Bigamy talk in Dolla
On Monday, September 1, Silvermines Historical Society will host a talk on the subject of Irish convicts transported to New South Wales, Australia, in the early 19th century.
The talk will be given by Australian-based genealogist and historian, Damian John Gleeson. A graduate of the University of New South Wales and the University of New England, Damian has been visiting North Tipperary since the early 1980s and is proud to be a member of the Silvermines Historical Society. He is a descendant of the Gleeson (Erenagh), O’Brien (Cooper; Volley) and Collins families of Errinagh, Silvermines.
Drawing on a large number of unpublished letters from convicts and their families, the talk will examine findings that contradict dominant stereotypes of Irish convicts, their reasons for transportation, and life in the penal colony.
In particular, Damian will examine relationships and bigamous marriages amongst Irish convicts (of all religious affiliations) and the clandestine and often illegal behaviour of Roman Catholic priests, notably Cork-born Fr John Joseph Therry, who was ‘Parish priest of New South Wales’.
Whereas bigamy was relatively uncommon in pre-Famine Ireland, the practice was widespread amongst Irish convicts in New South Wales at that time. Curiously, the State (British officials) condemned unofficial cohabitation but condoned bigamy between 1788 and 1825. The Roman Catholic Church condemned Irish male convicts in bigamous marriages but generally permitted women to remarry illicitly.
Themes are drawn from Damian’s new book, Irish Bigamy: New Insights into Colonial New South Wales (Colonial Press, Goulburn, NSW, 2025).
Damian’s other published research includes An Enduring Flame: St Patrick’s Mortlake, 1885-2020: An Irish-Australian Working-Class Community (Mortlake, NSW, 2021), winner of the City of Canada Bay Heritage Award in 2021, and The Rock of St George: celebrating the 125th anniversary of the first St Joseph's Church/School, Rockdale (Rockdale City, NSW, 2017), winner of the Ron Rathbone Local History Prize, Bayside Council, 2017.
The talk will take place at The Eagle’s Nest, Dolla, starting at 8pm. All are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided after the talk.