Irish Australians

Irish Australians
Gael-Astrálaigh (Irish)
Australian Irish heritage flag
Republic of Ireland Australia
Total population
2,410,833 (by ancestry, 2021)[1]
(9.5% of the Australian population)
80,927 (by birth, 2021)[2][3][4]
Regions with significant populations
All states and territories of Australia, although less common in Internal Territories[citation needed]
Languages
Australian English, Hiberno-English[5]
Religion
Catholicism (majority),
Anglicanism, Presbyterianism (minority)[6]
Related ethnic groups
Irish people, Australians, Overseas Irish, Anglo-Celtic Australians, Scottish Australians, Welsh Australians, English Australians, Cornish Australians, Manx Australians, Irish Americans, Irish Britons, Irish New Zealanders, Irish Canadians, European Australians[dubious – discuss]
Irish embassy in Australia
Statue of Irish leader Daniel O'Connell in Cathedral, Melbourne
Monument to the Irish in Australia

Irish Australians (Irish: Gael-Astrálaigh) are ‌‍‍‍‍residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish immigrants and descendants have been a prominent presence in the Australian populace since the First Fleet's arrival in New South Wales in 1788.[7]

Irish Australians have played a considerable role in the history of Australia. They came to Australia from the late eighteenth century as convicts and free settlers wanting to immigrate from their homeland. Some of those who were transported to Australia were prisoners of war, many of whom had fought in the 1798 Irish rebellion for independence, whereas others were settlers who struggled to establish their lives during the Irish famine and the harsh years in Ireland that followed. They made substantial contributions to Australia's development in many different areas. In the late 19th century, Irish Australians constituted up to a third of the country's population.[8]

There is no definitive figure of the total number of Australians with an Irish background. At the 2021 Australian census, 2,410,833 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry.[9] This nominated ancestry was third behind English and Australian in terms of the largest number of responses and represents 9.5% of the total population of Australia. However this figure does not include Australians with an Irish background who chose to nominate themselves as 'Australian' or other ancestries. The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to 30% of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.[10]

  1. ^ "2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern T.D., announces Grants to Irish Community Organisations in the Southern Hemisphere". DFA. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company – Press Releases". www.ancestryeurope.lu. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  4. ^ Jupp, James (2001), The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins (2 ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 83–85, ISBN 978-0-521-80789-0
  5. ^ https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/mca/files/2016-cis-ireland.PDF [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/mca/files/2016-cis-ireland.PDF [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ "National Museum of Australia - Irish in Australia background".
  8. ^ Rourke, Alison (17 March 2013). "Ireland: Australia is the land of plenty for the biggest wave of Irish emigrants in a generation". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  9. ^ "Census of Population and Housing: Cultural diversity data summary, 2021" (XLSX). Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ^ Trade, corporateName= Department of Foreign Affairs and. "Australian Embassy in". www.ireland.embassy.gov.au. Retrieved 11 October 2017.