Peter Lalor's birthplace
Some regard Peter Lalor (pronounced in Australia as "Lawler", despite the Melburnian pronunciation of the suburb named after him as "Layla", making him into a brilliant song by Eric Clapton about his relationship with the then Beatle George Harrison's then wife, who was not called Layla) as some sort of a hero, and perhaps he was.
Others regard him as some sort of class traitor, and perhaps he was also that. We will leave you to make up your own mind, as we actually think both representations are simplistic and all-too-often ideologically self-serving.
The thing we need to remember with any hero, and this has also been the case with the well-recognised heroes Lex has known personally, they are above all else human being, and like all human beings they are complex, with characteristics some might regard as "good", even "great", but others some might regard as "bad" or "negative".
The inclination is to ignore the latter, but in some cases, especially in times of history revision and the desire for scandal and excitement to enable publication of one's written work, especially in thoroughly well-trodden fields, historical works can over-emphasise the latter, as though a person's "humanness" negates anything that might otherwise be regarded as heroic.
Others regard him as some sort of class traitor, and perhaps he was also that. We will leave you to make up your own mind, as we actually think both representations are simplistic and all-too-often ideologically self-serving.
The thing we need to remember with any hero, and this has also been the case with the well-recognised heroes Lex has known personally, they are above all else human being, and like all human beings they are complex, with characteristics some might regard as "good", even "great", but others some might regard as "bad" or "negative".
The inclination is to ignore the latter, but in some cases, especially in times of history revision and the desire for scandal and excitement to enable publication of one's written work, especially in thoroughly well-trodden fields, historical works can over-emphasise the latter, as though a person's "humanness" negates anything that might otherwise be regarded as heroic.
Of course, sometimes it works the other way around, and some aspect of a person's public persona may encourage people to ignore something heroic that person does. For example, how many Australians do you think have learned about a bloke called William Cooper? No, he wasn't a war hero, although one of his sons died in the World War 1, nor was he a sporting hero. In 1938 he entered the German consulate in Melbourne to protest at the "cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany".
Apparently, and extraordinarily shamefully if this is the case, this was the only private protest anywhere in the world at this appalling event. The German Consulate, of course, refused to accept the petition which he presented as part of his protest. And why do you think so few Australians have heard of this event? Even now, at the time of writing in 2016? The petition was raised and signed by supporters of the Australian Aboriginal League. Cooper led a delegation of the League when presenting the petition. This is him, on the right. A wonderful photo of a wonderful man. And yes, you can read about him on Wikipedia, at least, or you can research him more thoroughly and learn about a man who was not just a hero to his or the Jewish people, or to Australians in general, but to all humanity. |
Anyway, back to Lalor. For those of you who only know him as the hero of Eureka, we've used this picture of him in all his 17th century frippery as Speaker of Victoria's parliamentary House of Assembly to show that his life was much more and much longer than those 10-15 minutes, which for him were more like 2-3 minutes, if that. We're not sure about this painting, as he rather looks as though he's got something very large, like a marrow, perhaps, shoved up his bottom.
Peter Fintan Lalor (Irish: Peadar Fionntán Ó Leathlobhair) was born on 5 February, 1827. He doesn't appear to be recorded in the local parish records, although other siblings are. We're unsure what to make of this at the time of writing (2016), and will try to find out a bit more.
Peter appears to have been born in his parents' house, Tenakill (also sometimes spelled Tinakill, with an "i" and just one "n", Tinakil with one "n" and one "l", Tinnakill, with two "n"s and two "l"s, or Tenahill, with an "e" and one "n", oh, and two "l"s, usually), near the tiny village of Raheen, in what was Queen's County, Ireland. Queen's County is still, oddly, the official name, despite it being in the Republic of Ireland, but the county is now generally known as Laois (pronounced "leash", more or less - and sometimes spelled Leix) County, Eire (Republic of Ireland). Laois was the name of a local Irish kingdom which is partly covered by the county.
On a complete tangent, some of you may notice "Raheen" is the name of the magnificent house built in Kew, Victoria, for Melbourne's roman catholic archbishop, Daniel Mannix. At the time of writing (2016) it's in the hands of the immensely wealthy Pratt family of cardboard box fame, or perhaps infamy. We're unsure at present how the house came by its name, but there are, in fact, several "Raheen"s in Ireland that could have been the source.
Peter appears to have been born in his parents' house, Tenakill (also sometimes spelled Tinakill, with an "i" and just one "n", Tinakil with one "n" and one "l", Tinnakill, with two "n"s and two "l"s, or Tenahill, with an "e" and one "n", oh, and two "l"s, usually), near the tiny village of Raheen, in what was Queen's County, Ireland. Queen's County is still, oddly, the official name, despite it being in the Republic of Ireland, but the county is now generally known as Laois (pronounced "leash", more or less - and sometimes spelled Leix) County, Eire (Republic of Ireland). Laois was the name of a local Irish kingdom which is partly covered by the county.
On a complete tangent, some of you may notice "Raheen" is the name of the magnificent house built in Kew, Victoria, for Melbourne's roman catholic archbishop, Daniel Mannix. At the time of writing (2016) it's in the hands of the immensely wealthy Pratt family of cardboard box fame, or perhaps infamy. We're unsure at present how the house came by its name, but there are, in fact, several "Raheen"s in Ireland that could have been the source.