The Tyranny of being too far away
The migration of the Irish to Australia meant that there was no going back. The trek
out was no mean feat of endurance- a three month sea voyage- and unless one was
desperately unhappy, and had the means, you stayed and made the most of a new home.
The distance however more than anything else left family ties strained-how could one
keep up with news of home that was so sporadic and so far away. In the Costello
experience, the Australian branch lost all contact with its roots in Ireland. The journey
out was final. For most, there was no going back.
Ireland to Australia
The saga of the Costello family began when four members of the one family,
Bridget and Mary, Michael and Martin left their home village in Menlough, Galway and
embarked on a sea journey to Australia.
We are still not sure when they left or where they embarked and disembarked. Records in
the Queensland State Library show a number of Mary and Bridget Costello's arriving in
Brisbane in 1874 and 1875 but our best estimate would place their departure later, in the
early 1880's. The records are probably there waiting for a sleuth to discover.
Later on, James and John come out, and story goes that John returned to Galway where he
probably still has relatives living today.
But apart from John's return, the voyage of three months was a once in a lifetime
event. You came to a new world and had to make it work. There was no going back for
occasional visits.
When James Costello bought a home in Ipswich, Australia, he
called it "Menlough"
after his home village in Galway, but that was as close as the family would come to
Menlough while in Australia.
Menlough as it iis today in Ipswich
One hundred years later
Hence, it took this branch of the Costello family over one hundred years before anyone
returned to Menlough and look over what was once the home of our great great grandparents.
In 1984, Bernard and Muriel and Paul went driving around Ireland and discovered the parish
register that recorded the marriage of Martin Costello and Bridget Flemming in 1844,
the record that proved that this was once the family home.
Who will be next to visit?
The return visit of the Australian Costello's back to the land of the Menlough
Costello's was only a fleeting one- and no living relatives were encountered, although we
thought we knew where to find them. Costello's still ran a shop in the nearby
village. But no one has been back since 1984. What else might be discovered in the region
if one were to go back and have a good look around?
The desire to return is a very human one- and the dream that one can go back to what
one had left. It is not only the dream of those who leave. It is also the desire of those
left behind. In the case of the Thompson side of our family, Grandmother Thompson always
imagined and yearned for the chance to come out to Australia and visit her daughter and
Australian son-in-law and her Australian grandchildren. That's the other story of
migration and return on the Welsh side of the family,
who came from Old South Wales to what was once called New South Wales.
