I posted on another well-known site.....
Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all my Irish family and friends, to those of us who have Irish blood running through our veins thanks to our amazing, brave ancestors and to those who just feel a little bit Irish today!
Today I'm thinking about why a celebration from the other side of the world is acknowledged by so many of us here. When I was growing up, my nanna (maternal) would always talk about us being Irish. It was her father actually, who came to Australia from County Armagh and her mother's parents who fled the same area. It was my nanna's father-in-law who emigrated here from County Cork, with his parents soon to follow. And it was her mother-in-law's ancestor who came here as an Irish female convict many, many years before. It was also the reason that my all of my aunts and uncles and my mother continue to carry Irish names.
So does this give us a right to feel such Irish affinity? On studying my family history, I am constantly awed by the bravery of the people who came here. To leave your home country for a journey that took months and could even kill you certainly meant that our ancestors faced an uphill battle from the beginning. Often they came here in complete poverty and ignorance to the conditions that lay ahead. I've no doubt that my great grandfather made the agonising journey with the belief that his adventure would strike riches through gold, only to find that life on the goldfields meant back-breaking work and disease that put him in a relatively early grave.
But it was these same ancestors who proved that they were survivors. They instilled in their children, not only a life ethic of strength and industry but total belief that Irish blood helped it happen. It is also important to note that most of these Irish men and women seemed to practise a belief that many of us could learn from today....that regardless of prejudices back in the homeland, you unite regardless of religion! Researching their stories has helped me to admire their tenacity that withstood the test of many trials. A walk through Gympie Cemetery reveals the strength of their commitment to this. Epitaphs which read 'A true Irishman' and 'Originally from Ireland' are spread throughout.
So today, I am honouring the families for Atkinson, McNally, Tennyson, Quain, McCabe, O'Connell, Tully and McCallum who were my first Irish-Australian ancestors.
Top of the mornin' to them, I say!!!
(Image courtesy of clipart-for-free.blogspot.com)
