Tag

Frank Meagher

People

What’s in a nick name?

02/02/2024
Graphic with handwritten nicknames: Lee-pup (Leo), Bumper, Hooker, Pup, Fizz, Jack, Liffer

I came across a photo my cousin posted of herself with another cousin of ours on Instagram captioned, ‘Sticks and Squid’. I smiled as I instinctively knew which one was which. The nickname Sticks is new to me, whereas Squid is not too far removed from the nickname we used back in the day, Squiff or Squiffy. Sobriquets are an interesting form of family code, and to be honest, I’ve had a lot of fun unravelling who’s who. Now that I know about Sticks, it’s only right that Sticks’ name should stick, right?

Read more

2 Comments
Travel

Just a line old chap…

02/12/2020
Black and white photograph of a landscape with a river, trees and small building on the river bank.

Melbourne emerged from a second lockdown in November. Restricted to a five-kilometre radius of one’s home for thirteen weeks, Melburnians had no choice but to get to know the local surrounds intimately. These restrictions kept many from seeing family and friends, and from travelling.

Read more

1 Comment
Places

Ikerrin: Buying into the dream

26/08/2020

The ‘Great Australian Dream’ conjures a picture of a home of one’s own, suburban security, a three-bedroom brick veneer, trimmed lawns and backyard barbeques. This collectively held aspiration for home ownership gained traction in media and literature from the 1960s.

Read more

2 Comments
People

Spanish Flu pandemic 1919

12/02/2020

My dear Liffer,

We are in the middle of what promises to be a very severe influenza outbreak…

On 12 February 1919, my grandfather’s sister, Mary Meagher wrote to her brother Frank, a doctor stationed in France, about an influenza outbreak in Melbourne. It was to become known colloquially as the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, and it was a tragic postscript to the devastation of the First World War.

Read more

Places

Old and new legends at Lorne

08/01/2020

My aunty Moon will be competing in the 40th year of the Lorne Pier to Pub swim, held annually every January. A competitive swimmer all her life, she was the State champion in 400 and 800m freestyle and this will be her 21st consecutive Lorne Pier to Pub swim.  Although the Pier to Pub swim event was established in 1980, the pier itself dates back to 1879 and the pub, the Lorne Hotel, was first opened to the public in January 1876. The Meagher family’s history also dates back well before Moon started swimming the Pier to Pub, her grandfather and uncle had quite a bit to say about that very pub over a hundred years ago.

Read more

1 Comment
People

Yuletide and a nutty aromatic pig’s pluck

22/12/2019

Last year, I spent Christmas Day in Belgium, reconnecting with my old university friends and celebrating Christmas with their respective families. I enjoyed generous hospitality, food and conversation. It was a fitting conclusion to a superb three-month trip in Europe.
Read more

2 Comments
Places

Ikerrin Homeplace

23/09/2019

Last year, I travelled to Ireland to visit the place where my paternal ancestors came from. The Irish call it the ‘homeplace’, and my family’s homeplace is close to the village of Dunkerrin in County Offaly. It’s a stone’s throw from the Barony of Ikerrin (Uí Chairín), the ancient homelands to one of the oldest Irish families, the O’Meachair/Meagher/Maher Clan.
Read more

Don't miss out!