Transportation to Western Australia
Poet involved
What happened
In 1867, O'Reilly was transported with other political prisoners aboard the last convict ship to Australia, arriving at the penal colony in Bunbury, near Fremantle, in Western Australia. During the voyage, he helped edit the ship's journal, maintaining his connection to journalism.
Literary impact
The long sea voyage and the alien landscape of Australia provided O'Reilly with the raw material for his first major poetry collection, 'Songs from the Southern Seas'. His observations of convict life and the Australian bush imbued his work with a unique sense of place and a deep sympathy for the outcast and the imprisoned.
Source: American National Biography
