The Redemptorists will celebrate 100 years at St. Clement’s Monastery in
Galong in 2018.  The Buildings have seen many changes, refurbishments and the
ex-college has become a retreat centre with accommodation available. The one stable factor amongst the changes has been the input of the Redemptorists Order.
   The small village of Galong might never have been but for the events of the night of Thursday, 7 September 1815 in far off Ballagh, County Tipperary Ireland. A farmer Edward ‘Ned’ Ryan was convicted and transported for his part in the destruction of an infirmary, which had been requisitioned by the militia for use as a temporary barracks. Fourteen men were brought to trial. One, Patrick Keogh, was hanged, and the other thirteen, including Ned Ryan and his cousin Roger Corcoran  were transported on the Surrey 2, arriving in the colony in December 1816.
Ned’s early employers after his arrival were the surveyor James Meehan of Liverpool and William Crowe at Appin. From 1816 to September 1825, until he
received his ticket of leave, he faithfully served his masters, who described him as being ‘honest, sober and of industrious character’. Ryan family tradition has it that in 1826 he squatted at Illalong, near the present-day village of Binalong, but within a short time moved on to present day Galong, even further removed from civilisation. Three years later Governor Ralph Darling redefined the boundaries, setting up nineteen counties as the limits of lawful occupancy of land. Supported by a veritable Who’s Who of respected
settlers, Ned petitioned for a grant of land in 1830, but was refused due to a change in official policy. Unperturbed, he illegally squatted on huge acreages ‘beyond the limits of location’, taking up Galong, Gungewalla near Burrowa, Berthong and Nubba west of
present day Murrumburrah.
   Ned’s cousin Roger Corcoran was to settle in the Boorowa district and become part of that town’s history, but that is another story.
    The presence of the Catholic Church was evident from the early days of Galong. On one of his several visits, Bishop Bede Polding climbed Bushranger’s Hill to erect a cross and bless the surrounding countryside. To mark the occasion he left his rosary beads on a she-oak atop the hill, which then became known as Rosary Hill. This hill with its grotto is the focus of the Annual Marian Procession which has, over the years, drawn thousands of the faithful.
Just over thirty years after his arrival, Ned’s wife Ellen and their children Anastasia and John joined him at Galong in 1847.The present day homestead was erected during the 1850s and a two-storey extension, complete with crenellation, at the eastern end about 1860. These stone embellishments no doubt caused Galong to become known
locally as the ‘castle’.
   The Ryans themselves always referred to it as Galong House. By then Ned had secured from the Crown the 640 acres on which his homestead stood, and successfully passed on most of his land to his son John, and others. By 1866 Ned’s holdings stretched across nearly 41,000 acres.
  Ned was a very determined man and he gained the reputation of being a hardworking but fair man who gave selflessly to nearly every cause. Various family members migrated from Tipperary to the Galong area, including his brother’s children the Barry Ryans. Ned served on committees, his name appeared on almost every public subscription and his presence was noted at community events. Despite his gruff exterior he was without question an extremely generous man who was known to have supported some individuals for almost thirty years.
Ned Ryan, whose wife Ellen predeceased him in 1856, died at Galong on 26 February 1871 and was buried in the cemetery for which he had given the land many years before. By the time of his death such was his reputation that he had acquired the sobriquets
‘Patriarch of the Lachlan’ and ‘King of Galong Castle’. Ned’s unmarried son, John Nagle Ryan, in addition to managing his own properties, took over the management of his father’s holdings after Ned’s death. John had been appointed a magistrate in 1854 and was elected as the member for the Lachlan in the Legislative Assembly in 1859, a position that he held until his resignation in 1865. During his lifetime he did much to further the interests of the residents of the Galong-Binalong-Burrowa area.
His sudden death in January 1887 and the terms of his will set the future
direction of Galong. In his will he bequeathed Galong House to his sister Anastasia Barry Ryan during her lifetime and upon her death the homestead and 800 acres of land to the Cisterian Monastery at Mount Melleray, Waterford, Ireland. If not accepted by them it was to pass to the Redemptorist Fathers at Waratah, NSW on the condition that it
always remained the property of the Catholic Church. Ballyryan, his Boorowa property, was subsequently sold. PART 1 OF 2.