Patrick Dillon

Story

From Co. Clare, Ireland Patrick Dillon came to Australia in the late 1830s or early 40s, firstly to NSW for 13 years then Victoria. It is not known whether he was an immigrant or a convict, but in 1850 he married Catherine Coventry McKenzie a 24 year old Scottish Laundress newly arrived aboard the ‘Lady Kennaway’. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland where her father Daniel McKenzie was a valet & her mother Mary Bruce.

6000 Clare emigrants to NSW between 1849 and 1870 and Dillons from various parts of Clare who are probably not related are also shown on these lists. Passage to Australia took 90-100 days.

In the early days Clare cottages were usually made of stone without cement, some were mud and others in the mountains and bogs were constructed of sods. Turf or peat was common fuel except in the Burren which had to be supplied by boat from Connemara at 20 shillings a boatload. Turf was cut with a special implement called a “slean” but in some cases was made into rolls by hand giving (it was said) a hotter and more lasting fire.

The universal diet was potatoes & milk with fish being eaten along the coast. Cottiers often supplemented this with cabbage & other vegetables from small gardens. Men wore clothes of frieze made in the home by wives or daughters. Women wore petticoats of course flannel which they dyed red, but for Mass they often wore cotton or stiff gowns. Around Corofin great quantities of course yarn stockings were knitted by the women and used as a general form of bartering.

The differences between the new colonies and Ireland in 1831 is clearly shown by the difference in the daily wage between Canada 2/6d. and Ireland 6d.

Important dates in the history of Clare:

1798 The Rising

1800 Act of Union

1818 Clare Elections

1847 Famine

1884 Founding of GAA

1916 The Rising

… There was a family story about a Sir Joseph (?) Dillon who was said to have been kicked out of the Irish Parliament for speaking up against the Government. John Dillon was a prominent figure in the Irish Parliament and was a partner with the uprising leader Parnell – and the English government got rid of both of them. Dillon’s son James was also a parliamentarian Leader of the opposition and a brilliant orator. It is possible this could be the uncle referred to.

Patrick was a labourer when his son John McKenzie Dillon was born in Geelong in 1851 then twins Patrick McKenzie & Mary McKenzie Dillon in 1853 . After taking up farming they later moving to Geringhap St. where Patrick maybe ran a grocery store. Gheringhap was between Cuzens Pl. and Myers St. reasonably close to St. Mary’s. They possibly owned another house in O’Farrell Place which runs parallel to Gheringhap St .

Catherine died of gastric fever at the age of 47 in 1871 after 21 years of marriage. Another Patrick Dillon aged 33 (possibly a nephew) died at Geelong within 2 days of Catherine so there’s a possibility of an epidemic in the region at that time. Catherine is buried in the Presbyterian Section of Geelong Eastern Cemetery with her daughter Mary who died in 1876. Patrick lived in Geelong till his death in 1888 aged 80 He was buried with no headstone in the now ruined Catholic Section of Geelong Cemetery. For full family history see http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/10421

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