Oceans of Consolation: Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia

More than one hundred letters dating from 1843 to 1906 are reproduced in full here. This is the personal correspondence of fourteen families of Irish emigrants as they strive to maintain contact by the only kind of communication available to them. Men and women express their concerns, seek reassurance and advice, and reveal their hopes and fears about their lives in the raw land to which they had travelled. David Fitzpatrick analyses the contents of the letters to illuminate popular Irish culture and the concerns of the Irish in Australia.