Connell Family

Bridget Connell (nee McMahon)
Bridget, daughter of Michael McMahon and Bridget (nee O'Loughlin) was born c. 1844 in Kildysart, County Clare, Ireland. On 10 May 1855 the McMahon family including Bridget and her siblings Maria, Ellen, Hannah and Michael travelled to Australia abord the 'John Davis'.

She married Gerald Connell on 24 August 1864 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Ipswich, Queensland.  She was a housewife and publican. 

Bridget and Gerald's children included:

• Maria Josephine Teresa, born 19 May 1865 in Pring Street, Ipswich, died 28 December 1913.
• John, born ca 1867.
• Ellen Elizabeth Magdalene, born about 1869, died 06 September 1939.
• Hannah Bridget, born about 1872, died 14 September 1950.
• Agnes Teresa, born about 1876 in Warwick, d. unknown.
• Mary Teresa, born about 1878 in Warwick, d. unknown
• Gerald Augustus Connell, born about 1880 in Warwick, died 27 October 1947 at Collinsville.

Seventeen years after the death of her husband Gerald, Bridget married Phillip Dalton on 27 September 1898 at the Roman Catholic Presbytery in Rockhampton. Bridget died on 11 July 1899 at Mt Morgan.

Gerald Connell
Gerald was born in 15 June 1841 in Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW. He was baptised on  24 July 1841 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Sydney. Gerald’s father was Peter Connell and his mother was Ellen nee Piggott. 

Gerald lived at Little Ipswich and in Pring Street, Ipswich and his occupation was that of a horse trader. He died on 24 July 1881 in Warwick, Queensland.

Ellen Connell (nee Piggott)
Ellen, daughter of Jarret Piggot and Ellen (nee Quinn) was born about 1816 in Country Galway, Ireland.  Ellen married Peter Connell in May 1839 in Gort, County Galway, Ireland and approximately nine years later they moved to Australia.

Ellen and Peter’s children included:

• Gerald Connell, born 15 June 1841 in Pitt Street, Sydney.
• Elizabeth Mary, born 28 August 1845 in Bathurst, New South Wales, died 1 December 1903 in Warwick.
• Mary Ann, born 14 June 1849 in Brisbane, died 26 May 1923 in Rockhampton.
• Ellen Connell, born 25 May 1850 in Ipswich, Queensland.
• John Augustine, born 31 August 1851 in Ipswich, Queensland.
• Ida Agnes born about 1856 in Ipswich, died 4 May 1920 at Percy Street, Warwick.
• Honorie Maria, born 19 March 1857 in Ipswich, death date not known.

Ellen died on 28 March 1868 in Warwick, Queensland.

Peter Connell
Peter was born about 1815 in County Galway, Ireland.  Peter travelled to Australia with his wife Ellen aboard ‘The Alfred’ which arrived in Sydney c.1848 and he moved to Moreton Bay c.1849-1850.  When he moved to Moreton Bay, he lived in Little Ipswich and was a Carpenter by trade.  He was listed in the “Blue Books” (public service appointments list) for 1850 as Poundkeeper at Limestone Hills (later Ipswich) and he held the licence of the “Bush Inn” at Fassifern near Ipswich in 1866. The Inn dates from around 1842 and was mentioned in several articles of the “Moreton Bay Courier” newspaper.  Peter Connell’s eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth married James Jones Kingsford there on 25 Aug 1865, the marriage ceremony being conducted by the bridegroom’s father the Reverend Thomas Kingsford. 

Peter died on 16 July 1895 in Dalveen, Queensland and was buried at the Warwick Cemetery on 17 July 1895.