Australian Kellys take grand tour in search of ancestors

Brother and sister, John Matthew Kelly and Eileen Dixon, from Perth in Western Australia are on a journey to discover any living relatives of their ancestors, who originated from Kilbeggan and emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1852.A family reunion is take place at the end of an all-Ireland tour, where over two weeks they are hoping to meet and learn more about descendants of their forefathers who started out in search of adventure and a better life.The tale of their ancestry is one of courage and sadness and this will be the Kellys' only opportunity to put stories of Ireland, the placenames, the songs and the humour, which have passed from generation to generation, together once and for all."We're looking to see if there are any living relatives of our ancestors, Matthew and Catherine Kelly (nee Daly), who left for Australia from Kilbeggan in 1852," says Eileen. "It's quite an emotional journey for us, as our parents, now passed, were great singers of Irish songs and they were members of the Hibernian Society, which was a co-operative friendship in Australia, and lots of Irish people made friends there," she explains."They had four children when they started out and we have some records here of when they were born and Kilbeggan certainly came up as a regular feature in correspondence and so on," says John. "We have a dozen of our brothers and sisters and their children gathering here on Sunday for a two-week tour of Ireland. We've come from Perth, Sydney, Hervey Bay in Queensland, Hobart in Tasmania, one from New York and one from Abu Dhabi," he adds.According to their research, Matthew Kelly was born in Kilbeggan in 1822 and emigrated to Sydney in 1852, sailing on board the Irene on October 16. He was 30 and his wife Catherine, aged 34, along with four children, Mary (12), James (10), Catherine (5) and Bridget, who was just a baby, accompanied him on board. They paid £4 for their passage to the new world. Their parents in Ireland - Lewis and Catherine - were both deceased, and when they arrived in Australia they purchased a farm of 21 acres in Kingsgrove, nine miles from Sydney."The original Matthew Kelly set sail for Australia and we've traced over 100 descendants through to the current generation," says John. "My son, Matthew Kelly, who is with us here today, is the third in the line, so we thought after 160 years it might be safe to come back to Ireland," he jokes. "Their parents were deceased according to our literature and we gather their journey was to pursue a land of opportunity," he explains."They were farming people and took up farming in the new colony. They moved to Kingsgrove in Sydney. They had several more children, who we've counted to 10," says Eileen. "I always liked the idea of getting a family tree together so I got a genealogist from Hervey Bay to construct it for me. I think the fact that ever since we were all knee high to a grasshopper we've had that feeling of the tides of Ireland, the Irish songs and sense of humour, the laughter and it's just been a burning ambition of mine to come back here even though I've never been here before," she continues. "It's been a long family dream that's finally coming true, both for our parents and for us."A note of sadness marks the Kellys' dream of a new life in Australia, as when Matthew was 79, newspaper records announce his death in what appears to be a freak accident on a Friday afternoon in 1879.'A farmer named Matthew Kelly, 74 years of age, residing at Kingsgrove, a village near Canterbury, had driven a horse and cart into Sydney, and, while returning home, brought the horse to a standstill and took off the blinkers, to give him some corn. On replacing the blinkers the horse took fright and bolted, knocking down the old man and killing him almost instantly. Patrick Kelly, the son of the farmer, a boy of 11 years of age, was in the car holding the reins when the accident took place. He managed to bring the horse to a stop. Kelly's body was taken to Stanmore and seen by Dr Patterson. On Saturday, an inquest was held at the Stanmore Hotel, which resulted in the return of a verdict of death from injuries accidentally received,' read a report in the Sydney Morning Herald."It was just a freak accident, so in doing the kind thing to give the horse some corn, he died," says John. "As you amass the anecdotes, it puts some flesh to some real people, not just names on paper. In his will Matthew's signature is marked by an X, so he couldn't read or write," John continues. "Now within our generation there are a dozen university degrees and masters, so from an illiterate farm worker, and through his courage, and that of his wife and children, they did realise the dream of seizing a good opportunity and we respect that as part of our background," he says.The entire Kelly clan gathered in Dublin on Sunday to commence their tour of Ireland, before returning to Mullingar to take in some of the sights and places, with Kilbeggan firmly on their agenda.If anyone can shed some light on their ancestry, email queeneileenmary@gmail.com or phone (61) 48 243863.