Derry Journal’s man Down Under passes away

David, who was originally from the Brandywell area of the city, passed away on January 18. He was aged 80. His funeral service will take place on Thursday.

David and his wife, Patricia - who hailed from Sion Mills - have lived in Australia for almost 60 years. They have two sons, Mark and Damien.

Pat McArt, former editor of the Journal and a good friend of David Connolly, described him as a “real Derry man - one of the old school”.

He added: “David was very well known both here and in Australia. For years, starting in the mid 1980s, he was the ‘Journal’ correspondent in Australia. He travelled all over that vast continent – mainly at his own expense – reporting on and photographing Derry exiles. His columns appeared about six times a year and were hugely popular.

“In 1987, he organised the ‘Colmcille Express’ which was a one-off trip, bringing home – some for the first time – many Derry folk who had emigrated.

“While it was not true of all, some had left just after World War II and had little education so he knew it wouldn’t be affordable for them, so he had organised a savings scheme where they had all paid up a few quid each week, and this meant that what was a hugely expensive trip back in the day became affordable for many. He put in a lot of practical, unseen effort to make it happen.

“There was a huge turnout at Guildhall Square that summer’s day they arrived in Derry - a good news story in the midst of a lot of misery. He only stopped being a correspondent in the early noughties when social media allowed people in far off places to communicate so much more easily.”

Writing in the ‘Journal’ at the turn of the Millennium, David Connolly recalled the reasons why he left his beloved home town in the mid 1960s for a new life on the other side of the world.

He had, he said, started considering the long-term prospects for his baby son and, as he couldn’t see any future for him in Derry, suggested to Patricia that they emigrate.

“When I mentioned Australia to Patricia,” he recalled, “her reaction was, ‘How soon?’ It was sooner rather than later as we left Derry for Australia on our second wedding anniversary. We both looked on it as an adventure... we thought if we didn’t like the country, we could always come back after the compulsory two years.”

Australia in the 1960s was, remembered David, “the land of opportunities... with its streets paved with gold”.

Within two years, the family had its own home. “Somehow, I don’t think I could have made that target in Derry,” he wryly recalled.

“With a little bit of incentive”, David wrote in his Millennium article, the “sky was the limit” for the Connolly family.

He recalled: “Since we came to Oz, we have had 16 ‘flits’, bought and sold several successful owner-operated businesses and we have lived and worked in Melbourne, Sydney and Alice Springs.”

For years, David also conducted a practise in Australia Citizenship and Migration Law.

Pat McArt says Mr Connolly will be sorely missed.

“He was so proud of his Derry roots,” he said. “So much so that he had the street sign for Bluebell Hill Gardens, where he lived in Derry, on the fence of his house in Melbourne!”

David’s funeral will take place this Thursday at the Chapel of Repose at Altona Memorial Park. The funeral service will be live streamed (10.15am Australia time).