A young immigrant from Co. Kerry is recovering in a Sydney hospital after being the latest victim of a vicious assault down under.

Kieran Cahill, 25, from Killarney was punched in the face several times, knocked unconscious and then had his head stomped on repeatedly in the center of Sydney early Monday morning, the Irish Echo reports.

He was allegedly attacked by three men outside a kebab shop in the city after he intervened to stop the men harassing a group of women. According to local police the Irish immigrant suffered a shattered jaw and underwent an operation on Tuesday to have plates inserted in his face.

NSW Police Insp Seán Heaney told the newspaper: “The victim is Irish. He is a 25-year-old male. He had head injuries which required him to be sedated for recovery.

“One has been charged. Police are continuing to conduct investigations to identify another person.”

Michael Cahill, the victim’s father, told Radio Kerry today that his son is recovering from a number of surgeries in Sydney's St. Vincent's Hospital.

“I just received a text from him there a while ago,” he said. “He was sorry he wasn’t able to contact us. He’s been going for operations…so he couldn’t contact us.

“He’s had surgery on his throat. He got a tube in this throat – his throat got stood on. He had surgery on his jaw, which was shattered in a couple of places.”

A Bondi resident, Cahill had been working as a yard manager for a construction company called Subakette.

Subakette owner Michael Daly said he was shocked to hear about the assault.

“If you were to pick one of the lads least likely to get into something it would be Kieran. You would be hard pressed to get a couple of words out of him. It’s a very poor situation.”

He added: “He is with us just over a year and he is a gentleman. He is a really good worker, punctual and a very bright young man. He has a great work ethic and he is a valued employee. He manages a couple of the yards.”

Police arrested two men aged 24 and 26, at the scene of the attack. The 24-year-old has been charged with reckless grievous bodily harm in company and the 26-year-old was released without charge. They have released a photograph of a third man and are appealing for information.

This is the second vicious assault of an Irishman in Australia in less than a month.

On February 17 a Co. Wexford man died in Perth a week after he suffered a stab wound to the neck.

Kenny Meyler, 21, originally from Wexford died was stabbed in the neck with a carving knife in a house in the in Helmsley St area, in the coastal suburb of Scarborough.