By MICK ROBERTS © BREAKING that unwritten rule of never discussing politics and religion at the pub can have dire consequence. Some people learn the hard way: like, Bulli bullocky James Robinson. Robinson was a new arrival to the little… Read More ›
Illawarra Hotels
Dicey Riley’s: Wollongong’s iconic Irish pub story
By MICK ROBERTS © THE history of Wollongong’s last main street pub, Dicey Riley’s can be traced-back to when James Cosgrove was granted a publican’s license for the site almost 165 year ago. Like all good pub yarns, the colourful… Read More ›
Controversy surrounded opening of Whitfield’s Thirroul pub
By MICK ROBERTS © REGULARS at Thirroul’s Ryan’s Hotel can thank pioneer baker George Whitford for his persistence in establishing their local watering hole. Whitford was determined to have his bakery opened as the village’s first pub, trying for almost… Read More ›
Beaches Hotel opened as Thirroul Rex 70 years ago
WHEN Thirroul’s Rex Hotel opened for business in 1953, it brought to a close a campaign lasting almost 30 years by brewery giant, Tooth and Company, to have a pub in the seaside town. Known today as ‘Beaches’, the pub,… Read More ›
Tragic tale of Edward killalea and his death at Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN an Illawarra civic leader died on the sofa of Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel in 1872 the news caused a sensation. Edward Killalea was elected to the Shellharbour Municipal Council just two years before his death in 1872… Read More ›
Notorious Austinmer coal miners’ pub became club before burning to the ground
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE are some pubs that even the bravest men would fear to tread. The North Illawarra Hotel at Austinmer, south of Sydney, had that reputation. A coal miners’ pub, it was one of the toughest in… Read More ›
Old Billy Fitzpatrick called the Harp Hotel his local for 65 years
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Harp Hotel was old Billy Fitzpatrick’s second home. The retired baker had been a ‘regular’ at the pub, in the Illawarra region of NSW, for 64 years when he was photographed enjoying a noggin of… Read More ›
Coal miners’ world beer drinking record: 15 men drink 600 gallons of beer in 15 days!
By MICK ROBERTS © A SOCIAL club, made-up of coal miners, caused quite a stir when they set-up camp at what they named “Froth Blowers Retreat” at Towradgi Beach, just north of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of NSW, for… Read More ›
Body of forward thinking hotelier exhumed after suspicious death
The death of pioneering publican Reg Tolley By MICK ROBERTS © THE suspicious death of a publican – who at the time was making pioneering improvements in the way Australians were drinking in pubs – made headlines around the country… Read More ›
Knife wielding ‘lunatic’, suffering from ‘religious-mania’, ransacked Bulli pub
By MICK ROBERTS © A MAN discharged from a lunatic asylum caused headlines around the country when armed with a knife, he ransacked the Star of the Sea Hotel at Bulli, south of Sydney, in 1896. John Reynolds and his… Read More ›