Jack Donahue was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1804. He was in trouble with the police for his political activities to gain independence for Ireland. In 1824, he was found guilty of “intent to commit a felony”. This means he was going to do something wrong, but he had not done it yet. He was sent to Sydney on the convict ship "Ann and Amelia", which arrived on 2 January, 1825. He was sent to work for a Mr. Pagan at Parramatta. He was soon in trouble and put to work on a road gang. Major West, at Quaker’s Hill, employed Donahue to look after his pigs.