Corkonians Abroad: Loving sunny Perth, but we do miss our families

Conor O’Shea, from Castlelyons, and his wife Kate, from Caheragh, outside Skibbereen, now call Perth in Australia their home, and live there with their three daughters.

How did you end up in Perth, Conor?

I left Ireland in 2011 along with two good friends from Cork, Neil Bourke, from Douglas, and Shane O’Rourke, from Skibbereen. Neil is still here in Perth, but Shane changed location to Canada.

Kate moved to Perth not long after us in 2012.

Shane actually went to school with Kate and introduced us both in Perth on a night out.

We had just finished our electrical apprenticeship in Ireland, and at the time work had slowed down and we all got made redundant at the same time, so we said, why not go to Australia for a year and do some travelling.

Kate wanted to go travelling for a year, which is why she came to Perth.

What is life like in your new home?

Kate and I married back in Cork in 2017, and since then we’ve had three beautiful girls.

Life is busy for us, especially as we don’t have the family support here so we can’t just drop the kids off to the grandparents or uncles and aunts. Although Kate’s sister Julie is here, which is a great help.

Our eldest Olivia goes to school and is in year one, our middle child Harper is in ‘kindy’, and our youngest Ella Mae currently attends daycare.

What has been the biggest challenge of life in Australia?

The biggest challenge has probably been not having family here. Having both grown up in tightly knit families, the emotional and practical support is harder over the phone, and we can’t simply drop the kids off and say, ‘We’re going out for a few hours, can ya mind them’.

How might you and your family spend your weekends?

The weekends are usually spent doing kids’ activities, be it swimming, gymnastics or dance.

We live a very outdoorsy life here as the weather is good most of the year and there are lots of kids’ activities on most weekends.

Going out for breakfast is a big thing here so we usually do that on a Sunday. It gets quite bright early here, especially from spring, which is now - it’s bright at 5am, so the girls are up early and they like to wake us up.

There is also a strong Irish community here and we have many friends who are in the same situation as us, and as such they become your family away from family.

Tell us a bit about the culture of where you live?

The outdoor life is really a big thing here, again driven by the weather. This is the main difference to Ireland - it gets hot in summer, 35-40 degrees, so people get up and out early to try and avoid the midday peak heat.

Which is why you will see people up and about from 6am, grabbing their coffees or breakfast and having a walk along the coast.

The Aussie way of life is certainly different to Ireland - the work/life balance is definitely better, you work to live not live to work.

Tell us about your line of work/career?

I’m a general manager for an electrical manufacturing company which specialises in manufacturing electrical switchboards for the mining and commercial industries in Western Australia, the company was founded and is owned by an Irish expat from Dublin called Austin Fagan who’s been in Australia nearly 30 years.

Kate is operations manager for a not-for- profit organisation that cares for children in the child protection system.

Tell us your thoughts on opportunity - and how a different part of the world might offer more opportunities?

The Irish are known for being hard workers here, definitely more so than a lot of Aussies, so we both found getting jobs easy, and then career progression is there if you want it as a lot of people here are content with working their normal hours and not taking on extra or pushing hard - I think the hard work mentality is instilled in you when you grow up in Ireland.

What has been your most memorable moment in your new location so far?

Being introduced to Kate and then marrying her, bringing our three beautiful daughters into the world, and seeing them grow up every day.

Any special mentions to friends or family back in Cork?

We both come from large families, I am the eldest of five - three boys and two girls - they are all back in Ireland.

We were actually just back in Cork a few weeks ago as Kate’s sister got married, so it was great catching up with family and friends.

Kate is the eldest of four - one boy and three girls. Kate’s sister Julie also lives here in Perth.

If you were back in Cork for one day, what would be the ideal day for you?

If the weather was good, a day trip to Youghal, Cobh or West cork, all beautiful places.

You can’t beat Irish cuisine either, so a stop off at the English market is always on the cards, or a quick stop at KC’s!

Getting all of our family together and heading off somewhere in Ireland for a few days. We did this on a recent trip back where we all went to Mayo to Westport and we have some great memories of this.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

Kate’s mum is coming out for three months just after Christmas to stay with us.

Unfortunately, Kate’s dad Donal passed away last year so it’s nice for her mum to be able to come and spend some time with her daughters and grandchildren.

Is there anything that you especially miss about Cork?

Number one would be family, number two would be Irish cuisine. Can’t say we miss the weather, but in saying that, when the weather is good in Ireland there is no place like it.