From stamps
to movies to the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Ned Kelly
has become one with the Australian psyche. He's had more written
about him than anyone else in Australian history. As our greatest folk
hero Ned Kelly has become one of the unsuspecting fathers of Australian
nationalism, and with each passing year Ned's myth grows stronger.
But was Ned Kelly just another crazed bushranger or a victim of the
system – a
desperate young man forced to shoot and steal to protect his own? Come
with us on a journey as we delve into stories from the past 150 plus
years and on the way discover for yourself the true history
of the Kelly Gang.
Why
did Ned Kelly live
such a larger than life existence, one that has
enthralled millions of people over this past
century? Why didn't Ned just take what was dished
up? Live a poor, honest, harsh life and die a
broken man like thousands of other peasants throughout
time? Well, if Ned did we would never have heard
of him, nor spent countless hours debating his
legacy. It's time to read the facts of his life
and decide for yourself. But before you pass
judgement, remember you should never impose 21st
century sensibility onto harsh 19th century reality. [about
ned kelly]
LINK ME UP
Funnily enough this isn't the only web site that mentions a bloke called Ned Kelly. Apparently there are a few more out there. But while some of them are crap there are a few gems like Paul O'Keefe's education web site at neducate.com.au which promotes Australian history at primary and Secondary level with talks and lectures from a real live Kelly Gang descendant; and retired County Court judge Graham Fricke self titled site at grahamfricke.com.au which features a speech he gave at the Ned Kelly Beechworth Weekend, back in the days when the weekend was actually about Ned Kelly! Graham also wrote the book Ned's Nemesis. [links]
IRONOUTLAW GETS
ALL CULTURED LIKE
We
here at ironoutlaw.com invite
all those budding poets out there to put pen
to paper (or fingers to keyboards) and send
in your best pieces for our Poetry section.
The poet area has taken on a life of its own
with a number of scribes including Mollie
Schollum adding their words on a regular
basis. So, any more takers? [poetry]
BACK TO THE FUTURE
With
all this digging around what better way to bring
back the virtual past than a visit to the Internet
Archive WayBack Machine. Our site has impressions
dating back to August 17, 2001. So if you're
feeling a tad nostalgic but can't afford the
time to whip up a flux-converter simply click
the link below and relive the glory days. The
Internet Archive was founded with the express
aim to build an Internet library, with the purpose
of offering permanent access for researchers,
historians, and scholars to historical collections
that exist in digital format (like us). [wayback
machine]
FREE KELLY TOURS
AT THE STATE LIBRARY
While
it's always fun to watch the pigeons crap all
over the hanging Judge Redmond Barry's head
outside the State
Library of Victoria in Swanston Street,
apparently it's also worth a visit inside.
Seems not only is there lots of book to read
but Ironoutlaw.com's
very own (now that she's written a story for
us) Airi Repetti takes punters on a Kelly inspired
tour of the establishment. And best of all
it's free! For 2010, the tour time table is
Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 10.30am during February then from 11.00am March onwards. There will be some weeks when there are no tours and school holiday tours are aimed specifically at kids. Contact the State Library on 03 8666 7214 for more details. [how
a finnish girl ended up as a kelly
tour guide]
Blacksmith extraordinare Nick Hawtin is selling his beloved Ned Kelly inspired Harley Davidson 1994 Custom XL Sportster as he's decided to move onto bigger projects. Anyone keen to buy the beast for $25,000 should drop Nick an email (NDKLY was featured in the May 2008 issue
of Live To Ride). [wheels]
KEEP YA POWDER DRY
In this month's edition of 'Keep
Ya Powder Dry' Alan
Crichton takes a close look at the shady dealings leading up to the Fitzpatrick Affair and republishes a disturbing interview the Sun Newspaper undertook with Ned's mother Ellen who, in 1912, still bore the deep scars of seeing her family torn apart by a corrupt judicial system. It would pay the half-arsed coordinators of Ambushed! to read this and then hang their heads in shame! [keep
ya powder dry]
HAVE YOUR SAY
Have
a question or opinion on Ned and the boys you
would like to share with the rest of us? Then
head over to our Feedback section
where you can send in your thoughts or read through
what's been said before. We also have a Feedback
Vault with an archive of thousands of letters
from the past ten years. There's enough words
here to keep you busy for the next few months... [feedback]
IT'S A LONG WAY
FROM TIPPERARY
All
the way from Ireland comes ironoutlaw.com's
own reporter Michele Eve who takes us on a
trip to Tipperary to
have a look into the roots of Ned Kelly's father
John 'Red' Kelly. In the process Ms Eve makes
an interesting discovery about the plans for
a new Ned Kelly tourist centre which sounds
disturbingly like the rubbish some folk back
in Australia are trying to push for poor old
Glenrowan. [it's
a long way from tipperary]
NED
KELLY ON YOU MYSPACE AND YOUTUBE
To
keep our readers semi-entertained we occasionally source a Ned Kelly related video clip to help while away the minutes.
So this time click play, sit back and enjoy YouTube's teddie488 Waylon Jennings song Ned Kelly from the 1970 self titled movie soundtrack starring that freaky drug addled skinny kid Mick Jagger... [nedtube]
TEACHING
HISTORY
While
not
everyone wants to read about Ned Kelly or the ANZAC's or
even The Great Depression, we hope they
want to learn something about
Australian History. Politicians from the now ex-Prime Minister
John Howard to a confused NSW Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt
have jumped on the teaching history bandwagon. But at what
cost? From Right Wing Liberals
(remember them?) to the multitude of State Governments, seems
everyone has an agenda. We'd like to let the readers decide
what is worth learning. Here at ironoutlaw.com we
present the facts, the fiction and everything in between. It
all adds to the experience and hopefully makes History an exciting
place to be (and it needn't always be written by the victors).
[site map]
GO SHOPPING
Long
Sleeve Women's Tee Shirt is
made from 100% cotton and comes in size Medium (12-14).
Featuring three quarter length red sleeves, the official ironoutlaw.com women's
tee shirt is the ultimate Kelly fashion statement. Printed
front and back in colour-fast inks, we guarantee these
tees are built to last.