Shared stories and pubs have gone hand in hand for centuries, a tradition continued in one of the ‘Fenians Festival 2026’ special events.
‘Oral History in the Pub’ will be held in two sessions, the first upstairs at the National Hotel Fremantle from 10.30am to noon on Saturday, March 28.
This session, ‘The Catalpa Escape and the Fenians - the Australian Perspective’, will feature a panel of speakers who will talk for about five minutes each on their subject. This will be followed by a discussion between the facilitator and panellists and questions from the audience.
Speakers in the first session will be human rights lawyer Bernie Brophy, a descendent of Hougoumont Fenian Hugh Francis Brophy; Fremantle Fenians co-founder and chairperson Margo O’Byrne, a facilitator, writer and broadcaster; educator, writer and historian Mike Lefroy, a descendent of former prison governor Henry Maxwell Lefroy and great grandson of CY O’Connor. Dr Helena Grehan will be the facilitator for the first session.