author
Tom O'Connor
Tom currently lives in St Andrews of South Canterbury where he has served as a Councillor at the Waimate District Council for several terms. Originally from Kawhia as a child, Tom has also lived in the Manawatu-Whanganui region and the Waikato region and Wairau in the upper South Island. His knowledge in Maori history has come from the local Maori communities, and places in these regions across New Zealand.
Written Works
Tom wrote a weekly political commentary column and a history column for the Waikato Times. He also wrote a political commentary for the Taranaki Daily News which focussed on the New Zealand Land Wars.
His published works include:
Death of a Cruise Ship; the story the Mikhail Lermontov sinking in the Marlborough Sounds in 1986.
Historical fiction novels on the life of Te Rauparaha titled Tides of Kawhia, Pathways of Taranaki, and Shadows of Kapiti. These have recently been republished.
Bunty Preece, soldier of 28 (Maori) Battalion.
The Ferret, Sergeant Eric Batchelor DCM and bar, m.i.d. A highly decorated NZ WWII solider.
Irish Convict. Historicial fiction novel based on true stories in Australia and New Zealand prior to 1840. Recently republished as a series.
Our Darkest Day. The 2019 Mosque attacks in Christchurch, Non-Fiction account of a pivotal moment in NZ History along with the reaction and changes in the following 12 months.
NZ order of merit
Awards
In 2019, Tom O’Connor was made a Member of the New Zealand order of Merit 2018 for services to seniors, local government and journalism. Tom O’Connor is a Justice of the Peace serving his local South Canterbury community. Tom is a former president of the New Zealand Grey Power Association. Tom served on acclimatisation societies and several regional fish and game councils for more than forty years. In that time he was a member of the New Zealand Fish and Game Council and represented the Director General of Conservation.
Irish Convict Series
Tom’s latest publications are the Irish Convict series. True stories of several real Irishmen in the early 1800’s are told through the adventures of the fictional Maurice O’Brien. Books one – four are adapted from the original Irish Convict novel. Book five, Troubled Waters, is the sequel to the story.
Lost Sons
Maurice O’Brien is an Irish youth struggling the transition from boyhood to manhood in Ireland in the 1830’s. When trouble finds him, he lands in court and faces the sentence for convicts; transportation to Botany Bay – the other side of the world.
Outback Shepherds
Maurice is an Irish convict in the New South Wales penal colony – a wild and dangerous place. He grapples with despair and loneliness of the outback. Escape is almost impossible, but those who do find themselves in the land of heathen savages.
New Zealand
When Maurice O’Brien reaches New Zealand he is a mutineer and an escaped convict. Surviving in the so-called land of heathen savages and cannibals is as difficult and dangerous as New South Wales. He now has to settle in a new land and culture.
Homeward Bound
In spite of the dangers of sailing small boats around Cook Strait and surviving a gunfight with one of the most ferocious musket armed Maori tribes, Maurice O’Brien must decide if New Zealand is his home or return to his homeland of Ireland.
Troubled Waters
Revisiting Ireland, Maurice O’Brien is grief stricken at the state of his homeland following the devastation of the potato famine. Disease starvation and forced immigration have depopulated many parts of the country. His family no longer exists.