irish-Australia in Canada
Next week I am off to North America to see what I can find out about Hugh Mahon’s time there from 1869 to 1880. Mahon, the Irish-Australian politician who is the subject of a biography I am researching was a 12 year old schoolboy when the family landed in New York City in March 1869. From there they travelled to Ontario, Canada, where they lived for four years on a farm in Oxford County before returning to New York State and settling in Albany, where Hugh trained as a printer and journalist.… Read the rest
Cricket: When Irish Eyes are Smiling
My wife and I have just returned from a cricketing tour of England with the Sydney Cricket Ground XI that included two days at Lord’s for the second Ashes Test. The atmosphere at Lord’s was fantastic – too bad about the cricket. It was not long ago that as an Irish-Australian I took delight in the way Australia used to put England to the sword whenever the two teams played the game the English had invented.… Read the rest
Redmond Brothers’ Tour of Australia 1883
For ten months in 1883 John Redmond and his brother William toured Australia and New Zealand promoting the cause of Irish self-government and raising funds for the Irish National League. The Redmond brothers’ tour has received limited coverage in the published literature despite the length of the visit, the public controversy it caused and the significance which some historians have ascribed to it.… Read the rest
Tours Downunder: John Redmond MP and the English Cricket Team of 1883
One hundred and thirty years ago this month John Redmond MP, an Irish member of the House of Commons, and his brother William came to Australia on a lecture tour to promote the cause of Irish home rule and to raise funds for the Irish National League.
At the same time a tour of a different sort was underway.… Read the rest