New Ireland Province – named Nova Hibernia by Philip Carteret in 1767
In 1767 the British explorer Philip Carteret established that this long, narrow island was separate from New Britain and gave it the Latin name Nova Hibernia — New Ireland. Dutch explorers had made the first European contact in 1616, yet people had been arriving far longer: at least three waves of migration over the last 40,000 years, with Lapita pottery present around 3,300 years ago. In the 1870s and 1880s the French nobleman Marquis de Rays attempted to found a colony here, sending four ill-fated expeditions; the best known of them ended with the death of 123 settlers. Members are invited to share their memories, stories and photographs.