Australian family discover their family roots in County Derry village of Park

An Australian family have visited a County Derry village to discover their family roots.

Maureen Majer (nee Donaghey) and her daughters Julie and Sonya travelled from their home in Queensland to Ireland last week in an effort to unlock their family history.

On Wednesday, the trio travelled to Park village, where 85 year-old Maureen's grandfather, John Donaghey (Vallee), hailed from.

John, who was born in the Tireighter area of the village, emigrated to Australia as a young man with his brother Denis in the late 1800s.

After initially working in Mount Morgan gold mines, he went on to travel to Sydney before discovering a place called Mullumbimby in New South Wales where he obtained 640 acres of land, a lot of it covered in cedar wood trees, and he made a living cutting down and selling timber. With the money he earned he purchased a herd of beef cattle and set up a farm on the land which he later divided into four sections.

In 1904, John was joined in Australia by fellow Park men, his nephews Big Paddy and John Donaghey (jnr), along with their neighbour Michael Lynch.

John (snr), Big Paddy and Michael went on to marry three sisters – the Dooleys.

John and his wife Margaret had eight children, five boys and three girls – one of whom was Maureen's father.

On Wednesday, Maureen and her daughters were delighted to visit the Donaghey family home, which is still standing on the Tireighter Road.

PICTURED ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Sonya Majer, Maureen Majer and Julie Majer pictured at the homeplace of Maureen's grandfather, John Donaghey, who emigrated from Park to Australia.

They were accompanied by Maureen's first cousin, Peter Gahan, a native of Australia who now lives in Belfast, and Geraldine Lagan, who was born in Tireighter but lives in Ballinascreen.

“This is my first visit here and I am just lost in time,” said Maureen.

“While we were in the house there, Peter said to us 'let's just take a minute'. We were all quiet and thinking to ourselves what it must have been like here back in the day, everything done by hand, a mother with seven children, it must have been tough.

“I always knew that they (my ancestors) came from Park. My late husband and I came to the border in the early days when you couldn't come any further and then we never came back to Ireland but today's the day.”

Maureen continued: “We had a reunion back in 2019 at Federal in New South Wales and 130 of John Donaghey's descendants came. We were there and each family had one spokesperson. Peter sent some things from Ireland from his family and each person spoke about what their family had done in Australia and each one spoke with great love of John Donaghey and his bravery to come to Australia. It's just amazing, it's real history and you never think of yourself being part of that.

“These young men left Ireland as they were just looking for a better life.

“My grandfather sent back money home to Park for his sister to come out to Australia but their father said he wasn't going to let his daughter go out to a pagan country like Australia so the money went to other people in Park, who emigrated.

“We will now go home and share our visit and what we have learned here with the rest of the family. It was great to be accompanied by people who know the history,” she added.

Peter's mother, who was John and Margaret Donaghey's eldest child, has been bringing extended family members to the ancestral home for many years.

“I live in Belfast, I married an Irish lass, so I found out from Maureen's relatives about Park and about this place so I have been here lots of times. I bring other Australian family and friends here and when I look around these hills and the valleys, especially the area where he was, they look like the area where he went to live in Australia. It feels familiar,” said Peter.

John Donaghey (snr), who became a successful farmer and businessman, had a bridge on his property named after him at Wilson's creek.

During his life he also was Mayor of Mullumbimby while his nephew Paddy, who went on to establish a sugar-cane farm with his friend Mickey Lynch, became Lord Mayor of a town called Willa Willa. Mickey also had his turn as Mayor of the same town.

John Donaghey (snr) passed away in 1914 at the age of 64 after becoming ill with cancer. His wife Margaret died in 1936.

For Maureen's daughters Julie and Sonya, getting to see where their great-grandfather hailed from has been a great experience.

Julie, a former Olympic swimmer, who was on the Australian swim team during the 90s, and had great success over the years, said: “Theoretically this is my mother's last hurrah, it was one of her bucketlist items so for us to be with her is pretty special.

“It's beautiful here. Mum may not be back but I hope to return again,” she added.