Patrick Durack (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in Western Australia. His family were struggling tenant farmers from Magherareagh near

Scarriff Scarriff Central Statistics Office, Census 2002Population of Towns ordered by County and size, 1996 and 2002 or Scariff () is a large village in east County Clare, in the midwest of Ireland. The town is on the west end of Lough Derg and is best ...

in County Clare, Ireland, who moved from Ireland to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1853. Two months after arriving in New South Wales, his father, Michael was killed accidentally. He settled his mother and siblings, and moved to Victoria, returning 18 months later with £1000. On 31 July 1862 Durack married Mary Costello, only daughter of Michael Costello, a native of County Tipperary, and his wife Mary Tully, a native of County Galway. Patrick and Mary had eight children (two of whom died in infancy), including

Michael Durack Michael Patrick Durack, (22 July 1865 – 3 September 1950) was a pastoralist and pioneer in Queensland and Western Australia, known as "M.P." or to the family as "Miguel". He was the son of Patrick Durack and Mary Costello, both Irish-Austra ...

. Goulburn provided insufficient outlets for Durack's energy, land hunger and organizing powers. Along with his brother Michael and brother-in-law John Costello, they set out to establish a property in

South West Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa, Queensland, Maranoa district and parts o ...

in 1863. Drought conditions almost killed the men, but they continued around the country pegging claims to some . The men established both Kyabra and Thylungra Stations in 1868 with 100 cattle. By 1877 the Duracks had a herd of approximately 30,000 head of cattle. Durack and his brother Michael trekked across the north of the continent from Thylungra at Coopers Creek in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. They left in 1879 with 7250 breeding cattle and 200 horses, heading for the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

near Kununurra, arriving in 1882. The journey of cattle to stock

Argyle Downs Argyle Downs is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about south east of Kununurra in the Kimberley region near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. It is operated by the Consolidated Pastoral Company. Descript ...

and Ivanhoe Station is the longest of its type ever recorded. In 1885, he retired to Brisbane. Later that year he purchased gold-crushing machinery from Sydney and began mining on the Kimberley goldfields. In 1889 he learned that financial disaster had overtaken his Queensland interests. He died in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

on 20 January 1898. ''

Kings in Grass Castles ''Kings in Grass Castles'' is a 1959 book of history by Dame Mary Durack (1913–1994). The book is considered a classic of Australian literature. It is the story of Durack's pioneering family establishing its pastoral interests in the Austral ...

'' is a 1959 novel based on his life and times by his granddaughter Dame

Mary Durack Mary Durack (20 February 1913 – 16 December 1994) was an Australian author and historian. She wrote '' Kings in Grass Castles'' and ''Keep Him My Country''. Childhood Mary Durack, born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Michael Patrick Dura ...

. In 1998 it was the basis of a TV mini-series of the same name.

References

External links

Australian dictionary of Biography Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Patrick 1834 births 1898 deaths Australian pastoralists Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Western Australia 19th-century Australian businesspeople