ABOUT US
The Waikato Irish society is an inclusive organisation which endeavors to connect Irish people throughout the Waikato and showcase our Irish heritage within the community.
ABOUT US
The Waikato Irish Society was Incorporated in 1984 but the Irish have been in the Waikato for a long time. Over the past decade it’s been an important point of contact for the many Irish families around the region from Thames in the Coromandel to Te Kuiti in the south, with St Patricks Day & the Rose of Tralee being a large part of this culture. As you drive around the many towns like Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville and Matamata you meet families whose ancestors arrived in the late 1800’s and they keep coming. Irish from a variety of backgrounds and professions including doctors, farmer’s, teachers, and nurses. Some like myself have married a kiwi while they were on their OE, and have settled here to raise a family who are proud to wear the green and black.
As you wander down by the Waikato River in Hamilton you see a plaque dedicated to Teresa Vowless an Irish immigrant, who while arriving on a boat gave her baby to a friend and made a splash into local history by being the first white woman ashore. After her Husband died, she raised her eight children by herself and kept her 50-acre farm going. Our local historian Cathy O'Shea-Farrant did a wonderful paper on Irishtown in Hamilton East 1864-1940 which is full of valuable information and available via the Waikato University website.
In more recent years the community is booming with two Irish dancing schools, a Gaelic football club and a host of musical talent. The Link to Ireland is stronger than ever with Irish farming companies on show at the Field days and many of the finest Waikato rugby players proud to wear the green of Ireland as they reach new heights. Sure, on a good day you can bump into a few ex Ireland coaches at the beach in Waihi or having a coffee in Cambridge. So, here’s to the future and keeping the Waikato Green.
