The English have no altruism: J. V. Barry and Irish identity in Twentieth Century Australia

Abstract

The stereotyped transition of the Irish in Australia from rebellious dissenters to respectable citizens glosses an abiding sense of difference that was reproduced down the generations of Irish-Australians. Exploring these tensions in the personal biography of John Vincent Barry, a prominent judge, intellectual and civil libertarian of the mid-twentieth century, offers an unusual opportunity to assess what it meant to be of second or third generation Irish descent in a settler society. These tensions are examined through the rich archive of Barry's private papers as well as his public writing and action.