Irish Gold

A tale of two pioneer families

That's how reviewer Frank O'Shea described Irish Gold in the Irish Echo when it was first published in 2002. 'It is a story closely tied up with the bushranging era...and the development of towns like Young, Murrumburrah, Boorowa and Yass,' he wrote, adding 'its appeal is much wider than the geographical area it covers.'

The book's central characters are two Irish immigrants who prospered as innkeepers and graziers during the gold rushes of the 1850s and '60s. Their exploits were reported frequently in a lively recorder of the times, the Yass Courier, whose liberal-minded Scottish editor also features prominently in the story. News was in plentiful supply: Ben Hall's gang roamed the countryside, free selection was threatening the sway of the squatters, the attempted assassination in Sydney of the Duke of Edinburgh stirred sectarian passions, a great flood devastated Yass...

In the Canberra Historical Journal, Cheryl Mongan described Irish Gold as 'extremely readable', providing 'a good slice of pioneering life with vivid accounts of race meetings, St Patrick's Day celebrations, bushrangers, land feuds, shootings, droughts and flooding rains.' Rev. Brian Maher in the Ancestral Searcher commented: 'The entire book is living local history in plain English, well organised and fearlessly truthful.'

Irish Gold is available from the publisher, Ginninderra Press, and in both print and ebook editions from online retailers.