Very interesting, RS*. As regards “cross purposes”, I can only say that as far as Irish “migrants” and their immediate descendants are concerned, it is likely that their “Heart was in Ireland” - to them, as to many recent migrants, that was “home”. That the official line taken by the Australian education system was that “home” was Great Britain, is hardly surprising and, to be fair, it is worth recalling that up to the early 1920s, Ireland was part of that British “home”.
Regarding transportation to the Americas - yes, this was a common phenomenon in the 17th and 18th centuries. Large numbers of British and Irish convicts of all classes were transported to the West Indies and to the North American colonies as “indentured labourers” - “temporary” slaves to all intents and purposes. It was a useful way of getting rid of such convicts until Australia became available, contributing at the same time to the colonial/mercantilist economic system prevalent at the time. Of course, the real solution to these labour supply problems was the Atlantic slave trade, which supplied more numerous labourers who turned out in general to be better suited to the conditions in which they were required to work in the West Indies and in the American colonies. Best regards, JR.