The children of Nicholas Sheridan and Bridget McGrath

1. BERNARD "BARNEY" SHERIDAN.
Bernard ‘Barney’ Sheridan was born on December 17, 1867, at Walhalla in Gippsland, Victoria. Named after his paternal grandfather back in County Cavan, Barney was just a baby when his miner father moved his wife and child to Carisbrook, a goldmining area near Maryborough in central Victoria.
Records from Carisbrook State School show that Barney Sheridan, aged 10 years, was admitted to the school in January, 1878, by his parent who was a "Gatekeeper". This was his mother, Bridget McGrath Sheridan, who was in charge of the railway crossing gate at Carisbrook while her husband worked as a ganger on the line itself. Bernard Sheridan was actually enrolled as 'Burnett' Sheridan, which is a lovely reflection of the illiterate Bridget's pronunciation of her eldest son's name with her thick Northern Irish accent. The Carisbrook State School records also stated:
"Date of Passing the Standard of Education :
Burnett Sheridan, father Nicholas Railway Labourer, school last attended Private School. no date."
I do not know what school this 'private school' is referring to. The elder Sheridan children would have had to spend several years at school in Moolort when their father moved there with the railway in the 1870s, but the name of this school is unknown at present.

Barney was a bachelor who spent his last years on the bank of the Murray River at Yarrawonga in a little hut.
Not a great deal is known of his life, beyond the fact that he never married and was somewhat of a loner. He enlisted to serve in World War One like his brothers Peter, Tom and Nicholas, but was discharged after a short training period as being medically unfit for service.It is not known why he was declared to be medically unfit, as the medical discharge records of another Bernard Sheridan, aged 24 rather than 40, and from Western Australia, have been included in "our" Bernard's online war record.
The photo above is of Bernard Sheridan in military uniform, and since he was only in the Army from early 1915 until June 18, 1915, it can be accurately dated as having been taken in this period. Barney dropped almost eight years from his real age in an attempt to enlist...he gave his age as 40, when in fact he would have been turning 48 later that year.
Bernard Sheridan died in the Corowa Hospital in April, 1943, aged 75 years. A notice in the 'Moira Independent" published on April 29, 1943, stated:
"Death took place at Corowa Hospital last week of Mr. Bernard Sheridan, a member of the well-known Yarrawonga family. He leaves a brother, Mr Patrick Sheridan (Ascot Vale), Miss Alice Sheridan (Baxter) and Mrs E. Hampton (Yarrawonga).