On Thursday September 7, 1876, Mary [O] Sullivan and John McNamara were married in the Timaru Catholic Church.

There were no family members in attendance.

Like many migrants in the 19th century they left their families behind in a bold adventure to the South Pacific.

This past weekend, fifty O’Sullivan descendants gathered to acknowledge Mary and John and celebrated with a 150th anniversary mass and wedding breakfast in Timaru.

Mary and John, as Irish migrants, naturally sought out fellow travellers and connected through work, church or neighbours.

John had successfully acquired farming sections in the Waimate area.

Mary appears to have undertaken child care and household duties with the Gaffney family at Temuka.

Mary was 22 years of age and John a mature 37 years when they married.

The Timaru Catholic Church of the 1876 wedding was a new wooden building that predated the present basilica.

This church was destroyed by fire in 1910.

While the wedding may have been without family at that time, things would change in the decades to come.

Mary’s siblings, four women and five men, would, over the remainder of the 19th century, make their way to settle in New Zealand.

Waimate became the family hub.

Over this past weekend, Mary’s relatives, covering three generations, gathered to acknowledge her and John’s pioneering initiative and commitment to family.

Mary and John became well regarded members of the Waimate community over the next four decades.

They led full and fulfilling lives into their 80s.

McNamara’s Rd, where they once farmed, an arterial road from the State Highway into east Waimate, is an enduring acknowledgement to them both. — Kevin O’Sullivan