Author Description

The first Irish convict ship to Australia tied up at Sydney Cove on 26th September 1791. Between that date and 1867, over 40,000 Irish men and women were transported from Ireland to the Australian colonies and more than 8,000 others of Irish birth were sent from Britain. These essays look at the Irish convicts themselves and any differences that existed between them and the Welsh, English and Scottish convicts and whether or not any differences persisted once all four groups reached Australia. The focus of these essays is mainly biographical, ranging from the famous to the almost forgotten.