Brisbane and the Gold Coast have the sunshine, the beaches and 50 cent public transport. What they don’t have, at first, is your mates. Sooner or later you’ll want a pint with someone who understands why you packed a box of Barry’s in your suitcase.
The good news: Queensland’s Irish roots go back to the convict days at Moreton Bay, and the community is easy to find once you know where to look. This guide covers what to know before you move, then the pubs, GAA clubs, trad sessions, events and support in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. ☘️
Short version
- Join the Irish Around Brisbane or Irish Around the Gold Coast Facebook group for rooms, jobs, recommendations and meet-ups.
- Almost every bus, train, ferry and tram trip in south-east Queensland costs 50 cents, however far you go.
- Trad on a Tuesday or a Sunday? Gilhooley’s on Albert Street.
- Want to play? Queensland has 12 GAA clubs, nine of them in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast.
- Struggling? The Irish Australian Support Association of Queensland (IASAQ) has helped Irish people here since 2007. Ring 0432 087 328.
Moving to Brisbane from Ireland: what to know first
Rent: the big one
Domain’s September 2026 quarter Rent Report puts Brisbane’s median asking rent at $700 a week for a house and $660 for a unit, both record highs. The vacancy rate is just 0.7%, which is why most new arrivals share.
In Queensland the maximum bond is four weeks’ rent, and the landlord or agent must give you a receipt and lodge it with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) within 10 days. Never pay a bond for a room you haven’t seen. Our cost of living in Australia guide has more on budgeting.
Getting around: 50 cents a trip
- Flat 50 cent fares. Translink fares are 50 cents a journey on buses, trains, ferries and trams across south-east Queensland, Gold Coast included, however far you travel. Change bus or train along the way and it still counts as one journey.
- Tap and go. Tap on and off with a Visa or Mastercard, your phone or your watch (the same one at both ends), or use a go card. There’s no cash on board in south-east Queensland.
- Don’t skip the tap off. Forget to tap on or off and you can be charged a $2.50 default fare.
- From the airport. Airtrain to and from Brisbane Airport isn’t part of the 50 cent deal, so Airtrain fares apply.
Weather: hot, wet summers and mild winters
At the Bureau of Meteorology’s Brisbane station, the average top is 30.4°C in January and 22.0°C in July, with July nights averaging 10.6°C. There are about 75 days a year of 30°C or more, but only about four of 35°C or more. February is the wettest month, with 171.7mm of rain on average. The Gold Coast Seaway station averages 28.9°C in January and 21.2°C in July. Pack sunscreen and a rain jacket.
Jobs and wages
Queensland’s unemployment rate was 4.5% in September 2026, a little below the national rate of 4.7% (ABS, seasonally adjusted). The National Minimum Wage is $26.44 an hour ($1,004.90 a week) from 1 July 2026, and award rates can be higher. Live jobs go up on the Irish Around Oz job board. When it’s time to go home, our tax refund guide walks you through your tax return.
| Brisbane at a glance | October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Median asking rent | $700 a week (houses), $660 (units) |
| Bond | No more than four weeks’ rent |
| Public transport | 50 cents a journey (Airtrain excluded) |
| Average top temperature | 30.4°C in January, 22.0°C in July |
| Time difference | 10 hours ahead of Ireland in the Irish winter, 9 in summer |
| Unemployment (Queensland) | 4.5% (September 2026) |
| National Minimum Wage | $26.44 an hour |
Before you fly
- Visa: most people start on a working holiday. Read our working holiday visa guide, or Australian visas explained if you’re planning to stay longer.
- Insurance: sort it before you go. Our pick for working holiday makers is True Traveller, and our travel insurance guide explains what Ireland’s health agreement with Australia does and doesn’t cover.
- Money: Wise is handy for everyday transfers and spending in AUD before you have an Aussie bank account. Moving a bigger amount? Get a TorFX quote too. Our money transfer guide compares them.
- Landed? Work through our first week in Australia checklist: phone, bank account, tax file number, transport card and a place to live.
Join the community
The Irish Around Brisbane Facebook group is where most people start. Ask about rooms, jobs, a good GP or a five-a-side team. Living down the coast? Join Irish Around the Gold Coast as well. Search before you post, read the rules, and if you’re new, say so. Everyone in there was new once.
Just landed? IASAQ’s Cuan Nua (“New Haven”) program is for newly arrived Irish people in Queensland, with practical sessions on accommodation, jobs, Medicare, tax and transport, plus coffee mornings and casual meet-ups.
The Queensland Irish Association (QIA) was formally established on 23 March 1898 and says it is the longest continuously operating national association in Queensland. It runs events for members, and its associated groups include the QIA Dancers, Pipe Band and the Queensland Irish Choir.
Moving on later? Here’s our list of Irish groups in Australia.
A bit of Irish history in Queensland
- Convicts and settlers. In the early days of the Moreton Bay penal settlement, more than half the convicts sentenced were Irish, and by the 1890s Irish migrants made up about a quarter of Queensland’s population, according to the Queensland Museum.
- Home Rule in the tropics. When Home Rule delegate John Dillon spoke in Townsville, 800 people turned out, the largest crowd the town had ever seen, the museum says.
- Green on the streets. Brisbane’s St Patrick’s Day Parade has been held in the city since 1989.
Irish pubs in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast
All of these were checked as trading on their own websites in October 2026. Hours change, so check before you go.
Brisbane
- Gilhooley’s, corner of Albert and Charlotte Streets, Brisbane City. On Albert Street since 1994. Trad session on Tuesdays from 6pm, Irish dancers on Fridays at 5:30pm, and Irish Sundays with trad from 1:30pm, a Sunday roast and an Irish breakfast served all day.
- Irish Murphy’s, corner of George and Elizabeth Streets, Brisbane City. Opened on 29 October 1999 on one of Brisbane’s oldest hotel sites, thought to go back to the Dunmore Arms in 1865. Live music seven nights a week, and Sunday roasts with live Irish music.
- Finn McCool’s, 295 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley, on the Brunswick Street Mall. A Sunday roast, plus free pool and a student night on Thursdays.
Gold Coast
- D’Arcy Arms, 2923 Gold Coast Highway (corner of Frederick Street), Surfers Paradise. Irish restaurant and bar with a 17-room motel, an open fire in winter and regular live acoustic sets. It calls itself the home of St Patrick’s Day on the Gold Coast, and it’s 100 metres from Northcliffe tram station.
- Finn McCool’s Gold Coast, 39 Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradise. Live music six nights a week and a Sunday roast.
- Waxy’s Irish Pub, 3206 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise. Live music Wednesday to Sunday and daily food specials.
GAA and sport
Joining a GAA club is one of the quickest ways to make friends here, even if you haven’t kicked a ball since school. These are the Queensland clubs listed by Australasia Gaelic Games:
- Brisbane, football: Brisbane Souths, Easts Celts and John Mitchels (men’s and women’s), plus Queensland Masters (masters men’s football).
- Brisbane, hurling and camogie: Emeralds (hurling) and Na Fianna (hurling and camogie).
- Brisbane, all codes: Brisbane Harps (football, hurling and camogie) and Brisbane Youths (youth football, hurling and camogie).
- Gold Coast: Gold Coast Gaels (men’s and women’s football, and hurling).
- Further north: Cairns Chieftains, Four Mile (Port Douglas) and Townsville Wolfhounds.
At the 2026 Queensland championships, Emeralds won the hurling and camogie titles at Willawong on 1 August, and Brisbane Souths’ women beat John Mitchels in the football final on 16 August. The championship is done for 2026, so message a club now and ask when training starts back. For kids, Brisbane Youths ran Kids GAA on Sundays through October, and the QIA Dancers, founded in 1958, teach Irish dancing in Albion during the week and Annerley at weekends.
Irish events in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast
Every week
- Tuesday: trad session from 6pm at Gilhooley’s. The Queensland Irish Choir also rehearses on Tuesdays, 7pm to 9pm, at Toombul Shire Hall in Nundah. There’s no audition, and you don’t need to be Irish.
- Wednesday: Gaeilge Brisbane meets fortnightly, 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at the IASAQ offices, free and open to all levels. Brisbane Ceol trad music classes run there on the second and fourth Wednesdays, free for IASAQ members. Check with IASAQ before your first visit.
- Friday: a traditional Irish band from 4:30pm and Irish dancers at 5:30pm at Gilhooley’s.
- Sunday: trad from 1:30pm at Gilhooley’s, or live Irish music with the roast at Irish Murphy’s.
- Monthly: a pop-up Gaeltacht at Gilhooley’s on the last Sunday of the month, midday to 3pm.
- Gold Coast: live music Wednesday to Sunday at Waxy’s, and six nights a week at Finn McCool’s.
Coming up
- Tue 3 Nov: Melbourne Cup day at Waxy’s, Surfers Paradise.
- Thu 5 Nov: the torchlit Irish Samhain Tour of Toowong Cemetery, run with the Queensland Irish Association. 7:15pm, $20, ages 12 and up.
- Until Sun 15 Nov: the Irish Film Festival online selection.
- Tue 17 Nov: Dermot Kennedy at the Riverstage.
- Sat 13 Feb 2027: Laneway at Brisbane Showgrounds, with Fontaines D.C. on the lineup.
- Sat 13 Mar 2027: the Brisbane St Patrick’s Day Parade, part of the Brisbane Irish Festival. The 2026 parade started and finished at the City Botanic Gardens on Alice Street.
- Sun 4 and Mon 5 Apr 2027: Celtic Thunder at HOTA on the Gold Coast, then QPAC in Brisbane.
Irish businesses, networks and services
- Irish Around Oz job board: live jobs from employers who want Irish workers. Hiring? Post your role there.
- Irish Queenslander: an online publication about Queensland’s Irish community, history and people, with regular event news.
Run an Irish business in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast? Tell us about it in the Irish Around Brisbane group.
Support if you’re struggling
Moving to the other side of the world is hard, and plenty of people find the first few months tougher than they expected. You don’t have to sort it out on your own.
- Irish Australian Support Association of Queensland (IASAQ), 5 Abingdon Street, Woolloongabba. A charity that has supported Irish people in Queensland since 2007, part funded by the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Program. Its outreach worker can help with health and mental health services, housing, unemployment, and visas and passports, all in confidence. Phone 0432 087 328, or call or text the outreach worker on 0499 524 643.
- Embassy of Ireland, Canberra. There’s no Irish consulate or honorary consul in Queensland, so contact the Embassy. In an emergency, ring +61 2 6214 0000.
- Lifeline: 13 11 14, any time of the day or night.
- Emergency: call 000.
Irish in Brisbane: FAQ
Is there a big Irish community in Brisbane?
Yes. The 2021 Census counted 7,654 people born in Ireland living in Greater Brisbane, and 12,611 across Queensland. Far more have Irish roots: 281,095 people in Greater Brisbane and 65,021 in the City of Gold Coast listed Irish ancestry.
Does work in Brisbane count for my 88 days?
Usually not. The Home Affairs specified work page (updated 12 October 2026) lists these Queensland postcodes as regional: 4124 to 4125, 4133, 4211, 4270 to 4272, 4275, 4280, 4285, 4287, 4307 to 4499, 4510, 4512, 4515 to 4519 and 4522 to 4899. The Brisbane CBD (4000) and Surfers Paradise (4217) aren’t on it, and hospitality only counts in separate northern and remote lists that don’t include them either. The exception is paid or volunteer recovery work in declared natural disaster areas, which currently include both. Check the postcode before you start, and read our regional work guide.
How much is rent in Brisbane?
Domain’s median asking rent for the September 2026 quarter was $700 a week for a house and $660 for a unit, with a vacancy rate of 0.7%. Most new arrivals share. The maximum bond in Queensland is four weeks’ rent.
Is there an Irish consulate in Brisbane?
No. Ireland’s consulates are in Sydney and Melbourne, with an honorary consul in Perth, so in Queensland you contact the Embassy of Ireland in Canberra (emergency line +61 2 6214 0000). IASAQ in Woolloongabba can help with passport forms.
Where can I play GAA in Brisbane or on the Gold Coast?
Eight Brisbane clubs and Gold Coast Gaels are on the Australasia Gaelic Games list, covering football, hurling and camogie. Message one and ask when training starts.
Heading somewhere else? Read our guides to the Irish in Sydney, the Irish in Melbourne and moving to Perth from Ireland.
Spotted a pub that’s closed, or a club we missed? Tell us in the Irish Around Brisbane group.
Last checked October 2026.