Irish influence in Tasmanian history  has traditionally been seen as minimal; numerically they made up a relatively small proportion of emigrants- free or bond. However, they – as elsewhere – “punched above their weight.” This was particularly so in South-East Tasmania where many first settled.

Two factors influenced my interest in Irish settlement in Tasmania:

• moving to live at Dulcot near Richmond in 1973, and then getting to know Alf King, grandson of Irish sheep thief Denis King, transported  from Co Galway, and
• in 1985 meeting Richard Reid, Irish-born historian then working with the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Discussion over many hours, and now years, comparing Irish communities in NSW & VDL , helped evoke the  unique character of the Tasmania Irish experience.

Irish Beginnings in Tasmania

From Cork, Ireland to Shamrock Valley, Van Diemen’s Land – The First Ten Irish Convict Family Reunions, 1818 & 1822.

Irish-Catholics in the Coal River Valley, Richmond, Tasmania:

Silent Impact – the Irish in the Richmond District, Tasmanian

Irish Political Prisoners

There were several waves of political prisoners from Ireland who were sent to Van Diemen’s Land.

Thomas Meagher

Thomas Meagher, Sgt Daniel Murphy and the Bennett Family: Some Enduring Connections at Richmond, Tasmania.*

William Smith O’Brien

Nugent Farm, Richmond: the history and restoration of the last Tasmanian home of William Smith O’Brien.

Forgotten Rebels

Tasmania, Home for Tasmania’s Forgotten Rebels of 1848 *