Irish music, dance, language and history for the Sydney Irish community
The National Library of Australia and the INA recorded oral histories from over a dozen Irish-Australians, hearing their stories of the life of the Irish community in Sydney from the 1950s and, for those born in Ireland, their lives before coming to Australia.
You can read here a short synopsis of each interview by Dr Richard Reid. The audio files are held at the NLA, though some may become available with the synopses here over time.
Dr Reid and NLA Oral Historian Siobhán McHugh have also provided an overview of the stories (see Irish Memories/Sydney Lives and Recording INA Histories).
If you have any historical photos or stories of Irish Australian people that you would like to add to our Sydney Irish Histories project, please send us an email at info[at]irishassociation.org.au
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.
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Interviewer: Ben Stephenson for National Library of Australia Jimmy Mullarkey is never happier than when playing his accordion.
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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.
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Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia There can be few Irishmen who have sat in an Australian boardroom meeting and who, when asked, have said that their ‘second’ language was English.
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Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia Listening to Michael Lyons talk about his life you could imagine he was destined to host a radio program.
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Interviewer: Siobhán McHugh for National Library of Australia There can be few Irishmen in Australia with Father Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin’s connections to the struggle for Irish independence between 1919 and 1921.
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