Descendants

From Deirdre O’Sullivan on 13/4/2022:

Hi Jane,

James Real was my 3x great grandfather, and his 16 year old daughter Mary, married my 2x great grandfather Patrick O'Sullivan, ex-convict and later a prosperous Ipswich publican, businessman and politician. These people really were the fightin' Irish! They had to fight like hell just to survive - and the Reals were courageous and clever and determined to succeed in a strange land. I remember my father telling me, that James Real and his wife Ellen had denied themselves proper food for months on their little tenant farm in Limerick -they had denied themselves food during the horror of the potato famine, to feed their 6 children. So, poor James was already badly weakened by starvation by the time he boarded The Emigrant -it obviously made him more susceptible to typhus. It was a miracle that malnourished mother, Ellen, did not also succumb -what on earth would have happened to her 6 children if they had been left orphans in Australia? According to my father, Patrick O'Sullivan fell madly in love with the widowed Ellen, when she arrived in Ipswich, with her 6 children. But she was 8 years older than him, and instead she ordered her daughter Mary - only 16 years old - to marry him instead! Ellen obviously realised that Patrick was doing very well for himself as a shopkeeper and publican, and would be able to help her struggling family. My father told me that Patrick and Mary loathed each other at first sight! But still, they managed to have 13 children together, in between ferocious Irish arguments! Their undying hatred for each other seethed through 55 years of a hellish marriage.

It's astonishing to realise that Patrick Real, James and Ellen's youngest child, despite the dire poverty of his upbringing, eventually became a Supreme Court judge. In order to survive, Ellen took a job as a domestic servant in Ipswich. Young Patrick was apprenticed at the age of 12, as a carpenter with the Queensland railways. In the evenings, he studied hard - the local parish priest taught him the Greek and Latin he needed to study the law - and eventually, he did indeed become a barrister, and was extremely successful. One story about Patrick Real, according to family legend - shows that he never forgot the nightmare of his family's early dire poverty, even as a famous and wealthy Judge. Poor people would come to his chambers, and ask him for help - if they needed money for food, or rent, or to pay a doctor to see their sick child. The Judge would very kindly ask them to sit down and tell him their woes. Then he would ask how much money they needed to get by. Then he would write out a cheque, and hand it to them, folded over. He would shake their hand, and show them the door, and wish them the very best of luck. All of these people, as they later looked at the cheque, were amazed to find that the good old Judge had given them twice the amount they had asked for! What a lovely fellow he must have been. Whenever I feel discouraged in my own life, I often think of my ancestors, and the courageous way they re-invented their lives, despite all the overwhelming obstacles in their path. I find their stories of success, truly inspiring.

It's a long, long way from a dark, damp 2 roomed cottage in Limerick, to the magnificent house 'Eulalia', that Judge Patrick Real built in the Brisbane suburb of Norman Park. Here's a link with photos - https://hawthornenews.com.au/index.php/eulalia-learn-the-history-of-one-of-brisbanes-loveliest-houses/

I really must travel up to Brisbane and pay it a visit one day - the gardens around it have shrunk from 22 acres to 6, but our family fortunes have also dwindled! Perhaps if I showed them a picture of the Judge, the current owners of 'Eulalia' might let me take a peek inside!

Your book is fascinating , Jane - you have a great talent for bringing history to life, with your vivid story telling. Because you have such a powerful imagination, you also show deep empathy for the people aboard 'The Emigrant.'