isaanz

Great Irish Famine Commemoration 2026

7 Aug 202615 Aug 2026by isaanz

12 September 2026. 11:00am - 1:00pm. Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney. Come together at this free event to remember and honour Ireland and her history of an Gorta Mor, and the arrival of thousands from Ireland to Australia as a consequence. Guest speaker is Dr Anne Casey, with music and song by McMolly and harpist Cliona Molins. Lay flowers as a tribute at the memorial wall during the commemoration. This is a heartfelt gathering to reflect on and celebrate Irish heritage and Australian history. Explore the barracks, first home to many Irish in the early colony including the Irish Orphan Girls here as a consequence of the famine. Join in the craic after the event at PJ O'Briens, 57 King Street, a short walk away, where food and drinks will be available for purchase, and a free tea/coffee available.

Events

Winter Lecture Series

6 Aug 202615 Aug 2026by isaanz

4 August - 9 September 2026. Conradh na Gaeilge Aotearoa will be running a free Winter lecture series over the coming weeks, looking at various aspects of Irish. Everyone is welcome. There will be some Irish language content but the talks will be suitable for all, including those with no Irish!

Events

Diasporic Reconstruction of Narrative Traditions

5 Aug 202615 Aug 2026by isaanz

12 August 2026. Diasporic literature comprises works composed away from authors’ homelands. Many such texts grapple with identity negotiation, cultural hybridity, nostalgia and alienation; other diasporic writers centre indigenous cultural heritage to reach international readers. James Joyce (1882–1942) represents the former tendency, while Lin Yutang (1895–1976) exemplifies the latter. Both spent decades living abroad and produced major works in English, drawing core motifs from their respective national storytelling traditions.

Events

Irish Texts in SLV Rare Books

27 Jun 20264 Aug 2026by isaanz

29 July 2026. State Library Victoria houses a range of important Irish works that document the history of printing in Latin, Irish and English. This viewing will explore a range of unusual historical, linguistic and literary works, the debates they generated, and their representation of continuing literary traditions. Featured will be texts from the seventeenth to the twentieth century by authors such as Roderic O’Flaherty (1629-1718) and Thomas Carve (1590-1672), the Paris works of Hugh MacCurtin (1680-1755) and James Joyce, through to the migrant fiction of Mary Ann Sadlier and literary texts of the Celtic Revival.

Notices

Fellow in Irish Studies

2 Jun 20262 Jun 2026by isaanz

29 June 2026. The Eamon Cleary Postdoctoral Fellowship in Irish Studies is open to Ph.D. graduates in any area of Irish studies (Irish literature, history, politics, sociology, diaspora etc), but scholars with a medical humanities dimension to their research are particularly encouraged to apply. There is no required teaching associated with the role but it is expected that the postdoctoral fellow will actively participate in the life of the Centre, including public engagement and research dissemination, and contribute to the running of the Centre’s events and conferences. Applications quoting reference number 2600864 will close on Monday, 29 June 2026, 11:59PM NZST.

Events

Bound for Australia

29 May 202624 Jun 2026by isaanz

24 June 2026. Amongst the possessions that Irish-born Anne Trotter packed in her trunk to start a new life in Australia was her needlework specimen book. Arriving in Port Phillip in 1844, Anne Trotter was one of many assisted migrants who, along with other members of her family, were deemed suitable emigrants to the colony. Donated to Museums Victoria by a descendant in 2014, Anne's needlework book, which includes various plain sewing exercises and finely-stitched miniature shirts and a dress, provides an insight into the formal schooling provided to young working class girls in nineteenth century Ireland and the skills which they brought to Australia. This lecture will discuss the context of the needlework book and posit its value to a young female emigrant.

Notices

The passing of Elizabeth Malcolm

20 May 202623 May 2026by isaanz

19 May 2026. Elizabeth Malcolm died peacefully in Melbourne following a long illness aged 77. Elizabeth was the inaugural Gerry Higgins professor of Irish Studies at the University of Melbourne. She was also one of the founders of ISAANZ, the Australasian Journal of Irish Studies and a renowned historian of Irish and Irish Australian history. Teacher, mentor and friend to many, Elizabeth will be greatly missed. She is survived by her son Hartley and her brother Robert. May she rest in peace. Funeral details to be announced.

Notices

O’Donnell Fellowship 2027

18 May 2026by isaanz

Applications are open for the 2027 O’Donnell Fellowship in Irish Studies at St Mary's Newman Academic Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia. The O’Donnell Fellowship is available for the period Monday 4 January – Sunday 14 February 2027. The Fellowship, which is non-stipendary, offers: college living quarters and all meals; access to the Academic Centre building and collections; research space in the Gerry Higgins Room; access to the University of Melbourne library; $2000 for travel and other expenses. The application deadline is Friday 3 July 2026.

Notices

2026 Postgraduate Prize Winner

18 May 202618 May 2026by isaanz

2026 Winner of AJIS/ISAANZ postgraduate essay prize is Constantin Torve from Queen's University, Belfast, for his essay: Tipperary Boys, Red Ribbons, and the Eureka Stockade: The global Irish diaspora and agrarian protest repertoires in Australia, 1840-1860. The editors received a wide field of excellent essays and thank all those who entered the competition. Constantin's essay will be published in the next issue of AJIS.

Events

Bloomsday in Melbourne

16 May 202623 Jun 2026by isaanz

21 June 2026. Bloomsday in Melbourne has been celebrating 16th June for more than thirty years with staged productions of his work. This year they bring a brand new play to the stage, Between The Lines: The James Joyce/Groucho Marx Letters. A young female academic makes the find of a lifetime - and has to negotiate her way through the patriarchal world of academe in the mid-1980s. Bloomsday in Melbourne is also presenting their annual Bloomsday Seminar and Lunch on Sunday 21st June at The Wild Geese in Brunswick, where a panel will discuss, among other things, the repercussions of Helen Garner's 1995 book The First Stone.