By the middle of the nineteenth century the Irish-born in Australia had accumulated to 15 percent of the population of New South Wales and Victoria combined.[1]Resulting from this it cannot go unnoticed that many Irish immigrants had a role in the conflicts that came with the overall shaping of the Australian nation that we know today. Both internal and external conflict created a greater sense of nationalism for the variety of Australian settlers. Some examples of these conflicts include the Myall Creek Massacre 1838, the Eureka Rebellion 1854, the Catalpa Rescue 1876, and the Boer War 1899- 1902. Similar to many colonies experiences of being colonised, there was an underlying fight for a nations own identity throughout. This relates to the idea that circulates in modern times that Australia was always considered to be fighting alongside a country, rather than having acknowledgment of their own conflicts.[2]
With the shipment of Irish convicts to Australia from 1788 to 1840, the Great Famine, and the opportunity of starting a new life abroad, Irish immigration to Australia rose from the late eighteenth century. Irish immigrants were a diverse group ranging from lawyers to criminals. Henceforth, those emigrating from Ireland were from all spectrums of life, adding to the influence of the search for identity by Irish immigrants in Australia. Conflict allowed them to find their unique identity in the newfound colony. Thus, resulting in Irish immigrants causing and entering conflicts within and also outside of Australia.
The four conflicts in question present important time periods in Australian colonial history, with the beginning of the movement from a British colony, to gaining democracy. War strengthens this argument, as these conflicts concerning and including Irish immigrants allow indication of the importance of conflict for the Australian nation. Analysis of the Myall Creek Massacre moulds the foundations for internal conflict between settlers and the indigenous people. The case study of the Catalpa Rescue highlights how tensions between Ireland and Britain stretched as far as the Australian territories which caused various conflicts in the penal colonies. Resulting in this, the Irish immigrant experience is deep seeded into the conflict of the Australian nation.
In conjunction with the primary and secondary sources available on these conflicts, it will help to detect discrepancies in both source forms, as well as to strengthen the similarities. Newspapers and official documents shall play key centre roles in the discussion of this topic, allowing for in depth analysis in the importance of the Irish experience in Australia. As well as this, secondary sources shall structure the main historiography of the overriding topic: how have these major conflicts shaped the Australian nation with the help of the Irish immigrant?
Furthermore, the Irish immigrants’ involvement in such conflicts and wars, despite the diversity that is presented, show that they played a pivotal role in the shaping of the nation. The diversity surrounding the Irish immigrants’ experience is exemplified through the analysis of the wars and conflicts that Australia was involved in during the nineteenth century.
Bibliography
Campbell, Malcolm. ““Ireland’s furthest shores: Irish immigrant settlement in nineteenth century California and Eastern Australia.” Public Historical Review, no. 71, vol. 1 (2002), pp. 59-90.
Trainor, Luke. British imperialism and Australian nationalism: manipulation, conflict and the compromise in the late nineteenth century. (Cambridge, 1994).
[1] Malcolm Campbell. “Ireland’s furthest shores: Irish immigrant settlement in nineteenth century California and Eastern Australia.” Public Historical Review, 71:1 (2002), p. 67.
[2] Luke Trainor. British imperialism and Australian nationalism: manipulation, conflict and the compromise in the late nineteenth century. Cambridge: 1994.
Irish Aussies: historical perspectives 