Ruins in Googong point to the past

The remains of a fireplace, now preserved in-situ amid the bustling development, once belonged to Mr Lansdowne's ancestors - about five greats ago.

Built by Patrick Connolly and his wife Julia in the mid-1860s, the slab hut was originally situated on 40 acres of bare, vast and often harsh land.

Now, the ruins hold pride of place among Colorbond roofs and concrete paths near the entrance to the growing new suburb.

By pure coincidence, Aranda resident Mr Lansdowne heard a talk on Connolly's Cottage, which is how he found out about his links to the historical site.

"My wife said, 'Don't you have Connolly's in your history?' So I went along to the talk. It is indeed my ancestor, and that was a great thrill to find out about," Mr Lansdowne said.

When he thinks about what they would have endured, travelling from lush, green Ireland to the harsh, dry backblocks of Queanbeyan, Mr Lansdowne is thankful this part of their home is preserved for future generations to see.

"It's quite an amazing life when you think of Queanbeyan [back then]," he said.

"Just seeing this and thinking this was their whole house. They were in the middle of nowhere, there were just paddocks and a creek. This was the edge of civilisation."

He said it was a great memorial to the pioneers of the area.

"These were the stones my ancestors cooked on," he said.

"It's great, it's nice to see when new work is being done that they remember the old."

The find was made much easier by the geneology studies done by Mr Lansdowne's mother, who passed away in 2003. As a reminder of her work, Mr Lansdowne has the information hanging on the wall of his living room, in a framed family tree.

Now, he's keen to find other descendents of Patrick Connolly to add to the story.

"There must be other descendents around, but I've never bumped into them," Mr Lansdowne said.