Ireland and Irish-Australia: Studies in Cultural and Political History

The Irish contribution to Australian history goes both deep and wide. Originally published in 1986 the essays in this collection contribute both to the understanding of Ireland’s place in Australian history and to the interpretation of the Irish scene in the nineteenth century. Ranging from law to W. B. Yeats, and from monumental sculpture to violence and crime, the papers reflect the diversity of the Irish-Australian experience and the persistence of a distinctively Irish culture even when transported across the world.

Oliver MacDonagh (1924-2002) was renowned as a scholar in modern British and Irish history. He became Foundation Professor and Chairman at the newly founded Flinders University in Australia. Atter a return to Ireland as Professor of Modern History at Cork, he was appointed W.K. Hancock Professor of History at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University. He wrote books on Irish emigration, Irish political history, 18th century administration and government in Victorian Britain.