Commemorating shared history at Eureka

Ballarat community will commemorate this bloody day in Australian history by remembering the events surrounding the Eureka Stockade, which profoundly shaped Australian democracy.

The Munster Arms Hotel in Bakery Hill is located close to the site of the ‘Monster Meeting’ of 29 November, 1854, where more than 10,000 miners gathered to push for political and social reform and protest the prohibitive cost of the miner’s license, just days before the Eureka Stockade took place.

It seems fitting that Anne Hanrahan, the great, great granddaughter of Michael Hanrahan — one the one of the miners at the Monster Meetings and Captain of the Pikeman — now operates the Munster Arms Hotel.

Today, Anne is looking forward to celebrating the legacy of her great, great grandfather with the 170th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, which will take place in December this year.

“I feel honoured to be operating a business in the area where history took place and to be the descendant of a man who stood up to injustice and what he believed in, who played a part in what was controversially acknowledged as the birth of democracy in this country,” Anne says. 

Anne recalls conversations she had many years ago where her father told her about Michael Hanrahan’s involvement in the Eureka rebellion.

Within 11 months of arriving in Ballarat from Ireland to mine gold, Michael was elected Captain of the division of Pikemen, formed from men who did not have firearms at their disposal. The Pikemen were amongst the many rebels protesting unfair conditions of the goldfields, especially the despised miner’s license and the heavy-handed policing that accompanied its collection.

"It isn’t known if his selection as a Captain was because of his previous experience in his home country of resisting the English occupation, for organising support for tenants being evicted by the landlords, or because of his leadership qualities,” Anne says.

In his book ‘Eureka Stockade’ Raffaello Carboni recalled that Peter Lalor, the leader of the rebels, instructed Michael to tell the non-English speaking rebels, “… if they cannot provide themselves with fire-arms, let each of them procure a piece of steel, five or six inches longs, attached to a pole, and that will pierce the tyrants’ hearts.” 

Michael Hanrahan was not present when the Victorian Police Force and British military regiments attacked the Eureka Stockade. Anne’s uncle, Maurice Hanrahan, has researched Michael Hanrahan’s life, trying to determine his enigmatic role in the events of the Eureka Stockade.

“Family tradition believes that on the Saturday, Michael led a selection of diggers to intercept the reinforcements of soldiers who were on their way to Ballarat, with reports the group were seen at Ballan,” Maurice says.

However, there was no recorded confrontation en route.

When the diggers returned to Ballarat on Sunday morning, the battle had already been fought and the stockade overrun.

Michael continued to mine gold for 10 years following the events of the Eureka Stockade, after which he obtained land at Bungaree where his descendants continue to farm today.

The location of the Munster Arms is not Anne’s only link to the Munster Arms Hotel.

“The province of Munster, which the hotel is named for, is the same province the Hanrahans originated from,” Anne says.

Furthermore, Anne has it on “good authority” that “one had to be Irish to be allowed on the premises” under the hotel’s first owner.

“Having travelled and resided in Ireland for a number of years then returning to live and work here with family, I feel I have completed a loop and come full circle,” Anne says. 

There will be a city-wide program of events to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, including a public discussion on Tuesday 3 December with Historian Clare Wright as well as media personality and writer Peter FitzSimons, in which they will discuss the topic of ‘Why Eureka Matters’.

For more information about the program of events and this discussion, visit the Eureka Centre Ballarat