One of my long term writing projects is a collaboration with my cousin, Robyn Collins, who was formerly State Librarian of both Tasmania and South Australia. (She was also once, back in the far-off days when I worked in public libraries, my boss at Logan City Libraries.) Robyn and I are part of the Ballinlass Diaspora—descendants of the victims of an infamous eviction that took place in East Galway in March 1846. Our ancestors Laurence and Kate Kilmartin and their children were scattered across the globe as a result of these events, with many descendants in Australia, North America and Ireland.
Earlier this year, Robyn and I were proud and excited to open the East Galway Black ’47 online conference. “Black ’47” was the worst year of the Irish famine, which led to the death or emigration of millions of Irish people—many, if not most Australians of Irish descent, including Robyn and myself, are here today because of those events. Our presentation, Looking for Luke, looks at how the cataclysmic events of those years tore one family completely apart and scattered its descendants across three continents. The photo belows the Ballinlass Memorial that now stands at the site of the eviction.
It represents the walls of a demolished cottage. The names of the evicted householders are carved into the stones, and the tracks of bare feet lead away from the monument to represent the exile that ensued.
The Black ’47 conference is now available on YouTube. Our presentation starts fifteen minutes in.
