Belleek was established following the Irish famine of the mid nineteenth century that brought so many Australian families, including the Taffe and Berkery families to immigrate to the Australian colonies. This Belleek porcelain tea set and tray in the Thorn pattern based on the hawthorn bush sprig in flower carries the impressed registration mark for 1878. Belleek was well represented at the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880-81 at Melbourne's Exhibition building and many examples were bought by key Ballarat Irish families including those connected to this family such as the Brophy, O'Malley and Fitzgerald families, Julia Taffe's (nee Berkery) aunts uncles and cousins. Many such examples remain in Ballarat collections although this is not one.Tea set consisting of a tray with teapot, creamer, sugar bowl two saucers and one remaining cup from the original pair. All pieces decorated in the thorn and spiderweb pattern.Impressed factory mark and registration mark on base of each piece.belleek, porcelain, ballarat, ireland, exhibition building, melbourne, exhibition, thorn pattern, irish famine, tea set, tray, brophy, fitzgerald, o'malley, julia taffe, berkery, australian colonies,

Biography of William Irwin who migrated to Australia in 1850. He was a digger and a publican during the gold rush in Ballarat. He was publican at the Star Hotel, John O'groats Hotel and the Provincial Hotel. The Star Hotel was closely connected with the story of the Eureka Stockade. The book in part draws from family correspondence. The book's author, Helen Townsend, is Irwin's great-granddaughter. Relevance to the history of Ballarat, gold mining and the Eureka Stockade. Biographical interest - William Irwin.Paperback book. Front cover: image of houses surrounded by fields; image of Irwin's Provincial Hotel with people and horses and carts; white and black lettering.Front cover: title and author. Back cover: book synopsis; praise for the book by Tom Keneally.btlc, ballarat trades hall, ballarat trades and labour council, gold mining - ballarat, mining licences - ballarat, eureka stockade, irish potato famine, gold miners, history, biography, publicans - ballarat, immigrants, pioneers, william irwin, star hotel, john o'groats hotel, provincial hotel

The Young Irelander Rebellion was a failed Irish nationalist uprising led by the Young Ireland movement, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 that affected most of Europe. It took place on 29 July 1848 in the village of Ballingarry, South Tipperary. After being chased by a force of Young Irelanders and their supporters, an Irish Constabulary unit took refuge in a house and held those inside as hostages. A several-hour gunfight followed, but the rebels fled after a large group of police reinforcements arrived. It is sometimes called the Famine Rebellion (since it took place during the Great Irish Famine) or the Battle of Ballingarry. (wikipedia)Image of seven men associated with the Young Ireland Movement.young ireland, william smith o'brien, michael doheny, t.b. macmanus, patrick o'donohue, richard o'gorman junior, john savage

This book is a replica of a booklet printed in the United Kingdom. In 1848, when it was published in London as a guide to prospective emigrants, 23,904 people left the United Kingdom for the Australian colonies and New Zealand. In 1847, with the failure of potato crops threatening famine in Ireland and growing political unrest at home, the British Government had once again encouraged emigration by offering free passage to candidates of 'good character'. Immigration, particularly by the labouring classes, was intended to relieve both the overburdened Mother Country and the colonies which had acute labour shortages. The booklet gives some history of each colony as well as the sale of lands, mines and mining, produce, the price of living, wages and, generally, the situation. The emigrant's friend, or authentic guide to South Australia including Sydney: Port Phillip, or Australia Felix: Western Australia, or Swan River Colony: New South Wales: Van Dieman's Land: and New Zealand. Reprint. Reader's Digest Services Pty Limited; Surrey Hills (NSW); 1974. 40 p. Soft cover. australia; colonies; settlement; nsw; port phillip; western australia; south australia; van dieman's land; new zealand; emigration; immigration;

Following the founding meeting of the Mayo Tenants Defence Association in Castlebar, County Mayo on 26 October 1878 the demand for The Land of Ireland for the people of Ireland was reported in the Connaught Telegraph 2 November 1878. The first of many "monster meetings" of tenant farmers was held in Irishtown near Claremorris on 20 April 1879, with an estimated turnout of 15,000 to 20,000 people. This meeting was addressed by James Daly (who presided), John O'Connor Power, John Ferguson, Thomas Brennan, and J. J. Louden. The Connaught Telegraph's report of the meeting in its edition of 26 April 1879 began: Since the days of O'Connell a larger public demonstration has not been witnessed than that of Sunday last. About 1 o'clock the monster procession started from Claremorris, headed by several thousand men on foot – the men of each district wearing a laural leaf or green ribbon in hat or coat to distinguish the several contingents. At 11 o'clock a monster contingent of tenant-farmers on horseback drew up in front of Hughes's hotel, showing discipline and order that a cavalry regiment might feel proud of. They were led on in sections, each having a marshal who kept his troops well in hand. Messrs. P.W. Nally, J.W. Nally, H. French, and M. Griffin, wearing green and gold sashes, led on their different sections, who rode two deep, occupying, at least, over an Irish mile of the road. Next followed a train of carriages, brakes, cares, etc. led on by Mr. Martin Hughes, the spirited hotel proprietor, driving a pair of rare black ponies to a phæton, taking Messrs. J.J. Louden and J. Daly. Next came Messrs. O'Connor, J. Ferguson, and Thomas Brennan in a covered carriage, followed by at least 500 vehicles from the neighbouring towns. On passing through Ballindine the sight was truly imposing, the endless train directing its course to Irishtown – a neat little hamlet on the boundaries of Mayo, Roscommon, and Galway. Evolving out of this a number of local land league organisations were set up to work against the excessive rents being demanded by landlords all over Ireland, but especially in Mayo and surrounding counties. From 1874 agricultural prices in Europe had dropped, followed by some bad harvests due to wet weather during the Long Depression. The effect by 1878 was that many Irish farmers were unable to pay the rents that they had agreed, particularly in the poorer and wetter parts of Connacht. The localised 1879 Famine added to the misery. Unlike other parts of Europe the Irish land tenure system was inflexible in times of hardship. (Wikipedia) The Irish National Land League was founded at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar, the County town of Mayo, on 21 October 1879. At that meeting Charles Stewart Parnell was elected president of the league. Andrew Kettle, Michael Davitt, and Thomas Brennan were appointed as honorary secretaries. This united practically all the different strands of land agitation and tenant rights movements under a single organisation. Michael Davitt Founder of the Land League The two aims of the Land League, as stated in the resolutions adopted in the meeting, were: ...first, to bring out a reduction of rack-rents; second, to facilitate the obtaining of the ownership of the soil by the occupiers. That the object of the League can be best attained by promoting organisation among the tenant-farmers; by defending those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust rents; by facilitating the working of the Bright clauses of the Irish Land Act during the winter; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant to become owner of his holding by paying a fair rent for a limited number of years. (Wikipedia)Image of a man with a moustache. He is T. Brennan.ballarat irish, brennan, thomas brennan, irish land act, rent

An Irish barrister, politician, Member of Parliament (M.P.), and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home Rule League. (Wikipedia) After being called to the bar in 1838, Butt quickly established a name for himself as a brilliant barrister. He was known for his opposition to the Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell's campaign for the repeal of the Act of Union.[4] He also lectured at Trinity College, Dublin, in political economy. His experiences during the Great Famine led him to move from being an Irish unionist and an Orangeman[5] to supporting a federal political system for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that would give Ireland a greater degree of self-rule. This led to his involvement in Irish nationalist politics and the foundation of the Home Rule League. Butt was instrumental in fostering links between Constitutional and Revolutionary nationalism through his representation of members of the Fenians Society in court. (Wikipedia) He began his career as a Tory politician on Dublin Corporation. He was Member of Parliament for Youghal from 1852 to 1865, and for Limerick from 1871 to 1879 (at the 1852 general election he had also been elected for the English constituency of Harwich, but chose to sit for Youghal). The failed Fenian Rising in 1867 strengthened Butt's belief that a federal system was the only way to break the dreary cycle of inefficient administration punctuated by incompetent uprisings.[6] In 1870 he founded the Irish Home Government Association. This was in no sense a revolutionary organisation. It was designed to mobilise public opinion behind the demand for an Irish parliament, with, as he put it, "full control over our domestic affairs."[6] He believed that Home Rule would promote friendship between Ireland and her neighbour to the east. In November 1873 Butt replaced the Association with a new body, the Home Rule League, which he regarded as a pressure-group, rather than a political party. In the General Election the following year, 59 of its members were elected. However, most of those elected were men of property who were closer to the Liberal cause.[7] In the meantime Charles Stewart Parnell had joined the League, with more radical ideas than most of the incumbent Home Rulers, and was elected to Parliament in a by-election in County Meath in 1875.[8] Butt had failed to win substantial concessions at Westminster on the things that mattered to most Irish people: an amnesty for the Fenians of '67, fixity of tenure for tenant-farmers and Home Rule. Although they worked to get Home Rulers elected, many Fenians along with tenant farmers were dissatisfied with Butt's gentlemanly approach to have bills enacted, although they did not openly attack him, as his defence of the Fenian prisoners in '67 still stood in his favour.[9] However, soon a Belfast Home Ruler, Joseph Gillis Biggar (then a senior member of the IRB), began making extensive use of the ungentlemanly tactic of "obstructionism" to prevent bills being passed by the house. When Parnell entered Parliament he took his cue from John O'Connor Power and Joseph Biggar and allied himself with those Irish members who would support him in his obstructionist campaign. MPs at that time could stand up and talk for as long as they wished on any subject. This caused havoc in Parliament. In one case they talked for 45 hours non-stop, stopping any important bills from being passed. Butt, ageing, and in failing health, could not keep up with this tactic and considered it counter-productive. In July 1877 Butt threatened to resign from the party if obstruction continued, and a gulf developed between himself and Parnell, who was growing steadily in the estimation of both the Fenians and the Home Rulers.[10] The climax came in December 1878, when Parliament was recalled to discuss the war in Afghanistan. Butt considered this discussion too important to the British Empire to be interrupted by obstructionism and publicly warned the Irish members to refrain from this tactic. He was fiercely denounced by the young Nationalist John Dillon, who continued his attacks with considerable support from other Home Rulers at a meeting of the Home Rule League in February 1879. Although he defended himself with dignity, Butt, and all and sundry, knew that his role in the party was at an end.[11] Butt, who had been suffering from bronchitis, had a stroke the following May and died within a week. He was replaced by William Shaw, who in turn was replaced by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1880. (Wikipedia)Image of a man known as Isaac Butt.

The tenant lived at the mercy of the resident landlord. Home was a one-roomed house, a chimney of wicker work plastered over with mud or just a hole in the roof. The walls might consist of mud too, or sods of grass. Any windows, were rarely glazed and would be open to the elements all year round. The Pig, if any, was kept in the house, the most valuable possession. Sold for cash at local market. The main items in the house were a potato pot and water bucket. As well as mother, father and children, there could well be grandparents all living in the same cramped conditions. The family would sleep on rushes or straw lain on the floor. Most tenants were tenants 'at will ', which meant they could be evicted at the 'will' of the landlord. Some had a lease for the life of the father and the eldest son, and this meant they were relatively safe from eviction as long as they could pay their rent. There was a tradition of passing on a portion of your land from father to each of the sons, who would build a small dwelling, and in turn pass a portion onto their own sons. This cycle of subdivision meant that many families were surviving on a tiny plot of land from which to derive a crop of potatoes for the year. Women worked hard in this environment, rearing children, cooking, cleaning, tending to any animals such a pigs or chicken and when needed, helping in the potato field. Life was dictated by the annual rent due to the landlord. Other typical expenses could be the Hearth Tax (actually charged by the number of fire places in a house) Turf, Hay (for any farm animals) and tithes. A tax known as the tithes were calculated at one tenth the value of everything saleable. Tithes were a bitter issue. They were for the support of the Church of Ireland, Protestant Bishops and Ministers, and a cess tax for the construction and maintenance of Protestant Church buildings. The problem being that the vast majority of those paying the Tax were Catholic and paying to support something that was contrary to their beliefs. Potatoes were the staple diet from September through to the end of Spring of the following year. But the summer months were months of hunger and hardship as they waited for the following harvest to come in Autumn. During these months people had to resort to eating anything they could find; turnips, cabbage, even wild grass, nettles, wild berries and dandelions. Those who lived close to the sea would collect seaweed and use it spread on their land as a form of manure. The dependency of so much of the population on the Potato as their sole source of food was to prove disastrous during the Famine years. [http://www.youririshroots.com/irishhistory/tenant.php, accessed 14 December 2013]A woman spins wools, while another cards fleece in preparation for spinning. I man smokes a pipe by an open fireplace, while a cow takes shelter in the cabin for warmth. ballarat irish, cabin, spinning, wool, cow

Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo, on March 25th 1846 at the height of the Great Famine. He was the second of five children born to Martin and Catherine Davitt. At the tender age of four Michael and his family were evicted from their home and forced to emigrate to Haslingden, Lancashire, England. At the age of eleven while working in a cotton mill, Davitt had his arm so badly maimed in an accident that it had to be amputated. At sixteen, while working for the local postmaster, he began evening classes in Irish history at the Mechanic's Institute. It was at this time that his thoughts began to turn to politics and he joined the Fenian movement in England. The Fenians Joining the Fenians in 1865 he rose through the ranks to become organising secretary for England and Scotland but was arrested in 1870 for arms smuggling and sentenced to fifteen years penal servitude. After seven years he was released on a ticket of leave.(http://www.museumsofmayo.com/davitt1.htm, accessed 21 January 2014)Images of a bearded man known as Michael Davitt. He is writing at a large table in a large room with chandelier. ballarat irish, davitt, michael davitt

Daniel O’Connell was born near Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry, on 6 August 1775. His wealthy childless uncle adopted him at an early age and brought him up at Derrynane. He spoke Irish and was interested in the traditional culture of song and story still strong in Kerry at the time. He also understood how the rural mind worked which served him well in later years. In 1791 he was sent to school at St. Omer and Douai and what he saw there of the French Revolution left him with a life-long hatred of violence. He read law at Lincoln’s Inn (1794 -96) and continued his studies in Dublin where he was called to bar in 1798. He had soon built up an enormous practice. The 1798 rising and the terrible butchery that followed it confirmed his horror of violence. While he approved of the principles of the United Irishmen, their call for reform and for Catholic Emancipation, he disagreed with their methods. In 1815 O’Connell criticised harshly the Dublin corporation. O’Connell was challenged to a duel by one member D’Esterre. In the exchange of shots D’Esterre was killed and O’Connell vowed never to fight again. O’Connell was soon drawn into political action. Hopes of Catholic emancipation had been raised by promises given while the act of union was being passed. In 1823, O’Connell founded the Catholic Association. The aim of the organisation was to use all the legal means available to secure emancipation. It turned into a mass crusade with the support of the Catholic clergy. All members of the association paid a membership of a penny a month (the Catholic rent). This helped to raise a large fund. The Clare election in 1828 was a turning point. O’Connell, with the support of the forty-shilling freeholders, managed a huge victory against the government candidate. He was well supported by the clergy whose influence on the poor uneducated peasant class was enormous. The polling took place in Ennis at the old courthouse where the O’Connell monument now stands. At the final count, O’Connell was elected by a majority of about eleven hundred votes. The ascendancy party had suffered its first big knock since 1798. The whole country was aflame. The British Government feared a rising and granted Catholic emancipation in April 1829. The franchise was, however, raised to 10 pounds which excluded the forty-shilling freeholders. O’Connell was now the undisputed leader in Ireland and he gave up his practice at the bar to devote his time entirely to politics. At the King’s insistence, O’Connell was not allowed to take his seat until he had been re-elected for Clare. In February 1830, O’Connell became the first Catholic in modern history to sit in the House of Commons. For the rest of his life, he was supported by “The O’Connell Tribute”, a public collection out of which O’Connell paid all his expenses. O’Connell now decided to concentrate on winning repeal of the act of union and getting an Irish parliament for the Irish people. British political leaders feared repeal as they did not fear emancipation. They saw repeal of the Act of Union as the first step in the break-up of the act of union, as the spirit of the repeal movement was revived when the young Ireland writers wrote about it in the Nation. In 1841, O’Connell was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin and in 1843 the subscriptions to his Repeal Association, the Repeal “Rent” came to 48,400 pounds. He now began to organise monster meetings throughout the country. It is thought that three-quarters of a million people gathered on the hill of Tara to hear the man they called the “Liberator”. The government became alarmed at the strength of the Repeal Movement and a meeting which O’Connell had planned for 8 October 1843 in Clontarf, Dublin was banned. Huge crowds were already on their way when O’Connell called off the meeting to avoid the risk of violence and bloodshed. He was charged with conspiracy, arrested and sentenced to a year in jail and a fine of 2,000 pounds. The sentence was set aside after O’Connell had been three months in prison. When he was released he continued with his campaign for repeal. However, a turning point had been reached. The tactics that had won emancipation had failed. O’Connell was now almost seventy, his health failing and he had no clear plan for future action. There was discontent within the Repeal Association and the Young Irelanders withdrew. There was also some failure in the potato crop in the 1840’s, a sign of things to come in the Great Famine of 1845-1847. Aware of the fact that he had failed with his great goal, (the Repeal Movement), O’Connell left Ireland for the last time in January 1847. He made a touching speech in the House of Commons in which he appealed for aid for his country. In March, acting on the advice of his doctor, he set out to Italy. Following his death in Genoa on 15 May 1847, his body was returned to Ireland and buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. [http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/daniel.htm, accessed 13/12/2013]Portrait of a man known as Daniel O'Connell.ballarat irish, daniel o'connell, o'connell

Protection of Person and Property Act 1881 The ''Protection of Person and Property Act 1881'' was one of more than 100 Coercion Acts passed by the Parliament of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland between 1801 and 1922, in an attempt to establish law and order in Ireland. The 1881 Act was passed by parliament and introduced by Gladstone. It allowed for persons to be imprisoned without trial. On 13 October 1881, the Act was used to arrest Charles Parnell after his newspaper, the ''United Ireland'', had attacked the Land Act. On Gladstone's return to office in 1880, William Edward Forster was made Chief Secretary for Ireland. He carried the Compensation for Disturbance Bill through the Commons, only to see it thrown out in the Lords. On 24 January 1881, he introduced a new Coercion Bill in the House of Commons, to deal with the growth of the Irish National Land League. Despite a 41-hour long fillibuster in the House by the Irish Parliamentary Party, the bill passed, among its provisions being one enabling the British government in Ireland to arrest without trial persons "reasonably suspected" of crime and conspiracy. However those arrested were often not always suspect, only supportive of the Irish National Land League's movements. Over 100 such acts were passed, some of the more notable of which were "An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Local Disturbances and Dangerous Associations in Ireland", "The Protection of Life and Property in Certain Parts of Ireland Act", and the "Protection of Person and Property Act 1881". An Irish Coercion Bill was proposed by Sir Robert Peel to calm the increasing difficult situation in Ireland as a result of the Great Famine 1844–47. The Bill was blocked and this led, in part, to Peel's retirement as Prime Minister. Later attempts to introduce Irish coercion acts were blocked by the filibustering of Joseph Biggar. As a response to the Plan of Campaign of the mid-1880s the new Chief Secretary for Ireland Arthur Balfour secured a tough Perpetual Crimes Act (1887) (or Coercion Act) aimed at the prevention of boycotting, intimidation, unlawful assembly and the organisation of conspiracies against the payment of agreed rents. The Act resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of people including over twenty MPs. The so-called ''Crimes Act'' (or "Coercion" Act) was condemned by the Catholic hierarchy since it was to become a permanent part of the law and did not have to be renewed annually by parliament, but the Papacy issued the bull Link: "Saepe Nos" in 1888 which was uncritical of the Acts. Trial by jury was abolished. An influential analysis of the pros and cons of the Act was published in 1888 by W. H. Hurlbert, a Catholic Irish-American author. Many hundreds were imprisoned at times under the Acts, including many prominent politicians and agrarian agitators, Joseph Biggar, Alexander Blane, Michael Davitt, John Dillon, James Gilhooly, Patrick Guiney, Matthew Harris, John Hayden, J. E. Kenny, Andrew Kettle, Denis Kilbride, Pat O'Brien, William O'Brien, James O'Kelly, Charles Stewart Parnell, Douglas Pyne, Willie Redmond, Timothy Sullivan. [http://shelf3d.com/i/Irish%20Coercion%20Act, accessed 13/12/2013]A many sits on a table holding the lapels of his Jacket. ballarat irish, cabin, rent, tenants, quill, biggar, davitt

Index, bib, p.298.non-fictionPart 1 of a 3-part series, the Green Flag, which traces the rise of Irish Nationalism. The focus of this volume, Strongbow - the Great Famine, charts the development of the Irish nationalist impulse.ireland - politics and government, ireland - history - 19th century

non-fictionIn the early 19th Century rural Ireland was experiencing severe economic and social problems Population continued to grow as couples married at 16 or 17 and proceeded to have an average of 9 children. At the bottom end of the social scale labourers and the very smallest of farmers were in dire poverty. For the more comfortable farmers with 20 acres or so circumstances were better as they were in a position to grow additional crops which generated extra valuable income. Crop failures in 1822 and 1837 and again in 1845 to 1848 brought about unendurable hardship and famine. It was against this backdrop that Michael Neylon (Nilon) left his native Benvoran, Kilmurry McMahon Co Clare in search of opportunity and a better life. Now Beverley Rasker (nee Nilon) has fully researched his arrival in Australia in 1841 and she has taken up his story and that of his many descendants. Having communicated with Beverley for some time, I eventually had the pleasure of meeting her in September 2000, during her 2nd trip to Ireland in connection with her research. She has now put together an excellent record of interesting and informative material, which indeed makes us all proud of the achievements of the Neylon (Nilon) family. As we say in Irish'Molann an obair an fear' Sean Neylon, Kilkee, Co Clare Ireland. November 2000michael nilon, bolong (nsw), cootamundra (nsw)

non-fictionJames Bodell was born in 1831 near Nottingham, the son of poor parents. At sixteen he enlisted in the army and was sent first to Ireland, then slowly recovering from the great potato famine, and then to Hong Kong, where most of his regiment died of malaria or other tropical diseases. He bought himself out of the army and went to Van Doiemen's Land (later Tasmania) where he kept a hotel, but eventually became disgusted with the atmosphere of a recent convict settlement. In 1856 he moved to Victoria, where the great gold rush had begun, prospered, but finally lost his money in unwise speculation during a period of excessive drinking. In 1863 he volunteered to serve in New Zealand in the Maori wars. Discharged in 1866, he was given a town lot of land as well as farming land by the government at the town of Tauranga, where he was an outstanding pioneer, making money and becoming Mayor. He later made two return trips to England to visit his family in Leicester. In about 1881 he began to write his reminiscences, an ambitious undertaking for a man with so little formal education, and in 1978, on the death of one of his English descendants, the original manuscript was offered to the Bodley Head for publication. It has been edited by Keith Sinclair and presents a unique picture of how the British Empire was colonised and what life in the British army of the time was like. This is a frank, often amusing and colourful account of the Empire seen from below. (Inside cover)james bodell, maori wars