Where did it all begin?
Irish Immigrants-The Two Brothers Costello
How many times have I heard the story told- of the two Irish brothers, Michael,
the eldest and James, the youngest, leaving from an impoverished
farm in county Galway, from a village called Menlough, to try their luck in a far off
land-Australia. This is the 1880's or thereabouts. At least we know the two
brothers because we know the families that have sprung from both.
Or was it three or four Brothers?
But where the story gets lost in the mists of time and forgetfulness is in the memory
that there were three brothers and that the third brother, John, ended up
somewhere in America. Another account says that there were four brothers and that one of
them returned to Menlough, where there are still Costello's living to this day.
Disembarking at Fremantle?
Another memory dimly recalled is that there was a brother, Martin, who
disembarked at Fremantle because he was sick of the long boat trip. Did he also go back to
Ireland? Or is his family still somewhere In West Australia?
The fact of the matter is that we don't know for sure because if there were two other
branches of the family who came out, we have lost the trail. Helen Emanuel-(the late
daughter of Jim and Madeline Costello) once found a ship register in Port Adelaide that
listed three brothers on a ship out from Ireland. But were there three or four? And were
these our Costello's?
A recent check of the Port Adelaide lists show more than one set of Costello siblings
who immigrated. But which ones are US? And if there were more than the two we know, can we
trace where the lost cousins might be today?
Settling in Queensland in the 1880's?
The two
brothers we do know settled in Queensland. Michael worked on the railways
and lived in a little place called Wanora, a few miles on the Toowoomba side of
Ipswich. The younger brother, James, became a boilermaker ( or
carriage builder?) and worked for most of his life in Ipswich at the railway workshop that
was a key employer of the railway town.
His youngest daughter, Sister Katherine Mary, (Sister of
Mercy-Retirement Village-Banyo) is still alive in her late 90's and has more stories
to tell.
Michael Costello's Family
Michael had three sons himself, Tom and Martin
and Michael, and two daughters, Bridget and Mary.
The story goes that the local schoolteacher told Michael, (the Dad,) that his younger son,
Martin, was bright enough to win a scholarship to Nudgee, a famous
Catholic school in Brisbane (where some great-grandsons go today)
but the old man, believing in the traditional privileging of the eldest son over the
youngest, didn't heed the advice and Martin never took the scholarship exam, and hence had
little formal schooling.
Tom, the eldest, inherited the little property at Wanora, and Martin
got a job in the railways, where he worked as a night porter and took postings all over
the state, even as far north as Kuranda on the Atherton Tableland.
Grandfather Martin Costello-
"a self-educated man."
In his
career as a railway man, Martin educated himself by reading by candlelight after
work. He was a self-educated and widely read man and loved to read authors such as
Huxley.
He met and married Catherine Cahill, from another local family that had
originated in Ireland.
The front verandah of the station master's house in Ipswich, we are told, was a book
discussion and lending library where Martin entertained members of Parliament and
clergy and hotel keepers discussing the latest book, or the latest politics. Martin was
keenly interested in the affairs of his day and an active member of the Labor movement.
Grandmother's Family-The Cahill's
Margaret Catherine Cahill 1886-1950 marries Martin
Costello 1890-1938
Her immediate family-brothers and
sisters- consisted of:-
Lillian Cahill
(single)...
Our "Aunt Lill"
Michael Patrick
Cahill...
single-killed in World War I
John Daniel
Cahill...
married Mary? (Uncle Jack)
Eileen Ann
Cahill... married
Steve Kinnane
Pauline
Cahill... single
"Aunty Poppie"
Theresa Josephine Cahill... single "Aunt
Tess"
The Cahill's side of the story
Before the first world war, Martin Costello married Margaret Catherine
Cahill. Catherine (always called Kate) was the eldest daughter of a Townsville
family. Her father was a Cahill, a man who worked in the prison service and was a warden
at Stewart Creek prison in Townsville. Her mother was a Molloy, a well
established family in Townsville, and she was trained as a nursing sister. Molloys were a
name associated with a well known jewelery store in Townsville.
Both husband and wife worked as a team in the prisons, and were posted to Toowoomba
where Kate was born, and later to Roma where her Dad was the Superintendent.
While in Roma, both parents contracted the unmentionable disease of the day, TB, and
died within a few months of each other, leaving a young family and no one to take care for
them.
Chasing Escaped Convicts
Another story says that the father was chasing an escaped convict gang-
bushrangers- known as the The Caniffe brothers who were captured and later hung. He
died of heat exhaustion on the trail. And the mother died in childbirth. Maybe there is
some truth in both accounts.
A family of Orphans
The youngest, Tess, went to live as a home helper at the
Byrne's family home,"Munature" in Ipswich pictured
here.
(Granny Byrne was a Cahill) Eileen and Lillie
went to board at Saint Anne's convent, a part of All Hallows boarding school ( the
poorer part) and then went on to work as domestics in various schools like Glenny Grammar,
Ipswich Boy's Grammar, and in Glen Innes.
Jack, a young boy, was taken to live with his uncle at
Biggenden, in the Gayndah area, and later, joined the railways. Pat
(Michael) and Pauline (Poppie) went to live with the Crowley's
(who were cousins-Mrs.Crowley was a Cahill) at Crowleyvale, outside Laidley in the
Lockyer Valley. Poppie lived with the Crowleys for many years and well into her adult
life. Michael Pat couldn't wait to escape the farm and joined the army during the
first world war and was killed in action in France.
Kate (
the eldest- she was 14 when her parents died) was able to secure a job working as a
housekeeper at the Ipswich Catholic Presbytery. During her years of service there, one of
the curates was a priest by the name of James Duhig, later to become the famous Archbishop
of Brisbane.
Raising a Family while on the move
At 28 years old, Catherine married Martin Costello.
They met up at Gayndah where Kate was housekeeping for Monsignor Brady, and Martin was
working in the railways in the area. They were married by Monsignor Brady in the Gayndah
Church around 1915.
Martin had advanced in the railway service and was soon a station master. The family
moved around and lived in railway houses in Kadanga- near Gympie (where Martin, Steve and
Margaret-the eldest three- were born in Gympie hospital, a hospital where their nephew,
Steve Costello is now superintendent))
Next they transferred to Wulcaraka (where Bernard and Monica were born) In 1925,
the family moved to Ipswich (where Moreen and Terry, the twins and Jim, were born.) Their
Dad Martin was the station master.
Ipswich was a major railway town because the interstate trains from Sydney to Brisbane
went through there, before the Kyogle link was built.
Ipswich also housed major railway workshops.
A Railway Family
The family lived in the station master's house beside the station. To be the station
master was a position of some importance in a railway town and often, Martin had the duty
of being a member of the official welcoming party to any important guests arriving in the
city.
Welcoming the Royals to Ipswich
The story goes that he had to introduce the Duke of Gloucester, and the future George
VI and the late Queen Mother to the Lord Mayor and other town officials during one
Royal visit. The children sometimes could see into the carriages where the dignitaries
were seen dressing to get ready for their formal civic welcome. The home faced on to the
station.
A man of strong principles
Martin was a fierce anti-English and anti-War campaigner, and an active member and
branch secretary of the local Labor Party until one strike in the early 1920's where he
believed the strikers cause was unjustified. He manned the station so that the interstate
trains could go through even though it was picketed. His children, Margaret and Steven,
had to run the gauntlet of picketers to get food to their father. After that, he was
expelled from the party.
The circumstances causing the strike followed from the Depression years where Martin
had to decide what half of the work-force had to be laid off. Painfully, good staff were
let go, but the following year, the Union decided to strike for extra pay. Martin
felt in conscience that it was unfair to be asking for more money when half their
work-mates didn't even have jobs anymore and many families were starving. Martin had a
deep sense of social justice.
In 1936, Martin was transferred to South Brisbane as Station Master and the family
moved from Ipswich to Milne Street, Clayfield, not far from Saint Columban's, the school
that the youngest, Jim, attended.
The Death of Grandfather Martin 1938
Martin Costello died when he was only 48 years old, of cancer
that spread to his kidneys causing renal failure. The year was 1938.
Martin left his wife with 8 children, four of whom were still at school. It was left to
Catherine and the elder children to provide for the household and raise the younger four.
Martin, (jnr) the eldest, was a schoolteacher working on the
Darling Downs. Steve was teaching at Palmwoods. Marg
had just left Teachers College (Turbot Street Brisbane) and was teaching at Bulimba and Bernard
had left Teacher's College and had started work with the Commonwealth Bank. The other four
children were still at primary school.
Martin( snr) had been sick for a year and after some time in the Mater hospital, he
fell into a coma. Bernard went to the police to contact his two eldest brothers, Martin
and Steve, who were able to be there when their father died. Margaret arrived just
after. He was buried from Saint Mary's Church in Ipswich and interred in the Ipswich
cemetery. The priest was Monsignor Baldwin, a close friend of his.
Martin had dropped his life insurance to educate the children and the railways had no
superannuation scheme. The family had no income except that which the older children
could provide. When Martin died, the family moved into a house in Miles Street, Clayfield,
a home which the family then decided to purchase.
Family Finances
When war came and Steve enlisted in the AIF, he and Margaret discussed the
family finances and determined that the debt on the house was 450 pounds. Steve decided to
make the insurance cover on his life to cover the debt. He wanted to cover all options to
make sure that his mother would be able to keep the house, should he not survive his war
service.
The other arrangement was to have Margaret declared his next of kin and his
superannuation was taken out of her wages. These were the financial arrangements a
family had to make to ensure the family had a house to rear the younger children.
The War Years 1939-1945
When war broke out, Steve joined the infantry in 1941. As well as
being a popular teacher, he had been a very active member of the scouting and life-saving
movement (the Maroochydore Lifesaving Club.) He had played cricket and football around the
Nambour district and was a favorite debutante partner for the girls. With the rank of
sergeant, he was sent to defend Singapore. When Singapore fell to the Japanese in February
1942, the family lost contact with Steve and believed that he was either missing or killed
in action. This deeply affected his mother, Catherine, and she developed asthma and other
heart complaints.
News of Steve's Death 1943
It wasn't until late 1943 that the family got official word that Steve was dead, killed
by the Japanese Imperial Army when Singapore fell. His body was never recovered but a
memorial plaque was erected by the army at the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore. It would
take another 40 years before members of the family were able to visit the site. On one of
those occasions, Steve's nephew said a requiem mass around the memorial joined by some nuns
who had entertained Australian troops like Steve before they themselves were
interned. The memorial is not far from where Steve fell.
Bernard was working in the Commonwealth Bank in Clayfield and had left to join the
army. He was in Townsville during the time the Japanese sent isolated bombers to attack
the town. He wanted to join the Air Force but Catherine would not sign the papers until
later.
Bernard trained and then went to England via Canada and the USA to fly with RAF Bomber
Command. For many months, the family did not hear from him. When he did send letters, he
was careful not to tell his mother of the danger he was in. He was actually flying bombing
raids over Germany.
Marriages in the Family
Back home, Margaret had been teaching at Laidley in the Lockyer Valley and met up with
a Victorian army man who had been invalided out of New Guinea. He was attending mass at
Holy Cross where he met Martin, and came home to join the traditional Sunday morning
"tea and scones" with the family.
Marg and this soldier, Kevin Brody, married in December, 1944 at Holy Cross
Church, Woolowin. The celebrant was Father Dernis Byrne, a priest who was Marg's second
cousin. They then moved to Victoria where Marg and Kevin taught in country schools
around the state, including along the border and Murray river areas such as Boangilla
where much post-war immigration was to be centered, and where the Snowy Mountain Scheme
was underway.
Leaving Home
This marriage meant the eldest daughter was leaving the family, and two of the eldest
sons were either dead or missing in the war. Kate understandably wasn't too happy to say
goodbye to her daughter.
Martin married Catherine (Kit) Woods, Berny married a Welsh nurse he had met in
the UK, viz Ely, Muriel Thompson, Moreen married Bill Sheehan, Terry married Les Raymer.
Berny brought his bride home from England and they lived with the family for a time.
Grandmother Kate's Death 1950
The war years took a heavy toll on Kate Costello. She had lost one
son, Steve, when Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1942. She had another son flying
overseas with Bomber Command, and had not heard any news of him for months.
The story goes that these years broke her physically. In 1950, at the age of 64, she
died of cancer. The youngest son, Jim, had just finished school and was still a
student at Kelvin Grove Teacher's College. The other members of the family, Martin and
Monica, were grown up and working; Martin as a teacher and Mon at the Main Roads
Department.
Bernie remembers the day of the funeral. When it came to the final blessing, there was
a tremendous roar coming from the sky above as a big American bomber lumbered off the
runway at nearby Amberley Airforce base and flew a few hundred feet overhead, almost
in salute.
Aunties in the family
Aunty Kate, Sister Kit's mother, had lived with the family in
Ipswich for a year because she had no other family to go to. Later, Lil who
was Kate's sister, moved in and lived with the family from 1938 till 1946 when she moved
out to provide room for Bernard's bride. Lil had been engaged to a man who was tragically
drowned when taken by a shark at Southport.
What was it like to live with Aunty's? What stories did
they share about the family? Did the maiden aunts fill the key role of main
baby-sitters and story-keepers?
The history of Ireland and of immigration tells us that there
were huge numbers of single folk who never married. The role of the maiden aunt or
unmarried uncle, the part played by couples who have no kids, all these play important
roles in making homes for the extended family. They too have their story even if
they leave no progeny to pass it on to.
Can You fill in the story from here?
This is what I have recorded from some of the chats on my travels. I put them up here
on the web to get more of the family curious, and perhaps to flesh out some of the untold
stories that we need to preserve and tell to the next generation.
