My Profile

Paul Irish is an experienced historian with a special interest in Aboriginal history, particularly of coastal Sydney. He is the director of Sydney-based consultancy Coast History & Heritage, and is also an archaeologist. Paul researches and develops reports, publications and online and exhibition content for local and state government agencies, museums and private clients. He has worked collaboratively for more than a decade with researchers from the La Perouse Aboriginal community to investigate the Aboriginal history of coastal Sydney, and is currently a lead researcher with the community based Gujaga Foundation. This research has led to the 2015 NSW History Fellowship exhibition This Is Where They Travelled: Historical Aboriginal Lives in Sydney and his 2017 book Hidden in Plain View: The Aboriginal people of Coastal Sydney, which won the NSW Premiers History Award for Regional and Community History, and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.