Fenians Festival 2026

We honour the many Irish people throughout the world who financed and purchased the Catalpa and planned and executed the escape, in particular John Devoy, James Breslin and Tom Desmond. We also remember the part played by Fenian William Foley.

We acknowledge the courage, tenacity and resilience of Quaker Captain George Smith Anthony, who left behind a wife and infant daughter. We proudly welcome his great-grandson James Ryan and his partner from New Bedford, Massachusetts to celebrate with us.

We are delighted to host two very talented guests from Ireland, singer/songwriter Declan O’Rourke and renowned performance poet Tony Curtis, to entertain you.

⏰6pm Gates Open for Picnic
⏰7pm Support Act: Fiona Rea

📍 The Quarry Amphitheatre

Grab a ticket to the only Australian concert of this internationally renowned Irish singer, songwriter and novelist performing under the stars in this spectacular venue.

Declan O’Rourke’s track Convict Ways (on his Arrivals album, nominated for International Album of the Year in AMA UK/Americana awards of 2021) tells the story of the Fremantle Fenians. His song The Stars Over Kinvara was nominated for International Song of The Year by Australia’s Double J Radio in 2021.

Whatever you do, don’t miss this concert!!

⏰ 6 pm – 7pm

📍 Fremantle Prison

Arrive at the front gate for access to East Workshop

⏰ 6 pm Bar opens
for pre-theatre drink
⏰ 7-9pm Showtime

📍 Fremantle Prison

Performed in Fremantle Prison’s historic east workshop, the very place where the Fenians laboured and toiled, the gifted actors and crew from Theatre 180, in collaboration with WA Museum, will present their CinePlay production CATALPA: Flight to Freedom.

Written by Stuart Halusz and Myles Pollard and featuring outstanding performances from Myles Pollard, Tadhg Lawrence and Taran Knight, this lively and entertaining rendition of the daring and audacious Catalpa rescue is as dramatic and gripping now as it was in 1876.

Tickets are selling fast!

⏰ 2 pm – 3.45pm

📍 Samson Family Museum,
33 Cliff Street, Fremantle

Listening to Tony Curtis is pure delight. His penetrating insights, ability to uplift the ordinary and his sensitivity to the human condition will stay with you long after the event. We are honoured to share with you a poet who has won the Poetry Ireland/Friends Provident National Poetry Competition as well as the Book Stop Poetry Prize and been awarded the Varuna House Exchange Fellowship to Australia.

Tony’s immense talent is not to be missed!

Fremantle Shipping News will record an episode in their series of podcasts about the Catalpa Escape. You can follow the story in all it’s exciting detail, by listening to these gripping episodes.

For a special treat, come to the LIVE podcast recording, hosted by Michael Barker with special guest James Ryan from New Bedford USA, the great-grandson of Catalpa captain George Smith Anthony.

The Catalpa Escape is a transnational history.

It brought together Irish communities from across the world to facilitate the liberation of Fenian political prisoners in the colonial Southwest of Australia. But they were not the only Irish people to find themselves in Western Australia. 

Trad session Anchored by Fiona Doyle & Friends in the Ladies Lounge at the Buffalo Club. Irish Stew & home made soda bread available to pre-purchase $10 or pay on the night if available.

Free event!

Join us for a rousing night of traditional Irish songs and tunes with a bit of Pogues and Lizzy thrown in. Mighty craic to be had at the Buffalo Club to kick off the weekends events. Guinness on tap, skin & hair flying on the dance floor.

Please note – The Buffalo Club event will be held upstairs and there is no lift available. Access via stairs only.

Join local historians and story tellers to discuss the many twists and turns of the Fenians escape. Grab a drink in one of Freo’s favourite establishments then wander through the very streets and places where the Fenian prisoners worked, delivered goods and dreamed of escape.

Band to be announced in the coming weeks!