Ellen Meacle - a bush pioneer

Ellen Meacle nee Brennan was one of our pioneering legends becoming one of the first white women to live in the Moonie River region in the 1850’s.

With true pioneering spirit she survived the great Irish potato famine, arriving in Sydney with her sister aboard the good ship Kate in 1854.

They then travelled to south-western Queensland where she joined her brothers in the upper Moonie region. On her arrival she was ferried across the flooded Moonie River in her wash tub by the local aborigines.

Ellen later married Richard Meacle from Eyrecourt, County Galway. Ellen Meacle’s Irish resilience helped her weather the isolation of the bush to live to the grand age of 93, her later years in St George!

Several Meacle descendants live in the area.