G'day I am not usually a member of this list but have joined just to post the following message. I am also posting to GENANZ but if anyone belongs to any other list that may be interested, please pass it on. > From: Siobhan McHugh <[email protected]> > Hello all, > > just to let you know my documentary on the Famine > Orphan Girls goes to air > this Sunday 30 Sept on ABC Radio National ( AM band > 576) at 2pm (Hindsight), > repeated Thursday 5 October 1pm. > It's about 54' long so get the tapes to match! > Further info below. > > The program starts with an interesting interview > with Prof Cormac OGrada of > Univerity College Dublin, in which he canvasses > recent debates around > reinterpretations of the Famine, and the vexed > question of whether it is > possible to have a collective memory of such a > traumatic and divisive event. > > Hope you enjoy it and thanks to all those who > participated. Please excuse > universal email but time has got away. > > All the best > Siobhan McHugh > > OUT OF THEIR FEELING > > 'If there's one word I have for them, it's > survivors. Every time I think of > Eliza, I laugh. I say, you beat the system. No > matter what they threw at > you, you got through it!' Joan Dwyer, from Sydney, > is talking about her > great-grandmother, Eliza Fraser, one of 4000 orphan > girls aged between 14 > and 20 despatched to Australia from Irish > workhouses at the height of the > Famine. Eliza's group, from Belfast, stood up for > each other on board ship > and spoke out against their disciplinarian overseer. > Considered a bad lot, > they were not even allowed dock in Sydney, but were > sent further north to > Moreton Bay, to mingle with the rough ex-convicts as > domestic servants and > potential wives. > > 'I see them as like the streetkids of today', says > Dwyer. 'Be honest about > it. They were maybe not the most attractive people > in the world, they might > not have been educated, they're foul-mouthed, they > drink... is it their > fault? They're children. But they're strong, they're > survivors. With the > right opportunities they can be the foundation of > stable families for the > future.' > > To the men who outnumbered women by 9 to 1 in rural > areas, the girls were no > doubt welcome, but the Australian establishment was > less impressed. 'The > Argus' newspaper in Melbourne deemed them 'the most > stupid, useless, > ignorant and unmanageable set of beings that ever > cursed a country by their > presence... whose knowledge of household duty barely > reaches to distinguish > the inside from the outside of a potato.' > > The bigotry was largely sectarian, with one > Presbyterian minister, John > Dunmore Lang, fulminating about Irish Catholics > 'silently subverting the > Protestantism... of the colony by the vile > Jesuitical diabolical system of > mixed marriages.' His fears were well-grounded, for > almost half the orphan > girls married across religion, while the majority > married Englishmen. > > While many did very well, some were too traumatised > to cope, and committed > suicide or became deranged. Others faced a brutal > fate. When they became > pregnant, the plentiful Australian diet allowed > their babies to flourish - > so much so that they could not pass through pelvises > stunted by years of > malnutrition. The only way to save the mother's life > was to kill the baby in > the womb and extract it in pieces. One woman lost > six babies that way. > > In August 1999, a memorial to the orphan girls and > the victims of the Famine > was unveiled in Sydney. As a piece of public art, > it¹s compelling. A plain > table intersects a stone wall, symbol of both > domesticity and sparseness, > and of the link between those who left and those who > stayed behind. Three > bronze stools are casually arranged under a nearby > tree, as though > their occupants had just left. From its branches > come the sounds of a > crackling fire, the crash of waves, birdcalls and > fragmented Irish voices > repeating the testimonies passed down from survivors > of those harrowing > times, when, as one witness reflected, 'the living > were out of their > feeling.' > > The soundtrack, by artist and historian Paul Carter, > along with interviews > with descendants of the girls, form part of Siobhan > McHugh's moving > documentary, Out of Their Feeling. The Dublin-born > producer spent two years > researching the story. 'I know Ireland feels sad at > losing her girls' says > Joan Dwyer. 'But I see it as Ireland's gift to us. > Four thousand-odd girls. > It's a wonderful gift.' > > SIOBHAN MCHUGH - BACKGROUND > > Siobhan McHugh is an award-winning writer and > broadcaster,the author of four > books on Australian social history. She co-wrote > the five-hour TV series > on the Irish diaspora, The Irish Empire, shown > recently on SBS. > > Kaye Purnell <[email protected]> Ancestors from GLS who came to Oz? Database kept on GLS arrivals to AUS pre 1888. Entries happily accepted; searches done. Visit my site at <http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kayepur>. Snail mail to 15 Balla Machree Way, Gymea Bay NSW 2227 AUS, including SSAE or 1 IRC.