Maggie and Liz -- Casino seems to have fared fairly well in terms of storm effects Minor flooding was predicted for Friday afternoon. I am in a high position. I have the impression that the peak of the river surge fell short of what was expected. I will take the opprtunity to set out here some genealogical and general historical information with a Tipperary connection after referring to my area`s share of the late eastern Australian weather difficulties. There has been a lot of rain here. There has been fairly solid wind -- not bad enough to be a big worry. I appraised the river level from Webb Park near the Irving Bridge on Friday afternoon. I am at South Casino about 50 feet above the bridge. Stopping at Webb Park involved only a minor detour on the way into town to clear my box at the post office. I did not look anywhere else. I have not been here long. I am from an inland place in southern New South Wales. I am not closely familiar with the north-east. It is terrible to be flooded out of your home. I went through that experience a long time ago at a place a long way from here. I was amazed when I first saw the official marker which is displayed on a post in Lismore`s Molesworth Street indicating the level of the 1974 flood. The bridge to which I have referred seems to be named after the early pastoralist and politician Clark Irving. I think the structure I crossed on Friday is a higher version of a bridge of the same name which was swept away by the monster flood of 1954 -- the year of the Queen`s marathon first visit to Australia. Clark Irving was a big name around the northern rivers in his time. I think I have seen it said that he eventually returned to England and lost his shirt through speculation. I have seen a photo of Clark Irving which I thought was of impressive quality. I think I may have seen the photo in Mrs Lyn McSwan`s history of the Maclean area. The town appears to have been named after the Surveyor General of 1861-62 Alexander McLean. Alexander McLean was a son of one John McLean who headed the New South Wales convict system from 1838 until 1855. John McLean lived at an estate called "Birch Grove" in the Balmain area on Sydney Harbour. In 1838 he was granted a holding at Moruya on the south coast which he called "Glenduart" and developed as a farm. The deed of grant said the land had an area of 900 acres. Later documents say 890. McLean obtained the property at a reduced price because of his position as a retired army captain. He was from Scotland`s Inverness area. His son Harold came to be head of the New South Wales prisons system. There is a Trial Bay connection in Harold`s career. "Glenduart" was on the north side of the Moruya River. The river formed the southern boundary of the "limits of location" extending from Sydney which were proclaimed by Governor Darling in 1829. That is why the early farms in the Moruya area were on the northern side of the river and the grazing runs lay to the south. Occupation on the south side was illegal until the introduction of a licensing system in 1837. >From 1848 grazing leases were issued. John McLean went into bankruptcy in 1845 and lost "Glenduart" to creditors. The property passed in 1854 to James Coman ( sometimes seen as Cummins ) from County Tipperary. John McLean had been an absentee proprietor having a son as manager. James Coman and his wife soon moved from Sydney to "Glenduart". "Glenduart" remained in the Coman family until the 1890s. James Coman`s wife Margaret Fogarty had two brothers at Moruya. The parents are identified as Michael Fogarty and Jane Murphy. The Moruya Fogartys were from Lloydsborough near Templemore. The men -- Martin and Michael -- came to Sydney from Ireland on the ship "Empire" in 1853, naming Margaret as a relative residing at The Rocks in Sydney. It seems that Margaret paid 12 pounds under the remittance regulations. I do not claim those people as mine but a link seems likely. Some brothers named Carden came to Moruya after landing from the ship "Eliza" in Sydney as immigrants from Ireland in 1855. Their mother was an Ann Fogarty of Oldtown, Templemore who seems very likely to have been a sister of my great-great-grandfather. The Moruya Carden brothers` maternal grandparents were John Fogarty and Mary Morrissey. Their mother seems to have been born in about 1797. It seems she emigrated in about 1857 or 1858. She went to Victoria. Regards, Andrew Fogarty