... Many historians have cited that the Irish have made a significant contribution to the development of Australia and of the Australian identity. The first significant wave came as political prisoners of the 1798 Rebellion, and thereafter further came for petty or serious crimes - a spectacular increase occurred in the 1850s and 1860s, not just because of the Great Famine, but particularly due to the gold rushes. It is important to note that the pattern of settlement differed a great deal to those of England and the United States. Settlement in Australia was much more dispersed and agricultural and less concentrated as it was in cities such as New York. Historians such as David Fitzpatrick have proposed that immigration to Australia was better regulated, and the Irish possessed sufficient capital to enable some mobility and choice of employment. Patrick O'Farrell has made claims that the Irish have been "the dynamic ...

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