Twentieth Anniversary
Sr Vivienne Keeley
2019, 25 August
Our guest of honour was Sr Vivienne Keeley, The link below will take you to the four videos from the event.
Our guest of honour was Sr Vivienne Keeley, The link below will take you to the four videos from the event.
Our guest of honour was Rev. Tim Costello AO, the link below will take you to the video of his address
Our guests of honour were Brendan Graham, Irish composer and novelist, Singer, songwriter Sarah Calderwood and the Australian Girls choir. Descendant Melissa Plant also spoke
Brendan Graham, Irish composer and novelist
Guests of honour were members of the Irish Diplomatic Corp including the Irish Consul-General Ms Caitriona Ingoldsby. Wreaths were laid and music and song mingle with friends, both old and new. Traditional Irish hospitality was shared by all. Attached is the text of the speech of our honoured guest, Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO.
The rain held off, the music and catering was as good as always, attendance was up on previous years. The occasional address was delivered with by Dr Richard Reid, the curator of a major exhibition on the Irish in Australia at Australian Museum in Canberra to open in 2011.
Master of ceremonies was Mike Bailey. Today we had poetry readings and a booklaunch and presented our Macquarie University prize for the first time.
The speaker for this anniversary was Cheryl Mongan, co-author of ‘A Decent Set of Girls’: The Irish Famine orphans of the ‘Thomas Arbuthont’ 1849-185. She focused on those who went to Yass, initially accompanied by Surgeon Charles Strutt, who had cared for them on their voyage.