Most viewed - Carrucan and Sweeney Picture Galleries

Most viewed

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip138 views

1950s early - Mary Carrucan, Jacko Carrucan and a friend138 views

1900 - Theresa Margaret Carrucan (1871-1920) married Edward Bourke at St John's, Heidelberg, Victoria138 viewsMary and Patrick Carrucan had 10 children: Bridget (1858) , Michael (1860) , Susan (1862 ), Patrick (1864 ), Thomas (1866 died as an infant) , Mary Anne (1868 ), Catherine (1869) , Theresa Margaret (1871), Frances (1872 ) and Annie (1874 ).

Around 1900, Theresa Margaret Carrucan (1871-1920) married Edward Bourke at St John's, Heidelberg, Victoria.

They had 5 children
Patrick Leo BOURKE (1902-1961)
Philip Edward Michael (Mick) BOURKE (1904-1971)
Francis James (Frank) BOURKE (1906-1987)
Mary BOURKE (1908-)
Kathleen (Kitty) BOURKE (1914-1995)

Photo passed on by Michael Bourke.

1905 - Plenty Bridge hotel138 viewsSusan (Sue) Carrucan was born in 1862 at Eltham. She was the third eldest child of Patrick Carrucan and Mary 0'Brien.

She met and married Edward Shae Kent (Ned) at Eltham in 1881. Ned Kent was born at Eltham circa 1858 and owned the Plenty Hotel, a pub in Diamond Creek, Christmas Hills and Bulleen and an orchard in Eltham.
This photo, taken in 1905-1907, shows the Plenty Hotel, Plenty Road, Heidelberg (now this area is called Lower Plenty). Photograph sourced from the Victorian State Library

1997 - Eileen O'Sullivan nee Carrucan, Mary Dempsey nee Carrucan on Mary's 80th birthday138 views1997 - Eileen O'Sullivan nee Carrucan, Mary Dempsey nee Carrucan with friend Connie Rice nee Maher on the occasion of Mary's 80th birthday.
Mary, born in 1917, married Wal Dempsey at Kew in Melbourne in 1942.

1940-02 Culla Hill Home Beautiful - Sitting Room138 viewsThe Home Beautiful magazine issue of 1st February 1940 contains a wonderful 6 page article on 'Sweeneys'. This is one of a number of historically significant photos from that article. Peter Cuffley has a copy of the original magazine issue.

1973 Cullahill Farm outbuildings, Parish of Bourney, Tipperary North - taken by Brian Cuffley138 viewsPhoto taken by Brian Cuffley in 1973, when the Guider family were still in residence. Photo shows the barn and outbuildings at Cullahill, Tipperary.

1999 Cullahill Farmhouse, Parish of Bourney, Tipperary North - taken by Brian Cuffley138 viewsBrian Cuffley returned in 1999 and captured the Cullahill homestead in this photo. This is the same homestead that Thomas Sweeney tried to burn down. In those days, it would have had a thatched roof which would have easily caught fire.

1850s Culla Hill Main House - cross view drawing Dr Roger Luebbers138 viewsDr Roger Leubbers' 1997 study of Culla Hill confirms family stories of there being two upstairs spaces which, by their remnant samples of paint and wallpaper, would have been used as bedrooms. These can be seen in the cross section drawing.

Fanore - cemetery-2137 views

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip137 views

1915 approx - Culla Hill original hut - Ellen (Nana) and Kathleen (Cassie) Sweeney with Michael and Frank Carrucan137 viewsNana (Ellen Sweeney) and Cassie (Kathleen Sweeney) proudly pose in front of this humble structure, the first hut built by Thomas Sweeney, possibly as early as 1843. John Francis Sweeney was probably born therein.
The two other figures are Mick Carrucan (who married Mary Sweeney in 1910) and Frank Carrucan, his cousin (who married Kas Sweeney in 1915). We surmise that Frank is either visiting Eltham prior to marrying Kas in December 1915 or they are already married.
It is one of a pair"

Carrucan Family Bible 1137 viewsJohn Sweeney died on 24 May 1909 at age 65 and this Bible was given to his daughter Mary on the occasion of her marriage to Michael Carrucan in 1910. It stayed in their house in Dalton Street until the property was subdivided and the old house demolished in 1976.

The following inscription is found inside the front cover pages

Dec 2nd 1887
I John Sweeney became a teetotaller for twelve months.

This Bible was published in 1877.

1954-01 Gavin Carrucan and Gwen Lodge at the christening of their first child Christine Mary Carrucan137 viewsGavin Carrucan and Gwen Lodge at the christening of their first child Christine Mary Carrucan, who is being held by Gavin's father Francie William Carrucan. Christine is a great great grand daughter of Peter Carrucan and Hannah Woods. Photo sourced from Gavin's and Gwen's son Michael Carrucan and passed on by his nephew Kieran Magee, who is a great great grandson of Peter and Hannah.

1993-11-27 Sweeneys subdivision137 viewsIn late 1993, the Burston family did a major subdivision and sold off a number of 12 allotments, ranging in size from 1 to 3 acres. Once this was done, the Burstons were left with the single house block.
The auction took place in this seated marquee.

1950s or 1960s - Culla Hill homestead east side, Burston family collection137 views

1909-06-16 Nellie Bourke postcard to Frank Ryan - Bridge St and Bourke Residence - Ryan Collection - writing on back137 views Tim Keary, brother of Eliza Bourke married Kate Sweeney. The Bourke residence was named "Woodville" after the town in Galway where the Keary family lived. Tim wrote letters home to the family in Galway from 'Little Eltham' and two of them are in the Sweeney Family book. Nellie has headed this postcard "Woodville" and written "Bourke's Road" at the bottom of the postcard. She writes about last going up to Culla Hill the day John Sweeney was buried in 1909. It is dated 16th of June 1909.

1841-1845 circa Catholic Chapel Melbourne by Henry Gilbert Jones, etcher c1804-1888, State Library of Victoria137 viewsThis engraving is in the collection of the State Library of Victoria. It is by Henry Gilbert Jones who in 1850 purchased Allotment 6 of Portion 5, Parish of Nillumbik and became Sweeney's next neighbour on the west. The picture is dated to c1841-c 1845 which encompasses the time the children of Thomas and Margaret were baptised at St Francis Church. It had not been built when Patrick was baptised in 1839. Jones employed John Sweeney in the 1880s and died in 1888.

Mary Ann (May) Ryan 1889-1937, gravestone at Eltham Cemetery137 viewsEllen Sweeney (1845-1932), one of the daughters of Thomas Sweeney and Margaret Meehan, married John Francis Ryan in 1880 in Coromandel, NZ. Their son Francis Michael (Frank) Ryan (1887-1965) married Mary Ann (May) Smale (1889-1937) in 1916.
The grave of May Ryan nee Smale is close to the Sweeney and Murray graves. May's grandson Peter Cuffley explains further:

My mother said that the North Fitzroy cousins somehow held a gravesite which they gave to Frank Ryan. I am not sure if that meant Nessie Sweeney or Patrick Sweeney's granddaughter Nellie Oliver. I am so glad that my brother Brian and I were inspired to get a properly marked grave which was made by Lodge Brothers, along with a Tynong granite ledger. Visits to the grave had been a regular trip for the family since the burial in 1937. Given that our grandmother convinced the Committee for the Shrine of Remembrance to use Tynong granite, with Lodge brothers re-opening the Tynong quarry in the late 1920s, it was good to have that firm refashion her grave. I did the wording for the headstone and first had it approved by our mum and all the cousins. We had hoped she would be able to be taken to Eltham to see the finished work but it was a long project and she got too frail by then to make the trip. She saw photos and was very pleased.

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip136 views

2003 - Fr Pat Smith with sisters Mary Ann and Margaret136 viewsMyles Patrick (Pat) Smith (1935 -) entered the Christian Brothers' Juniorate at 15 and subsequently taught in various States in Australia and in New Zealand. Due to his health he eventually moved north and worked as a pastoral associate in Charleville, Queensland and then in Texas where he celebrated his Golden Jubilee in 1999. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003, and has now retired to Toowoomba.
This photo shows Fr Pat Smith, newly ordained in 2003, with his sisters Mary Ann and Margaret.

1956 circa - Jamie and Mike Burston at Sweeneys with cows, Burston family collection136 views

1842 Campbell's Wharf Sydney by artist John Skinner Prout136 viewsHaving obtained a Ticket of Leave dated 29th of November 1831, Thomas Sweeney is increasingly reported in Sydney newspaper lists of coastal trading vessels between Wollongong and Sydney. This 1842 view of Campbell's Wharf in Sydney illustrates the Sydney docks as Thomas Sweeney would have known them.
Credit: National Library of Australia.

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip135 views

1937 - Bridget Lane (nee Carrucan) with granddaughter Alice Margaret Ruthven (Peg) nee Lane, daughter of Con Lane135 views1937 - Bridget Lane (nee Carrucan) with granddaughter Alice Margaret Ruthven (Peg) nee Lane, daughter of Con Lane.

Picture taken in Jan 1937 in Busselton, WA. Bridget's daughter Eileen was staying there and Peg travelled with Bridget to Busselton.

1910 approx - Culla Hill original hut - Ellen and Kathleen Sweeney and Michael Carrucan135 viewsNana (Ellen Sweeney) and Cassie (Kathleen Sweeney) proudly pose in front of this humble structure, the first hut built by Thomas Sweeney, possibly as early as 1843. John Francis Sweeney was probably born therein. Mick Carrucan (who married Mary Sweeney in 1910) is also in the picture.

This photo was no doubt taken by Joseph Rance Douie during a weekend visit to Eltham somewhere around the 1910 period or slightly later.
Joseph says on the back of the photo "It is many years since I took this photo ..."

These two photographs of the hut at Culla Hill are also prefect illustrations of the Sweeney family’s use of bush timber. Not only is the hut made split palings, split shingles and hand whittled slabs, the picket fence in the background is again made of split hardwood. We must make the best of these photographs to show how hard-working pioneers like our ancestors could turn the timber on their land into materials for their needs rather than purchase the products of commercial mills. It was the kind of ‘make-do’ ingenuity which bespeaks their humble Irish origins.

1833 Darling Harbour Sydney National Library of Australia135 viewsHaving obtained a Ticket of Leave dated 29th of November 1831, Thomas Sweeney is increasingly reported in Sydney newspaper lists of coastal trading vessels between Wollongong and Sydney. To sail into Sydney was no mean feat as the captain had to negotiate ‘The Heads’, the entrance to Port Jackson, and then navigate a passage to a selected mooring such as in Cockle Bay (Darling Harbour).

1843-03-31 Culla Hill Land Purchase 110 acres No 17160 78135 viewsThe first land allocations in Eltham took place as part of a subdivided lot of 1040 acres advertised as Lot 69 in a Government Notice dated 4th of February 1841. The large portions of land found no buyers, so were cut into smaller allotments. It was one of these allotments that Thomas Sweeney bought in 1843. In relation to the Certificate of Title dated the 31st of March 1843, we read: ‘Port Philip. Land Purchase, A. Whereas in conformity with the Regulations made for the Sale of Crown Lands in that part of Our Territory of New South Wales, Known as the Southern or Port Phillip District Thomas Sweeny of the Yarra Yarra River near Melbourne has become the purchaser of Land hereinunder described, for the Sum of One Hundred and Ten Pounds Sterling. One Hundred and Ten Acres, be the same more or less, situated in the County of Bourke and Parish of Nillumbik. Allotment number Seven of Portion number Five.’

1933 - MGHS Magazine Committee - Betty Carrucan is back left134 viewsA scholarship enabled Betty Caruccan to continue her schooling at Melbourne Girls High School (later to become McRobertson's Girls High School) after she finished her studies at Eltham Elementary School. It was not a unanimous family decision and it was a credit to her father MIchael, himself an uneducated man, that he made his own decision and gave her his blessing.

1950s - Kelly house built by Toppy's husband Frank Mulvogue134 viewsMary Jane (Girlie) Carrucan (1889-1961), a grand daughter of Patrick Carrucan, married Michael Joseph (Mick) Ganly (1881-1955) in 1911 and they had eight children: John (Jack), Ellen (Toppy), Mary F. (Molly), Kathleen, Margaret (Peg), Michael (Mick), Malachi and Alicia.
Molly (1916-1992) married Bernard Thomas Kelly (1916-1980) in 1941.
This photo shows the two bedroom home at their market garden at 109 Kingston Road, Heatherton, which was built by their brother in law Frank Mulvogue, the husband of Toppy. All their seven children were born while they lived there.

1975 - Fr Frank O'Regan134 viewsWhen Agnes Mary Sloan (1900-1952), the granddaughter of Peter Carrucan, married builder David Michael O'Regan (1900-1973) in Warrandyte in 1922, they could not have guessed the paths their children's lives would take. Of their five children, three would serve the Catholic Church directly - two as priests and one as a Marist Brother - while the other two would marry and continue the family line. The children were
Francis Joseph O'Regan (1923-1985)
Mary Margaret O'Regan (1925-)
Bernard David O'Regan (1926-2005)
Kevin John O'Regan (1928-1981)
John Desmond O'Regan (1930-1998)
This photo shows Fr Frank O'Regan who served as a priest in the Sale Diocese from 1949 until his death in 1985.

Fromelle Statue in Melbourne134 viewsThomas Michael Carrucan, born 1892, was the eldest of the 6 children born to Michael and Margaret Carrucan of Kew and was thus one of the grand children of Peter Carrucan and Hannah Woods. He served in WWI and was in the battle of Fromelles, which occurred on 19-20 July 1916. This was perhaps the most harrowing battle ever undertaken by Australian soldiers. Luckily he returned to his family after the war.
This statue, commemorating that battle, is at the Shrine in Melbourne.

2008 Michael Carrucan visit - Michael with friend at Echuca zoo134 views

2008 Michael Carrucan visit - Michael with Peter Cuffley and his brother134 views

Carrucan Family Bible 3134 viewsJohn Sweeney died on 24 May 1909 at age 65 and this Bible was given to his daughter Mary on the occasion of her marriage to Michael Carrucan in 1910. It stayed in their house in Dalton Street until the property was subdivided and the old house demolished in 1976.

The following inscription is found inside the front cover pages

Dec 2nd 1887
I John Sweeney became a teetotaller for twelve months.

This Bible was published in 1877.

1970s Sweeneys Aerial Photos134 viewsThe 4 aerial photos here are from Mike Burston and provide a wonderful snapshot of the Culla Hill (now called Sweeney's) property. The aerial views are undated but would likely be from the 1970s.

1820s Cove of Cork134 viewsThis Irish harbour was known as COVE until 1849 when it was changed to Queenstown after a visit from Queen Victoria.

1843 letter of Thomas Sweeney134 viewsAn important insight into the lives of Thomas and Margaret Sweeney prior to taking up their land in Nillumbik comes from a letter written by Thomas in Melbourne on January 27th 1843 to G.S. Airey Esq., Commissioner of Crown Lands. This letter is reproduced below.
Sir, this is to inform you that I am a Squatter on the South side of the Yarra distant about seven miles from Melbourne – That there is a Mr Bellfleur a Superintendent for Mr. Walker who is a Squatter upon the lands adjoining me – And he makes a continual practice of driving the Cattle under his Charge over my lands and with all I can do or say he still persists in doing so – That some part of my land being under crops it is of a most serious consequence – It grieves me much to have to make a complaint of this kind, but the Law of self protection induces me so to do. I trust therefore that you will take the matter into Consideration and aid in the procuring the wanted – restoration of my rights – Your kind interference in this behalf will Exceedingly oblige – Your very humble and obedient Servant. Thos Sweeney.’
This letter is reproduced courtesy of the Public Record Office Victoria "VPRS-96.P2, Unit 1".

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip133 views

1934 - Betty Carrucan's graduation photo Melbourne Girls High School133 viewsAfter an outstanding school career, Betty Carrucan was awarded the Newman College Exhibition and a Senior Government Scholarship to attend Melbourne University. Thus she became the first girl from Eltham Higher Elementary School (and perhaps from Eltham overall) to attend University.
While at University, she taught her father Michael to read and write. She studied each night under the light of a hurricane lamp in the back room of the Eltham farmhouse and encountered considerable resistence within the family.

1924-04-30 Marriage of Francis Carrucan and Thelma Stoney133 viewsFrancis William Carrucan (1895-1967) and Thelma Stoney (1900-1988) were married at St Mary's Church, Glenferrie Rd, Glenferrie, on 30th April 1924. Frank was the grandson of Peter Carrucan and Hannah Woods The wedding is captured wonderfully in the Wedding Notices of the magazine Table Talk. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146459979?searchTerm=madge%20carrucan. It was an impressive outfit and is described in detail in the article.
Certificate compliments of their grandson Kieran Magee.

1940-02 Culla Hill Home Beautiful - Front View133 viewsThe Home Beautiful magazine issue of 1st February 1940 contains a wonderful 6 page article on 'Sweeneys'. This is one of a number of historically significant photos from that article. Peter Cuffley has a copy of the original magazine issue.

1922 Prayer Book Gift 2133 viewsThe small prayer book 'The New Key Of Heaven' had been originally presented to Mrs Foley from her sincere friends the Bayswater Altar Society in October 1912. She gifted it to her little niece Betty Carrucan, Christmas 1922. At that time she was living in Western Australia. Her words to her niece: Pray for me sometimes dear Betty.
Mrs Foley was Annie Cecile Sweeney (1969-1947),the eldest child of John Francis Sweeney and Ellen Mary Kenney.
Erickson Collection

1922 Prayer Book Gift 1133 viewsThe small prayer book 'The New Key Of Heaven' had been originally presented to Mrs Foley from her sincere friends the Bayswater Altar Society in October 1912. She gifted it to her little niece Betty Carrucan, Christmas 1922. At that time she was living in Western Australia. Her words to her niece: Pray for me sometimes dear Betty.
Mrs Foley was Annie Cecile Sweeney (1969-1947),the eldest child of John Francis Sweeney and Ellen Mary Kenney.
Erickson Collection

2012 - Fanore - general shots on a walking daytrip132 views

1943 approx - Con Carrucan132 viewsThis photo shows Cornelius Patrick (Con) Carrucan (b 1915 in Ballarat), one of the children of John Francis (Jack) and Margaret (Maggie) Carrucan of Cheswick. Con was one of 7 children and was a great grandson of Patrick Carrucan who migrated from Co. Clare to Eltham in the 1850s. Con married Clare McArdle in 1945 and they had two children, Frank and Helen. Con died in a drowning accident in 1949.

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