Region’s Irish history on show

THE region’s Irish community will be busy this month with events on and ahead of St Patrick’s Day.

On Sunday 15 March, the Ballarat & District Irish Association will be hosting a lunch celebrating the occasion at the Bunch of Grapes Hotel from 12pm.

There will be live music from the U3A Ceilidh band, and guest speaker Marie Murnane will share her family’s Irish history.

The association will also raise the Irish flag on St Patrick’s Day at the Intercultural Garden, at the intersection of Sturt and Pleasant streets, from 10.30am as part of Ballarat’s Harmony Fest.

There will be Irish dancing, and the association’s Michael Taafe is set to address the importance of St Patrick’s Day.

Association vice-president Mary Darcy said the 15 March lunch tied in with the city’s Harmony Fest theme of celebrating stories that the community shared.

She said events such as the lunch offered a platform to honour and promote the region’s Irish culture.

“We have been working on telling the stories particularly of Irish women at our celebrations and we want to continue bringing out the stories of the Irish who settled in Ballarat and helped to build the city,” she said.

“So we’re hoping to showcase these stories at our various events so that the families who have some of their family history or a lot of it, or a little bit of it even, to be able to come and share that publicly so that we get to hear those stories.”

Ms Darcy said these events often offered those who attended the chance to form greater ties.

“People begin linking into one another’s stories,” she said. “It’s quite amazing. They hear someone’s story and say, ‘Oh, I think our family might be connected to this person too’. So it actually has begun to bring about some family connections.”

There’s no cost for attending the lunch on 15 March, only for purchasing food and drinks.

To register your interest and provide attendance numbers, or for more information, text Ms Darcy on 0407 041 998.