JANE BURKE AND JASON O’CONNELL were married in Hunter Valley in Australia last weekend by Fr Tony Potts in the village church of Peppers Creek. A contingent of 25 friends and family members travelled from Ireland to Australia for the celebrations and, despite temperatures as high as 45 degrees, the revellers still managed to kick off their shoes and dance. It could not have been a more “Irish wedding”, said the groom, with much music and singing.
The couple have known each other for 10 years; they met when Jane first went to Australia as a backpacker with a friend from Dublin. To boost her finances along the way, she got a job in Bridie O’Reilly’s pub in Melbourne, where Jason just happened to be her boss. The attraction was immediate and enduring. She decided to stay on in Australia with Jason when her year was up, and applied to become a resident.
Jason was 12 when his parents and two brothers moved from Mayfield in Cork to Melbourne in 1988, when times were tough. His father, Dan, and with his uncle, Kieran, became well-known in Irish circles, especially in Melbourne, for both their band, Highland Paddy, and their pub, Father Flanagan’s. Sadly, Dan O’Connell died six years ago, but Jason’s mother Mary continues to live in Melbourne where Kieran now runs a pub called The Corkman.
The couple have lived in Sydney for the past two years, but they plan to move back to Melbourne in the next few weeks to be closer to family. Both have been working in property – Jason works with an online estate agency called realestate.com. Jane, who is one of seven children, returns to Ireland when she can to see her family; the couple became engaged after a visit in 2007 at Dublin airport before Jason boarded his return flight to Australia. They are planning a honeymoon trip to Thailand at Easter, but for the moment they are busy entertaining friends who made the trek for the the wedding.