The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck
Condition: SECONDHAND
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The luck of the Irish was chronic bad luck, as their sad history attests. That's how it looked for 250 Irish convicts when their ship, the Hive , sank ignominiously off the New South Wales coast in 1835. Miraculously all survived, guided to safety by local Aboriginal people. They landed at a time when the so-called slave colony was at its height, ruled by the lash and the chain gang. Yet as Babette Smith tracked the lives of the people aboard the Hive , she discovered a very different story. Most were assigned to work on farms or in businesses, building a better life than they possibly could have experienced in Ireland. Surprisingly, in the workforce they found power, which gave rise to the characteristic Australian culture later described by D.H. Lawrence: 'Nobody felt better than anybody else, or higher.' The Luck of the Irish is a fascinating portrait of colonial life in the mid-nineteenth century that reveals how the Irish helped lay the foundations of the Australia we know today. 'Deeply researched and vividly written, it's a terrific new and up-to-date account of the convict experience, mainly from the bottom up. I'm impressed.' - Emeritus Professor Alan Atkinson FAHA, University of Sydney 'Brings the convict era to life through personal stories and insightful analysis.' - Lindsay Tanner
Author: Babette Smith
Format: Paperback, 304 pages, 153mm x 234mm, 425 g
Published: 2014, Allen & Unwin, Australia
Genre: Regional History
Description
The luck of the Irish was chronic bad luck, as their sad history attests. That's how it looked for 250 Irish convicts when their ship, the Hive , sank ignominiously off the New South Wales coast in 1835. Miraculously all survived, guided to safety by local Aboriginal people. They landed at a time when the so-called slave colony was at its height, ruled by the lash and the chain gang. Yet as Babette Smith tracked the lives of the people aboard the Hive , she discovered a very different story. Most were assigned to work on farms or in businesses, building a better life than they possibly could have experienced in Ireland. Surprisingly, in the workforce they found power, which gave rise to the characteristic Australian culture later described by D.H. Lawrence: 'Nobody felt better than anybody else, or higher.' The Luck of the Irish is a fascinating portrait of colonial life in the mid-nineteenth century that reveals how the Irish helped lay the foundations of the Australia we know today. 'Deeply researched and vividly written, it's a terrific new and up-to-date account of the convict experience, mainly from the bottom up. I'm impressed.' - Emeritus Professor Alan Atkinson FAHA, University of Sydney 'Brings the convict era to life through personal stories and insightful analysis.' - Lindsay Tanner
The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck