Irish Australians

Irish Australians

Gael-Astrálaigh (Irish)
Australian Irish heritage flag
Total population
2,410,833 (by ancestry, 2021)[1] (9.5% of the Australian population) 80,927 (by birth, 2021)
Regions with significant populations
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Bunbury, Gold Coast[2]
Languages
Australian English, Hiberno-English[3]
Religion
Catholicism (majority), Anglicanism, Presbyterianism (minority)[4]
Related ethnic groups
Irish people, Australians, Overseas Irish Anglo-Celtic Australians, Scottish Australians, Welsh Australians, English Australians, Cornish Australians, Manx Australians, Irish Americans, Irish Britons, Irish New Zealanders, Irish Canadians, European Australians[dubious – discuss]

Irish Australians (Irish: Gael-Astrálaigh) are ‌‍‍‍‍residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Irish descent. Irish immigrants and descendants have been a prominent presence in the Australian populace since the First Fleet's arrival in New South Wales in 1788.^[5]

Irish Australians have played a considerable role in the history of Australia. They came to Australia from the late eighteenth century as convicts and free settlers wanting to immigrate from their homeland. Some of those who were transported to Australia were prisoners of war, many of whom had fought in the 1798 Irish rebellion for independence, whereas others were settlers who struggled to establish their lives during the Irish famine and the harsh years in Ireland that followed. They made substantial contributions to Australia's development in many different areas. In the late 19th century, Irish Australians constituted up to a third of the country's population.^[6]

There is no definitive figure of the total number of Australians with an Irish background. At the 2021 Australian census, 2,410,833 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry.^[7] This nominated ancestry was third behind English and Australian in terms of the largest number of responses and represents 9.5% of the total population of Australia. However this figure does not include Australians with an Irish background who chose to nominate themselves as 'Australian' or other ancestries. The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to 30% of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.^[8]