AS WARWICK celebrated the presence of the Prime Minister of Ireland in the Rose City, the 100th anniversary of another head of state's visit is fast approaching.

Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes famously visited Warwick in 1917, sprouting the benefits of conscription for World War I, when an egg was launched from the crowd.

Rodney Sullivan, honorary research associate professor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at The University of Queensland, is coming to Warwick to present a paper in collaboration with wife Robin during the weekend of celebrations.

"The paper looks at the history of Irish in Warwick up until the egg incident,” Mr Sullivan said.

"It shouldn't have been entirely unexpected as there was tension between Irish Catholics and others in the British community.

"This goes back to Ireland, where itself was divided between the Irish Catholics which formed the majority of the population and the Protestant minority.”

Mr Sullivan, one of many Queenslanders with Irish heritage, said his work has given him great pride.

"There was a very large portion of Irish in Warwick,” he said.

"At the height of their population, 40 per cent of residents were Irish, which was well above the state average.”

Rod and Robin Sullivan are guests at the 'Making Sense of the Warwck Egg Incident' event on Saturday, November 18 at St Mary's Hall.

Tickets are on sale at www.trybooking.com/ book/event?eid=305752.