Irish music, dance, language and history for the Sydney Irish community
Fostering Irish culture and spirit.
Interviewer: Ben Stephenson for National Library of Australia
Irish dancing has been at the centre of Sydney-born Maureen Whelan’s professional life for more than 50 years. But for one of the founders of Sydney’s renowned Dwyer-Whelan Academy of Irish Dance, it’s perhaps pure chance it all turned out that way. Continue reading “Maureen Whelan”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Born in 1957 to parents with a small 20 acre farm in the heart of rural Ireland, Eugene McCague had, in most respects, a normal and typical country childhood. Continue reading “Eugene McCague”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Between 1951 and 1961 approximately 412,000 men and women, mostly between the ages of 15 and 34, emigrated from the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland, an outpouring not seen since the post Famine decades of the 19th century. Among those leaving, effectively forever, was Denis Foley, who grew up in a two-roomed labourer’s cottage in Fieries, out in the country 20 kilometres south of Tralee in the County Kerry. Continue reading “Denis Foley”
Interviewer: Ben Stephenson for National Library of Australia
Irish dancing has been at the centre of Trish McGrath’s life. … it’s a delight, it’s making music with your feet, it gets the blood up, and you feel yeah … if you can’t play a musical instrument there you go you can play music with your feet, you can dance away, it’s just absolutely brilliant. Continue reading “Trish McGrath”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Tomás de Bháldraithe was accustomed to the sounds of the Irish language before his official appearance into the world. His Dublin based family, in order to immerse themselves in an Irish speaking environment, used to holiday in the Gaeltacht of Connemara for three months every year. Continue reading “Tomás de Bháldraithe”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Of some people it is said ‘if you seek their monument, look around’. Although he would be far too modest to admit it, Tom Power is one of those people. Continue reading “Tom Power”
Interviewer: Ben Stephenson for National Library of Australia
There are not many oral history interviews that set your feet tapping, but Pat McGrath’s does just that! Continue reading “Pat McGrath”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Bishop David Cremin has been involved in so many aspects of the Catholic and Irish/Australian scene for so long that it is hard to single out an occasion that represents all of his deep engagement with life around him. Continue reading “Bishop David Cremin”
Interviewer: Ben Stephenson for National Library of Australia
Jimmy Mullarkey is never happier than when playing his accordion. Continue reading “Jimmy Mullarkey”
Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia
Among Liam O’Mahony’s prized possessions is his first ever membership card for the Irish National Association, a membership that he took out shortly after arriving in Sydney from Ireland on the Fairsky in 1961. Continue reading “Liam O’Mahony”