The extended Heffernan family tested the capacity of Candelo Town Hall on Saturday, November 18 as nearly 200 relatives came together for a family reunion.
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The group represented four generations of descendants of Thomas and Sarah Heffernan, who lived and worked in Candelo around 130 years ago.
Family travelled from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Northern and Western NSW, Melbourne and the ACT, some visiting the area for the first time.
Visitors toured some of the local sites of the area relevant to the family, including Thomas and Sarah Heffernan’s old homestead, Caralla.
“The property has recently come back into Heffernan hands, so lots of people were keen to visit,” reunion organiser Gerard Heffernan said.
“It’s the original block that was allotted to the family in the late 1880s, and there are still features of the old homestead there.”
Family members also travelled to Eden to see Mary Mackillop Hall. Thomas and Sarah Heffernan were the first couple to be married in the building.
Some family members also visited the cemeteries of Bega and Candelo to see the final resting places of relatives that had passed away.
The group came together at Candelo Town Hall in the afternoon. After a barbecue dinner some family members took to the stage to share stories about their parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents.
“We had about five people put their hand up to speak at the beginning, but after a while the ball got rolling and the yarns carried on for over an hour,” Gerard Heffernan said.
Saturday’s event was the third reunion of the group, the last of which was held in 2009.
Gerard’s brother, Bernard Heffernan, said organising this reunion was made easier than previous years because of the introduction of Facebook.
“There’s a big network of us online now, so setting up an event was a really good way to get everyone together,” he said.
But he said it was never too difficult to bring the family together, as it was in their genes to be good organisers and maintain good contact with each other.
“We’ve always been close, everybody knows somebody with someone else’s number, so we always reach everybody,” he said.
Saturday’s event closes a big year of family reunions for the Heffernans. Gerard and Bernard travelled to Ireland earlier this year with their brothers and sisters to meet with the Irish branch of the family tree, and were delighted to share the experience with their Australian relatives.