Chronology of Kalgoorlie's development.

Kalgoorlie is a gold mining town in Australia's outback. It was basically founded in a wilderness. It's rapid growth in the 1890s onward and continuing prosperity depended on it's resources of gold and other minerals. So then as now the mining industry has proved to be it's life-line. With my series of paintings I attempted to track the growth of Kalgoorlie.

Hannan's Street and intersection, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

This is a bustling street scene when Kalgoorlie was at it's epoch in the 1900s. It was you could say a kind of Dubai that sprung from nowhere. I tried to capture the commotion of the street scene by making fast gestural lines and marks onto the page. I hope by looking at the picture you can imagine all it's characters in motion; wheels rolling, people strolling, skirts billowing, people gesturing at each other and horses in trot.

This is Kalgoorlie's grand main street, Hannan's street, so-named after the venerable Paddy Hannan who struck gold here. He was born Quin Co. Clare.

Establishing the Faith; Construction of Kalgoorlie's Catholic Church

St. Mary's Church Kalgoorlie was built in 1902. It was built of local stone.I took a few photos to show the process of my work.It is interesting to see the development of a painting from the first few tentative pastel lines then onto the more confident brush strokes and finally a few more lines that refine the image. The church was an important symbol in showing off the strength and progress of the Irish Catholic community. This would probably have been a place where they would have come together at important occasions to reinforce their heritage and distinction from Protestant Australians.

Building Water Pipeline.

The great endeavor and success of the monumental engineering project to pump water from the Swan River near Perth into the middle of Western Australia's outback wilderness, over 160 kms away lay in the hands of an Irishman, Patrick O'Connor. Unfortunately he did not see his project finished as he took his own life due to negative press exposure and ridicule over the gargantuan undertaking. But to this day, the inhabitants of Western Australia's landlocked towns remain ever grateful for his boldness in laying hundreds of miles of pipeline across Australia's driest reaches in order that they be supplied with fresh drinking water. It ensured the rapid growth of the town and made it sustainable for the future.

Miner's Campsite

On the discovery of gold by Paddy Hannan, the word spread like wild fire. In a few days 400 people had descended on the area. Over the next few weeks there were over 2000 people. A tent city sprung up around the site. This picture commemorates that tent city. Looking at this picture I imagine the ghosts of all those miners, harboring feelings of hope and redemption. Even a small nugget could suffice to bring great wealth and exalt them into the stratosphere of the denizens of influence and privilege in society. There was obviously the greed and the competitiveness that must have pervaded. It must have been a highly surreal environment to live in. Like a kind of Las Vegas where you could suddenly strike it lucky.

Irish Pioneer Family, Western Australia c.1900

These are pictures of an Irish Catholic family that has made good out of Australia's gold rush. It is interesting to imagine them if their forebear, Paddy Hannan hadn't gone to Australia looking for gold. They are only a generation removed from dirt poor Irish peasants that lived exclusively off potatoes. They represent the Irish pioneering spirit and doggedness in laying foundations in their new country. They probably also represent stuffy conservatism and anti-British/Protestant paranoia. There was much greater freedom to be had in Australia then at home in Ireland. Indeed Irish Catholics easily became scions of society. There was a competitiveness as well between the Protestant and Catholic elements of the new country, each trying to out do each other in areas of sport and culture.