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Irish female immigration

A reflection of the Hyde Park Barracks on the glass as part of 'An Gorta Mor', The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine

Remembering the Great Irish Famine

The memorial was officially unveiled on 28 August 1999 by Governor-General Sir William Deane

Irish orphan girls at Hyde Park Barracks

This is a story of over 4000 Irish orphans driven from their homeland by the Great Famine

Enough rope

More than a kilometre of rope suspended the hammocks required to sleep 600 or more convicts in the Hyde Park Barracks dormitories between 1819 and 1848

Black and white etching of ship deck with women on board.

‘Perfect liberty and uproar’

A letter from a schoolmaster on the orphan ship John Knox offers a fascinating insight into life at sea for teenage girls emigrating to Sydney in 1850

Catherine Joyce

Catherine Joyce

One of the names etched into the Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine at the Hyde Park Barracks is that of Catherine Joyce

Long corridor with wooden floor, painted brick walls and wooden arches above, leading to backlit window at far end.

If these walls could talk: Hyde Park Barracks Museum

One of the most significant convict sites in the world, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Hyde Park Barracks was converted into Sydney’s female Immigration Depot in 1848, temporarily housing an estimated 40,000 women during its 38-year history. The barracks holds evidence of these former occupants in its walls, floors and ceilings