Colm Kiernan:COLM PADRAIG Kiernan, who has died aged 78, forged his career as an eminent and enquiring historian in the field of the Irish in Australia.
He was the son of the Irish diplomat Dr TJ Kiernan and ballad singer Delia Murphy. He received a classical education at boarding school in Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare. He was inducted into academic Catholicism by the Jesuits who imbued him with a faith that was more an intellectual spiritualism than a practical religiosity. It was a deep commitment from which he never wavered.
The family moved to Rome when his father was posted as Irish ambassador to the Vatican and Holy See, where the young Kiernan was officially presented to the pope. His father developed a close friendship with Pope Pius XII and subsequently wrote his biography.
These were formative experiences for Kiernan junior, given his later career as a biographer. He remembered with relish this period of privilege, recalling the time he was allowed to play on the pope’s golden telephone.
When his father was posted to Australia in 1946 as the first Irish ambassador there, the family were met on arrival in Melbourne by Archbishop Cardinal Daniel Mannix. Later, Arthur Calwell, then minister for immigration, welcomed the family at Canberra airport, boasting that the city would soon host an international airport.
Looking out at the barren, red-brown soil with the occasional sheep grazing, this seemed an unlikely scenario. While proud of his parents’ achievements, Colm Kiernan chose to remain after his family returned to Ireland, preferring to develop his own success as a self-imposed “exile” in Australia.
After graduating from the University of Melbourne, he married the Canberra High School captain, Joan McKay, in 1954. Having been told by his mentors, including Prof Manning Clark, that he needed international exposure, the couple set off to Cambridge where Kiernan took up a scholarship.
After completing his Masters degree there as a fellow of Clare Hall, he and Joan returned to Australia with two children, Margaret and Carol; a third child, Matthew, was born later.
Kiernan took up an academic position in 1963 as foundation lecturer to establish the Department of History at the Wollongong campus, and later became the first arts student to graduate PhD at the University of New South Wales. He developed careers spanning Modern European and Australian History, and during this period was invited to undertake the official biography of Arthur Calwell, launched at the Adelaide Arts Festival in 1978.
In 1980, he was appointed the Endowed Professor of Australian History, based at University College Dublin. By this time he spoke fluent Italian, Spanish and French, and was well versed in Irish, Latin and old English. He would translate many difficult texts including those written by the Brontë sisters, particularly Charlotte who wrote in a mixture of Gaelic and old English.
Kiernan regularly hosted conferences during this period, including Australia and Ireland 1788-1988, held in Kilkenny to mark the Australian bicentenary, in which the Irish-Australian artist Sidney Nolan appeared. While professor of Australian History at UCD, he began the biography of Eureka Stockade leader Peter Lalor; completed Daniel Mannix and Ireland; and edited political speeches for governor general Bill Hayden and prime minister Gough Whitlam.
The bulk of this writing was bashed out on his much-loved Brother typewriter with Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan blasting from the record player.
Many recall the Kiernan hospitality of this era, where Joan’s fine cooking and Kiernan’s incisive mind and acerbic wit made every dinner party memorable: he the Renaissance man, entertaining with his unique didactic analysis, she a foil to his penchant for explosive debate. Their marriage was one of true partnership until Joan’s untimely death from motor neurone disease in 1992.
Kiernan later married Susan Mayer and retired to raise their son, Ryan, enjoying a quieter, more domestic life. It was almost like he lived two lives, both equally satisfying. Carrying on his parents’ tradition, Kiernan was an ardent cultural ambassador, celebrating the unique contribution of the Irish internationally. And as noted by his peers, he was scholarly, fiery and a great teacher – there was nothing bland about him.
At his requiem mass, grandson Brendan Hawke read the poem For C.K. At His Christening, written by Irish poet Daniel Kelleher to mark Kiernan's christening and later recited by TJ Kiernan for John F Kennedy at the christening of his son, John junior.
At Kiernan's graveside, Irish Ambassador to Australia Máirtín Ó Fainín recited the prayer Ár n-Athair.
Colm Kiernan is survived by Susan and Ryan; by his older children Margaret, Carol and Matthew; and by his sisters Nuala in London, and Orla in Dublin.
Colm Padraig Kiernan: born November 24th, 1931; died March 27th, 2010