Shamrock in the Bush

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TThhee vveennuuee
The registration fee covers all presentations, all meals, including
a delicious three course dinner in historic Galong House with
dinner wines, morning and afternoon teas, refreshments at the
concert and entertainment. Tea & coffee, cookies and fresh fruit
are available at all times.
Our weekend at St Clement’s will give you the opportunity to
experience Irish-Australian history in a unique setting. Galong
was settled in the late 1820s as the home of transported Irish
convict Edward ‘Ned’ Ryan. For many years Ned's holdings were
'beyond the limits of location'. As his extensive pastoral holdings
grew through determination and hard work so did his prosperity
and generosity to his family, friends, neighbours and the church.
You are welcome to BYO your own refreshments for lunches and
Thursday & Saturday dinners. Vegetarian, diabetic and glutenfree diets can be catered for if advised at time of registration.
Accommodation options

Three night’s accommodation in a single or double room
with shared facilities - $510.00 per person*
OR

Three night’s accommodation in a shared twin room with
ensuite - $570.00 per person*
*A discount of $20.00 per person will apply to registration fees
paid in full by 20 May 2012.
Accommodation preferences will be allocated on a first to
register basis with payment in full or a deposit of $200.00, the
balance being due by 30 June 2012. Cancellations received after
that date will attract an administration fee of $100.00.
Accommodation is limited to 100 registrants - so please book
early to avoid disappointment. Further information and full
directions (with map) will be mailed upon receipt of the full
registration fee.
Please complete the registration form and
a) Mail with a cheque payable to
St Clement’s Retreat & Conference Centre ;
b) Email, fax or mail form with credit card details;
c) Eftpos available – please phone through details.

Shamrock in the Bush
C/- P O Box 563
Yass NSW 2582
Enquiries 02 6226 2708 H  02 6380 5225 Bus
Fax
02 6386 7353
Email
[email protected]
Upon the death of the last remaining family member, his niece
Anastasia Barry Ryan in 1914, Galong passed into the care of the
Redemptorist Order and a seminary and school were built around
the Ryan homestead. The monastery is now a popular retreat
centre.
The monastery is set in 800 acres of rolling rural landscape with
extensive garden and walks. The Lourdes Grotto and a labyrinth
modelled on the eleven circuit design of Chartres Cathedral in
France are of special interest. A short walk from the monastery is
‘God’s Acre’, Galong cemetery, set aside by Ned Ryan and where
some of the earliest pioneers of the area are buried, including the
Ryans and their extended family members. The ornate Rusconi
memorials are a photographer’s delight.
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Accommodation and facilities at St Clement’s have continued to
be updated with the Retreat House now fully refurbished. Fresh
paintwork, new lighting, individual air conditioning, improved
bathroom facilities, new bedding and furnishings have resulted in
a whole new look for the ‘Retro’ building. The monastery building
has twin ensuite rooms with reverse cycle air conditioning and
telephones. These rooms as well as the rooms with shared
facilities in the monastery building have lift access. Tea making
and laundry facilities are available and linen is provided. A
separate fully self-contained hermitage and a three bedroom
lodge (both comfortably air conditioned) can accommodate
further participants.
Shamrock
i n t h e B ush
ST CLEMENT’S
Retreat & Conference Centre, Galong NSW
Additional information can be found on our website
www.shamrockinthebush.org.au
Thurs 2 to Sun 5 August 2012
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The twentieth Shamrock in the Bush! Who would have
believed that a shamrock could survive two decades of
droughts in rural Australia?
Yet again we have been able to entice speakers from near
and far to bring you a slice of Irish life in the Antipodes.
Our keynote speaker is the well known Irish-born oral
historian, writer and documentary-maker Siobhan McHugh.
The chronology of the papers spread from the earliest
days of the colony to the present day. In addition to a
great line up of speakers there will be music and verse to
compliment the presentations.
The highlight of the event will be the Shamrock Dinner in
Galong House where Edward ‘Ned’ Ryan once held high
revel and dispensed hospitality to family, friends,
neighbours and travellers. Kenneth Mackay, MLC, wrote in
the Freeman’s Journal in 1897 that ‘it was one of the few
country houses of Australia possessing any pretence to
historic memories’. It is a fitting setting for an evening of
good food, good wine, good music and even better - good
company! It is an occasion to dress up and the ‘wearing of
the green’ will be the order of the day. Our after dinner
speaker will be former Australian Ambassador to Ireland
Ms Anne Plunkett.
TThhee pprroojjeecctt
Proceeds from the Shamrock in the Bush, publication sales
and fundraising in connection with the event will benefit
the establishment and maintenance of the museum,
archive and library in Galong House which is being
developed in conjunction with students from the Donald
Horne Institute at the University of Canberra. The St
Clement’s Historians are working with a construction
team to turn the museum in the former oratory of Galong
House into an exciting exhibition space to tell a history
spanning more than 40,000 years. It may be a small space
but it reaches well beyond its four walls!
Please join us for an enjoyable and interesting weekend in
support of a very worthy cause in one of Southern New
South Wales’ most historic locations. St Clement’s Retreat
& Conference Centre at Galong is situated about forty
minutes drive north of Yass just off the Binalong-Harden
Road (Burley Griffin Way).
Thursday 2 August
3.00pm
6.00pm
7.30pm
Registration
Dinner
Welcome Fr Leo Coffey, Fr Brian Maher, Richard
Reid & Cheryl Mongan
Through the lens of an immigrant
7.45pm
Incorrigibly Plural: A Dubliner's Diaspora.
Siobhan McHugh, keynote speaker
8.45pm
Supper
Politicians and Protestants
11.15am
12 noon
1.00pm
Acknowledging Place
2.00pm
Friday 3 August
Reading between the lines
9.00am
9.45am
10.30am
11.00am
Irish First Fleeters of 1788.
Michael Flynn
To be True and Loyal:The voyage of the convict ship
Minerva 1818. Linda Emery
Morning tea
The Hidden Families in the Convict Indents.
Perry McIntyre
3.30pm
6.30pm
1.00pm
St Patrick's and St Brigid's Cemetery, 1861-2011.
Frances Dunn
Lunch
Orchids and orphans
2.00pm
'Adding stones to the great pile': Robert David
Fitzgerald's contributions to Australian botany.
Penny Olsen
2.45pm
The Irish Boys at Burnside Homes, 1922-1929.
Keith Amos
3.30pm
Afternoon tea – free time
7.30pm
Shamrock Dinner in Galong House with
our official guests and after dinner speaker
Ms Anne Plunkett, former Australian Ambassador
to Ireland.
Saturday 4 August
Reflections
9.00am
9.45am
10.45am
Echoes of 'Not Just Ned' - Reflections on the NMA's
2011 'Irish in Australia' exhibition. Richard Reid
'Mad Ireland' (Manning Clark): Stories from 30
years of Research in Irish/Australian Cultural
Heritage. Jeff Brownrigg
Morning tea
St Clement’s Historians present a collection of
short talks on aspects of Galong history.
Old Country, New Country.
Richard Reid
According to McCord.
Cheryl Mongan
Legions of Alphonsus.
Jeff Brownrigg
Better read than dead.
Geoffrey Burkhardt
An abiding presence – making it real!
Afternoon tea – free time
Dinner
Live @ Ned Ryan’s
7.30pm
Celtic Cooranbong
11.45am
William Charles Wentworth: Australia’s
greatest native son. Andrew Tink
‘Mindful of her St Columba and Gaels’: the Irish
factor in Australian Anglicanism, 1788–1850.
Michael Gladwin
Lunch
Concert in Galong House with entertainment
by a collective of talented performers.
Sunday 5 August
Of recent times
9.00am
'Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best
of men': the life of Wexford man Sean Cloney
(1927-1999). Christine Wright
9.45am
From the Troubles to No Worries: Reflections
on 40 years Down Under.
Barney & Angela Devlin
10.30am
11.00am
Morning tea
Home to Belfast – at last.
Lizz Murphy
The Empire Strikes Back
11.45am
The 'Bloody and Accursed Empire' Strikes Back:
Hugh Mahon's Expulsion from Parliament.
Jeff Kildea
12.45pm
1.00pm
Wrap up
Lunch
Due to unforeseen circumstances presentations,
speakers and times may alter – please refer to
www.shamrockinthebush.org.au for updates