For Shepparton's Lisa McKenzie, a trip to Ireland meant more than a pint of Guinness or kissing the Blarney stone.
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For the Lancaster-born mother-of-two, it was a homecoming, and a return to the roots of a family journey that began more than 150 years ago.
John Lewis spoke to the head of Shepparton's Lighthouse Foundation about her newly-discovered favourite place, and her ongoing commitment to social justice.
Anyone who carries the family name of Ryan would be aware of an Irish connection somewhere down the line.
Before Lisa McKenzie (nee Ryan) went to Ireland with husband David last year, she knew something of her heritage, but did not expect to find such a physical and emotional connection to a particular place.
‘‘Before we left, I ran into a cousin in Melbourne and she told me of a fellow that I needed to get in touch with — so I emailed him and told him about our plans,’’ Lisa said.
The fellow was Malachy Ryan, a renowned horse breeder who lived in the idyllic dairy country of south-western Ireland suitably named the Golden Vale.
Before Lisa left Australia last year, she had no idea that Malachy was also the living connection to a story that began on a grim Irish night in 1860 when five siblings sailed from Cork for a new life across the seas.
Ireland in the 19th century was a hotbed of political and social unrest driven by the increasingly violent struggle for independence known as ‘‘the troubles’’.
Thousands were leaving for a better life — including the Ryans of Golden Vale.
‘‘They weren’t actively involved, but they were known sympathisers,’’ Lisa said.
She said Malachy was a descendant of the remaining sibling who stayed behind in Golden Vale near the town of Tipperary — known as ‘‘Tip-Town’’.
Of the siblings who left, some of the boys ended up in Lancaster, near Kyabram, and began to farm land across the district.
Five generations later their descendants are still there — including Lisa’s father Bernie.
Lisa said Malachy, in his 80s, still lived on the farm that the Ryan brothers left on that dark night in 1860.
‘‘What was wonderful was that these remarkable people have been living in the same location for hundreds of years,’’ she said.
She said she experienced a strong sense of belonging.
‘‘I felt really at ease there — I had a sense of being grounded and connected. I got a greater sense of who I am, and where I come from,’’ she said.
‘‘In Ireland, conversations start at cafes and in the street and the yarns keep on coming. I found it inspiring and I felt — these are my people,’’ she said.
Lisa said the landscape played a big part in her sense of connection.
‘‘It was just as you would imagine — emerald green paddocks with cattle and sheep, stone fences, and trees making tunnels overhead,’’ she said.
‘‘It felt like being home — I even saw a stone bath where generations of Ryan babies were bathed.’’
Malachy also took Lisa and David to the ruined Athassel Abbey, founded by the Augustinian religious order in the 12th century.
The surrounding churchyard is the resting place for generations of Ryans — and the place remains in Lisa’s imagination as a powerful reminder of the passage of time and a deep link to history.
‘‘In Ireland it’s considered a place where the air is thin — where the connection between this world and the next is very strong,’’ she said.
In Shepparton, Lisa has forged a reputation as a community leader driven by a sense of compassion for the disadvantaged.
She has been at the helm of the Fairley Leadership program as well as the Goulburn Valley Community Fund.
She now heads up the philanthropic Lighthouse Foundation, which aims to improve the lives and educational outcomes of Shepparton young people.
‘‘I think my roles have all been related to an Irish Catholic education — I went to St Augustine’s in Kyabram. At its best the church is about equity, empathy and compassion,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m skeptical about the institution today, but I’m still strongly aligned to its foundations, when it’s at its best.’’
She said although Shepparton had done well in accommodating its marginalised residents, more could be done.
She reels off frightening figures that reveal a steady decline in the numbers of Shepparton children developmentally ready for school.
‘‘There is a recognition that more needs to be done. What Lighthouse is about is giving everyone the same opportunity that the most fortunate young people in our community get. And it is entirely possible — by adopting a systematic approach,’’ she said.
‘‘These are complex problems, but we are looking to build on what’s strong not what’s wrong.’’
Talking to Lisa, it seems her Irish trip and her discovery of a place in the world she can call her own, has further strengthened her commitment to a vision of fairness and opportunity for all.
‘‘I think the Irish connection of family and community is at the heart of it,’’ she said.