In the year 1908, an edition of The Bundeberg Daily News of Queensland, Australia, chronicled the death of Mrs. O.M. Hope-Connolly, nee Olivia Mary Knight, a widow, who had lived quietly in the town of Bundeberg. According to a writer of the time, ‘she was not overburdened with the world’s wealth, but had many kind friends who helped to smooth the path for her’. Olivia was born on the 28^th September, 1829, at Rathbawn Road, Castlebar, and had lived in a house which, according to an inscribed stone set in the doorway, was built in 1796, two years before the Year of the French.

Olivia Knight’s father was Simon Knight, a Civil Engineer, a brother of Patrick Knight who was renowned for his civil engineering work in the Erris area. Sadly, Simon died prematurely and left his wife, his son Arthur, and his daughter Olivia in relatively poor circumstances. Olivia was forced to take on the role of breadwinner and after some training in Dublin, she became a schoolteacher. Subsequently, she spent fourteen years working in Ireland, six of which she spent teaching at a Private school, four more years were spent as a Governess and a further four years were spent teaching at Gainstown National School, near Mullingar.

On the death of her mother, Olivia and her brother emigrated to Queensland and in 1862, shortly after arriving there , she again commenced work as a teacher. A family tragedy soon overtook her when her brother, who had been ill on the voyage, died quite suddenly in 1864. In 1869 she married a journalist, Mr. Hope-Connolly, whom she had met on the ship, but sad to tell, he too died shortly afterwards. Olivia continued her teaching career until she finally resigned on 31^st December, 1886. She died in 1908 and is buried in Australia .

In the 1850’s, Olivia Knight was a frequent contributor to ‘The Nationalist” and wrote under the pen-name ‘Thomasine’. It is said, she adopted that name in honour of the Mallow born patriot, Thomas Davis, who died some years previously and was one of the newspaper‘s founders. She wrote a book of verse ‘Wild Flowers from the Wayside’ published in 1833 with an introduction by Charles Gavin-Duffy, editor of the ‘Nationalist. Her other works included stories, as well as poems and translations from the French. She was described as a “writer of delicate and subtle humour”.

Olivia Knight's home at Rathbawn. Photo taken 1985 before its demolition.

In 1943, a polished limestone commemorative tablet was unveiled on the house where she was born. Years later, in 1986, a row broke out in Castlebar, when her former home, (pictured above), reported to have been a preserved building, was demolished to make way for a new housing development.

Mayo Historical & Archaeological Society