‘From Limerick to Australia: The story of Richard Bourke’

To mark the start of Heritage Week 2023, Limerick Civic Trust & Historic Houses of Ireland are hosting the opening of an exhibition celebrating the life and legacy in Ireland and Australia of philanthropist Richard Bourke.
A Governor of Australia and founder of the city of Melbourne, Gen. Sir Richard Bourke bought Thornfield House Castleconnell in 1810. In 1823, he opened the non-denominational Ahane National School on the estate as he believed children of all Christian faiths should be educated together. The Constitution of the School now forms part of the foundation of Australian Education. Bourke later transferred Ahane School to the Irish National School Board; a trust that educated Ireland’s working class and reduced sectarian conflict on a larger scale. In his retirement, Bourke helped establish a model agricultural school in Limerick which later became Mungret College.
He remains renowned as a promoter of national education in Ireland and Australia, a liberal lawmaker, and convict emancipator. At New South Wales’ public library in 1842, he was commemorated in Australia’s first public monument.
Thornfield House is a member of Historic Houses of Ireland and this exhibition was curated by its present owner, Seamus Flynn…