Influential Irish Australians
Nicole Kidman, John Curtin, Mel Gibson, Jim Stynes, Slim Dusty...
Nicole Kidman, John Curtin, Mel Gibson, Jim Stynes, Slim Dusty and Paul Keating are all influential Australians that have one thing in common: An Irish background.
John Curtin
Widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest Prime Ministers, Curtin led Australia through the Second World War and was one of the first Australian statesmen to be recognized on an international scale. All this was despite him being pretty much a physical wreck due to excessive smoking and drinking. Curtin’s father was an Irish policeman.
Paul Keating
Another former Prime Minister, although one held in somewhat lower regard. His most iconic moment was getting a quick feel of the Queen’s bum when she visited Australia in 1992.
Jim Stynes
It’s a common misconception that Aussie Rules football is based on Gaelic football – it’s not, it’s a mixed-up version of a few British codes – but the similarities between the two are undoubted.
Indeed, one of the greatest ever Aussie Rules players was Jim Stynes. The Dubliner arrived in Australia after answering an ad in a local paper that was seeking talented Gaelic footballers to come over to Oz and kick a ball around for cash.
He ended up at the Melbourne Demons, where after a crash course in the Aussie game, he quickly became a legend, playing 264 games. 244 of these were consecutive, which is an AFL record. He also snaffled the Brownlow Medal, which is awarded to the best and fairest player in the league, in 1991.
The tradition of Irish players in the AFL continues today, with Cork boy SetantaO'hAilpin playing for Carlton and Tadhg Kennelly playing for the Sydney Swans.
You can watch Aussie rules games in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane, but mostly in Melbourne. If you have to catch just one game, try and make it at the iconic home of the sport – the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The season starts at the end of March – see www.afl.com.au for more details.
Slim Dusty
Over a long, long career, this legendary country singer knocked out a brain-spinning 106 albums. OK, most of them were a bag of old nonsense, but he’s still the iconic Australian country singer. Born David Gordon Kirkpatrick, his iconic hits are I’d Love To Have A Beer With Duncan and A Pub With No Beer.
Nicole Kidman
With hair like that, she was only ever going to be of Irish and Scottish descent, and her parents are a bit of a mix between the two. The legendary over actor won an Oscar for wearing a big nose in a film that absolutely nobody watched.
Mel Gibson
Mel’s films generally fall into two categories. Either they are pseudo-historical anti-English tirades, or he is trying to thwart an English actor hamming it up as a Communist/ Arab terrorist. Unsurprisingly, given this track record, his mum was an Irish American. He gave something back to Ireland by filming his exceptionally well researched kilt and swords epic Braveheart there.
More famous Irish Australians: Part one; Part two; Part three
