There had been a piece on page three of the Irish Times just two days ago headlined ‘Leading bookmaker buys County Kerry estate’. The article described how Donoghue and his family had purchased a considerable holding, Rathgarven, on the shores of the Kenmare River in County Kerry, which had been in the O’Sullivan family for generations.
The O’Sullivans are reportedly moving to New South Wales, where Mr O’Sullivan is to become a business partner with a fellow Irishman, Finn Malone, a prominent horse breeder, at his stud Eureka Park in the New England area.
When Kathleen saw this article she had scrunched up the newspaper in fury and thrown it in the fire, then grabbed her overcoat and gone for a walk down by the shore. She picked up a handful of stones and hurled them into the cove. It was two hours later, after catching her horse, Tolly, and riding through the woods and galloping up to the rocky, gorse-covered hills she loved so much, before she could bring herself to go back to the house.
Donoghue now checked his flashy watch. ‘I be having a meeting back in Killarney in a couple of hours, so the sooner we can look around the better.’
‘Of course,’ Kathleen said. ‘Let’s start in the kitchen.’ She looked at Mrs Donoghue. ‘I gather you’re bringing your own help; all the same, you might like to have Maisie show you around.’
‘Ah, that won’t be necessary. I be leaving the kitchen to Nora. The main part of the house will do fine.’
‘Oh, very well then.’
As they walked around the house, with Mrs Donoghue oohing and ahhing, and the children looking blankly, Kathleen thought she really would lose it. Somehow she managed to keep it together until they were at the front door again before James took them to look at the gardens and drive them around the estate.
‘Goodbye,’ she said, standing on the front porch. ‘I hope you’re very happy here.’
Mrs Donoghue stepped forward. ‘Ah, indeed we will. And may you enjoy your new life in Australia. Never been there myself, but I hear it be devilish hot.’ She looked down the hallway. ’Tis a grand home you’ve sold us, Mrs O’Sullivan,’ she added.
Sold? Had stolen, more likely, Kathleen thought bitterly.
‘If you’re half as happy as we’ve been living here, you’ll be fortunate,’ she said, trying to control her emotions, and turned away in case they could see the tears in her eyes. Going back inside, she shut the door and leant against its cool surface. More than ever she was pleased that she and James had found good homes for all the horses and, as yet, despite the children’s begging, they hadn’t replaced their beloved labrador, Saffron, when she had died of old age earlier in the year. To think of that family having their animals was too much to bear. After some time she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. I’ve shed enough tears, she thought. I’ve no energy to shed any more.
Instead, she went to the kitchen to see what she could plan for supper. The family’s second last meal at Rathgarven.
* * *
It was dull and overcast on the day Grandma left Rathgarven for her hotel in Dublin, where she was to meet up with a woman called Bette, who was to be her companion and carer. Yesterday Lillie and her family had gone as usual to Sunday mass at St Patrick’s in Tahilla, and Father Downey, the parish priest, had farewelled them from the pulpit.
‘May we wish the O’Sullivan family good luck on their journey to Australia. God be with them on their travels.’ Lillie saw him look at Grandma. ‘And we wish Mrs O’Sullivan all the best in Dublin.’
Lillie wondered whether, if Father Downey knew why they were leaving Rathgarven, he would be so generous in his wishes.
Afterwards the women of the church put on a morning tea and Lillie said goodbye to Sheelagh, who was going to Cork the next day to start back at school.
‘I’ll miss you so much,’ Lillie said with tears in her eyes.
‘You lucky thing, going to Australia,’ Sheelagh said. ‘You make sure you write and tell me all about it. And don’t you dare forget me.’
Now with all Grandma’s suitcases in the back of the car at Rathgarven, Ma wheeled her out the front door. Beside them was Dad, who had such a sad look in his eyes that, despite her anger at what he had done, Lillie felt sorry for him. She looked at Grandma, who as usual was stoic and trying to make the best of things. She even had a small smile on her face. As had Ma. Lillie had a feeling that if Ma allowed that smile to disappear she would break down. Beside Lillie stood Ronan, Marcus and Freddie, who was doing little to stop the tears running down his cheeks. A little further off were Paddy and Maisie. It was almost as if it was a funeral and everyone was standing around to farewell the coffin. But of course Grandma wasn’t dead. But would she die before Lillie and her family ever saw her again?
Now Grandma opened her arms and beckoned Freddie over. Within a second he was by her side. First of all he held Mandrake up to say goodbye, then put him on the ground and held Grandma tight with his tiny arms. He laid his head on her shoulder and tears fell onto her coat.
‘I’ll miss you so much,’ he spluttered. ‘I wish you’d come with us.’
‘And I’ll miss you, darling,’ Grandma said. ‘But what an adventure you’ve got before you, you lucky boy.’ She looked around the rest of the children. ‘What an adventure for all of you.’
She then beckoned Marcus over. Lillie could see there was no way he was going to blubber. Instead, he leant down and gave Grandma a kiss on the cheek and moved away. Now Grandma asked Ronan to come to her. Like Marcus, he wasn’t going to show his distress; nonetheless, Lillie was sure there were tears there waiting to flood out. She watched him lean down and kiss Grandma. And watched Grandma put her hand on his shoulder.
‘You make sure you look after your brothers and sister. Particularly,’ she chuckled, ‘make sure you keep those ghastly snakes away from them all.’
Ronan smiled. ‘Of course I will, Grandma.’
Lillie saw him turn his head and he moved away, standing with his back to everyone. She was sure now that he was crying. And as Grandma held out her hand for Lillie, she too burst into tears and rushed over.
‘Now, now, Lillie,’ Alice said. ‘No more of that or you’ll flood the river before I even leave.’
Lillie wiped her eyes. ‘I love you, Grandma.’ She leant down and gave her a hug and a kiss. ‘I’ll miss you so much.’
‘Well, make sure you write to me often,’ Alice said. ‘And I’ll write to you often as well.’
Before Dad helped her in the car, Maisie and Paddy came over to say a final goodbye. This was too much for Lillie, who turned away.
‘Come on, Freddie,’ she said. ‘Let’s take Mandrake down to the gate and wave Grandma goodbye from there.’
Lillie thought this was better than standing around blubbering, which was bound to upset Grandma. But as the car drove past them at the gate and disappeared down the avenue, she burst out crying again. Then looking at Freddie’s heaving body, she wiped her eyes and pulled herself together.
‘I’m sure Grandma will be okay,’ she said, kneeling down and putting an arm around him. ‘She told me she’s quite looking forward to going to that hotel.’
‘But she’ll miss us so much,’ Freddie sobbed.
‘I know. And we’ll miss her too. But there’s nothing we can do about it. And Grandma wouldn’t want us to be too sad.’ She patted Mandrake. ‘Why don’t you and Mandrake come down and talk to Merlin with me?’
‘Are you sad he’s going to the Fitzpatricks? He’s going to be Hugh’s horse now.’
‘Yes, but Hugh said he’d look after him for me. And I know he will.’
‘What about Ma and Dad’s horses? They’ll be sad too.’
‘They’ve gone to nice homes. Ma said so. Someone they know through hunting.’
‘Do you think Paddy and Maisie will like working for the Fitzpatricks?’
When the Fitzpatricks heard that the O’Sullivans were moving to Australia they had offered Maisie and Paddy jobs at Drominderry House.
‘I know they like Lord and L
ady Fitzpatrick a lot, and of course they really like Hugh.’
Freddie clutched Mandrake in one hand and Lillie’s hand in the other as they walked through the front meadow to find Merlin. ‘Will Paddy look after Mandrake properly?’
‘I’m sure he will. Particularly if you leave him a sort of care box with instructions and a sample of all his favourite foods.’
‘What if we hate Australia? It’s a long way away if we want to come back.’
‘It’ll be a lot different to here. And much warmer. So we should be able to swim more. There’s lots of beaches and Ma said there’s a lovely river in front of the house at Eureka Park … and Uncle Finn will be looking forward to us coming …’
As she went on trying to cheer Freddie up, Lillie found that she was cheering up a bit as well. She pulled her coat around her against the stiff breeze. Even though she would miss Rathgarven and the Kenmare River dreadfully, if it was warmer than here maybe Australia wouldn’t be that bad after all.
PART TWO
From the open sea to Australia 1963
CHAPTER
9
Lillie stood on board the boat that would take them to the Tilbury Docks in London, where they would board the Orient liner SS Orcades for Australia. She stood with her back to the Dublin docks, unable to look. When Ronan joined her, he did a very uncharacteristic thing and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
‘Turn around, li’l sis,’ he said, trying to sound jovial. ‘Say goodbye. You don’t want to think later that you turned your back on Ireland.’ He laughed, but it had a sad twinge to it. ‘I promise you that within five years I’ll bring you home if you want. I promised Grandma I’d be home before I turn twenty-one.’
‘I’m coming home long before five years. Grandma will be getting so old by then. I promised her I’ll come back as soon as I get my first job and can pay for my passage. I’ll leave school early and start working.’
‘Be it as you like. Remember my offer, though. One day you might regret not accepting it.’
Lillie looked at him standing there, trying to be so blasé. ‘And what about Clara?’
‘What about her?’
‘She’ll be sad she can’t come to Rathgarven any more.’ She paused. ‘To see you.’
Ronan looked out to sea and Lillie thought he suddenly seemed very sad. ‘She’ll miss us all,’ he said, turning around.
‘Did you write to her to tell her what’s happening?’
‘Yeah. I gave her Uncle Finn’s address to write to.’
‘Oh. Did you tell her what really happened? I mean … not the version that we’re supposed to tell everyone.’
‘Lillie, that’s the only version. Forget the other one, okay. Accept what’s happened. There’s not a darn thing we can do about it. So we might as well make the best of it.’
‘Holier than thou, St Ronan,’ Lillie whispered meanly in his ear. ‘Trying to see the good in everything!’
But as she said it, she thought Ronan was probably right. There was nothing they could do about leaving Ireland and going to Australia, so she might as well try and do what he said and make the best of it. She looked along the deck to where Freddie was playing with another boy and doing handstands. Sad as he was to leave Rathgarven and Grandma, he seemed to have forgotten already. If only Lillie was seven years old and could forget like that.
Twenty-four hours later, after spending the night in a hotel at Tilbury Docks, the family was ensconced on the Orcades heading down the English Channel. Surprisingly, Lillie found that she loved shipboard life, particularly the sound of the waves and the gentle movement of the huge vessel through the water. She was given one of the top bunks, which meant she could spread her things out. With the curtain pulled around, she even had some privacy. She enjoyed playing quoits and shuttlecock with Ronan, as well as swimming with him and her younger brothers in the pool on the main deck. Not that flying was an option because it was so expensive, but coming by ship and stopping off at ports along the way gave them a chance to adapt to life away from Ireland. When they were in a port she sent lots of postcards to Sheelagh and her other friends at school and to Grandma, Maisie and Paddy. She even sent one to Clara and wondered if Ronan had as well.
Now as she looked over the railings on the deck and saw the Western Australian coast come into sight, she couldn’t believe how quickly the trip had gone. She would be sad to leave the Orcades, as all the crew were so friendly and she would miss them heaps. Standing beside Ronan she held onto her yellow spotted sunhat in the strong breeze.
‘The first sight of our new land, eh?’ Ronan said. ‘I bet there’s many an Irishman who’s said that over the years.’ He brushed his mass of wind-blown hair out of his eyes. ‘Impressive, eh!’
Pulling her sunhat down against the scorching sunshine, Lillie laughed and wiped the perspiration off her top lip. ‘Dad was right about one thing. It sure is hot.’
Freddie rushed up to them. ‘What do you think, young Fred?’ Ronan asked.
‘It’s exciting.’ He grabbed Lillie’s hand. ‘Isn’t it, Lillie?’
Looking at the coastline getting closer and closer, she squeezed his hand tight. He was right. In a way it was exciting to see the land that was to become their new home.
* * *
Two weeks later, after a rough crossing of the Great Australian Bight, and stopping overnight in Melbourne, where due to an industrial strike the passengers weren’t allowed off the ship, Kathleen stood on the deck in the midst of her family as the Orcades steamed along the coast towards Sydney Heads. What struck her more than anything else was the colour of the sky, a wonderful clear blue spreading to eternity. Leaning over the starboard railings, she could see long stretches of white sand with tiny specks swimming off the shore. Behind one beach there appeared to be a shopping strip and masses of brick houses with red tiled roofs, then the occasional block of flats, and one or two taller buildings. Another passenger had told her she’d often swum on Bondi Beach, famous around the world for its huge stretch of white sand. Kathleen peered closer. Was that beach Bondi? With the movement of the ship Kathleen wasn’t sure if the photograph she was trying to take would come out clearly, so instead she lined the children against the railings and took a photo of them. Years on it would be interesting to look back and analyse each child’s emotions: Freddie’s and Marcus’s wonderment etched all over their glowing faces, Ronan’s quiet intent and Lillie’s wariness — though Kathleen noticed she was also quite excited.
And if someone were to take a photo of Kathleen? In years to come what would people see in her face? Would they spot what was beneath the surface? Or would they see a woman of a certain age, nervous, yet caught up in the excitement of the moment? And what about James? She gave her husband a small smile, then went over and squeezed his elbow.
‘Ma, look! Up there,’ Ronan said, pointing to a white stone lighthouse on the top of a headland at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
As he lifted his arm, a letter fell out of his pocket. Hurriedly, he picked it up and put it back but not before Kathleen recognised Clara’s handwriting. She thought of saying something, then decided not to. But it was funny that he should carry a letter from Clara around with him. He really must be smitten. Poor Ronan. If Clara did by chance end up anything like her mother, he had a tough road ahead of him.
Soon the Orcades turned left, pointing her huge bow into the harbour. Now Kathleen could see real excitement in Ronan’s brown eyes, and she reached out and hugged him close. As the ship moved slowly through the water Kathleen stood with her eldest son and her husband in a tight embrace.
Of all her children Kathleen felt Ronan would find it hardest to adjust. At an age when boys were likely to bully, he was the one who would have the most difficult time settling into a new school in a new country. Aside from anything else his accent would set him apart. Girls were somehow kinder. Kathleen felt sure that Lillie, despite her misgivings, would fit in well. And Marcus and Freddie would bamboozle their way into anyone’s
life, refusing to believe they weren’t liked.
‘Well, my darling,’ she said to Ronan. ‘There’s no going back now, is there? And I must say it does look impressive.’
Ronan gave a bright smile, which went a little way to reassuring Kathleen that he had put the sadness of losing Rathgarven behind him.
‘It sure does look incredible,’ he said. ‘Take a look at that blue water. Irish seas often seem so grey and dismal. Not that I’m being disloyal. It’s kind of how it is.’
Further on there were mansions with lush gardens rambling down to the harbour; some had a jetty at the bottom and a glossy wooden cruiser tied up alongside. It looked so very different to Ireland. Peering through the black binoculars James had given her as a birthday present, Kathleen was sure that despite the ship’s engines, she could hear the screech of the red and blue rosellas and the white cockatoos perched in the branches of the trees. Lowering the binoculars, she picked up her camera and took a photo.
‘Ma! Ma!’ Freddie called excitedly. ‘Look over here!’
Kathleen turned and saw the bridge, a massive steel crescent spanning the harbour, with a riot of rainbow spinnakers sailing underneath. She wasn’t sure at first whether the bridge was beautiful or ugly. It was certainly impressive.
‘Do you want to perch your camera on my shoulder?’ Lillie asked. ‘It’ll steady your arm and make it easier to photograph — sort of like a tripod.’
‘What a good idea!’ Kathleen said, leaning against the wooden railings and lifting her camera onto her daughter’s shoulder. Eyeing the huge steel bridge through the lens, she decided it was beautiful after all. She wondered if the ship would go under the bridge, but before they reached it a large tugboat edged the ship to what she later discovered was the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, and weighty knotted ropes were lowered to the men down below. Further on an excited crowd waved banners and bright red, white and blue streamers and there was a band playing.
The Homestead on the River Page 9