In 1852 there were a number of news reports about well to do Limerick families who left for the Gold Coast, Australia. Those who left were:
A merchant Patrick O’Brien and family
Patrick Kelly and family,
Terence O’Brien
Edward Hogan
Each of these families brought with them domestics servants and labourers whose names were not recorded.
To ensure a comfortable home on their arrival both Kelly and O’Brien took with them ‘the frame works and fittings in iron and timber of a complete house, which can be raised and struck in fifteen minutes. Those who have seen the ingenious fabric described it as most capacious and comfortable, with silting, sleeping rooms, and kitchen.’
The final family was that of Miles Monckton (known locally as Miley Muntin) a member of the landed gentry, of Ballingarry and Thomas Street. His wife Margaret Bevan, their son Miles William, and daughters. The couple married on 14 Jul 1832 in St John’s Church. In 1847, their infant daughter Eliza passed away in Catherine Street, Limerick. On 12 July 1856, their daughter Annie married Robert Hawley in Melbourne, Australia. Their son Miles William passed away on the 23 August 1860 at Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia, their daughter Eliza also passed away that year aged only 17.
Miles returned to Limerick in 1868 and became embroiled in a court case lasting five years. The case involved the sum of £4,000 which Miles claimed was owed to him by John W Braddel after he acquired the Monckton estate of Lisduane, near Granna, Co. Limerick in 1851. Braddel was married to one of Miles’ sisters. Braddel was shot in Tipperary a few years previously and his children were the defendants in the case. For over twenty years while Miles was in Australia, both his brother and two sisters passed away. Miles was also presumed dead. This resulted in the Braddel children deeming themselves the heirs to the estate. When Miles returned to Limerick he was looked upon as an intruder and was told that he was an imposter.
