1962 – BUSINESSMAN Born in Dublin, O’Sullivan learned the value of good business from an early age. His father, a senior public servant, had his children take up odd jobs to supplement their household income. “I’ve sold everything from newspapers to French wine and Irish peat fuel,” said O’Sullivan. Having completed a degree in economics [...]

1802 – 1869 Jurist Plunkett was born the younger of twins at Mount Plunkett, Co Roscommon and graduated from Trinity College in 1823 before being called to the Irish Bar in 1826. Daniel O’Connell gave the Roscommon man credit for the success of his candidates in Connacht at the 1830 general election which put the [...]

1930– Community activist When Tom Power left his home village of Powerstown in Co Tipperary to set sail for Australia back in 1956, he could hardly have known the lasting impact he and his new friends would have on the cultural heritage of his new home. Back in 1995, during her state visit to Australia, [...]

1854 – 1937 Printer, Politician Prendergast was born in Adelaide in 1854 to Irish parents who had migrated the previous year. He grew up in Stawell, Victoria and was apprenticed to a printer after leaving school. He became a member of the Typographical Association and represented this union at the Melbourne Trades Hall. Prendergast was [...]

1819 – 1881 Archbishop of Queensland Born in Rathbane, Co Kildare, Quinn made many enemies over the course of his lifetime but his influence over the development of Queensland was immense. He took up the post of Archbishop in 1859 and landed in Brisbane in 1861 where he found an enormous diocese plagued with financial [...]

1957 – Politician Kevin Rudd continues to be one of Australia’s most popular politicians although no longer in the top spot. While he has never visited Ireland, Mr Rudd’s Hibernian background emerged as recently as March last year when he spoke at the Queensland Irish Association’s St Patrick’s Eve Dinner. In his speech he revealed [...]

1872 – 1940 Politician Savage was born on in March, 1872 at Tatong in Victoria, the youngest of eight children to Irish parents Richard and Johanna. As a young man Savage held various labouring jobs in NSW but emigrated to New Zealand in 1907 to became a trade union organizer. He played a part in [...]

1954 – Politician Dr Ursula Stephens was elected to the Australian Senate for NSW in 2001 and re-elected in 2007. Born in Wicklow, she emigrated to Australia with her family when she was seven years old. She has four adult children and two grandsons. She joined the Labor Party in 1975 following the sacking of [...]

1885 – 1966 Naval Officer, Actor Henry ‘Harry’ Stoker was born in Dublin in 1895, and his actions as the commander of an Australian Navy submarine changed the course of World War I. At just 18, Stoker joined the fledgling submarine service, and by the age of 20, had secured his first command. By 1914 [...]

1966- Footballer Dubliner Jim Stynes moved to Australia in 1984, making his senior AFL debut in 1987 with the Melbourne Demons Football Club. Having given up a promising Gaelic football career to come to Australia (he was a star player with Dublin club side Ballyboden St Enda’s and won an All-Ireland medal with the Dublin [...]