Anecdotes from the Archives

Very faithful Irish families 1866 and onwards 

When studying the names and history of our early Presentation Sisters, one soon works out that some names pop up repeatedly. This is particularly true of the Murphy and Beechinor family names.

In fact, out of the nine Sisters who boarded ship in Ireland in late July 1866, three were cousins: Mother Ellen Francis Xavier Murphy, and Sisters Mary Regis Murphy and Ellen Ignatius Murphy. In addition, they were joined by Sister Ellen Francis Xavier Beechinor, a niece of both Bishop Daniel Murphy and Mother Francis Xavier Murphy. Sister Ignatius Murphy was only on loan to the party and was obliged to return to Fermoy in 1881.

Also on the ship with the nine Presentation women, was Father Daniel Beechinor, a nephew of the Bishop and Mother F X Murphy. He may have been a brother of Ellen Beechinor and his brief would have been to take good pastoral and spiritual care of the women during the journey. There were a number of clergy and Sisters from other Orders making the trip on the same ship, headed to Australia as missionaries.

Records show that the Murphy and Beechinor families continued to send members from Ireland to work in Tasmania. For example, Sister Eliza Catherine Murphy turns up as one of the early Sisters in Launceston. She was also a niece of Bishop Murphy and Mother F X Murphy. In the 1890s, another Beechinor turns up in Launceston, in the person of Sister Minnie Paul Beechinor, no doubt related to the priests Father Daniel Beechinor, previously mentioned, and Father Michael Beechinor, as well as to the Murphys.

Another niece of the Bishop and Mother F X Murphy, Sister Honorine Columba Beechinor, travelled from Ireland and was professed in the Church of the Apostles in 1874. It must have been wonderful for her to be surrounded by so many dear relatives, including her uncle, Bishop Murphy and her cousins, Fathers Daniel and Michael Beechinor.

Not much is known about Father Michael Beechinor, except that he served mostly in the north of Tasmania. No other Murphy or Beechinor women appeared to travel from Ireland to Tasmania after Sister Minnie Paul Beechinoor.

It would appear to the observer that the members of the Murphy and Beechinor younger generation were impressed especially by their uncle Bishop Daniel Murphy and their aunt Mother F X Murphy, as shown by their eagerness to follow them to Tasmania. Their families in Ireland would have been hugely proud of them all. Their contributions to the early Catholic Church in Tasmania are inestimable.