As a reminder of the global reach of The Mayo News, last week’s mail brought a missive from an Irish emigrant to South Africa. Maurice Egan, a native of Tullamore, and an avid historian, was kind enough to share his research into the lineal ancestry of a family with which he is friendly in his adopted country, and whose roots are firmly set in the centre of Mayo.
Hugh Coffey was the son of a small landholder in Ballyart, Turlough. On the advice of his father, who could clearly see that the prospects of a tenant farmer under British landlord rule were none too favourable, he served his time as a carpenter, a trade that gave him a considerable head start when he made the bold decision to seek his fortune in South Africa, a century and a half ago.
At the age of 23, and with the sad certainty that he would never see home or family again, Hugh Coffey set out on his long journey. He made his way to Liverpool, where he boarded the three masted wooden clipper, The Gypsy Bride, en route to Cape Town. He was one of the luckier ones – he was travelling by way of assisted passage, as a tradesman he had secured employment with........

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