Background
After secondary school and the loss of her father, Christina, a Roman Catholic, contemplated life in a convent and spent some time as a pre-novitiate before returning to civil life in 1986.
After secondary school and the loss of her father, Christina, a Roman Catholic, contemplated life in a convent and spent some time as a pre-novitiate before returning to civil life in 1986.
She is the second child in a family of five children and more generally known by her second name, Christina. She then studied in Adelaide, South Australia as a social worker, and worked for various agencies in South Australia dealing with many aspects of social integration for Aborigine and European communities. In May 2013, O'Connell was selected as a crew member for the Clipper Ventures amateur round the world yacht race and took part in leg 7 of the event, sailing from San Francisco via the Panama Canal to New York in April and May 2014.
O'Connell resides in the Coromandel Valley area outside the state capital city of Adelaide, South Australia.