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info@eastcorkjournal.ie
Thursday, 2nd Cobh says ‘Bonza Mate’ in Celebration of Australia Day
Article by SEAMUS WHELEHAN
Photos by BRIAN LOUGEED
Torrential rain did not stop almost 2,000 Australians celebrating the annual Cobh Australia Day on Fri- day last, 27 July, on board the cruise liner, ‘Dawn Princess’. While Australia Day is officially celebrated on the 26 January, the harbour town has pushed the boat out to mark the its close ties with Sydney for a decade, on the arrival of the cruise liner.
The 1,500 Australians and 300 Kiwis on a 107 night world tour, were given a proper Aussie welcome when they docked shortly after 11am.
The town was decked out in Australian flags and adorned with posters of Dame Edna Everage, the legend of Australian comedy, while Skippy and Ned Kelly also made an appearance.
From early morning res- idents of the great Island said Bonza Mate, as the 49 bell Carillion of St Colman’s Cathedral rang out over the harbour.
There was an eclectic mix of music and song on the Promenade, along with Irish dancing displays.
Just after mid-day as the skies opened up the town who has celebrated all things Australian for the past 10 years,wasn’t going to let a little rain dampen their spirits, so the cele- brations moved indoors to the Commodore Hotel, the Heritage Centre and the town’s many bars.
While it was a somewhat different celebration than the anticipated outdoor set- ting enjoying great tucker, arts crafts and music on the promenade, it was none the less, a celebration of Cobh’s close ties with Sydney, Australia.
With a few modifications many of the scheduled activities went ahead, and at 6:00pm the event culmi- nated with the Blessing of the Bonnets, a ceremony remembering the 25,000 convict women transported from Cobh to Australia between 1788 and 1853.
Their crimes were ones that required pity more than punishment.
The Commemoration Ceremony evolved from a Memorial project created by artist, Christina Henri, entitled ‘Roses From The Heart’ which saw the creation of 25,566 bonnets — one for every woman sentenced to transporta- tion.
Pic: Brian Lougheed
Australian lady Fay Jeppeson enjoying a good Irish Session in the Rob Roy bar in Cobh.
Pictured, from left: Mary O’Neil, Blackrock; Margaret Quirke, Ballyvolane and Joan O’Neill form Togher. Pic: Brian Lougheed
.Pictured: Imelda O’Connor (right) with her children, Kate (centre), Aidan and Michelle with friend Maryann Fleming (on left).
Pic: Brian Lougheed
August 2018
Jack Walsh, Manager of the Cobh Heritage Centre with Hope McKay (centre) and Donna Sommer, both from Connecticut, USA with the Bonnet Installation which
remembers the women and children aboard the Neva that sailed from Cork on 8th
the prisons of Botany Bay. Pic: Brian Lougheed
January 1835, destined for
Hope McKay (left) and Donna Sommer, both from Connecticut, USA visiting the Bonnet Installation which remembers the women and children aboard the Neva that sailed from Cork on 8th
January 1835, destined for
the prisons of Botany Bay. Pic: Brian Lougheed
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Husband and wife Alan and Sue Askham, both from New Zealand, first time back in Ireand and England for 32 years.
Pic: Brian Lougheed @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal
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