Irish National Association of Australasia
Encyclopedia
The Irish National Association of Australasia (INA) (Irish Gaelic: Cumann Náisiúnta na nGaedheal) is an incorporated association based in Sydney
, Australia. The first branch, the Pádraig Pearse
Branch, was founded in Sydney in 1915.
Its current headquarters are located at INA House in Devonshire St, Surry Hills, near Central Station.
Since its establishment in 1915, the INA has worked for the Irish
community and cared for the welfare of Irish immigrants
in Sydney
and throughout the region. Today, the INA still cares for the development of the Irish-Australian cultural activities and the welfare of the Irish people in Australia.
When the Home Rule Bill was deferred at the outbreak of the First World War, Albert Thomas Dryer
, the 27 year-old Australian-born son of an Irish mother and a part-German, part-Irish father decided that it was time to rally Irish-Australian opinion to assist Ireland to achieve her national destiny.
On 21 July 1915, at a meeting in Sydney of 18 Irish people, Dryer proposed a resolution to establish an Irish National Association to serve and strengthen the Irish community in Australia, and to help preserve the ideal of Ireland's sovereignty.
The new organisation grew rapidly, organising social evenings, Irish dancing
and language classes, card nights, plays and lectures. The first Irish National Concert was held in the Sydney Town Hall
on 23 November 1915, and by January 1916 the INA had 211 financial members. In that month the interim committee
handed over to the first elected committee, headed by Peter O’Loughlin and with Albert Dryer as Secretary.
From its inception it was intended that the INA be a national organisation, with branches in various cities and an overall national executive. In the early days there were branches in Brisbane, Queensland and Melbourne, Victoria, but these never took off. Later in the 1940s and 1950s Dryer managed to whip up Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra branches, but again they were short-lived. The Pádraig Pearse Branch in Sydney remains the only surviving branch of the INA.
The nationalist aims of the INA became even more important in 1916, as Dryer and the rest of the Irish community watched helplessly while Britain crushed the Easter Rising
and proceeded to execute sixteen of its leaders. Whilst the INA continued its social and cultural activities, the political purpose of the association came increasingly to the fore. In a war-time British colony
, already bitterly divided over the conscription issue, it was inevitable that Irish nationalists
would be regarded as sinister subversives.
On Monday, 17 June 1918, Albert Dryer and six other INA office-bearers were arrested under emergency war-time regulations, and imprisoned without trial. Apart from Dryer they were Thomas FitzGerald
, secretary of the Brisbane branch, Maurice Dalton and Frank McGeown of the Melbourne branch, and Edmund McSweeney. Michael McGing and William McGuinness of the Sydney branch.
The seven were accused of membership of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
, and were held in Sydney’s Darlinghurst Gaol
for several months. Six were released on 19 December 1918, but Albert Dryer was held until 11 February 1919.
The political situation in Ireland was changing rapidly through the late 1910s and early 1920s. While the INA carried on its cultural and social activities and offered what support it could to the struggle for Irish independence
, it was inevitable that the division of opinion over the Treaty would be reflected on the Australian scene.
The forces against the Anglo-Irish Treaty
, including the INA, continued their political campaign
in Australia with protest meetings, leaflets and newspapers, as well as collecting money to send home to Ireland. Although the Irish community was divided, the Australian Government still feared that the seditious Irish would stir up trouble.
On Monday, 30 April 1923, when two Republican speakers arrived to address a meeting at Waverley in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, they were arrested. The Irish Envoys, as they became known, were Sean J. O’Kelly (President of the Gaelic League, Sinn Féin
TD for Louth–Meath, and later President of Sinn Féin
), and Fr Michael O’Flanagan (Vice-President of Sinn Féin
and a judge in the Dáil Courts
during the Irish War of Independence
). After a judicial enquiry the Envoys were deported from Australia.
Despite the Envoys incident, the Irish community in Australia was increasingly divided, and showed little interest in the INA’s political activism
.
By 1926, even the INA’s weekly céilí (dance evening), in its premises in George St, Sydney, was forced to compete with a rival function in nearby Flinders St. Nevertheless the 1926 Easter concert raised £120 to be sent home to Éamon de Valera
. It was the last regular remittance, as later that year de Valera led the Fianna Fáil
split from Sinn Féin
.
Dan Minogue: Decline then reconstruction
During the 1920s the INA moved several times, and support declined. By the early 1930s several general meetings
lapsed for want of a quorum. In March 1934, a reconstruction committee was elected. The Irish community soon rallied to the support of the INA, and by the 1940s the association was entering its golden age. It was at this time that the second great figure came onto the Sydney Irish scene Dan Minogue. A native of County Clare
, Dan Minogue came to Australia in the 1910s, and for over 30 years it was his vision which shaped the course of the INA.
The first stage of Dan Minogue’s vision for the INA, was to purchase land in Devonshire St, Surry Hills to establish a cultural centre for the Irish in Sydney. He and the Committee worked hard to raise the money to build the centre and in develop a cohesive Irish community to patronise it.
The founders of the INA were mainly working people
with few political contacts, but the INA of the 1940s was dominated by those successful in politics. Dan Minogue was an alderman on the Sydney City Council
along with two other INA Executive members, Tony Doherty and Eric Drew. Dan Minogue was elected Federal member for the seat of West Sydney. Deputy federal leader of the Australian Labor Party
, and one-time Prime Minister, Frank Forde
, was also a member of the INA.
One of the problems faced by the INA, during the first 40 years of its existence was the dominance of Irish affairs in Australia by the Catholic Church. When the INA was formed, the inclusion of non-sectarianism among its aims was condemned by Cardinal Kelly. Nearly thirty years later, the INA again came up against the Church when it tried to use the proceeds of the 1944 St Patrick’s Day sports carnival to build a hail for the Irish people in Sydney.
Proceeds of St Patrick’s Day activities had traditionally gone to the Catholic orphanages and the next year the Church took over the organisation of the sports carnival from the INA. The association finally won back control of the St Patrick’s Day sports carnival in 1957, and continued on for over 20 years until it revived of the St Patrick’s Day Parade in 1979.
Before the Devonshire Street site was developed, the INA ran dances at St Benedict’s church hall in Broadway. The Sunday night céilís were well attended, and the ranks of the Irish were swelled by new immigrants arriving under the Labor Government’s immigration programme introduced in the late 1940s. Strangely, there was some opposition to these immigrants from those Australian Irish who believed they should have stayed at home to build up the new Irish Republic
. Nevertheless it was the immigrants who proved to be the lifeblood of the INA through the 1950s.
1948 saw one of the most historical events in Irish Australian
history. In that year the former Taoiseach
and 1916 veteran Éamon de Valera made a controversial visit to Australia to campaign for an end to the partition of Ireland
. Albert Dryer organised the Sydney leg of de Valera’s visit under the auspices of the INA.
In the early 1950s the membership of the INA was thriving. In 1951 the first annual Feis
was held at the Sydney Sports Ground
and over the years this was built into a national contest in Gaelic and other sports, Irish dancing and piping.
A new home for the INA
In 1953, the existing terrace houses in Devonshire Street were demolished, and as well as the céilís and other cultural events the first issue of the newspaper “Sydney Gael” was published. Other activities of the INA included an annual lecture at Sydney University, housie, Irish dancing, the pipe band
, and the upkeep of the 1798 Memorial at Waverley Cemetery
. Finally, in 1956, the INA Cultural Centre was completed with the help of a £37,000 loan. There was a grand opening
on 16 September by Dan Minogue in the presence of Albert Dryer, the Irish chargé d'affaires and the mayor of Sydney, and a crowd of over two thousand.
The opening of the centre led to another upsurge in activity in the INA. In those days the kiosk on the building's mezzanine
floor serviced the dances on the ground floor and the various meetings, card nights and band practices on the first floor.
By 1958 the INA activities had expanded to include an Irish trade promotion group, a recreation group, ladies’ auxiliary, drama group, handball, library and céilí dances. The Victorian branch of the INA, re-established two years earlier, was still in operation. There were also ongoing events to be organised, such as the St. Patrick’s Day sports, and the national Gaelic Festival.
As the INA moved into the 1960s the momentum continued. Irish goods were sold and the trade committee was flourishing, as were Irish dancing, drama, céilí, handball and golf groups. The major festivals were the interstate Feis
, the St Patrick’s Day sports carnival and the Easter concert.
1963 saw the end of an era with the death of the INA’s founder, Dr Albert Dryer on 11 April. The reduction in the number of Irish immigrants arriving in Australia and the inevitable personality clashes which had developed within the enclosed Irish community soon led to a decline in the INA's membership. One by one the national Feis
, handball, card nights and other activities were discontinued. Dan Minogue, detecting the assimilation of the Irish community and the need to compete with mainstream entertainment venues for their patronage, pressed ahead with providing a licensed club for the Irish community. It was to be Dan Minogue’s last mission in the Irish community, and he officially opened The Gaelic Club on the first floor of the INA building in 1974.
Reform and expansion
The INA continued on, surviving the changes as it had for 60 years. Nevertheless action grew from conflict, and in the late 1970s a Reform Committee emerged from the young, more recent Irish immigrants, bringing new ideas.
In 1979 the St Patrick’s Day Parade was revived, and another new era began. Soon the Parade festivities expanded to Irish Week with parliamentary and media patronage, and the INA reached out to other Irish organisations and to the Irish Australian community for support and organisational assistance.
In the 1980s, the ground floor was leased and became a cinema for a time. By the end of the 1990s the INA took back control of the ground floor and renovated it, extending The Gaelic Club to two floors. Eventually, though, the ground floor was sold to become a separate venue, while the Gaelic Club continues on the first floor, holding céilís, concerts, meetings and other events for the Irish community.
concerts and regular dances, sponsoring dancing classes, and Irish language classes. The Association also maintains the Albert Dryer Memorial Library, containing many rare antiquarian volumes collected and donated over the decades, including a copy of the Book of Kells
donated by Éamon de Valera
himself. Although the St Patrick's Day Parade, the Australian Irish Welfare Bureau and Irish Language School, Sydney are now independent organisations, they still maintain strong links to the INA.
The INA continues to grow and develop in the new century, expanding its dance and music evenings, with plans to establish a School of Irish Music during the second half of 2009. While its political activism has declined since the Independence of Ireland has become assured, the INA still commemorates the Easter Rising
every Easter Sunday
at the Irish 1798 Rebellion Memorial in Waverley Cemetery
, over the grave of Michael Dwyer
.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia. The first branch, the Pádraig Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
Branch, was founded in Sydney in 1915.
Its current headquarters are located at INA House in Devonshire St, Surry Hills, near Central Station.
Since its establishment in 1915, the INA has worked for the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
community and cared for the welfare of Irish immigrants
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and throughout the region. Today, the INA still cares for the development of the Irish-Australian cultural activities and the welfare of the Irish people in Australia.
History of the INA
Foundation: War and revolutionWhen the Home Rule Bill was deferred at the outbreak of the First World War, Albert Thomas Dryer
Albert Thomas Dryer
Albert Thomas Dryer was an Australian medical doctor and supporter of Irish republicanism. The founder of the Irish National Association of Australasia and the Australian League for an Undivided Ireland, Dryer was a noted campaigner on behalf of the Irish community in Australia and the republican...
, the 27 year-old Australian-born son of an Irish mother and a part-German, part-Irish father decided that it was time to rally Irish-Australian opinion to assist Ireland to achieve her national destiny.
On 21 July 1915, at a meeting in Sydney of 18 Irish people, Dryer proposed a resolution to establish an Irish National Association to serve and strengthen the Irish community in Australia, and to help preserve the ideal of Ireland's sovereignty.
The new organisation grew rapidly, organising social evenings, Irish dancing
Irish dance
Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing...
and language classes, card nights, plays and lectures. The first Irish National Concert was held in the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
on 23 November 1915, and by January 1916 the INA had 211 financial members. In that month the interim committee
Interim Committee
The Interim Committee was a secret high-level group created in May 1945 by United States Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson at the urging of leaders of the Manhattan Project and with the approval of President Harry S. Truman to advise on matters pertaining to nuclear energy...
handed over to the first elected committee, headed by Peter O’Loughlin and with Albert Dryer as Secretary.
From its inception it was intended that the INA be a national organisation, with branches in various cities and an overall national executive. In the early days there were branches in Brisbane, Queensland and Melbourne, Victoria, but these never took off. Later in the 1940s and 1950s Dryer managed to whip up Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra branches, but again they were short-lived. The Pádraig Pearse Branch in Sydney remains the only surviving branch of the INA.
The nationalist aims of the INA became even more important in 1916, as Dryer and the rest of the Irish community watched helplessly while Britain crushed the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
and proceeded to execute sixteen of its leaders. Whilst the INA continued its social and cultural activities, the political purpose of the association came increasingly to the fore. In a war-time British colony
British overseas territories
The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
, already bitterly divided over the conscription issue, it was inevitable that Irish nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
would be regarded as sinister subversives.
On Monday, 17 June 1918, Albert Dryer and six other INA office-bearers were arrested under emergency war-time regulations, and imprisoned without trial. Apart from Dryer they were Thomas FitzGerald
Thomas Fitzgerald
Thomas Fitzgerald was an American politician who served as a judge and state legislator in both Indiana and Michigan, and as a United States Senator from Michigan....
, secretary of the Brisbane branch, Maurice Dalton and Frank McGeown of the Melbourne branch, and Edmund McSweeney. Michael McGing and William McGuinness of the Sydney branch.
The seven were accused of membership of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
, and were held in Sydney’s Darlinghurst Gaol
Darlinghurst Gaol
Darlinghurst Gaol was an Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Victoria, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets.-History:...
for several months. Six were released on 19 December 1918, but Albert Dryer was held until 11 February 1919.
The political situation in Ireland was changing rapidly through the late 1910s and early 1920s. While the INA carried on its cultural and social activities and offered what support it could to the struggle for Irish independence
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
, it was inevitable that the division of opinion over the Treaty would be reflected on the Australian scene.
The forces against the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
, including the INA, continued their political campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
in Australia with protest meetings, leaflets and newspapers, as well as collecting money to send home to Ireland. Although the Irish community was divided, the Australian Government still feared that the seditious Irish would stir up trouble.
On Monday, 30 April 1923, when two Republican speakers arrived to address a meeting at Waverley in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, they were arrested. The Irish Envoys, as they became known, were Sean J. O’Kelly (President of the Gaelic League, Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
TD for Louth–Meath, and later President of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
), and Fr Michael O’Flanagan (Vice-President of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and a judge in the Dáil Courts
Dáil Courts
During the Irish War of Independence, the Dáil Courts were the judicial branch of government of the short-lived Irish Republic. They were formally established by a decree of the First Dáil Éireann on 29 June 1920, replacing more limited Arbitration Courts that had been authorised a year earlier...
during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
). After a judicial enquiry the Envoys were deported from Australia.
Despite the Envoys incident, the Irish community in Australia was increasingly divided, and showed little interest in the INA’s political activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
.
By 1926, even the INA’s weekly céilí (dance evening), in its premises in George St, Sydney, was forced to compete with a rival function in nearby Flinders St. Nevertheless the 1926 Easter concert raised £120 to be sent home to Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
. It was the last regular remittance, as later that year de Valera led the Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
split from Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
.
Dan Minogue: Decline then reconstruction
During the 1920s the INA moved several times, and support declined. By the early 1930s several general meetings
Mass meeting
In parliamentary law, a mass meeting is a type of deliberative assembly, which in a publicized or selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting - has been announced:...
lapsed for want of a quorum. In March 1934, a reconstruction committee was elected. The Irish community soon rallied to the support of the INA, and by the 1940s the association was entering its golden age. It was at this time that the second great figure came onto the Sydney Irish scene Dan Minogue. A native of County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, Dan Minogue came to Australia in the 1910s, and for over 30 years it was his vision which shaped the course of the INA.
The first stage of Dan Minogue’s vision for the INA, was to purchase land in Devonshire St, Surry Hills to establish a cultural centre for the Irish in Sydney. He and the Committee worked hard to raise the money to build the centre and in develop a cohesive Irish community to patronise it.
The founders of the INA were mainly working people
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
with few political contacts, but the INA of the 1940s was dominated by those successful in politics. Dan Minogue was an alderman on the Sydney City Council
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
along with two other INA Executive members, Tony Doherty and Eric Drew. Dan Minogue was elected Federal member for the seat of West Sydney. Deputy federal leader of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, and one-time Prime Minister, Frank Forde
Frank Forde
Francis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...
, was also a member of the INA.
One of the problems faced by the INA, during the first 40 years of its existence was the dominance of Irish affairs in Australia by the Catholic Church. When the INA was formed, the inclusion of non-sectarianism among its aims was condemned by Cardinal Kelly. Nearly thirty years later, the INA again came up against the Church when it tried to use the proceeds of the 1944 St Patrick’s Day sports carnival to build a hail for the Irish people in Sydney.
Proceeds of St Patrick’s Day activities had traditionally gone to the Catholic orphanages and the next year the Church took over the organisation of the sports carnival from the INA. The association finally won back control of the St Patrick’s Day sports carnival in 1957, and continued on for over 20 years until it revived of the St Patrick’s Day Parade in 1979.
Before the Devonshire Street site was developed, the INA ran dances at St Benedict’s church hall in Broadway. The Sunday night céilís were well attended, and the ranks of the Irish were swelled by new immigrants arriving under the Labor Government’s immigration programme introduced in the late 1940s. Strangely, there was some opposition to these immigrants from those Australian Irish who believed they should have stayed at home to build up the new Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
. Nevertheless it was the immigrants who proved to be the lifeblood of the INA through the 1950s.
1948 saw one of the most historical events in Irish Australian
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
history. In that year the former Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
and 1916 veteran Éamon de Valera made a controversial visit to Australia to campaign for an end to the partition of Ireland
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
. Albert Dryer organised the Sydney leg of de Valera’s visit under the auspices of the INA.
In the early 1950s the membership of the INA was thriving. In 1951 the first annual Feis
Féis
A Feis or Fèis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are feiseanna and fèisean .-History:In Ancient Ireland communities placed great importance on local festivals, where Gaels could come together in song, dance, music, theatre and sport...
was held at the Sydney Sports Ground
Sydney Sports Ground
The Sydney Sports Ground was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surrounded by a grass covered hill, giving it a capacity of more than...
and over the years this was built into a national contest in Gaelic and other sports, Irish dancing and piping.
A new home for the INA
In 1953, the existing terrace houses in Devonshire Street were demolished, and as well as the céilís and other cultural events the first issue of the newspaper “Sydney Gael” was published. Other activities of the INA included an annual lecture at Sydney University, housie, Irish dancing, the pipe band
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
, and the upkeep of the 1798 Memorial at Waverley Cemetery
Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery opened in 1877 and is a cemetery located on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including the poet Henry Lawson and...
. Finally, in 1956, the INA Cultural Centre was completed with the help of a £37,000 loan. There was a grand opening
Grand opening
Grand opening is a term used when a business, public office, or private association wishes to announce the official opening of a new location. This differs from just opening the doors on the first day, in that a grand opening is more of a celebration event, not just the first day having the doors...
on 16 September by Dan Minogue in the presence of Albert Dryer, the Irish chargé d'affaires and the mayor of Sydney, and a crowd of over two thousand.
The opening of the centre led to another upsurge in activity in the INA. In those days the kiosk on the building's mezzanine
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
floor serviced the dances on the ground floor and the various meetings, card nights and band practices on the first floor.
By 1958 the INA activities had expanded to include an Irish trade promotion group, a recreation group, ladies’ auxiliary, drama group, handball, library and céilí dances. The Victorian branch of the INA, re-established two years earlier, was still in operation. There were also ongoing events to be organised, such as the St. Patrick’s Day sports, and the national Gaelic Festival.
As the INA moved into the 1960s the momentum continued. Irish goods were sold and the trade committee was flourishing, as were Irish dancing, drama, céilí, handball and golf groups. The major festivals were the interstate Feis
Féis
A Feis or Fèis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are feiseanna and fèisean .-History:In Ancient Ireland communities placed great importance on local festivals, where Gaels could come together in song, dance, music, theatre and sport...
, the St Patrick’s Day sports carnival and the Easter concert.
1963 saw the end of an era with the death of the INA’s founder, Dr Albert Dryer on 11 April. The reduction in the number of Irish immigrants arriving in Australia and the inevitable personality clashes which had developed within the enclosed Irish community soon led to a decline in the INA's membership. One by one the national Feis
Féis
A Feis or Fèis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are feiseanna and fèisean .-History:In Ancient Ireland communities placed great importance on local festivals, where Gaels could come together in song, dance, music, theatre and sport...
, handball, card nights and other activities were discontinued. Dan Minogue, detecting the assimilation of the Irish community and the need to compete with mainstream entertainment venues for their patronage, pressed ahead with providing a licensed club for the Irish community. It was to be Dan Minogue’s last mission in the Irish community, and he officially opened The Gaelic Club on the first floor of the INA building in 1974.
Reform and expansion
The INA continued on, surviving the changes as it had for 60 years. Nevertheless action grew from conflict, and in the late 1970s a Reform Committee emerged from the young, more recent Irish immigrants, bringing new ideas.
In 1979 the St Patrick’s Day Parade was revived, and another new era began. Soon the Parade festivities expanded to Irish Week with parliamentary and media patronage, and the INA reached out to other Irish organisations and to the Irish Australian community for support and organisational assistance.
In the 1980s, the ground floor was leased and became a cinema for a time. By the end of the 1990s the INA took back control of the ground floor and renovated it, extending The Gaelic Club to two floors. Eventually, though, the ground floor was sold to become a separate venue, while the Gaelic Club continues on the first floor, holding céilís, concerts, meetings and other events for the Irish community.
The Irish National Association Today
As it heads towards its centenary, the Irish National Association of Australasia still continues to work for the Irish community, holding Irish musicMusic of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
concerts and regular dances, sponsoring dancing classes, and Irish language classes. The Association also maintains the Albert Dryer Memorial Library, containing many rare antiquarian volumes collected and donated over the decades, including a copy of the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
donated by Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
himself. Although the St Patrick's Day Parade, the Australian Irish Welfare Bureau and Irish Language School, Sydney are now independent organisations, they still maintain strong links to the INA.
The INA continues to grow and develop in the new century, expanding its dance and music evenings, with plans to establish a School of Irish Music during the second half of 2009. While its political activism has declined since the Independence of Ireland has become assured, the INA still commemorates the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
every Easter Sunday
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
at the Irish 1798 Rebellion Memorial in Waverley Cemetery
Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery opened in 1877 and is a cemetery located on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including the poet Henry Lawson and...
, over the grave of Michael Dwyer
Michael Dwyer
Michael Dwyer was a Society of the United Irishmen leader in the 1798 rebellion. He later fought a guerilla campaign against the British Army in the Wicklow Mountains from 1798-1803.-Early life:...
.