Past Talks
Since its foundation in 1955 the Society’s principal activity has been the presentation of talks by members or invited guests on topics relating to Ireland and Irish heritage in Australia. In that time several hundred talks have been given. From 1974 many of those talks were audio recorded and we hold copies of those recordings from 1974 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2017, numbering in all 198 talks of variable quality. Since 2020, when during Covid we began to livestream our meetings via Zoom, the talks given to the Society have been video recorded, accumulating at the rate of about seven per year. In addition, we hold copies of manuscripts of some 56 talks, some dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. Access to these recordings is available to members and to researchers upon application to the Honorary Secretary. A list of recorded talks held by the Society is available here.
Summaries of talks and events back to 2011 can be viewed below.
2022 TALKS
February
The Annual General Meeting was held as a hybrid in-person/Zoom meeting. It was followed by a talk by historian Dr Damian Gleeson entitled ‘Bigamy, clandestine marriage, and the “seven-year rule” in penal NSW’, a fascinating survey of Irish marriage practices in early colonial Australia.
March
The Aisling St Patrick’s Day dinner was held at the Sir Stamford Hotel, Macquarie Street Sydney. The guest speaker was the new Consul General for Ireland in Sydney, Rosie Keane, who gave a talk introducing herself and informing the members and guests who were present of current events affecting Ireland.
April
Former Aisling president and honorary secretary Peter Gray SC gave a talk on Ireland and cricket in which he narrated the history of cricket in Ireland and spoke about some of the leading Irish cricketers and about the cricketing links between Ireland and Australia.
May
Professor James Franklin gave a talk entitled, ‘Irish Australian Catholics: the tribal faith of a semi-enclosed community’ in which he looked at some unique features and colourful characters of the Irish-Australian Catholic community.
June
The immediate past president of the Aisling Society, Dr Pamela O’Neill gave a talk entitled ‘Eleanor Knott: a case study of the value of retrieving Irish women’s stories’. In her talk, Dr O’Neill examined Knott’s contribution to the study of early Irish and argued that her work is not as well-known as it warrants – a valuable example of how the work of Irish women is under-appreciated.
July
Aisling Prize winner Thomas Café gave a talk entitled ‘What do the Country Houses of eighteenth-century Protestant Irish Ascendancy reveal about the political culture of Ireland at the time?’.
August
The Mid-Year Lunch was held at the Sir Stamford Hotel, Macquarie Street, Sydney. Ireland’s ambassador to Australia Tim Mawe was the guest speaker.
September
The guest speaker, joining us via Zoom from Ireland, was Irish poet, playwright, and broadcaster Vincent Woods. who gave a talk entitled ‘Freedom’s Laureate: The Poetry and Legacy of Francis MacNamara’. Known as Frank the Poet, MacNamara was a convict transported to Australia in 1832 who contributed to Australia’s foundation literature.
October
The guest speaker was Donal Griffin, who spoke about his recent book An Irish Book of Living and Dying.
November
The Aisling Christmas Party was held at Sancta Sophia College, Missenden Road, Camperdown, with readings from Ulysses by Professor Peter Kuch and Dr Marie Leech.