Patrick Dahill
| Town/City | Reynella |
|---|---|
| First name | Patrick |
| Last name | Dahill |
| Country of Origin | Ireland |
| Date of Birth | circa 1813 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1855 |
| Submitted by | Heather Rayner |
Story
Patrick Dahill married Margaret Brunock on 6.6.1833 in the Church of the Assumption, Ballyporeen, Tipperary, Ireland. They lived at Doolis, about 3 miles west of Ballyporeen. The family were unquestionably very poor, for Doolis was marshy, inhospitable land where only the poor would go. Patrick was a ‘labourer’, so would have worked land owned by others and depended for food mainly from his own small potato patch.
The family walked to Ballyporeen for Mass on Sundays and records show that the ancestors of the late American President, Ronald Reagan also lived in Doolis at that time.
Why the Dahills emigrated we do not know but possibly the unfavourable conditions at home and the prospect of better standards abroad were factors in their decision to join the exodus of men, women and children who hoped Australia would prove to be a land of greater opportunity.
In 1855, Patrick, Margaret and their six daughters, Margaret 20, Johanna 17, Mary 16, Bridget 15, Catherine 10 and Ellen 8 years, left Ireland for Plymouth, England, where they boarded the ‘South Seas’ bound for South Australia. Their only son Thomas born 1839 and a twin to Mary must have died as he did not accompany them. The ‘South Seas’ arrived at Port Adelaide on 30.7.1855 and the Dahills were among a group of passengers transhipped to a government schooner and taken to Normanville about 70 km south of Adelaide..
The only accommodation available on arrival was a barn infested with mice which ran over and around them during the night. Early next morning they heard cow bells in the distance and as it was Sunday thought they were church bells and a summons to early Mass. They set off to attend and on meeting a lady asked her the way to the town. She looked at them in surprise and replied, “this is the town.”
In 1860 Patrick bought 1 1/4 acres of land in Yankalilla which he divided into 5 building allotments. On one block he built a two roomed cottage with a brick and stone underground tank for water storage and he and Margaret resided in this house until they died. The house still stands in 2009 at 56 Main Street, Yankalilla. Patrick was a road builder and assisted with the making of many roads and bridges in the district.
St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated with great jubilation and the whole town joined in the picnic and sports day and in the evening a dance with musicians playing and everyone singing old Irish songs. Patrick liked to celebrate and on one Show Day in 1866 he and several mates were fined 5 shillings each for drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
Patrick made a ‘Will’ the day he died on 15.12.1875, which indicates he could not write as he signed with a X. By this time he had built a house on each of his five allotments. Margaret passed away on 7.5.1880 aged 64 and both are buried in the Normanville Catholic Cemetery.
Their eldest daughter, Margaret, although baptised at Ballyporeen, Ireland, on 23.7.1834, always celebrated her birthday on 2nd August, the day she landed at Normanville. As a young woman Margaret worked as a domestic for 2/6 (25 cents) a week and spoke about the Aboriginees following her when she went to milk the cows. In 1863 she married William Kelly who had arrived from Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1857. They had a family of six – Bridget, Ellen who died aged 4, William, John, James and Michael.
William died on 9.8.1897 aged 65 and Margaret or ‘Granny Kelly’ as she became known was the oldest resident in Yankalilla when she passed away on 22.8.1934 aged 100 years.