The 90-year-old Canberran celebrated her milestone birthday at what is now the Discovery Centre at the Wollongong Botanic Garden, and reminisced with around 45 loved ones about the history of the property.

“It brought back a lot of strong family memories,” daughter Therese Quinn said.

“During the Depression years in the early 1930’s – she was only a five-year-old – despite the fact things were pretty tough, there was always this beautiful cut glass bowl in the middle of the Christmas table with cherries.”

That same glass bowl was dug out for the occasion and again placed as the centre-piece of the table.

The home was built by Mrs Quinn’s grandfather, dairy farmer James Fitzgerald, for his wife Elizabeth and eight children in 1921. 

The family had previously bought land in the area and initially built Claremont Homestead. This was later sold to Arthur Sidney Hoskins who erected Gleniffer Brae Manor in its place.

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Not long after moving into Cratloe, Mr Fitzgerald died. Though his wife and a number of their children continued living there until 1935 when it too was sold to the Hoskins family – their gardener Erice Winter subsequently took residence in the cottage.

The property was named Cratloe after a town in mid-west Ireland, from where James Fitzgerald and his parents migrated from in 1851.

The Hoskins’ donated 46 acres of their estate to Wollongong City Council in 1951 for the purpose of building a Botanic Garden. In 1966 council purchased Cratloe and the adjoining two-and-a-half acres.

Mrs Quinn’s older sister Kath Brandon was also at the gathering, with the sight of great-grandchildren playing beyond the porch bringing a tear to her eye.

“She had lunch on one of the tables on the front veranda looking out, and she remarked many times ... of how it reminded her of how the children used to play out the front,” Ms Quinn said.

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