Francis MacNamara, was born in 1811 in Cashel, he claimed, in the County Tipperary, Ireland. He was transported to Botany Bay in 1832, then to Van Diemen’s Land arriving 29 October 1842, by which time he was widely known as ‘Frank the Poet’. Mark Gregory’s research project on MacNamara’s life and work is documented in poems, songs, images, newspaper reports and documents on this website.