Hi AussiePom,
Mary Ann Burns, nee McLoughlin, arrived in Melbourne in October 1863 with five children: Jane (c 1845); James (c1847); Mary Ann (c1851); Robert (c1852); and John (c1859).
I don't know what happened to James (nor Joseph & Elizabeth, but this is the first I've heard of those two) but when Robert married Mary Ann McGloughlin (!!!!) in Melbourne in October 1871 a newspaper notice noted him as "third son of the late James Burns, Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland".
My presumption has been that he died in Ireland and Mary Ann brought the kids to Australia. I have not been able to find any birth marriage or death details for any of them in Ireland, nor a death for Mary Ann in Australia.
Hope you can tell me more about their background in Ireland. I'll have a look for Joseph and Elizabeth in Australia.
cheers
GazT