1866 – 1953 Poet, Radical O’Dowd was born at Beaufort, Victoria to Irish emigrant parents who were preoccupied with Celtic ancestry and legend. But, in the hope that he would win paid secondary school and university fees, O’Dowd was not sent to Catholic schools. He did win the fees but was forced to leave university [...]

1933 – 2003 Historian Born in New Zealand to Irish parents, O’Farrell moved to Australia in 1956 and, after receiving a PhD from the Australian National University, became a professor of history and, later, emeritus professor, at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Many of the 12 books he wrote concerned Irish Australia, Catholicism [...]

1821-1861 Explorer Burke was born into a family of Protestant gentry in Co Galway and, like all the males in his family, became a soldier. He served in the Austrian army and the Irish Mounted Constabulary prior to migrating to Australia in 1853. He joined the Victorian police and rose to superintendent before leaving, in [...]

1897– 1971 Public Servant Born at Murwillumbah, NSW to an Irish immigrant father and a Queensland-born mother, O’Leary was educated by the Christian Brothers in Ipswich, Queensland and began working for the Queensland Public Service in 1913. Starting off as a clerk, by November 1922 he was appointed a ‘protector of Aboriginals’ and assigned to [...]

1874 – 1953 Trade Unionist Born at Wentworth, NSW, the seventh of nine children of Irish-born parents, O’Neill was educated at the local Catholic school. The family moved to Broken Hill and Paddy and his brothers became mineworkers. In 1899 he married Mary Anne Gearon, from South Australia. They had six children. In 1908 he [...]

1905 – 1992 Cricketer Born into an Irish family in White Cliffs, NSW, in 1905, William Joseph ‘Tiger’ O’Reilly would go on to become the greatest spin bowler of all time. His father was a small-town schoolmaster who was moved around a lot and in 1917 the family moved north to the town of Wingello [...]

1866 – 1933 Priest Born in Co Cork, the eldest of five children, O’Reilly was educated at St Colman’s College, Fermoy, before studying philosophy and theology at Maynooth. He was ordained a Vincentian priest in January 1890 and emigrated to Melbourne in 1892. In 1899 he became information editor of the Catholic monthly, Austral Light, [...]

1818 – 1883 Politician, Businessman Born near Thurles, Co Tipperary, Ireland, O’Shanassy and his wife Margaret arrived in Australia in November 1839. After initially buying a farm, they opened a drapery shop in Collins St, Melbourne in 1845. O’Shanassy’s political career began the following year when he won a by-election to become a member of [...]

1897 – 1956 Winemaker Maurice O’Shea was born in 1897 in North Sydney, to John Augustus O’Shea, an Irish-born wine-and-spirit merchant, and Leontine Frances, who came from France. The young O’Shea trained as a viticulturist and analytical chemist at the University of Montpellier before returning to NSW in 1920. He began to make wine on [...]

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 [...]