The town of Bangalow in northern New South Wales has paid tribute to one member of local Irish-Australian family, the O’Meara’s.  

The Bangalow Parks Trust committee, who run Bangalow Showgrounds, dedicated what had been known previously as the polocrosse field as The O’Meara Fields, in honour of Michael O’Meara.  

Michael is a Parks Trust committee member, Bangalow Show committee member, and former long-term president of the Bangalow Show Society. 

The committee renamed the field in recognition of Michael’s tireless work on the grounds and Parks Trust committee, as well as his family’s long association with the Bangalow Show.

Michael has been involved with the Parks Trust for 35 years. 

The O’Meara family were dairy farmers. Their ancestors first arrived in the Bangalow region in the 1880s, having travelled up from the Wollongong area.

They still maintain strong links to their Irish roots, especially with their Buckley relatives from County Cork.