Another valuable area of relevant Irish endeavour has been the production of several books highlighting the identification of history with place. The most valuable volumes include Aalen and Whelan's Atlas of the Rural Landscape, John Andrews' Shapes of Ireland: Maps and their makers 1564-1839 and Sean Duffy's Atlas of Irish History. Moreover, three further volumes in the county History and Society series were published including Donegal, Galway and Down.

What effect, if any, has this mass of industry had on Australian research activity? Both anniversaries have vital Australian linkages. While assisted and free migration to the Australian colonies was suspended at this time, the increased number of settlers who came from 1848 onwards brought with them memories and often close family experience of the ravages of death and disease. Richard Reid and Cheryl Mongan looked at one shipload of Irish orphan girls in A decent set of girls and Victoria University produced a publication based on papers from day seminars held in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to mark the Famine. Apart from these books, most other travellers between 1848 and 1860 have been overlooked. The main book on the United Irishmen transported to Australia, Anne Maree Whitaker's The Unfinished Revolution was written before the 1995 conference and eventually Ruan O'Donnell's books, published in Ireland, may be available here as much of his research was done in this country. So other than these written expressions, the anniversaries generally have not been explored in Australia although they have provided themes for a couple of conferences, a few courses and some lectures.

The use of commemorative dates for instigating research has briefly extended to other events. This year also has significance for remembering the way in which 1898 and 1948 celebrations of the United Irish rebellion were conducted and how current political and religious events affected them as one paper at this conference reflected. Additionally, Richard Davis' publications on William Smith O'Brien have ensured that the 130th anniversary of the arrival of the Young Irelanders in Tasmania was recalled. No doubt, Federation will emerge as one option for the 2000 conference but the whole question of whether the use of anniversaries as a stimulus for historical research might be debated. While arguments for the education of the masses and the reminding of current generations of past achievements, glories and oppressions are persuasive, the link with academic exploration might be seen as reactive rather than proactive.

This conference has voted with its voice on this issue, as apart from the presentations by the visiting Irish academics, few Australians were similarly motivated. On the other hand, strands have emerged indicating stimulating work. One of the most vigorous areas has been on the ecclesiastical front with lifestories of bishops such as those published by Dr Tom Boland and Dr Neil Byrne, the histories of Orders among which the work of Dr Rosa MacGinley must be mentioned, and also the chronicles of diocesan and parish activity.

Another avenue has been in biographical work of Irish Australians, who feature in dedicated works as well as in the new volumes of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Trevor McClaughlin has edited a book on Irish colonial women and David Day's collection is currently being released. Another significant contribution has been the issuing of the Shamrock and the Wattle CD series by the National Film and Sound Archive. Then, the

Perhaps while reviewing past activity, the future should be considered. Where do we go from here? In the social history of the nearly finished twentieth century where are the occupations and professions which developed out of the well-recorded nineteenth century Irish Australian police, priests, publicans, and teachers? Have we lost the Irish in the public service such as the surveyors, the railway workers, and the post office employees. What about the cordial makers, nurses, miners and those who enlisted in the wars? Where are the women storekeepers, the retailers, and the unionists and did any have a role in the temperance movements? When will we face some of the hard questions such as trying to understand the relevance of Irishness in the second, third and fourth generation Australians? What about the Irish Vietnamese on this continent or the Irish Aborigines? From time to time, the degree of Aboriginality claimed by some is questioned but no one hesitates to assert even the most diluted Irish connection on St Patrick's Day. 

How important are the self-created boundaries and limitations we impose on our research? State borders are not marked by big lines on the ground, time spans sometimes infer abrupt beginnings and endings while people are increasingly mobile. Would consideration of twentieth century social conditions give us freedom or impose new strictures as varied as technology, transport and income frameworks. Finally, must we move on? Archivist activists and library lemmings will attest that we have barely started on traditional historical records such as the correspondence of the Colonial Secretaries, the Australian Joint Copying Project, Historical Records of Australia series, the Irish Transportation Gift or immigration records and that each investigation shows how many elasticities exist amid comprehensive assessments.

We look forward to the 2000 Conference and a new collection of papers on a diversity of topics, all designed to extend roots of identity for Ireland and Australia.

Jennifer Harrison

University of Queensland
 
 

As well as being a marvellous organizer (he had even devised his own three tiered classification and numbering system for his books) O'Donnell was a fine speaker with a pleasant Irish accent (although Australian born!) Such was his enthusiasm for 'Irishness' that he took up the study of Gaelic mastering its difficulties and he was able to read and speak it. On July 5 1902 The Advocate (a Melbourne Catholic weekly newspaper) enlarged its edition to 36 pages and announced 'It is now the largest Catholic threepenny paper in Australia. To keep pace with the times we have imported a fount of Irish type. We believe that this is the first fount of Irish that has been imported into Australia. Students of the Gaelic language can now express their thoughts and sentiments in our columns in Irish. Last week one of Dr O'Donnell's original compositions was given with its translation into Irish. This week the poem that was read at West Melbourne by that gentleman is given with his translation in English.'

This press was an expression of the reception, by a small section of Australians, of the so called 'Celtic Revival' or Irish Renaissance. What its champions in Ireland regarded as the most basic ingredient was the use of the Irish language, virtually unknown in Australia. Ironically the Chairman of Newman College Council, at the time of O'Donnell's bequest, took a different stance. Although a lover of things Irish, Mannix had no brief for Irish language studies, (whilst President of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth 1903-1912) believing that the Irish language had failed to withstand Englishness and could be discarded. Irish heritage should be grounded in religion, for which Gaelic was not a pre-requisite and Gaelic was seen by Mannix as divisive in an English-speaking community. Whatever the view, O'Donnell's 300 Gaelic works are mainly bilingual editions printed between 1840's and the first decade of this century. Many of them were printed by the Gaelic League. Additionally there are the proceedings of the Ossiamic Society 1854-1857 and about twenty volumes of the Irish Text Society's bound editions.

O'Donnell's intellectual interests were not solely confined to Ireland. Towards the end of his life he researched and published several papers on Victorian history 'Henry Fysche Gisborne' (1914), 'Some Pioneers of the Sunbury District'(1917) and 'Henry Howey, the Founder of Gisborne' (1918). These were published by the Victorian Historical Society of which he was a Councillor at the time of his death. Additionally, he was one of the founders of the North Melbourne Branch of The Australian Natives Association. However, it was perhaps ian his support and supervision of the building of St. Mary's Catholic Church, West Melbourne, that gothic pile clad in Barrabool sandstone, that his Irishness and Australianess sat so comfortably together.

The Irish Language section of his collection contains some interesting unpublished manuscripts and almost everything published in Irish up to the time of Dr O'Donnell's death. It includes the books issued by the Irish Texts' Society and many volumes of classical poetry and prose, as well as the more modern works of Canon O'Leary, Canon Maol, Michael Breathnach, Douglas Hyde, Father Dinneen, Thomas Hayes, Patrick Pearse, Owen O'Naughton, and a host of others. Here the student of folk-lore can find the legends and fairytales as they were taken down from the lips of the old people of the last generation by the firesides of Connacht and Munster. Those who seek spiritual reading in Irish can find it in the Irish Bible, in Keating and the Imitation of Christ, or in the volumes of Maynooth Sermons, preached in the palmy days of modern Irish, and preserved in manuscript in the Maynooth Library, to be given to the world once more in our own day. The Gaelic Leaguer can trace the progress made by the revived language in the plays, novels, songs and school books published since 1892. 

In a word, the O'Donnell Library furnishes an abundant and varied feast of reading to any student of the Irish language or of Irish affairs.

Jane Carolan

Archivist / Librarian, Newman College

University of Melbourne.
 
 

The collection was formed in 1924 around the donation of 700 books, the personal library of Dr Nicholas Michael O'Donnell. During his lifetime Dr O'Donnell was described as 'the heart and soul of everything pro Celtic.' In a letter dated 3rd July, 1924 to the Rector of the College, Father Jeremiah Murphy S.J. (a native of Ireland) Mr F. R. Brennan M.H.R. Dr O'Donnell's son-in-law explains the reason for the bequest, 

The late Dr N. M. O'Donnell left an unique collection of gaelic literature and history which has remained in my hands since Dr O'Donnell's death, as trustee for the family. The children being all of an age are desirous, with me, of giving effect to the wish once expressed by Dr O'Donnell namely, that the library might be presented to Newman College.

To appreciate the breadth of the collection accrued by Dr O'Donnell between the years 1880-1920 one needs to explore his life. O'Donnell was born on the 9th of June 1862 at Bullengarook, near Gisborne, Victoria, of Irish parents, yet he never personally visited Ireland. From his earliest schooling under the care of Mr D. J. Buckley, O'Donnell imbibed a love for Irish subjects which was further encouraged when he came under the influence of Mr Tom Boyle, a patriotic headmaster of St. Michael's School, North Melbourne. Later at St. Patrick's College, East Melbourne he was coached by Mr Thomas Johnston M.A. of Dublin. He passed the civil service examination in November 1877, matriculated with credit in August, 1878 and studied medicine at Melbourne University. In 1884 he married Mary Bruen and following a short time on Hotham Hill settled at 160 Victoria Street, North Melbourne, the most Irish part of the city. There they raised three sons and one daughter. For thirty years '160' was not only the centre for medical healing but also the 'Mecca' for all things Irish. Successive delegations from Ireland were entertained with feasts of Irish music, song and story.

O'Donnell was not merely a collector but a diligent reader interested in all areas of Irish history and culture. His Anglo-Irish collection became a storehouse of Irish lore, containing such works as Dalton's and Vecky's Histories of Ireland, Gratton Flood's History of Irish music or Douglas Hyde's Literary History of Ireland. His interest and expertise was sufficient to form a professional friendship with Douglas Hyde. O'Donnell provided Hyde with a manuscript of the late Middle Irish Text which Hyde published as 'The Adventures of Leithin' in Legends of Saints and Sinners.

The collection also closely reflects O'Donnells political leanings with copies of Diceys 'England's case against Home Rule' 1886, Jeremiah MacVeagh's 'Home Rule in a nutshell' 1911, R R. Barry O'Brien's 1910 as well as 'Ireland and The Land League' 1881 and Hugh Mahon's 'The Land League' 1883.

The extent of O'Donnell's knowledge embraced not only the familiarity with modern Irish but also that of the middle and ancient periods. Among the non-Gaelic books there are volumes that are of special value for their rarity (at least in Australia) such as Monsignor Rinuccini's 'Embassy in Ireland' 1625-1649, Duffy's Hibernian Magazine (5 Volumes) O' Hart's Irish Pedigrees, Joyce's Social History of Ireland, The Spirit of the Nation (with music), Dillon's life of John Mitchell, T.P. O'Connor's History of the Parnell Movement, John Redmond's Speeches and several editions of O'Donovan's Annals. The establishment of the Celtic Club in Melbourne in 1887 gave O'Donnell wide scope to develop these interests (He was President of The Club 1907-1909.) In 1900 his lecture entitled 'Ancient Ireland, its' Civilization, Art and Valour' was published by the Celtic Club, proceeds from the sale of which were put to causes in Ireland. In the preface to this work O'Donnell says 'So accustomed are we from day to day to this damnable reiteration of Irish inferioritysometimes plainly stated always inferentially hinted atthat we have grown only too ready to acquiesce in this hateful and untrue estimate of the history of our race.' On a lighter note he published a whimsical piece in Austral Light July 1,

Apart from 1798, the range and depth of Irish or Irish-Australian topics was well showcased at the conference. About 30 papers focussed on the Irish-Australian colonial experience in all its complexity and diversity. Two West Australian contributors can highlight this diversity. Bob Reece (Centre for Irish Studies) spoke on his research into James Meehan, a United Irishman transported to NSW who achieved great success there; Catherine Kovesi Killerby (Notre Dame) took her audience to colonial Western Australia where the flamboyant Bishop Brady had 'lured' 27 Catholic missionaries including 16 from Ireland to the embryonic colony. Their successes and failures (and Bishop Brady's) were epic in vast, underpopulated Western Australia. 

Current Irish issues were well addressed including talks presented on the crisis of the Catholic Church, aspects of the Northern Ireland question, Irish women's attitude to divorce and a consideration of Ireland as it heads into the next century. Current Irish literature was also under discussion as were Irish influences in Australian literature or on Australian authors. There were about 10 papers addressing twentieth century Irish-Australian issues including a paper by Jean Chetkovich (UWA and member of the Irish Heritage Scholarship Foundation) on recent Irish migrants to Western Australia.

1798, colonial Irish-Australia, modern Irish-Australia, contemporary Ireland and literature were the main, but by no means the only, themes. It is not possible in these few words to represent adequately this stimulating five day conference where over 80 papers were presented and 200 people attended. The research was diverse, thorough and stimulating and the level of interest demonstrated by researchers and participants alike augurs well for April 2000 when the 11th Irish-Australian Conference will be held in Fremantle.

Jean Chetkovich

NB: The ABC program 'Encounter' which was broadcast on 1/11/98 was compiled from the conference. The Centre for Irish Studies has a copy.
 
 

As of April 1999, the following Irish Studies projects are registered at Murdoch:

Ian Chambers ('The Chamberlains and the Churchills: Their Involvement in The Irish Question, 1880-1922')

Gil Hardwick ('Celts in the South-West: A Regional History of Irish Settlement in Western Australia')

Danny Cusack ('The Paradox of Paddy Lynch: The Life of an Irish-Australian Politician')

Anne Partlon ('Irish-Australian Writers in Western Australia') 
 
 

Following the establishment of the Centre for Irish Studies at Murdoch University in September 1998, there has been a strong expression of community interest in undergraduate-level courses in Irish Studies. In response to this, a new course is being offered at Murdoch in 1999.

SEMESTER 1 Irish History (S265)

This course surveys Irish history from the Cromwellian invasion to the 'Troubles' of the early 1970's. Particular attention will be given to political and economic change and to major turning points such as the 1798 Rebellion and the Great Famine. The course will also include an account of the Irish diaspora or 'scattering' and its significance for Britain, North America and Australia. 

Lectures will be on Tuesdays 4.30 - 6.30 p.m., with a one-hour tutorial (day and time to be decided). The first four lectures will be given by Professor Tom Bartlett of University College, Dublin, and the remainder by Associate Professor Bob Reece, the course co-ordinator.

The lecture course is also available to the general public through Murdoch's 'Opening Doors' programme on an 'audit' (non-examination) basis for a fee of $90.00 and the option of attending tutorials for an additional $65.00. For further information, please contact Glenys Dermer at 9360 2844.
 
 

The Centre was honoured in February this year with a visit by Professor Tom Bartlett, Professor of Modern Irish History at University College, Dublin (UCD). Professor Bartlett, whose recent book on Irish military history is a best-seller, gave a series of lectures on seventeenth century Irish history and a seminar on modern Irish historiography. He also gave a public lecture on the 1798 Rebellion at the Perth Celtic Club where he was a guest of the Australian Irish-Heritage Association. The visit was made possible through the generosity of UCD President, Professor Art Cosgrove, whose visit here in October 1996 helped to bring the Centre into being. Assistance was also provided by the School of Social Inquiry and the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education.