Innisfail (from Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town of Innisfail had a population of 7,173 people,
Geography
Innisfail's town centre is situated at the junction of the Johnstone River and South Johnstone River, approximately from the coast. It is located near large tracts of old-growth tropical rainforest surrounded by vast areas of extensive farmlands. Queensland's highest mountain, Mount Bartle Frere, part of Australia's Great Dividing Range, is to the north.
The town's central business district is in the vicinity of Edith Street and Rankin Street ().
Climate
thumb|left|Howe St. in East Innisfail is commonly affected by even minor flooding
Innisfail experiences a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen: Af) and has no month with an average temperature below or with less than of rainfall. However, as a trade-wind climate that experiences frequent cyclones, it is not equatorial. Consistently, humid, very warm to hot weather dominates in Innisfail. In particular Innisfail is reputed as being among the wettest towns in Australia. Babinda, north of Innisfail is generally considered to be the wettest.
Unlike most of tropical Australia, the southern winter or "dry" season is not completely dry as moist easterly winds bring frequent showers; rainfall is, however, still far lower than during the southern summer. Monthly totals of over are common in the region between January and April and some months will not experience a day without rain if the monsoon is unusually heavy. The town gets around 63.5 clear days per year. High rainfall associated with these storms, combined with Innisfail's riverside location often causes flooding.
Climate data is taken from Innisfail weather station, which has recorded rainfall since 1881 and temperature since 1908. Meanwhile, sun data was borrowed from the South Johnstone EXP weather station, 9.7 km SW of Innisfail.
History
Prior to European settlement the Innisfail area was occupied by five separate societies of the Mamu people. These Aboriginal people followed migratory lifestyles in the rainforest and traversed rivers in string-bark canoes.
The first arrival of European people came in January 1872 when survivors of the shipwreck, the "Maria" arrived on the coastal areas surrounding what is now the Johnstone River. Sub-Inspector Robert Arthur Johnstone of the Native Police came with the intention of rescuing remaining survivors and collectively punishing Aboriginals thought to have killed a number of the shipwrecked crew. In mid 1873, Johnstone returned to the area as part of another punitive mission and ventured further upriver between what is today Flying Fish Point and Coquette Point. Johnstone wrote very highly of the area, stating: