The Celtic Council of Australia held its Annual Honours Luncheon at the Red Lion Tavern in Glencoe on Saturday. The occasion recognises individuals who have given honourable service to the Celts in Australia. The honour of Duine Uasal (Honoured Person) was given to local residents Fiona O’Brien, Peter Grimes and John Rhys-Jones.
Fiona O’Brien is a member of the Australian Standing Stones Management Board and has very ably supported the Board’s activities both in the past and today, where her financial acumen is highly valued. She has played an integral role in the Glen Innes Pipe Band over many years, playing with the band, making and maintaining uniforms, and doing vital administrative and financial work. Fiona was key to the band acting as host for the Pipe Band competition held at the Australian Celtic Festival in 2023. She engendered a love of Scottish Highland dance in her four children, with them all learning from the late Mrs Barbara Timmins, a well-known local identity in Scottish dance. Fiona and her husband Rob (a previous recipient of this award), together with their children, have greatly enriched the piping and dancing scene in Glen Innes.
Peter Grimes has been practising as a Celtic artist for all of his adult life. Although he sells his exquisite art, he has always been generous with his artworks, donating them as raffle prizes and the like to a variety of Celtic organisations. Soon after relocating to Glen Innes just over six years ago, Peter joined the Australian Standing Stones Management Board, and has been a very active member of that committee, volunteering his time at working bees, setting up and pulling down events, and more. He is a great ambassador for Celtic culture, overcoming his natural introversion to reach out and develop contacts with interested individuals and groups. Peter is a member of the Celtic Council of Australia, and became CCA treasurer and public officer in 2021, taking responsibility for collecting and digitising CCA records, giving a valuable historical record and a sound basis for future activities.
John Rhys-Jones joined the Australian Standing Stones Management Board in 2020 and has been an extremely active member of the Board, supporting its many activities and assisting in the preparation, set up and clean up at events. He was elected Treasurer of the Stones Management Board in 2021 and has held this position since then. In January 2023, John began to administer the Australian Standing Stones Facebook page, doubling the number of followers in just over 12 months. He has organised and run a number of the solstice and equinox celebrations at the Australian Standing Stones, is now responsible for regularly changing the flags at the site and in recent years has been an integral organiser of the Welsh ceremony that is held as part of the Australian Celtic Festival.
The same award was presented to Murphy’s Pigs, who are a very popular act at the Australian Celtic Festival, as well as throughout Australia and indeed the world.
The honour of Duine Urramach (Noble Person) was awarded posthumously to Angus MacKenzie, a dedicated Gaelic teacher in Sydney from the 1960s until his death, aged 82, in 1999. As a result of Angus’s selfless commitment, others are now able to continue his legacy and teach Scottish Gaelic to a new generation, including the weekly classes run at The Croft in Glen Innes.
