News

Restoring the Club’s founders picture

The President of the Celtic Club, Brian Shanahan OAM, has received a letter from the Irish Ambassador Breandan Ó Caollaí, to advise that a grant of $2,970 has been approved “to restore the Club’s founders picture and create a digital copy and print”. This was thanks to Mr. Ciaran Cannon T.D., the Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development and Mr Simon Coveney T.D., the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The grant is made under the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme ( ESP) and is to be used in the 19/20 financial year. 

Brian Shanahan and the Committee are delighted that this important record of the Club’s history will be preserved and protected. The picture profiles the original founders of the Cluband the objects of the Club.

View the Letter >

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New Irish documentary and web project available for free online.

A Lifetime of Stories – Oral histories of Irish seniors in Sydney – is a documentary and web project that tells the amazing life stories of Sydney’s Irish seniors. The documentary premiered at the Irish Film Festival in Sydney and is now available free online. 

A Lifetime of Stories is a 40 minute documentary and also a website with in-depth interviews with the participants. 

The participants come from the four provinces of Ireland - Pat Foley, Tomás de Bhaldraithe, Marion Reilly, Marie McMillan and Damien McCloskey tell their own stories with humour, style and wisdom. 

Pat Foley is 90 years young and still gracing the dancefloors of Sydney! Pat left Moyvane in County Kerry in the early 50’s and worked on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electrical scheme.

Damien McCloskey grew up in Derry and witnessed some of the tumultuous events in that city including Bloody Sunday in 1972. Damien also played snooker and was a doubles partner of Hurricane Higgins!

Marion Reilly is from Connemara and had the adventure of a lifetime when she travelled to Australia overland on a hippy bus in the 70’s. 

Tomás de Bhaldraithe is from Dublin and is a learned Gaelic scholar and a skilled sailor of Galway hookers.

Marie McMillan is from Dublin. Marie is a skilled performer and  has won numerous awards at slam poetry battles around Sydney.

A Lifetime of Stories was devised with the interviewees by director Dr Enda Murray using a workshop-based process which incorporated elements of creative writing, drama and music.

Click here to see the documentary and website

Celtic Club Gets Engaged!

Engaged with its members, that is.

This year, we’ve ramped our communications with members so that you learn about events and happenings more than ever before.

Committee Member, Clare Murphy, has launched The Celtic Club Melbourne Podcast.  It’s available through Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify, and is already proving popular, so you can stay in touch with all things Melbourne Irish on your way to work in the car or on the tram.

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A Guinness AND a meal at the Metropolitan, but not just yet?

Hospitality continues to be offered at The Celtic Club at Metropolitan in North Melbourne. Operations have been revised to find the right opening hours for our home away from home. Venue manager, Andrew, tells us “3 or 4 nights a week is when we see members and non-members visit for a pint. The taps are flowing well on Fridays especially, and people have been asking for meals again”.

The Celtic Club has been giving urgent consideration to finding cost effective ways to reopen the Metro’s kitchen.  The plan is to improve the kitchen facilities and provide flexible service options.  We are confident that with the right planning we can make it even better for private functions and Christmas get togethers.

Irish Famine Orphan Girls Commemoration

Download event information >

When: 17th November
Where: Standing Stone Famine Rock Burgoyne Reserve, The Strand, Cnr Stevedore Street, Williamstown.
Enquires: Dr Val Noone 0437625223, Siobhan O'Neill 0418171527

What is Irish-Australian Literature? A Symposium

Download the event schedule >

This symposium brings academic experts in Australian literature to present papers and join in discussion on the idea of Irish-Australian literature and to interrogate the category with appropriate theoretical tools. The symposium will look at literature from Vincent Buckley (1925-88), Frank the Poet, Thea Astley, Gerard Windsor, Joseph Furphy and Tom Kenneally.

Register Now

When: 22nd November, 8:30am - 5:30pm
Where: Celtic at Metropolitan, Courtney Street, North Melbourne.
Enquires: Australian Centre, T: +61 3 9035 5280, E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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