On this Day. Ballyshannon Remembers and Names 19 Girls shipped to Sydney Australia

Mr. Robert Owen- Jones of the Australian Embassy laying a wreath, on behalf of the Australian
   people, at the Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon along with local historian Anthony Begley. 

On this Day 13th February we remember and name 19 Orphan Girls aged 14-18 from Ballyshannon, Belleek Mulleek and Kinlough areas who were shipped to Australia. In these challenging times it is worth remembering these girls who faced enormous difficulties, but survived and contributed to Australian society. Can you help to find any relations in the areas above? The Australian Embassy in Dublin visited Ballyshannon to lay a wreath and thank the local community for remembering the girls . They are remembered at the Famine Orphan Girls Memorial, the only one of its kind in Ireland, beside the Workhouse in Ballyshannon. They landed in Sydney on this day 13th February.

Why were 19 girls shipped from Ballyshannon to Australia at the height of the Great Famine? A government scheme called the Earl Grey Scheme shipped 4,000 girls from Irish Workhouses to Australia to make up for a shortfall in Australia of female workers for domestic work and ultimately for marriage.

The 19 orphan girls had left Ballyshannon in November 1848 and made their way under supervision to Plymouth in England. There they joined up with some orphan girls from other Irish workhouses and made the long journey to Sydney in Australia on board a ship called “The Inchinnan.” The orphan girls landed in Sydney Harbour on 13th February 1849 after a journey of 106 days. 

19 Orphan girls from Ballyshannon landed in Sydney on 13th February and were placed in Hyde Park Barracks above.

Orphans from Ballyshannon workhouse, along with many of the others, were housed at the Female Immigrant Depot at Hyde Park Barracks at the top of Macquarie Street. The building had previously been a barracks for convicts and had been re-designated as an immigration depot. An orphan committee made up of various sections of the community in Sydney, were now responsible for the welfare of the girls, and they acted as a job placement agency where employers could come and  hire out the Ballyshannon girls. The girls would not have known anyone in Australia and were at the mercy of those who employed them.

Conditions of employment were set by the orphan committee with rates of pay defined by age, and in all cases, they were lower than the prevailing rate in Australia for female servants. This proved an added incentive to employers who had to be cleared by the orphan committee as being suitable employers for the girls. The committee could also give or withhold permission for an orphan to get married. 

Who were these girls and where were they from? Can you help?

 

The 19 girls were from The Ballyshannon area, Belleek and Mulleek areas in Fermanagh and Kinlough in Leitrim and were all inmates in Ballyshannon Workhouse. The girls from Ballyshannon below could be from any of the districts around the town.

Mary Allingham Belleek

Jane Carberry Ballyshannon

Jane Carleton Fermanagh

Ellen Feely Ballyshannon

Sally Lennon Belleek or Mulleek

Margaret  and Ann McBride sisters born in Ballyshannon and Belleek

Letitia and Mary McCrea sisters born in Ballyshannon and Fermanagh

Mary Ann and Sarah McDermott sisters Belleek and Ballyshannon 

Jane McGowan Kinlough

Mary McGowan Kinlough

Mary McGuire Mulleek Fermanagh

Ann Muldoon Mulleek fermanagh

Rose Reel U.S.A.

Ann Rooney Ballyshannon

Biddy Smith Ballyshannon

Margaret Sweeney Ballyshannon

Can you help? These girls would still have relatives in the areas listed above. Can you trace any connection? 

There have been lots of connections with relatives in Australia but so far none in the areas above. Further blogs will tell how the girls got on in Australia thanks to contacts with their descendants there.

Orphan Girls Memorial in Ballyshannon - the only one of its kind in Ireland 

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. 

Also available signed copies, and inscriptions, for postage or collection from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/  5  Members of Parliament from Ballyshannon/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.