"An Encounter" with "The Wild Colonial Boy"

 

Recently I've read the short story "An Encounter". This story is located in a larger piece of literature titled Dubliners by James Joyce. I found the connection between Ireland and the Wild West very interesting especially after hearing multiple stories about it. "An Encounter" brought me back to the Butlers bus tour; it was there that a song was sung by our tour guide Tony. The song was titled "The Wild Colonial Boy" and it begins like this:

        There was a wild colonial boy, Jack Duggan was his name
        He was born and raised in Ireland in a place called Castlemaine
        He was his father's only son, his mother's pride and joy
        And dearly did his parents love the wild colonial boy

The boy at the age of 16 goes onto Australia. He was a sort of Robin Hood, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. This has a very obvious connection to Joyces "An Encounter". The boys in Joyces story also wanted an adventure, they make a plan to travel to Pigeon house. The two boys begin their adventure but in the end they must return home. The colonial boy never got that chance and was instead gunned down. Still, the connection between the West and Ireland amazed me because I always thought the "wild west" was an American concept. I really enjoy learning the history of Ireland from different perspectives and it's interesting to see stories in different forms, from different generations all saying the same thing or alluding to the same thing.