by
JC Sullivan
To be released on March 17, 2010, what could be a more appropriate date for a film simply titled, “The Irishman”? The movie is based on “To Kill the Irishman”, Rick Porello’s true life crime story of one of Cleveland’s most colorful Irish-American gangsters, the late Danny Greene.
Greene’s hard luck began on the day he was born. His mother, Irish-born Irene Fallon, who had married his father only a few days earlier, died in childbirth at St. Ann’s Hospital. His father John, also Irish-born, unable or unwilling to raise him, abandoned him to Parmadale, a Catholic orphanage. Six years later, when he re-married, his father brought the boy into the home. Danny soon ran away from his alcoholic father and ended up being raised by his maternal grandparents, Patrick and Sarah (Tate) Fallon, in the Collinwood section on Cleveland's east side. When his father died in 1959, the newspaper obituary didn’t even mention Danny, only his children from the 2nd marriage.
With little adult guidance, Danny’s attentions drifted from schoolwork to extra-curricular activities, “shooting dice and street fighting”. He was a handsome, likeable and athletic, traits that endeared many adults and youngsters to him.
A high school dropout, he joined the Marines in 1951, later receiving an honorable discharge. He eventually ended up back in Cleveland working the Lake Erie docks and ocean ships as a laborer in Local 1317 of the International Association of Longshoremen. When their union President ran into a conflict of interest situation, the popular Danny was appointed as an interim Trustee. When the next election was held, he was elected IAL President. Thus was the beginning of his eventual associations with organized labor and the Cleveland Mafia, then-headed by James “Jack White” Licavoli, and an unbelievable maze of underworld characters.
As mobsters do when their ‘families’ are threatened by others muscling in on their territory and income, they kill each other. In 1977, after at least seven previous attempts, they finally got to him after his girlfriend used a tapped phone line to make a dentist appointment for him. A car bomb awaited him outside Dr. Candoli’s office, just like the car bomb Greene used to blow Shondor Birns into two pieces. Despte his Irish-sounding name, Shondor Birns was Jewish.
Filmed in Detroit, the flamboyant and always-green-clad Greene stars Ray Stevenson. Fellow mobster Shondor Birns is portrayed by Christopher Walken. My Cleveland vice detective father, the late John J. Sullivan, arrested Birns on more than one occasion. Val Kilmer is a Cleveland police detective who becomes friends with Greene. Others rounding out the troupe include Vinnie Jones, Marcus Thomas, Linda Cardellini, Laura Ramsey, Paul Sorvino, Mike Starr, Tony LoBianco, Vinnie Vella, Steve Schirippa, Jason Butler Harner, Robert Davi and Fionnula Flanagan.
It will indeed be a monumental screen-writing task for the movie’s script writers and film editor to give us a top view of the Cleveland and northeast Ohio crime family genealogy that Executive Producer Porello laid out in his book.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Dublin - Ohio that is.
by
JC & Cairenn Sullivan
"If I have the honor conferred upon me to name your village, with the brightness of the morn, and the beaming of the sun on the hills and dales surrounding this beautiful valley, it would give me great pleasure to name your new town after my birthplace, Dublin, Ireland."
Never would John Shields, surveyor of the land nestled on the banks of Ohio's Scioto River, have imagined his words being quoted 189 years after he spoke them. And, never in his imagination would he have pictured folks coming from near and far to honor the culture of his native land.
The growth of the Dublin Irish Festival is a continuing indicator of the popularity of Irish culture and it's phenomenal growth. Hosted by the City of Dublin, Ohio, you know you're in for a special experience when drive in and are immediately greeted with references to Ireland - from the shamrocks painted on city-owned property to the street names sporting monikers such as Tullamore, Gullway and Emerald Parkway.
Held in conjunction with the Columbus Feis, parking is adjacent to the festival grounds or close by at Coffman High School, where the Feis is staged. Stops for the free shuttle are well marked. Upon entering the festival grounds, clearly marked signs direct you to the six stages and/or areas you might wish to begin in. The reasons one attends an Irish Festival are varied but if the strings linking all of us can be summed into four categories - music, food, shop and camaraderie. The latter includes refreshments, of course.
SHOPS
Shopping at the vendor tents at Irish Festivals for a few years now, we've found one thing missing - tanktops. We have sweaters, sweatshirts and tee shirts coming out the yazoo - but no tank tops. Well, thanks be to God for Philadelphia's Dennery's. Now, there may be others, but Mike's is the first we've seen. Brilliant.
"We came in here yesterday and the City Manager, Tim Hansley, was out in the parking lot. He actually took time to tell us exactly where to go, led us to our spot, even though that wasn't what he was doing at the moment," said exhibitor Pat Foley. "So, everybody has been really helpful." Foley makes wood furniture with an Irish motif - "all the way from shallows to tables, display cases to music boxes with Irish tunes." Because of the special niche they occupy, meaning no one else is doing exactly what the Foleys do. Pat and Sheila will exhibitors at the Milwaukee Irish Festival - the first year they applied.
Other noteworthy exhibitors were Keltic Outfitters, Columbus, Ohio, a source for County Tartans in necktie and shawl and scarves; Cahill Crafted Garden Houses and Gazebos with the Enchanting Thatch Roof Collection, William Cahill, Cincinnati, Ohio.
MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT
There is musical variety at the Dublin Festival to suit every eclectic taste. Being Clevelanders we are, quite naturally, drawn to the rock stage. The most energetic groups booked were Tempest and the Prodigals. Of the two, Cairenn liked Tempest best because of their authentic fashion. They've been recording since 1988 and have played more than 1000 performances and have released 7 CD's. Although they've been described as folk-rock, their style is based around traditional folk music and they definitely rock.
"If you're going to rock, make something original with your rock," Cairenn said. "However, I can see that when a good song is a good song, it can be done in many different ways. That's what keeps it young and alive for generations to come. I preferred Tempest for the original work that they did. They actually are rockers."
JC, on the other hand, preferred the Prodigals. The group voted #1 in an Irish Echo newspaper Readers Poll. The Prodigals hail from Cavan, Clare, Dublin and New York; they feature a driving, high-energy take on Irish music, fusing strong traditional elements with a rock energy.
Being one who likes that old time rock and roll, JC, too, enjoyed Tempest very much. "But I also liked the Prodigals interpretations of songs that I knew. I like their musical approach to some of these 'old' tunes. It's just as original when you set your own style and interpretation to it.
The lads, Greg Grene, lead vocals/button accordion, Andrew Harkin, bass, Ray Kelly, lead vocals/guitar and Brian Tracey, drums/percussion/background vocals, formed two years ago and are already playing some of the highest-prestige venues around, evidenced by their appearance in Dublin. When they are not on the road they are the resident band at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar in Manhattan, a position they took over from Black '47.
It's always refreshing, of course, to see so many of our youth attracted to our culture. This could not be more evident than in the work of St. Louis Irish Arts, Inc. Founded in 1972, they are a well-established school with a variety of programs in traditional Irish music, song and dance. Instruction is offered in music, singing and step dancing for children and adults. Classes in fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, harp, harmonica, flute and bodhran are held at a learning center and workshops through.
God bless their work - they bring out the best in us.
The lads in the Civil War uniforms were not reenactors but a group headed up by David Kincaid - the Irish Volunteer. Their niche is "the Irish Volunteer - Songs of the Irish Union Soldier 1861-65." Using his background as a musician in the roots-rock band, The Brandoes, David began to do research to find the ballads of the more than 160,000 Irish who fought in the famed Irish Brigade.
Listening to the tunes is a delightful experience. One can imagine themselves around a Union campfire with the Army of the Potomac. Kincaid et al does more than sing, however. His real contribution is the teaching of Irish-American history to our youth and those of us who are life-long students. How many of us knew, for example, that the courageous Michael Corcoran, initial leader of the Irish Brigade, refused to march his unit for the purpose of honoring England's Prince of Wales? The simplicity of the guitar, fiddle and mandolin played to Irish tempo and tunes, is time-honored. Hearing the Gaelic songs caused a tingling sensation in the body, as if the genes passed to the current repositor from the ancient ones have said, "Thanks, I haven't heard that one in awhile."
The Irish Volunteer is a collection of twelve songs from the American Civil War, centering on the Union army's famed "Irish Brigade," recruited and commanded by Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagher. The album is the product of years of research, including Civil War reenacting, and seven months of arranging and recording. Great care was taken to give the album an authentic, 19th century feel and sound, from the use of only period style instruments and vocal harmonies, to the enlisting of some of the finest musicians in Irish traditional music.
We saw them at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and we've seen them in Dublin. Donegal's Altan, lead by the forever young and beautiful Mairead ni Mhaonaigh. A renowned fiddler and Gaelic singer, she and the group continue to give the audience Irish ballads, jigs and modern, folk-influenced music with the sounds of flute, fiddle, guitar and other instruments. Their performance in Dublin was as fresh today as it was when Frankie Kennedy was still with us. Undated and therefore popular with many, their music reaches into the strands of time. This is reflected in the success of the nine albums they've produced during a thirteen-year musical career, which has also landed them a contract with Virgin Records.
TOUR
No visit to Dublin is complete without experiencing the beauty of the Church of St. Bridgid of Kildare. We had the fortune of being guided by Dr. Robert Fathman and his beautiful wife Gina (Rodgers). Originally from Detroit, he is the unofficial Mayor of Dublin. "The church was constructed in 1991. When the parish was first established, Christmas Eve Midnight Mass was celebrated in the horse barn," he said. "With horses in the stalls, a dirt floor beneath their feet and faith in their heart, parishioners sat on bales of hay." The renovated original horse barn is still standing.
"The exterior structure is modeled after the Church of Ireland Cathedral in Kildare," Gina added. "Inside one finds contributions from various Catholic churches in Ohio and the world. The hand-carved doors date from the Spanish Colonial period, an original gift to us from Holy Family Church in Columbus. The two bronze angles, Michael the Archangel, and Angel with Jug, are from 17th century Naples."
The altar contains a stone from the 13th century central tower of the St. Brigid of Kildare Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland. A hand-carved statue of St. Bridgid is from Italy and rest on an elaborately carved 16th century Sicilian wood column. "The Vestment Case is walnut, and was made in the mid 1800s for St. Augustus Church in New Straitsville, Perry County, Ohio," Gina offered.
We wrapped up our visit on Sunday morning, finding many visitors from around the country and State. Cleveland's Ed & Ann O'Donnell were on their first visit to the festival. "I'm duly impressed," he said. "With the resources of the City of Dublin to help, there's no other Irish Festival in Ohio that currently comes close to this."
Indeed, the City of Dublin provides the finest of rest facilities. Everything is either a permanent fixture in Coffman Park or the type that are inside trailers. None of those small portable-types are used, making it a truly world-class Festival. It could not be staged without the, count 'em, six hundred volunteers from among its 29,000 residents.
Were there any complaints? We only heard one - there was no Guinness to be had!
JC & Cairenn Sullivan
"If I have the honor conferred upon me to name your village, with the brightness of the morn, and the beaming of the sun on the hills and dales surrounding this beautiful valley, it would give me great pleasure to name your new town after my birthplace, Dublin, Ireland."
Never would John Shields, surveyor of the land nestled on the banks of Ohio's Scioto River, have imagined his words being quoted 189 years after he spoke them. And, never in his imagination would he have pictured folks coming from near and far to honor the culture of his native land.
The growth of the Dublin Irish Festival is a continuing indicator of the popularity of Irish culture and it's phenomenal growth. Hosted by the City of Dublin, Ohio, you know you're in for a special experience when drive in and are immediately greeted with references to Ireland - from the shamrocks painted on city-owned property to the street names sporting monikers such as Tullamore, Gullway and Emerald Parkway.
Held in conjunction with the Columbus Feis, parking is adjacent to the festival grounds or close by at Coffman High School, where the Feis is staged. Stops for the free shuttle are well marked. Upon entering the festival grounds, clearly marked signs direct you to the six stages and/or areas you might wish to begin in. The reasons one attends an Irish Festival are varied but if the strings linking all of us can be summed into four categories - music, food, shop and camaraderie. The latter includes refreshments, of course.
SHOPS
Shopping at the vendor tents at Irish Festivals for a few years now, we've found one thing missing - tanktops. We have sweaters, sweatshirts and tee shirts coming out the yazoo - but no tank tops. Well, thanks be to God for Philadelphia's Dennery's. Now, there may be others, but Mike's is the first we've seen. Brilliant.
"We came in here yesterday and the City Manager, Tim Hansley, was out in the parking lot. He actually took time to tell us exactly where to go, led us to our spot, even though that wasn't what he was doing at the moment," said exhibitor Pat Foley. "So, everybody has been really helpful." Foley makes wood furniture with an Irish motif - "all the way from shallows to tables, display cases to music boxes with Irish tunes." Because of the special niche they occupy, meaning no one else is doing exactly what the Foleys do. Pat and Sheila will exhibitors at the Milwaukee Irish Festival - the first year they applied.
Other noteworthy exhibitors were Keltic Outfitters, Columbus, Ohio, a source for County Tartans in necktie and shawl and scarves; Cahill Crafted Garden Houses and Gazebos with the Enchanting Thatch Roof Collection, William Cahill, Cincinnati, Ohio.
MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT
There is musical variety at the Dublin Festival to suit every eclectic taste. Being Clevelanders we are, quite naturally, drawn to the rock stage. The most energetic groups booked were Tempest and the Prodigals. Of the two, Cairenn liked Tempest best because of their authentic fashion. They've been recording since 1988 and have played more than 1000 performances and have released 7 CD's. Although they've been described as folk-rock, their style is based around traditional folk music and they definitely rock.
"If you're going to rock, make something original with your rock," Cairenn said. "However, I can see that when a good song is a good song, it can be done in many different ways. That's what keeps it young and alive for generations to come. I preferred Tempest for the original work that they did. They actually are rockers."
JC, on the other hand, preferred the Prodigals. The group voted #1 in an Irish Echo newspaper Readers Poll. The Prodigals hail from Cavan, Clare, Dublin and New York; they feature a driving, high-energy take on Irish music, fusing strong traditional elements with a rock energy.
Being one who likes that old time rock and roll, JC, too, enjoyed Tempest very much. "But I also liked the Prodigals interpretations of songs that I knew. I like their musical approach to some of these 'old' tunes. It's just as original when you set your own style and interpretation to it.
The lads, Greg Grene, lead vocals/button accordion, Andrew Harkin, bass, Ray Kelly, lead vocals/guitar and Brian Tracey, drums/percussion/background vocals, formed two years ago and are already playing some of the highest-prestige venues around, evidenced by their appearance in Dublin. When they are not on the road they are the resident band at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar in Manhattan, a position they took over from Black '47.
It's always refreshing, of course, to see so many of our youth attracted to our culture. This could not be more evident than in the work of St. Louis Irish Arts, Inc. Founded in 1972, they are a well-established school with a variety of programs in traditional Irish music, song and dance. Instruction is offered in music, singing and step dancing for children and adults. Classes in fiddle, tin whistle, accordion, harp, harmonica, flute and bodhran are held at a learning center and workshops through.
God bless their work - they bring out the best in us.
The lads in the Civil War uniforms were not reenactors but a group headed up by David Kincaid - the Irish Volunteer. Their niche is "the Irish Volunteer - Songs of the Irish Union Soldier 1861-65." Using his background as a musician in the roots-rock band, The Brandoes, David began to do research to find the ballads of the more than 160,000 Irish who fought in the famed Irish Brigade.
Listening to the tunes is a delightful experience. One can imagine themselves around a Union campfire with the Army of the Potomac. Kincaid et al does more than sing, however. His real contribution is the teaching of Irish-American history to our youth and those of us who are life-long students. How many of us knew, for example, that the courageous Michael Corcoran, initial leader of the Irish Brigade, refused to march his unit for the purpose of honoring England's Prince of Wales? The simplicity of the guitar, fiddle and mandolin played to Irish tempo and tunes, is time-honored. Hearing the Gaelic songs caused a tingling sensation in the body, as if the genes passed to the current repositor from the ancient ones have said, "Thanks, I haven't heard that one in awhile."
The Irish Volunteer is a collection of twelve songs from the American Civil War, centering on the Union army's famed "Irish Brigade," recruited and commanded by Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagher. The album is the product of years of research, including Civil War reenacting, and seven months of arranging and recording. Great care was taken to give the album an authentic, 19th century feel and sound, from the use of only period style instruments and vocal harmonies, to the enlisting of some of the finest musicians in Irish traditional music.
We saw them at the Milwaukee Irish Festival and we've seen them in Dublin. Donegal's Altan, lead by the forever young and beautiful Mairead ni Mhaonaigh. A renowned fiddler and Gaelic singer, she and the group continue to give the audience Irish ballads, jigs and modern, folk-influenced music with the sounds of flute, fiddle, guitar and other instruments. Their performance in Dublin was as fresh today as it was when Frankie Kennedy was still with us. Undated and therefore popular with many, their music reaches into the strands of time. This is reflected in the success of the nine albums they've produced during a thirteen-year musical career, which has also landed them a contract with Virgin Records.
TOUR
No visit to Dublin is complete without experiencing the beauty of the Church of St. Bridgid of Kildare. We had the fortune of being guided by Dr. Robert Fathman and his beautiful wife Gina (Rodgers). Originally from Detroit, he is the unofficial Mayor of Dublin. "The church was constructed in 1991. When the parish was first established, Christmas Eve Midnight Mass was celebrated in the horse barn," he said. "With horses in the stalls, a dirt floor beneath their feet and faith in their heart, parishioners sat on bales of hay." The renovated original horse barn is still standing.
"The exterior structure is modeled after the Church of Ireland Cathedral in Kildare," Gina added. "Inside one finds contributions from various Catholic churches in Ohio and the world. The hand-carved doors date from the Spanish Colonial period, an original gift to us from Holy Family Church in Columbus. The two bronze angles, Michael the Archangel, and Angel with Jug, are from 17th century Naples."
The altar contains a stone from the 13th century central tower of the St. Brigid of Kildare Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland. A hand-carved statue of St. Bridgid is from Italy and rest on an elaborately carved 16th century Sicilian wood column. "The Vestment Case is walnut, and was made in the mid 1800s for St. Augustus Church in New Straitsville, Perry County, Ohio," Gina offered.
We wrapped up our visit on Sunday morning, finding many visitors from around the country and State. Cleveland's Ed & Ann O'Donnell were on their first visit to the festival. "I'm duly impressed," he said. "With the resources of the City of Dublin to help, there's no other Irish Festival in Ohio that currently comes close to this."
Indeed, the City of Dublin provides the finest of rest facilities. Everything is either a permanent fixture in Coffman Park or the type that are inside trailers. None of those small portable-types are used, making it a truly world-class Festival. It could not be staged without the, count 'em, six hundred volunteers from among its 29,000 residents.
Were there any complaints? We only heard one - there was no Guinness to be had!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The O'Sullivans of Skibereen and Sullivans of Cleveland, Ohio
by
J.C. Sullivan
Counties Kerry and Cork have certainly contributed many, many successful and storied sons and daughters to the world. One such story is that of the O’Sullivans of Skibereen and Cleveland, Ohio. A stonecutter by trade, he emigrated from Cobh to Ellis Island. From there he traveled to Ohio where he worked the stone quarries and built a home in Grafton, Ohio. He always referred to America as “This magnificent country.” His spouse was Catherine Harty from Clonmel, County Tipperary. It is believed she emigrated through Canada.
Like so many of the famine era, Frank J, Sullivan left from Cobh to Ellis Island and from there made his way to Cleveland, Ohio. He was later described as a “handsome version” of the American union leader John L. Lewis. Whoever saw the comparison was probably not aware that John L. Lewis had Vera O’Sullivan roots himself.
Frank J. married Margaret Jamieson, and eventually eight young Sullivans were added to the clan; Frank C., Delphine, William, Edwin, Thomas L., Katherine, Charles and John, who was called “Jack.” All the sons except Charles would work in the paint business at one time or another. But it was Frank Charles who landed a job at Arco Paint in the early 1900s.
Initially working as an electric company linesman and business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), he was elected union treasurer and moved the family to their headquarters in Springfield, Illinois. However, he found the politics of it distasteful and sent his growing family back to Cleveland where a relative gave them a place to stay until Frank J. could return. The family eventually settled on Cleveland’s near West Side, in the predominantly Irish parish of St. Colman.
Frank landed a job at the Municipal Light Company and taught electrical theory at night at a technical school. His brother-in-law was Divisional Sales Manager at Arco Paint and brought him aboard, part-time, as a mail sorter. Frank J.’s son, Frank C., joined him at the firm. After three years Frank J. left the firm to be come the Eastern Sales Manager for Acorn Chemical Co. Frank C. joined his father two years later, in 1918.
Frank C. was blessed with the best of the Ui Suileabhain genes, personable, intelligent, handsome and one who readily made friends. His early leadership was evident at West High School where he was president of the honor society and his senior class and captain of the basketball team. During his summers he attended classes at the Culver Summer Naval School, an extension of the Culver Military Academy in Indiana. It was there he met his future bride, Margaret (Peg) Wilhemy.
Even though he entered Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Frank C. never severed his ties with Acorn. In his spare time he sold Acorn products to farmers in southwestern Ohio. Here he learned a hard lesson that he took with him throughout his career. Knowing the farmer was buying products from a competitor, Frank told him Acorn’s product was just as good. The astute farmer said the product he was currently using was “no damn good.” The farmer bought two drums off Frank but told him to never compare his product with his competitors’.
The union of Frank C. and Peg Wilhemy produced Frank C., Jr., nicknamed Sully, Margaret Patricia, Joan, Catherine, Suzanne and Tom. “We had a very happy upbringing,” Sue said. “My dad traveled a fair amount, but when he was home, there was a lot of togetherness. Sunday afternoon was everybody lying on the floor reading the paper.”
Frank was exempted from service in World War II due to his age and family status but four of the Sullivan boys served overseas. Following the war Frank played a key role in Acorn’s success. During the years of the Depression he negotiated a deal that would mean giving up a salary in exchange for 30% of the profit he would be able to generate. His philosophy was simple – hire the best salesmen in the industry and let them do their jobs.
His attempt to purchase the company failed so, with the owners’ blessing, he struck out and joined Basic Metals to sell aluminum pigment to Acorn and all aluminum coatings companies. He brokered a contract with Basic Metals to market and distribute the aluminum pigment and inside of a year, in 1947, he bought the company out. Republic Powdered Metals was formed, known today as RPM, Inc.
Frank’s son, Thomas C. Sullivan, a U.S. Navy veteran, has lead the company to become a $2 billion enterprise, becoming a world leader in specialty coatings. Although RPM doesn’t ring any bells with readers, they will recognize the names of Day-Glo and Rust-Oleum among others. As Chairman of the National Paint & Coatings Association, which represents some 400 manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, he negotiated a milestone agreement establishing lead exposure warnings and education programs. He was named CEO of the Decade by Financial World magazine was honored by the Cleveland Irish community at their 2007 Walks of Life Award.
This writer was pleased to have met Tom Sullivan at the 2007 Walks of Life awards in Cleveland as I was able to finally to meet a member of the family that I knew about for so very long. I told Tom a story my late father told me. An undercover Cleveland police officer (detective), Dad had entered an office on Franklin Avenue, on Cleveland’s west side (Acorn Chemical/Refining). As he walked into the office the secretary looked up and said, “Good morning, Mr. Sullivan.” My father was stunned. His immediate thought was “How the heck would she know who I am?” Dad heard a door open behind him. The secretary looked over dad’s shoulder and a look of astonishment came over her face. Dad turned around and said it was like looking into a mirror. Details of their conversation are long lost but I’m certain that Frank J. and John J. attempted to cross reference both our families’ Cork roots. And both families have not forgotten those roots, giving back to the community from which we spring.
Tom Sullivan’s wife, Sandy, has been very involved in many community endeavors.
“My mother was very involved in different organizations for the betterment of other folks,” said Sandy Sullivan. “I was always trying to get my hand in a little bit of this, and Tom was always saying, “Hey, you have a huge responsibility with our family, and let’s wait until our kids are grown. Then I promise you that I’ll get involved along with you.’”
Founded by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland in 1968, the Sullivan family supports The Urban Community School, a safe haven where children of all ethnicities and religious persuasions go to learn. Its current endowment is $9 million. The family is also involved with the old Saint Patrick’s Church on Cleveland’s near West Side, St. Malachi Church and Malachi House, the latter founded by Tom’s sister Kaki. The Malachi House provides a home for the terminally ill who are indigent.
In October, 2007, yet another generation of Skibereen O’Sullivans assumed leadership of the firm when Tom announced his retirement. Like his father and grandfather, Frank C. Sullivan attended Culver Military Academy but pursued his university education at the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar. Now President and Chief Executive Officer, RPM International Inc., Frank received his B.A. degree in 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he held various commercial lending and corporate finance positions at Harris Bank and First Union National Bank prior to joining RPM as a Technical Service Representative from 1987 to 1988 and as Regional Sales Manager from 1988 to 1989 at RPM's AGR Company joint venture. In 1989, he became the Company's Director of Corporate Development.
He became a Vice President of the Company in 1991, Chief Financial Officer in 1993, Executive Vice President in 1995, President in 1999, and Chief Operating Officer in 2001 and was elected Chief Executive Officer in October 2002. He serves on the boards of The Timken Company, The Cleveland Foundation, the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Digestive Disease Center Leadership Board, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and Ohio Business Roundtable.
Cleveland, northeast Ohio and elsewhere have been enriched by an enormously successful family who has managed, despite the trappings of wealth, to keep their feet on the ground. Way to go Sullivans! And, once again, thank you Ireland.
J.C. Sullivan
Counties Kerry and Cork have certainly contributed many, many successful and storied sons and daughters to the world. One such story is that of the O’Sullivans of Skibereen and Cleveland, Ohio. A stonecutter by trade, he emigrated from Cobh to Ellis Island. From there he traveled to Ohio where he worked the stone quarries and built a home in Grafton, Ohio. He always referred to America as “This magnificent country.” His spouse was Catherine Harty from Clonmel, County Tipperary. It is believed she emigrated through Canada.
Like so many of the famine era, Frank J, Sullivan left from Cobh to Ellis Island and from there made his way to Cleveland, Ohio. He was later described as a “handsome version” of the American union leader John L. Lewis. Whoever saw the comparison was probably not aware that John L. Lewis had Vera O’Sullivan roots himself.
Frank J. married Margaret Jamieson, and eventually eight young Sullivans were added to the clan; Frank C., Delphine, William, Edwin, Thomas L., Katherine, Charles and John, who was called “Jack.” All the sons except Charles would work in the paint business at one time or another. But it was Frank Charles who landed a job at Arco Paint in the early 1900s.
Initially working as an electric company linesman and business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), he was elected union treasurer and moved the family to their headquarters in Springfield, Illinois. However, he found the politics of it distasteful and sent his growing family back to Cleveland where a relative gave them a place to stay until Frank J. could return. The family eventually settled on Cleveland’s near West Side, in the predominantly Irish parish of St. Colman.
Frank landed a job at the Municipal Light Company and taught electrical theory at night at a technical school. His brother-in-law was Divisional Sales Manager at Arco Paint and brought him aboard, part-time, as a mail sorter. Frank J.’s son, Frank C., joined him at the firm. After three years Frank J. left the firm to be come the Eastern Sales Manager for Acorn Chemical Co. Frank C. joined his father two years later, in 1918.
Frank C. was blessed with the best of the Ui Suileabhain genes, personable, intelligent, handsome and one who readily made friends. His early leadership was evident at West High School where he was president of the honor society and his senior class and captain of the basketball team. During his summers he attended classes at the Culver Summer Naval School, an extension of the Culver Military Academy in Indiana. It was there he met his future bride, Margaret (Peg) Wilhemy.
Even though he entered Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Frank C. never severed his ties with Acorn. In his spare time he sold Acorn products to farmers in southwestern Ohio. Here he learned a hard lesson that he took with him throughout his career. Knowing the farmer was buying products from a competitor, Frank told him Acorn’s product was just as good. The astute farmer said the product he was currently using was “no damn good.” The farmer bought two drums off Frank but told him to never compare his product with his competitors’.
The union of Frank C. and Peg Wilhemy produced Frank C., Jr., nicknamed Sully, Margaret Patricia, Joan, Catherine, Suzanne and Tom. “We had a very happy upbringing,” Sue said. “My dad traveled a fair amount, but when he was home, there was a lot of togetherness. Sunday afternoon was everybody lying on the floor reading the paper.”
Frank was exempted from service in World War II due to his age and family status but four of the Sullivan boys served overseas. Following the war Frank played a key role in Acorn’s success. During the years of the Depression he negotiated a deal that would mean giving up a salary in exchange for 30% of the profit he would be able to generate. His philosophy was simple – hire the best salesmen in the industry and let them do their jobs.
His attempt to purchase the company failed so, with the owners’ blessing, he struck out and joined Basic Metals to sell aluminum pigment to Acorn and all aluminum coatings companies. He brokered a contract with Basic Metals to market and distribute the aluminum pigment and inside of a year, in 1947, he bought the company out. Republic Powdered Metals was formed, known today as RPM, Inc.
Frank’s son, Thomas C. Sullivan, a U.S. Navy veteran, has lead the company to become a $2 billion enterprise, becoming a world leader in specialty coatings. Although RPM doesn’t ring any bells with readers, they will recognize the names of Day-Glo and Rust-Oleum among others. As Chairman of the National Paint & Coatings Association, which represents some 400 manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, he negotiated a milestone agreement establishing lead exposure warnings and education programs. He was named CEO of the Decade by Financial World magazine was honored by the Cleveland Irish community at their 2007 Walks of Life Award.
This writer was pleased to have met Tom Sullivan at the 2007 Walks of Life awards in Cleveland as I was able to finally to meet a member of the family that I knew about for so very long. I told Tom a story my late father told me. An undercover Cleveland police officer (detective), Dad had entered an office on Franklin Avenue, on Cleveland’s west side (Acorn Chemical/Refining). As he walked into the office the secretary looked up and said, “Good morning, Mr. Sullivan.” My father was stunned. His immediate thought was “How the heck would she know who I am?” Dad heard a door open behind him. The secretary looked over dad’s shoulder and a look of astonishment came over her face. Dad turned around and said it was like looking into a mirror. Details of their conversation are long lost but I’m certain that Frank J. and John J. attempted to cross reference both our families’ Cork roots. And both families have not forgotten those roots, giving back to the community from which we spring.
Tom Sullivan’s wife, Sandy, has been very involved in many community endeavors.
“My mother was very involved in different organizations for the betterment of other folks,” said Sandy Sullivan. “I was always trying to get my hand in a little bit of this, and Tom was always saying, “Hey, you have a huge responsibility with our family, and let’s wait until our kids are grown. Then I promise you that I’ll get involved along with you.’”
Founded by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland in 1968, the Sullivan family supports The Urban Community School, a safe haven where children of all ethnicities and religious persuasions go to learn. Its current endowment is $9 million. The family is also involved with the old Saint Patrick’s Church on Cleveland’s near West Side, St. Malachi Church and Malachi House, the latter founded by Tom’s sister Kaki. The Malachi House provides a home for the terminally ill who are indigent.
In October, 2007, yet another generation of Skibereen O’Sullivans assumed leadership of the firm when Tom announced his retirement. Like his father and grandfather, Frank C. Sullivan attended Culver Military Academy but pursued his university education at the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar. Now President and Chief Executive Officer, RPM International Inc., Frank received his B.A. degree in 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he held various commercial lending and corporate finance positions at Harris Bank and First Union National Bank prior to joining RPM as a Technical Service Representative from 1987 to 1988 and as Regional Sales Manager from 1988 to 1989 at RPM's AGR Company joint venture. In 1989, he became the Company's Director of Corporate Development.
He became a Vice President of the Company in 1991, Chief Financial Officer in 1993, Executive Vice President in 1995, President in 1999, and Chief Operating Officer in 2001 and was elected Chief Executive Officer in October 2002. He serves on the boards of The Timken Company, The Cleveland Foundation, the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Digestive Disease Center Leadership Board, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and Ohio Business Roundtable.
Cleveland, northeast Ohio and elsewhere have been enriched by an enormously successful family who has managed, despite the trappings of wealth, to keep their feet on the ground. Way to go Sullivans! And, once again, thank you Ireland.
Stone Mad - A Gem in the Inner Ring
by
JC Sullivan
The first story about the family that appeared in the Mayo News is framed and hanging in a place of honor on a wall at the Tree House in Cleveland’s historic Tremont area. The pub thrives, with an upbeat crowd always present. They’ve purchased property here and elsewhere in Cleveland and continue their leadership and entrepreneurship. “They” are the Leneghan and Campbell families, with roots in Ballycroy.
Clevelander Patrick J. Campbell joined Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance in April, 1998, rehearsing in Newcastle, England. He then performed for eight years, ten shows a week, six days, at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino and Venetian Hotel, both in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was during his time he met a lovely Dublin lass and fellow Irish dancer, Rebecca Brady. She became Mrs. Campbell and, in 2006, they returned to Cleveland to continue their affiliation with Irish dance. This time, however, it’s there own dance academy, above their own tavern.
The Brady-Campbell Irish Dance School is teaching youngsters the joy of Irish dance in a hall above P.J. McIntyre’s, an elegant Kamm’s Corner Irish pub. “We want kids to come and learn what we’ve learned through our leap in Irish dancing, and have fun doing it, both competitively and recreationally.”
More can be learned about them at their website, bradycampbellirishdanceschcool.com. “There’ll be a new session in September,” he said, “with an Open House in August.”
Below the dance hall is the pub. Patrick is President and co-owner, along with his cousin, Tom Leneghan. Patrick’s father, also Patrick, is a Ballycroy, County Mayo, Ireland native. He married an Irish-American girl, Mary McIntyre, whose parents were from Achill and Newport, Co. Mayo. The name PJ McIntyre’s is derived from Patrick’s initials and his mother’s maiden name.
Christ called Peter the rock of his church. Another Peter, Leneghan, has built his rock, Stone Mad, in an upscale pub/restaurant on Cleveland’s near west side, in what’s called the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Stone Mad is in a changing area that used to be prominently Italian. While there are still Italian-Americans living there, there’s also Vietnamese, African-American and Hispanic communities residing there.
Where on God’s green earth does a name like Stone Mad come from? “I met a stone mason in Ireland who had written a book called Stone Mad.,” said Pete, not to be confused with his cousin ‘Irish Pete’.
Eileen Sammon is a co-owner of Stone Mad. She’s been with Tom & Pete Leneghan since 1996. “I came from the restaurant end of this business and hey kind of took me under their wing. They’re two guys I really grew fond of,” she said. Paul Jones, also a long-time Tree House employee, is the Bar Manager. “When we first started talking about this we wanted to do a Bocce Ball court. When Pete had his Central Park carriage business he used to go to a restaurant that had one so he wanted to incorporate that here.”
JC Sullivan
The first story about the family that appeared in the Mayo News is framed and hanging in a place of honor on a wall at the Tree House in Cleveland’s historic Tremont area. The pub thrives, with an upbeat crowd always present. They’ve purchased property here and elsewhere in Cleveland and continue their leadership and entrepreneurship. “They” are the Leneghan and Campbell families, with roots in Ballycroy.
Clevelander Patrick J. Campbell joined Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance in April, 1998, rehearsing in Newcastle, England. He then performed for eight years, ten shows a week, six days, at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino and Venetian Hotel, both in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was during his time he met a lovely Dublin lass and fellow Irish dancer, Rebecca Brady. She became Mrs. Campbell and, in 2006, they returned to Cleveland to continue their affiliation with Irish dance. This time, however, it’s there own dance academy, above their own tavern.
The Brady-Campbell Irish Dance School is teaching youngsters the joy of Irish dance in a hall above P.J. McIntyre’s, an elegant Kamm’s Corner Irish pub. “We want kids to come and learn what we’ve learned through our leap in Irish dancing, and have fun doing it, both competitively and recreationally.”
More can be learned about them at their website, bradycampbellirishdanceschcool.com. “There’ll be a new session in September,” he said, “with an Open House in August.”
Below the dance hall is the pub. Patrick is President and co-owner, along with his cousin, Tom Leneghan. Patrick’s father, also Patrick, is a Ballycroy, County Mayo, Ireland native. He married an Irish-American girl, Mary McIntyre, whose parents were from Achill and Newport, Co. Mayo. The name PJ McIntyre’s is derived from Patrick’s initials and his mother’s maiden name.
Christ called Peter the rock of his church. Another Peter, Leneghan, has built his rock, Stone Mad, in an upscale pub/restaurant on Cleveland’s near west side, in what’s called the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Stone Mad is in a changing area that used to be prominently Italian. While there are still Italian-Americans living there, there’s also Vietnamese, African-American and Hispanic communities residing there.
Where on God’s green earth does a name like Stone Mad come from? “I met a stone mason in Ireland who had written a book called Stone Mad.,” said Pete, not to be confused with his cousin ‘Irish Pete’.
Eileen Sammon is a co-owner of Stone Mad. She’s been with Tom & Pete Leneghan since 1996. “I came from the restaurant end of this business and hey kind of took me under their wing. They’re two guys I really grew fond of,” she said. Paul Jones, also a long-time Tree House employee, is the Bar Manager. “When we first started talking about this we wanted to do a Bocce Ball court. When Pete had his Central Park carriage business he used to go to a restaurant that had one so he wanted to incorporate that here.”
Saturday, November 21, 2009
HAVING A BALL IN BALLINA - Reprinted with permission
by Mike Morley
While looking through the Irish papers recently, I ran across some mouth-watering classic pastry dishes from Ballina Mayo, guaranteed to make your Thanksgiving feast a truly elegant affair. Here’s just a few of the creations offered by Ballina baker Michael Foley: Penny plum cake, queen cake, anglesey cake, barm brack, saffron brack, plum pudding, chancellor’s pudding, orange, lemon almond and custard puddings, raspberry puffs, cheese cakes, parliament gingerbread, wellington biscuits, Victoria biscuits, and Italian gingerbread. Also on the menu are rhubarb, apple, cherry, currant, and gooseberry pies; mutton, lamb and beefsteak pies, mince pies and shrewsberries for your dining pleasure. Top off your feast with ginger nuts, coffee, and sweets of all kinds. Foley will even provide after-dinner cigars.
All these scrump-tilli-icious items to grace your holiday table, “And Many Others Too Numerous to Mention” can be found at Michael Foley’s Confectionary and Italian Warehouse on Knox St, in Ballina Mayo- “All orders punctually attended to”. Do you suppose Mr. Foley is affected by the current “hard times” in post “celtic tiger” Ireland? I can assure you with confidence that he is not.
In the News section we read: “An inquest was held at Ardnaree on yesterday, before Meredith Thompson, Esq. Coroner for county Sligo, on the body of a man named Thomas Munally of Cloonislane. …it appeared that the deceased and his family, consisting of a wife and eight children, have been in extreme destitution for several weeks; they had pawned their entire clothing, and all other available articles, for the purpose of purchasing food. On last Friday morning the deceased proceeded to join a working party under the drainage, when, after working for a short period, he dropped down from exhaustion in consequence of want of food, and shortly after expired. The jury unanimously found the following verdict-‘Death from starvation.’"
Truth is, Foley’s ad, along with Mr. Munnally’s shocking death, were both featured in the Ballina Chronicle of May 2nd 1849! The brutal starvation of Ireland had then been in progress three awful years. (Incidentally Michael Foley is also one of 3 carpenters listed in Slater’s directory of Ballina. One wonders whether the busy baker was also moonlighting in the booming coffin trade).
Reading that paper one might imagine the printer had somehow badly mixed together stories submitted from two entirely different countries- countries as different as the earth and moon… one flowing with riches, commodities and the warmth of social interaction; the other barren, toxic, uninhabitable.
The previous July the Telegraph reported the doings of Sir Roger Palmer, owner of no less than 90,000 acres in Mayo: “At Islandeady (between Castlebar and Westport) his 'crowbar invincibles', pulled down several houses, and drove forth the unfortunate inmates to sleep in the adjoining fields. On Thursday we witnessed the wretched creatures endeavouring to root out the timber of the houses, with the intention of constructing some sort of sheds to screen their children from the heavy rain falling at the time. The pitiless pelting storm has continued ever since, and if they have survived its severity, they must be more than human beings”.
Surely among the evicted were families with names common to North Mayo: Gallagher, Durkan, McHale, Barrett, McNulty, Brennan, Henry, Doyle, Harkin, Dogherty, Foy, Kelly, Loftus, Gaughan, and Lavelle.
On his extensive holdings around Castlebar and Ballinrobe another notorious and ruthless English landlord, George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, was also evicting his tenants en masse:
Historian Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith (Fitzgerald) - “The Reason Why”: “To the Earl of Lucan famine horrors were so many convincing demonstrations of the urgent necessity of clearing the land. The land could not support the people, could never support the people; so the people must go. He did not consider it was his responsibility, any more than the English Government considered it was their responsibility, to arrange how the people should go and where. He was getting nothing from his estates… A large part of the population of Ireland must disappear. Ten thousand people were ejected from the neighbourhood of Ballinrobe, and 15,000 acres cleared and put in charge of Scotsmen.
Several populous villages in the neighbourhood of Castlebar completely disappeared, farms being established on the sites. Behind Castlebar House the Earl of Lucan established a large dairy farm. …in the town of Castlebar itself -- whole streets were demolished and the stones from the walls used to build barns and boundary walls… 'crow-bar brigades' (would) pull down cabins over the heads of people who refused to leave them. The Bishop of Meath saw a cabin being pulled down over the heads of people dying of cholera: a winnowing sheet was placed over their bodies as they lay on the ground, and the cabin was demolished over their heads. He administered the Sacrament for the dying in the open air, and since it was during the equinoctial gales, in torrents of rain.
A 'machine of ropes and pulleys' was devised for the destruction of more solid houses. .. at one crack of the whip and pull of the horses the roof was brought in. It was found that two of these machines enabled a sheriff to evict as many families in a day as could be got through by a crowbar brigade of fifty men. Six thousand evictions might involve more than 40,000 people, as the average Irish family consisted of seven persons.
Sick and aged, little children, and women with child were alike thrust forth into the cold snows of winter... the few remaining tenants were forbidden to receive the outcasts ... The majority rendered penniless by the years of famine, wandered aimlessly about the roads and bogs till they found refuge in the workhouse- or the grave.
“The Castlebar Union workhouse had been built to hold 600-700 persons, but had never contained more than 140… Very many died, and since there were no coffins, their bodies were left to rot in the dead house. But there was food, however revolting, however meagre; and the Union was besieged. On October 26th, 1846, the Earl of Lucan, Chairman of the Board of Guardians, had declared the workhouse bankrupt, and, in spite of vehement protests from the Poor Law Commissioner, ordered the Castlebar Union to be entirely closed down. Starving mothers dragged their children to the Union doors and besought that they at least should be taken in. Whole families made their painful way from the wild lands and collapsed moaning in the courtyard when they were refused.”
Irish family names of South Mayo: Walsh, Burke, Gibbons, Prendergast, Joyce, Murray, Gallagher, Lydon, Heneghan, Murphy, O'Malley, Kelly, Moran, Duffy, O'Connor, Waldron, Farragher.
LORD LUCAN
PERFECTLY “LEGAL”: “It appeared that a new system of clearing land was being adopted in Mayo and that the processes now before the courts were novel in Ireland. There had previously been a right of levying a distress on goods and chattels for rent, but this year in Mayo there were no goods and chattels left, so the person of the debtor was to be attached -- that is, he was to be imprisoned. The husband and father was to be removed, and the wife and children were to be left to fend for themselves.”
It was a variation of Britain’s clearing and plantation policies carried out by Lord Mountjoy following Kinsale and the “Flight of Earls”; and later by Cromwell. But since slavery in the British Empire had ceased just 40 years earlier, the Irish families could no longer be sold overseas for a profit. They were simply left to die.
The Ballina paper also carried regular news of: “THE MILITARY FORCES IN IRELAND” As of May 9, 1849 there were “Ten regiments of cavalry, twenty-six of Infantry, and nine depots of infantry regiments are now stationed in Ireland, making in round numbers a total of about 31,000 men of ranks.”
45 regiments. Were they distributing relief, building shelters, manning field hospitals? Rev. Dr McEvoy, parish priest of Kells, wrote in The Nation, 25 October 1845: “With starvation at our doors, grimly staring us, vessels laden with our sole hopes of existence, our provisions, are hourly wafted from our every port. From one milling establishment I have last night seen not less than fifty dray loads of meal moving on to Drogheda, thence to go to feed the foreigner, leaving starvation and death the sure and certain fate of the toil and sweat that raised this food.”
Woodham-Smith described such a convoy of food being moved to Waterford for shipment to England: "The barges leave Clonmel once a week for this place, with the export supplies under convoy which, last Tuesday, consisted of two guns, 50 cavalry and 80 infantry escorting them on the banks of the Suir as far as Carrick".
I find it astounding how any rational person, no less one of Irish descent, would focus on “the potato” to explain why millions of Gaelic-speaking Irish Catholic men and women, their boys and girls and infants, were abandoned to die the horrible slow death of starvation; while others, English and Protestant, were sustained with little inconvenience to their lifestyles- other than having on occasion to actually encounter the desperation, death and dying going on all around them; or read about it in their weekly paper over tea. And it’s sad to read breezy commentary about “The Potato Famine” in this newspaper.
©Mike Morley 2009 E-mail: IrishTV@ameritech.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ONLINE EXTRA!
The copy below was well fit to be included with the print edition of “Having A Ball in Ballina” column, but would not fit well into the space allowed. Read on!
Nine years after casting out tens of thousands of his Irish tenants to starve in the cold, the Earl of “I will not breed paupers to pay priests” Lucan was involved in yet another slaughter. Unlike his mass murder in Mayo, this carnage was on a much smaller scale, involving mere hundreds. But, because it involved the death of British troops, not Irish civilians, the incident is renowned world-wide, rather than hidden from popular history.
On October 25, 1854 in the Ukraine, Lucan was the cavalry commander who ordered the 7th Earl of Cardigan, a brother-in-law whom he despised, to lead the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava.
Later, true to the history of Britain and its butchers, the teflon Lord was not only cleared of any blame, But appointed KCB (Knight Commander, Order of the Bath) and Colonel of the King’s Royal Irish 8th Hussars (a unit that charged at Balaklava). He was then raised to lieutenant-general, then general, and finally- field marshal.
The 250 soldiers who died needlessly at Balaklava have been immortalized by Lord Tennyson. But the uncountable families whose emaciated bodies were tumbled into mass graves all over Ireland are not so much unremembered as actually denied by their own people, themselves in denial. The dead have been rendered invisible, bereft of memorial or memory.
* * *
That May of 1849, as thousands wandered the roads in rags and huddled in ditches against the cold, the Ballina paper carried several other, often surreal, items:
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Robert and George Scott at the Commercial House, Arran Street, Ballina announce the “Most Fashionable Stock of Clothing Ever Imported to Ballina.”
Not to be outdone, a rival ballyhoos: ”First Arrivals of Spring Goods. The Western Woollen Hall, Knox's Street, Ballina. Alexander Little, Proprietor, has returned from the different markets (being the sixth time within seven months) with a stock of goods unparalleled in Ballina for variety and cheapness, compromising All the Newest Designs suitable to the present season, and begs to say he purposes visiting the markets monthly, so as to select every new style coming out.”
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Several persons were summoned for deserting the Workhouse without permission from the Master, and taking with them clothes belonging to the Union. Some of them were allowed to return to the Workhouse, and the rest were sentenced- some to 24 hour confinement in the bridewell, and others to fourteen days imprisonment in the gaol, with hard labour. One man was sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment with hard labour, for breaking a window and taking off some bread. He alleged he did this through the effects of hunger, but it was shown he made a habit of thus getting his bread.
The deaths from cholera on Friday last- and it is yet only in its infancy-are enough to show the frightful ravages that may be expected to follow… Rev. Mr. Anderson's statement has been …more than confirmed, for whereas the number of starvation deaths mentioned by the Rector amounts only to eighty-seven for the week, it is set down by the second witness of ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN! But the discrepancy can be easily accounted for... The fact is that in order to screen the Commissioners, and keep the public in the dark as to the real extent of the mortality, many of the workhouse officers through the South and West make it common practice to falsify the returns”.
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PAINTING, GLAZING, AND PAPER HANGING ESTABLISHMENT, Top of King Street, Ballina. ROBERT GIBSON - Has just received a well-selected assortment of ROOM PAPER, suitable for Parlour, Drawing-room, Bed-room, and Halls, which he offers for sale on the most moderate terms. He also begs leave to state that he is well supplied with WINDOW GLASS, OILS, COLOURS, and PREPARED PAINTS of every description. PAINTING BRUSHES, PLASTER PARIS, ROMAN CEMENT, &c.
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From the 26th Feb. to the 13th March there arrived in New York about 6,394 emigrants. The deaths on the passage out amounted to 75 in all.
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(For the tourist trade) Doctor Whittaker of Ardnaree, Ballina offers: A Neat Furnished Cottage. With Large Garden, Stable, and Coach House- to be let for the summer months in Ballina.
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Matthew Kilkelly, convicted at the last Ennis assizes of an attempt to murder Mr. Wallplate, suffered the extreme penalty of the law in front of the county gaol on Monday. He appeared deeply penitent.
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THE ARMY- List of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed in Action at Gujrat, on the 21st of February, 1849, or who subsequently died of wounds received: (Note: GUJRAT in the North West Indian Punjab was the site of the decisive battle of the Anglo-Sikh War. General Sir Hugh Gough commanding British and Indian troops defeated Sikhs, the Punjab army, and their Afghan allies. The Punjab then was annexed into British India for the British East India Company. Note also the predominantly Irish names of the rankers.)
10th Regiment of Foot- Killed-Corporal George Mason, Privates Samuel Whitehead, John M'Hough, Andrew Walsh, Francis Kenyon, Henry C. Stagg, George Davies. Died of Wounds-Private Patrick Lawlor. 29th Foot- Killed-Privates John Gibson, John Sullivan.
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THE CHOLERA - ENNIS UNION- Every cholera hospital in this union was closed by order of the guardians on Wednesday last. Dr. Cullinan informed the board that the state of the Ennis fever hospital was very unsatisfactory, the greatest disorder and confusion prevailing there.
The following is a return of the entire cases in the workhouse cholera hospital up to Saturday. Admitted, 494; died, 78; discharged, 100; remaining, 100. Cholera and fever are spreading through the electoral divisions of Kilfinny and Croagh.
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Mr. Martin's herd(sman) at Tullyra, county Galway, caught a woman of the name of DONOHOE killing a lamb on Thursday, and he locked the offender up in a stable while he went for the police, but when they arrived the unfortunate woman had hung herself with her apron!
(Note: Why would a woman end her life simply for fear of being charged with taking food, most likely meant to keep her family alive? It is certain the poor woman knew that the current penalty doled out by to Irish people by Irish courts for almost ANY offense, be it “receiving stolen goods” or murder, was “transportation beyond the seas”. That meant being shipped to British plantations in Australia or elsewhere to serve a sentence of at least seven years, often life.
Of course, no matter what the term, removing a destitute person from their family and transporting them 8,000 miles to the other side of the world WAS effectively a life sentence. And many convicts would die even before the long arduous sea journey. At the same time Mrs. / Miss Donohoe hanged herself, another woman, Mary Hegarty was sentenced in Cork, May 14, 1849 to 7 years’ transportation for “stealing” yet another lamb.
Ship records show 2184 Irish persons arrived in Australia as convicts during 1849 alone. Their “crimes” mostly involved “larceny” of food or clothing, or of small amounts of money to buy these items of survival.)
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Colonel Chatterton, K.H., Grand Inspector General was entertained at dinner, on the 24th inst., by the members of the High Masonic Order of Princes Grand Rose Croix, No. 1, Cork, at the Rooms, Tuckey St.
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A vessel to take out convicts has arrived at Kingstown; a party of the 96th is the escort. (Kingstown is now Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin.)
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The goods and chattels of Gort workhouse were sold under execution last week by the High Sheriff of Galway, at the suit of the creditors.
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Two hundred orphans from the workhouse will be sent from Dublin to Australia; 150 children belonging to convicts were sent to that colony last week.
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Emigration to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), which had been suspended last year, has been resumed by her Majesty's Commissioners.
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Owen MORAN crept into his mother's house and died, the same day his brother Larry was found dead in a field; same day his sister, Mrs. WHELAN, with her mother and child, found dead in a deserted forge. The two brothers, the sister, the brother-in-law, and child all dead the same day, of starvation, at Kilimore, county Galway.
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On Friday night a party of men broke into the auxiliary workhouse in the village of Clare, and carried away three bags of meal.
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DESECRATION OF THE SABBATH- It is disgraceful in a professedly Christian country to see men and women carrying about and exposing for sale fish, vegetables, and other articles of merchandize on the Sabbath day, as is the custom in Ballina. In the principal thoroughfares, and even while Divine Service is being celebrated, the passer-by is invited to make purchases. Are the people so distitute of the common decencies of morality as to encourage so obnoxious a practice? If the authorities have any jurisdiction in the matter, perhaps they would take this hint.
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William LEE, a boy of three years, died of starvation on its mother's back, in Limerick, last week! He had been living on water-cresses for several days.
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THE CHURCH (of Ireland, Anglican) The Lord Primate consecrated on yesterday (Tuesday) the Rev. Robert Knox, D.D., to the Bishopric of Down and Connor and Dromore. His grace was assisted by the Lord Bishop of Kilmore. The consecration was held in the Armagh Cathedral. The Bishop elect of Down and Connor and Dromore will be enthroned in the cathedral of Lisburn, on to-morrow, the 3rd and in the cathedral of Dromore on Saturday, the 5th of May.
The Bishops of Down and Cork were entertained by the Fellows of Trinity College at dinner, on Wednesday.
The Rev. Dr. Sadleir preached an excellent sermon at Trinity College, Dublin, on Thursday, when full service was performed. The 8th psalm was chanted by the choir.
(From the 8th Psalm):
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
E-mail: IrishTV@ameritech.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Watch: IRISH JOURNAL TELEVISION
Chicago cable-CAN-TV, Channel 19:
Monday 7PM, Tuesday 2PM
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©Mike Morley 2009
While looking through the Irish papers recently, I ran across some mouth-watering classic pastry dishes from Ballina Mayo, guaranteed to make your Thanksgiving feast a truly elegant affair. Here’s just a few of the creations offered by Ballina baker Michael Foley: Penny plum cake, queen cake, anglesey cake, barm brack, saffron brack, plum pudding, chancellor’s pudding, orange, lemon almond and custard puddings, raspberry puffs, cheese cakes, parliament gingerbread, wellington biscuits, Victoria biscuits, and Italian gingerbread. Also on the menu are rhubarb, apple, cherry, currant, and gooseberry pies; mutton, lamb and beefsteak pies, mince pies and shrewsberries for your dining pleasure. Top off your feast with ginger nuts, coffee, and sweets of all kinds. Foley will even provide after-dinner cigars.
All these scrump-tilli-icious items to grace your holiday table, “And Many Others Too Numerous to Mention” can be found at Michael Foley’s Confectionary and Italian Warehouse on Knox St, in Ballina Mayo- “All orders punctually attended to”. Do you suppose Mr. Foley is affected by the current “hard times” in post “celtic tiger” Ireland? I can assure you with confidence that he is not.
In the News section we read: “An inquest was held at Ardnaree on yesterday, before Meredith Thompson, Esq. Coroner for county Sligo, on the body of a man named Thomas Munally of Cloonislane. …it appeared that the deceased and his family, consisting of a wife and eight children, have been in extreme destitution for several weeks; they had pawned their entire clothing, and all other available articles, for the purpose of purchasing food. On last Friday morning the deceased proceeded to join a working party under the drainage, when, after working for a short period, he dropped down from exhaustion in consequence of want of food, and shortly after expired. The jury unanimously found the following verdict-‘Death from starvation.’"
Truth is, Foley’s ad, along with Mr. Munnally’s shocking death, were both featured in the Ballina Chronicle of May 2nd 1849! The brutal starvation of Ireland had then been in progress three awful years. (Incidentally Michael Foley is also one of 3 carpenters listed in Slater’s directory of Ballina. One wonders whether the busy baker was also moonlighting in the booming coffin trade).
Reading that paper one might imagine the printer had somehow badly mixed together stories submitted from two entirely different countries- countries as different as the earth and moon… one flowing with riches, commodities and the warmth of social interaction; the other barren, toxic, uninhabitable.
The previous July the Telegraph reported the doings of Sir Roger Palmer, owner of no less than 90,000 acres in Mayo: “At Islandeady (between Castlebar and Westport) his 'crowbar invincibles', pulled down several houses, and drove forth the unfortunate inmates to sleep in the adjoining fields. On Thursday we witnessed the wretched creatures endeavouring to root out the timber of the houses, with the intention of constructing some sort of sheds to screen their children from the heavy rain falling at the time. The pitiless pelting storm has continued ever since, and if they have survived its severity, they must be more than human beings”.
Surely among the evicted were families with names common to North Mayo: Gallagher, Durkan, McHale, Barrett, McNulty, Brennan, Henry, Doyle, Harkin, Dogherty, Foy, Kelly, Loftus, Gaughan, and Lavelle.
On his extensive holdings around Castlebar and Ballinrobe another notorious and ruthless English landlord, George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, was also evicting his tenants en masse:
Historian Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith (Fitzgerald) - “The Reason Why”: “To the Earl of Lucan famine horrors were so many convincing demonstrations of the urgent necessity of clearing the land. The land could not support the people, could never support the people; so the people must go. He did not consider it was his responsibility, any more than the English Government considered it was their responsibility, to arrange how the people should go and where. He was getting nothing from his estates… A large part of the population of Ireland must disappear. Ten thousand people were ejected from the neighbourhood of Ballinrobe, and 15,000 acres cleared and put in charge of Scotsmen.
Several populous villages in the neighbourhood of Castlebar completely disappeared, farms being established on the sites. Behind Castlebar House the Earl of Lucan established a large dairy farm. …in the town of Castlebar itself -- whole streets were demolished and the stones from the walls used to build barns and boundary walls… 'crow-bar brigades' (would) pull down cabins over the heads of people who refused to leave them. The Bishop of Meath saw a cabin being pulled down over the heads of people dying of cholera: a winnowing sheet was placed over their bodies as they lay on the ground, and the cabin was demolished over their heads. He administered the Sacrament for the dying in the open air, and since it was during the equinoctial gales, in torrents of rain.
A 'machine of ropes and pulleys' was devised for the destruction of more solid houses. .. at one crack of the whip and pull of the horses the roof was brought in. It was found that two of these machines enabled a sheriff to evict as many families in a day as could be got through by a crowbar brigade of fifty men. Six thousand evictions might involve more than 40,000 people, as the average Irish family consisted of seven persons.
Sick and aged, little children, and women with child were alike thrust forth into the cold snows of winter... the few remaining tenants were forbidden to receive the outcasts ... The majority rendered penniless by the years of famine, wandered aimlessly about the roads and bogs till they found refuge in the workhouse- or the grave.
“The Castlebar Union workhouse had been built to hold 600-700 persons, but had never contained more than 140… Very many died, and since there were no coffins, their bodies were left to rot in the dead house. But there was food, however revolting, however meagre; and the Union was besieged. On October 26th, 1846, the Earl of Lucan, Chairman of the Board of Guardians, had declared the workhouse bankrupt, and, in spite of vehement protests from the Poor Law Commissioner, ordered the Castlebar Union to be entirely closed down. Starving mothers dragged their children to the Union doors and besought that they at least should be taken in. Whole families made their painful way from the wild lands and collapsed moaning in the courtyard when they were refused.”
Irish family names of South Mayo: Walsh, Burke, Gibbons, Prendergast, Joyce, Murray, Gallagher, Lydon, Heneghan, Murphy, O'Malley, Kelly, Moran, Duffy, O'Connor, Waldron, Farragher.
LORD LUCAN
PERFECTLY “LEGAL”: “It appeared that a new system of clearing land was being adopted in Mayo and that the processes now before the courts were novel in Ireland. There had previously been a right of levying a distress on goods and chattels for rent, but this year in Mayo there were no goods and chattels left, so the person of the debtor was to be attached -- that is, he was to be imprisoned. The husband and father was to be removed, and the wife and children were to be left to fend for themselves.”
It was a variation of Britain’s clearing and plantation policies carried out by Lord Mountjoy following Kinsale and the “Flight of Earls”; and later by Cromwell. But since slavery in the British Empire had ceased just 40 years earlier, the Irish families could no longer be sold overseas for a profit. They were simply left to die.
The Ballina paper also carried regular news of: “THE MILITARY FORCES IN IRELAND” As of May 9, 1849 there were “Ten regiments of cavalry, twenty-six of Infantry, and nine depots of infantry regiments are now stationed in Ireland, making in round numbers a total of about 31,000 men of ranks.”
45 regiments. Were they distributing relief, building shelters, manning field hospitals? Rev. Dr McEvoy, parish priest of Kells, wrote in The Nation, 25 October 1845: “With starvation at our doors, grimly staring us, vessels laden with our sole hopes of existence, our provisions, are hourly wafted from our every port. From one milling establishment I have last night seen not less than fifty dray loads of meal moving on to Drogheda, thence to go to feed the foreigner, leaving starvation and death the sure and certain fate of the toil and sweat that raised this food.”
Woodham-Smith described such a convoy of food being moved to Waterford for shipment to England: "The barges leave Clonmel once a week for this place, with the export supplies under convoy which, last Tuesday, consisted of two guns, 50 cavalry and 80 infantry escorting them on the banks of the Suir as far as Carrick".
I find it astounding how any rational person, no less one of Irish descent, would focus on “the potato” to explain why millions of Gaelic-speaking Irish Catholic men and women, their boys and girls and infants, were abandoned to die the horrible slow death of starvation; while others, English and Protestant, were sustained with little inconvenience to their lifestyles- other than having on occasion to actually encounter the desperation, death and dying going on all around them; or read about it in their weekly paper over tea. And it’s sad to read breezy commentary about “The Potato Famine” in this newspaper.
©Mike Morley 2009 E-mail: IrishTV@ameritech.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ONLINE EXTRA!
The copy below was well fit to be included with the print edition of “Having A Ball in Ballina” column, but would not fit well into the space allowed. Read on!
Nine years after casting out tens of thousands of his Irish tenants to starve in the cold, the Earl of “I will not breed paupers to pay priests” Lucan was involved in yet another slaughter. Unlike his mass murder in Mayo, this carnage was on a much smaller scale, involving mere hundreds. But, because it involved the death of British troops, not Irish civilians, the incident is renowned world-wide, rather than hidden from popular history.
On October 25, 1854 in the Ukraine, Lucan was the cavalry commander who ordered the 7th Earl of Cardigan, a brother-in-law whom he despised, to lead the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava.
Later, true to the history of Britain and its butchers, the teflon Lord was not only cleared of any blame, But appointed KCB (Knight Commander, Order of the Bath) and Colonel of the King’s Royal Irish 8th Hussars (a unit that charged at Balaklava). He was then raised to lieutenant-general, then general, and finally- field marshal.
The 250 soldiers who died needlessly at Balaklava have been immortalized by Lord Tennyson. But the uncountable families whose emaciated bodies were tumbled into mass graves all over Ireland are not so much unremembered as actually denied by their own people, themselves in denial. The dead have been rendered invisible, bereft of memorial or memory.
* * *
That May of 1849, as thousands wandered the roads in rags and huddled in ditches against the cold, the Ballina paper carried several other, often surreal, items:
---------------
Robert and George Scott at the Commercial House, Arran Street, Ballina announce the “Most Fashionable Stock of Clothing Ever Imported to Ballina.”
Not to be outdone, a rival ballyhoos: ”First Arrivals of Spring Goods. The Western Woollen Hall, Knox's Street, Ballina. Alexander Little, Proprietor, has returned from the different markets (being the sixth time within seven months) with a stock of goods unparalleled in Ballina for variety and cheapness, compromising All the Newest Designs suitable to the present season, and begs to say he purposes visiting the markets monthly, so as to select every new style coming out.”
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Several persons were summoned for deserting the Workhouse without permission from the Master, and taking with them clothes belonging to the Union. Some of them were allowed to return to the Workhouse, and the rest were sentenced- some to 24 hour confinement in the bridewell, and others to fourteen days imprisonment in the gaol, with hard labour. One man was sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment with hard labour, for breaking a window and taking off some bread. He alleged he did this through the effects of hunger, but it was shown he made a habit of thus getting his bread.
The deaths from cholera on Friday last- and it is yet only in its infancy-are enough to show the frightful ravages that may be expected to follow… Rev. Mr. Anderson's statement has been …more than confirmed, for whereas the number of starvation deaths mentioned by the Rector amounts only to eighty-seven for the week, it is set down by the second witness of ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN! But the discrepancy can be easily accounted for... The fact is that in order to screen the Commissioners, and keep the public in the dark as to the real extent of the mortality, many of the workhouse officers through the South and West make it common practice to falsify the returns”.
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PAINTING, GLAZING, AND PAPER HANGING ESTABLISHMENT, Top of King Street, Ballina. ROBERT GIBSON - Has just received a well-selected assortment of ROOM PAPER, suitable for Parlour, Drawing-room, Bed-room, and Halls, which he offers for sale on the most moderate terms. He also begs leave to state that he is well supplied with WINDOW GLASS, OILS, COLOURS, and PREPARED PAINTS of every description. PAINTING BRUSHES, PLASTER PARIS, ROMAN CEMENT, &c.
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From the 26th Feb. to the 13th March there arrived in New York about 6,394 emigrants. The deaths on the passage out amounted to 75 in all.
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(For the tourist trade) Doctor Whittaker of Ardnaree, Ballina offers: A Neat Furnished Cottage. With Large Garden, Stable, and Coach House- to be let for the summer months in Ballina.
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Matthew Kilkelly, convicted at the last Ennis assizes of an attempt to murder Mr. Wallplate, suffered the extreme penalty of the law in front of the county gaol on Monday. He appeared deeply penitent.
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THE ARMY- List of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed in Action at Gujrat, on the 21st of February, 1849, or who subsequently died of wounds received: (Note: GUJRAT in the North West Indian Punjab was the site of the decisive battle of the Anglo-Sikh War. General Sir Hugh Gough commanding British and Indian troops defeated Sikhs, the Punjab army, and their Afghan allies. The Punjab then was annexed into British India for the British East India Company. Note also the predominantly Irish names of the rankers.)
10th Regiment of Foot- Killed-Corporal George Mason, Privates Samuel Whitehead, John M'Hough, Andrew Walsh, Francis Kenyon, Henry C. Stagg, George Davies. Died of Wounds-Private Patrick Lawlor. 29th Foot- Killed-Privates John Gibson, John Sullivan.
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THE CHOLERA - ENNIS UNION- Every cholera hospital in this union was closed by order of the guardians on Wednesday last. Dr. Cullinan informed the board that the state of the Ennis fever hospital was very unsatisfactory, the greatest disorder and confusion prevailing there.
The following is a return of the entire cases in the workhouse cholera hospital up to Saturday. Admitted, 494; died, 78; discharged, 100; remaining, 100. Cholera and fever are spreading through the electoral divisions of Kilfinny and Croagh.
-------------------
Mr. Martin's herd(sman) at Tullyra, county Galway, caught a woman of the name of DONOHOE killing a lamb on Thursday, and he locked the offender up in a stable while he went for the police, but when they arrived the unfortunate woman had hung herself with her apron!
(Note: Why would a woman end her life simply for fear of being charged with taking food, most likely meant to keep her family alive? It is certain the poor woman knew that the current penalty doled out by to Irish people by Irish courts for almost ANY offense, be it “receiving stolen goods” or murder, was “transportation beyond the seas”. That meant being shipped to British plantations in Australia or elsewhere to serve a sentence of at least seven years, often life.
Of course, no matter what the term, removing a destitute person from their family and transporting them 8,000 miles to the other side of the world WAS effectively a life sentence. And many convicts would die even before the long arduous sea journey. At the same time Mrs. / Miss Donohoe hanged herself, another woman, Mary Hegarty was sentenced in Cork, May 14, 1849 to 7 years’ transportation for “stealing” yet another lamb.
Ship records show 2184 Irish persons arrived in Australia as convicts during 1849 alone. Their “crimes” mostly involved “larceny” of food or clothing, or of small amounts of money to buy these items of survival.)
---------------------------
Colonel Chatterton, K.H., Grand Inspector General was entertained at dinner, on the 24th inst., by the members of the High Masonic Order of Princes Grand Rose Croix, No. 1, Cork, at the Rooms, Tuckey St.
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A vessel to take out convicts has arrived at Kingstown; a party of the 96th is the escort. (Kingstown is now Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin.)
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The goods and chattels of Gort workhouse were sold under execution last week by the High Sheriff of Galway, at the suit of the creditors.
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Two hundred orphans from the workhouse will be sent from Dublin to Australia; 150 children belonging to convicts were sent to that colony last week.
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Emigration to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), which had been suspended last year, has been resumed by her Majesty's Commissioners.
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Owen MORAN crept into his mother's house and died, the same day his brother Larry was found dead in a field; same day his sister, Mrs. WHELAN, with her mother and child, found dead in a deserted forge. The two brothers, the sister, the brother-in-law, and child all dead the same day, of starvation, at Kilimore, county Galway.
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On Friday night a party of men broke into the auxiliary workhouse in the village of Clare, and carried away three bags of meal.
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DESECRATION OF THE SABBATH- It is disgraceful in a professedly Christian country to see men and women carrying about and exposing for sale fish, vegetables, and other articles of merchandize on the Sabbath day, as is the custom in Ballina. In the principal thoroughfares, and even while Divine Service is being celebrated, the passer-by is invited to make purchases. Are the people so distitute of the common decencies of morality as to encourage so obnoxious a practice? If the authorities have any jurisdiction in the matter, perhaps they would take this hint.
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William LEE, a boy of three years, died of starvation on its mother's back, in Limerick, last week! He had been living on water-cresses for several days.
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THE CHURCH (of Ireland, Anglican) The Lord Primate consecrated on yesterday (Tuesday) the Rev. Robert Knox, D.D., to the Bishopric of Down and Connor and Dromore. His grace was assisted by the Lord Bishop of Kilmore. The consecration was held in the Armagh Cathedral. The Bishop elect of Down and Connor and Dromore will be enthroned in the cathedral of Lisburn, on to-morrow, the 3rd and in the cathedral of Dromore on Saturday, the 5th of May.
The Bishops of Down and Cork were entertained by the Fellows of Trinity College at dinner, on Wednesday.
The Rev. Dr. Sadleir preached an excellent sermon at Trinity College, Dublin, on Thursday, when full service was performed. The 8th psalm was chanted by the choir.
(From the 8th Psalm):
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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©Mike Morley 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sullivan's Ireland
My last time in Ireland we drove past many mass graves from An Gorta Mor, The Great Hunger. While there I dreamed we were driving past two women on the roadside who were weeping. I told the driver to stop but he didn't. I said, “But, they’re Irish women.”
In the same dream I had entered some property to relax and enjoy the scenery by a beautiful lake. Two men, one the son, the other the father, and with airs of self-importance and superiority, announced it was THEIR land and I should remove myself. When a young man, my favorite fight move was always a headlock, so I sprung one on him, twisted his neck, and killed him. I then had to do the same with his father.
I always interpreted that dream as both of the men being the spirits of self-righteous planters, those who were given Irish land taken from the those who rightfully owned it.
The old women? I believe they were spirits of the famine who continue to suffer unimagineable grief, still bound to the land, and not yet having moved on. I pray for their souls.
In the same dream I had entered some property to relax and enjoy the scenery by a beautiful lake. Two men, one the son, the other the father, and with airs of self-importance and superiority, announced it was THEIR land and I should remove myself. When a young man, my favorite fight move was always a headlock, so I sprung one on him, twisted his neck, and killed him. I then had to do the same with his father.
I always interpreted that dream as both of the men being the spirits of self-righteous planters, those who were given Irish land taken from the those who rightfully owned it.
The old women? I believe they were spirits of the famine who continue to suffer unimagineable grief, still bound to the land, and not yet having moved on. I pray for their souls.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Ultimate Bus Trip
The Ultimate Bus Trip
by
JC Sullivan
When New York Fire Department Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, O.F.M., lost his life on that fateful September day in the year 2001, Akron, Ohio resident John Ferguson was so moved by what happened he was inspired to write a song. The song honors Father Mychal Judge and the thousands who lost their lives. John and his fellow band members from Fergie and the Bog Dogs produced a CD "A Song For Fireman Father Mychal Judge."
"When I got the news about how he died, which was kind of reported along with everything else, everything kind of stopped there for me," he said. "Goodness, a Catholic priest who was administering the last rites of the Church for a fallen Firefighter; it was all in sync with my culture as an Irish-American" Ferguson has memorialized Fr. Judge, who was a first-generation Irish-American. "I think he should be remembered in the lore of the Church in this nation. Children and adults should look up to a man like this - a modern day hero."
Events overtook the artist and the idea of supporting the Franciscan Fund for Father Mychal took on a life of its own. "When I actually started out with the Fund I didn't contact anybody, I didn't talk to anybody," he said. "I just wanted to one day take the song to his New York firehouse." The fund drive is kind of a spin-off, a secondary thing in his mind from when he started out. "I think Father Mychal should be remembered in the lore of the Church in America and I wanted to be involved in some way...and that's what I'm doing now. As time goes by I find I've been sent down the road on a quest. It's a mystery to me...it kind of stopped me cold.”
After the song came together Fergie, as his Hibernian brothers and sisters call him, discussed it with his friend, Akron musician and accordionist Gordon Shaffer, who encouraged recording it. Volunteers immediately lined up behind the project. Ferguson and his fellow band members from Fergie and the Bog Dogs produced a CD-ROM, "A Song For Fireman Father Mychal Judge." Ferguson’s son Damon, an Akron Fire Department Lieutenant, backs him up on vocals, rhythm guitar and bass; Paddy Taylor, mandolin; Mike Gaffney, rhythm guitar and vocals, Bruce Samsol, vocals and keyboard; Frank Onusic, tin whistle. Dr. Dennis McCluskey, Akron, Ohio, paid for recording and studio time. Hugh Hearty, Fairlawn, Ohio, contributed the CD-ROMs themselves. The initial run of 500 was quickly gone.
Fergie was put in touch with Franciscan Father Patrick Fitzgerald, another New York City Fire Department Chaplain. "The Franciscans already have a memorial Fund set up." The Father Mychal Judge Fund will be used to provide emergency short-term financial assistance to those who suffered loss or injury on that day and in its aftermath, and on a longer term to reach out to those in need of continuing support. In particular, it will seek to assist those who are not included in established categories but whose needs are no less real, those who might otherwise "fall between the cracks."
"I started working in connection with them," Fergie said. "Fr Mychal was a first-generation Irish-American and was involved with immigration; it fit right into my interest. These funds collected will be available for all children - I heard there are some who lost both parents." Regardless of their citizenship status or their faith, nonetheless, Fergie knows a lot of them are Catholic kids from Catholic countries. "I would like them to know that if they need something they can go to the Franciscan friary."
The weekend of March 24, 2002 began about 0800 hours on Friday when a busload of men and women of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies AOH, parked their vehicles at an Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge left on an Anderson Lines bus that was their transport for the next few days.
After rolling out of Akron, our Anderson Lines driver got on the PA system and introduced himself. “Please don’t call Mr. Bus Driver or Bus Driver guy,” he pleaded. “My name is “Skip.” That drew an immediate response from John Conley. “OK, Skip the bus driver,” he shouted. Fergie, the man whose inspiration lead up to this particular morning, kicked off the beginning of our trip with a prayer for safe travel and return. Someone had a box of donuts on the bus. It kept being passing back and forth like a beach ball at a Bruce Springsteen concert.
After a lengthy delay at the Lincoln Tunnel, because the Holland Tunnel was closed due to a fire, we arrived at our home for the next two days, the Pan American Hotel. Within the hour we were back downstairs for a ride to meet the brothers and sisters of New York Divisions 4 and 19. At Hibernian hall Baile na nGael, we were warmly greeted by President John Murphy and Treasurer Jerry Callahan, the latter being the gentleman responsible for a wonderful dinner of corned beef and cabbage and roast beef. He announced we had received a special Friday-in-Lent dispensation from local Hibernian Chaplains.
Fergie’s dream was realized on Saturday afternoon when he presented a $20,000.00 check for the Franciscan Fund to Father Fitzgerald at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi on W. Thirty-First St in midtown Manhattan. The service was precluded by the combined bands of Fergie and the Bog Dogs and That Irish Band. Also in attendance were representatives from the Fallen Firefighters Foundation of America. Andy Woodward, Raleigh, NC. Gene Moore, Chaplain, Swift Creek, N.C. They had presented five vans to the NYFD. Fr. Fitzpatrick gave us a warm welcome and spoke fondly of his brother Franciscan. When later asked if he’d have us back next year he told us, “I’d have you back next MONTH!”
Lt. Patrick Concannon of the NYFD invited us across the street to Engine 1 and Ladder 24, where Fr. Mychal kept his Chaplain's car. Fergie, accompanied by his son Damien, an Akron firefighter, and Paddy Taylor on mandolin, sang the song for Fr. Mychal to the gathered firefighters. The moving event was capped off when Irene Uhalley sang, “God Bless America.” It brought tears to the eyes of a few. I am honored and proud to count all these fine folks as friends.
Before we headed back to the Pan American Hotel, Skip, the bus driver, took us to Ground Zero. My God, you cannot imagine. We passed the church where Fr. Mychal’s body had been taken and laid on the altar. The fence surrounding it was covered with pictures, memos and the like. A somber crowd walked around it, pausing to look at everything.
The scene reminded me of the Civil War battlefields of Antietam, Maryland and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. At Antietam, I was visited by an apparition in my hotel room. He carried a sword and harbored terrible anger. Just as there are “ghosts” at Antietam and Gettysburg, there is also remaining spiritual energy in New York City. While at Ground Zero, I said a silent prayer for those whose spirit, like those at our Civil War Battlefields, might still be lingering there, asking God to help them let go to join the forces in His light.
On Saturday evening we all gathered at an Irish pub called Cranberries on Grand Avenue in Elmhurst. Our local homebred talent, “That Irish Band” and “Fergie and the Bog Dogs” charged the atmosphere and energized the crowd. A complimentary buffet was set up for us by Cranberries owner, John Brown. We were honored with the arrival of a Hook and Ladder and FDNY firefighters.
You’ve heard “The Rest of the Story.” Now, there is plenty more to this evening that I’ll call “The Unwritable Story” because it cannot be printed. It will have to remain as part of the oral tradition of the Ohio AOH and Ladies AOH by the chosen few who participated in the event(s). I’m not talking about anything obscene here, of course. No, I’m only speaking of some events that those who were not there will not believe. You’ll have to ask around to find out. A little hint, you ask? OK – only one. Ask about the Chinese-American Army Sergeant home on leave. Due to air travel delays he missed his sister’s wedding. That’s all I’ll tell you. As I said, you’ll have to find out the Rest of the Story from those who were there.
We capped off our historic weekend on Sunday morning with a 10:15 Palm Sunday Mass at the historic Cathedral of Saint Patrick. Cardinal Egan celebrated the Mass and addressed the issue of pedophile priests. There were TV cameras in the church and reporters and protestors outside. If I were Bishop I wouldn’t have had the cameras in the Church. Of course, if you give the Press Conference outside they have the opportunity to ask their leading questions. Afterwards, a LAOH member said of the Cardinal, “He looked like a General” (as he stood his ground amidst cries in the mainstream media for him to resign.) All Hibernians agree that something has to be done about allegations of sexual abuse by priests and the way things have been handled but we all agree, too, that our faith remains as strong as ever.
We blew out a tire on the trip home, which caused a delay of about an hour and a half. I arrived home at 0115 hours, a bit tired but still energized by the events of the weekend. Like other Americans, the events of this experience only confirmed my previous feeling, we’re all New Yorkers!
Looking back over events, Ferguson, a humble man with a gentle spirit, said, “My cup has been filled.”
Contributions to the fund continue to arrive. The song for Fr. Mychal CD-ROM can be obtained by sending your inquiry to: John Ferguson JohnFergie8@aol.com.
Sullivan is a member of the St. Brendan Division of the AOH and has served in both State and National offices of the AOH.
by
JC Sullivan
When New York Fire Department Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, O.F.M., lost his life on that fateful September day in the year 2001, Akron, Ohio resident John Ferguson was so moved by what happened he was inspired to write a song. The song honors Father Mychal Judge and the thousands who lost their lives. John and his fellow band members from Fergie and the Bog Dogs produced a CD "A Song For Fireman Father Mychal Judge."
"When I got the news about how he died, which was kind of reported along with everything else, everything kind of stopped there for me," he said. "Goodness, a Catholic priest who was administering the last rites of the Church for a fallen Firefighter; it was all in sync with my culture as an Irish-American" Ferguson has memorialized Fr. Judge, who was a first-generation Irish-American. "I think he should be remembered in the lore of the Church in this nation. Children and adults should look up to a man like this - a modern day hero."
Events overtook the artist and the idea of supporting the Franciscan Fund for Father Mychal took on a life of its own. "When I actually started out with the Fund I didn't contact anybody, I didn't talk to anybody," he said. "I just wanted to one day take the song to his New York firehouse." The fund drive is kind of a spin-off, a secondary thing in his mind from when he started out. "I think Father Mychal should be remembered in the lore of the Church in America and I wanted to be involved in some way...and that's what I'm doing now. As time goes by I find I've been sent down the road on a quest. It's a mystery to me...it kind of stopped me cold.”
After the song came together Fergie, as his Hibernian brothers and sisters call him, discussed it with his friend, Akron musician and accordionist Gordon Shaffer, who encouraged recording it. Volunteers immediately lined up behind the project. Ferguson and his fellow band members from Fergie and the Bog Dogs produced a CD-ROM, "A Song For Fireman Father Mychal Judge." Ferguson’s son Damon, an Akron Fire Department Lieutenant, backs him up on vocals, rhythm guitar and bass; Paddy Taylor, mandolin; Mike Gaffney, rhythm guitar and vocals, Bruce Samsol, vocals and keyboard; Frank Onusic, tin whistle. Dr. Dennis McCluskey, Akron, Ohio, paid for recording and studio time. Hugh Hearty, Fairlawn, Ohio, contributed the CD-ROMs themselves. The initial run of 500 was quickly gone.
Fergie was put in touch with Franciscan Father Patrick Fitzgerald, another New York City Fire Department Chaplain. "The Franciscans already have a memorial Fund set up." The Father Mychal Judge Fund will be used to provide emergency short-term financial assistance to those who suffered loss or injury on that day and in its aftermath, and on a longer term to reach out to those in need of continuing support. In particular, it will seek to assist those who are not included in established categories but whose needs are no less real, those who might otherwise "fall between the cracks."
"I started working in connection with them," Fergie said. "Fr Mychal was a first-generation Irish-American and was involved with immigration; it fit right into my interest. These funds collected will be available for all children - I heard there are some who lost both parents." Regardless of their citizenship status or their faith, nonetheless, Fergie knows a lot of them are Catholic kids from Catholic countries. "I would like them to know that if they need something they can go to the Franciscan friary."
The weekend of March 24, 2002 began about 0800 hours on Friday when a busload of men and women of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies AOH, parked their vehicles at an Akron Fraternal Order of Police Lodge left on an Anderson Lines bus that was their transport for the next few days.
After rolling out of Akron, our Anderson Lines driver got on the PA system and introduced himself. “Please don’t call Mr. Bus Driver or Bus Driver guy,” he pleaded. “My name is “Skip.” That drew an immediate response from John Conley. “OK, Skip the bus driver,” he shouted. Fergie, the man whose inspiration lead up to this particular morning, kicked off the beginning of our trip with a prayer for safe travel and return. Someone had a box of donuts on the bus. It kept being passing back and forth like a beach ball at a Bruce Springsteen concert.
After a lengthy delay at the Lincoln Tunnel, because the Holland Tunnel was closed due to a fire, we arrived at our home for the next two days, the Pan American Hotel. Within the hour we were back downstairs for a ride to meet the brothers and sisters of New York Divisions 4 and 19. At Hibernian hall Baile na nGael, we were warmly greeted by President John Murphy and Treasurer Jerry Callahan, the latter being the gentleman responsible for a wonderful dinner of corned beef and cabbage and roast beef. He announced we had received a special Friday-in-Lent dispensation from local Hibernian Chaplains.
Fergie’s dream was realized on Saturday afternoon when he presented a $20,000.00 check for the Franciscan Fund to Father Fitzgerald at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi on W. Thirty-First St in midtown Manhattan. The service was precluded by the combined bands of Fergie and the Bog Dogs and That Irish Band. Also in attendance were representatives from the Fallen Firefighters Foundation of America. Andy Woodward, Raleigh, NC. Gene Moore, Chaplain, Swift Creek, N.C. They had presented five vans to the NYFD. Fr. Fitzpatrick gave us a warm welcome and spoke fondly of his brother Franciscan. When later asked if he’d have us back next year he told us, “I’d have you back next MONTH!”
Lt. Patrick Concannon of the NYFD invited us across the street to Engine 1 and Ladder 24, where Fr. Mychal kept his Chaplain's car. Fergie, accompanied by his son Damien, an Akron firefighter, and Paddy Taylor on mandolin, sang the song for Fr. Mychal to the gathered firefighters. The moving event was capped off when Irene Uhalley sang, “God Bless America.” It brought tears to the eyes of a few. I am honored and proud to count all these fine folks as friends.
Before we headed back to the Pan American Hotel, Skip, the bus driver, took us to Ground Zero. My God, you cannot imagine. We passed the church where Fr. Mychal’s body had been taken and laid on the altar. The fence surrounding it was covered with pictures, memos and the like. A somber crowd walked around it, pausing to look at everything.
The scene reminded me of the Civil War battlefields of Antietam, Maryland and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. At Antietam, I was visited by an apparition in my hotel room. He carried a sword and harbored terrible anger. Just as there are “ghosts” at Antietam and Gettysburg, there is also remaining spiritual energy in New York City. While at Ground Zero, I said a silent prayer for those whose spirit, like those at our Civil War Battlefields, might still be lingering there, asking God to help them let go to join the forces in His light.
On Saturday evening we all gathered at an Irish pub called Cranberries on Grand Avenue in Elmhurst. Our local homebred talent, “That Irish Band” and “Fergie and the Bog Dogs” charged the atmosphere and energized the crowd. A complimentary buffet was set up for us by Cranberries owner, John Brown. We were honored with the arrival of a Hook and Ladder and FDNY firefighters.
You’ve heard “The Rest of the Story.” Now, there is plenty more to this evening that I’ll call “The Unwritable Story” because it cannot be printed. It will have to remain as part of the oral tradition of the Ohio AOH and Ladies AOH by the chosen few who participated in the event(s). I’m not talking about anything obscene here, of course. No, I’m only speaking of some events that those who were not there will not believe. You’ll have to ask around to find out. A little hint, you ask? OK – only one. Ask about the Chinese-American Army Sergeant home on leave. Due to air travel delays he missed his sister’s wedding. That’s all I’ll tell you. As I said, you’ll have to find out the Rest of the Story from those who were there.
We capped off our historic weekend on Sunday morning with a 10:15 Palm Sunday Mass at the historic Cathedral of Saint Patrick. Cardinal Egan celebrated the Mass and addressed the issue of pedophile priests. There were TV cameras in the church and reporters and protestors outside. If I were Bishop I wouldn’t have had the cameras in the Church. Of course, if you give the Press Conference outside they have the opportunity to ask their leading questions. Afterwards, a LAOH member said of the Cardinal, “He looked like a General” (as he stood his ground amidst cries in the mainstream media for him to resign.) All Hibernians agree that something has to be done about allegations of sexual abuse by priests and the way things have been handled but we all agree, too, that our faith remains as strong as ever.
We blew out a tire on the trip home, which caused a delay of about an hour and a half. I arrived home at 0115 hours, a bit tired but still energized by the events of the weekend. Like other Americans, the events of this experience only confirmed my previous feeling, we’re all New Yorkers!
Looking back over events, Ferguson, a humble man with a gentle spirit, said, “My cup has been filled.”
Contributions to the fund continue to arrive. The song for Fr. Mychal CD-ROM can be obtained by sending your inquiry to: John Ferguson JohnFergie8@aol.com.
Sullivan is a member of the St. Brendan Division of the AOH and has served in both State and National offices of the AOH.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
SAVANNAH - TWO OF GEORGIA'S BEST KEPT SECRETS
1. GEORGIA'S BEST-KEPT SECRET
The town can best be described as 'The Way A City Oughta Be', a visually delicious city in the process of downtown preservation and restoration, where history is a living presence. Brick-lined pathways are bordered with azaleas while her streets are widely divided with rows of Cypress and Elm trees sweeping above the sidewalks, lending them an elegant shading. Her architecture abounds with wrought-iron balconies, fences and ornamental work that lend her buildings a reflection of Southern grace, gentility and craftmanship, the latter being a missing ingredient in functional city and government structures, North and South. In the Historic District one cannot drive two blocks without encountering a park square through which motorists must slowly negotiate. But Georgia's best-kept secret is her large Irish community in Savannah, a town with long links to Wexford.
Beginning in the mid-1830's a mass of Irish came in direct response to work opportunities. Ill-fated canal projects and the 1830 Central of Georgia Railroad project, completed in 1843, contributed to a fifteen year expansion of the regional economy. The majority of Savannah's Irish came from only six of Ireland's thirty-two counties, Wexford, Cork, Mayo, Tipperary, Cavan and Kerry. The strong link to Wexford provided "acquaintance, kinship and remittances."
By 1850 nearly half of the foreign-born and 55% of the Irish born were living in the middle Atlantic states; 13% of the foreign-born and 10% of the Irish-born were living in the South. Settling in Savannah, the Irish found two communities to make an adjustment to - the black community and the white, the former being quite a complicated relationship. While living in the same parts of the city, they had a limited socialization; it is reported they were extremely complicated. They lived in the same parts of the city where they engaged in a underground economy (black market) in which alcohol was reportedly the most important commodity. Tobacco, linens, foodstuffs and the like were undoubtedly bartered as well.
The upper class Irish, most of whom arrived much earlier than the working-class Irish, apparently shared the racial outlook of their social/economic peers among native-born Southerners. The Irish working-class were a bit closer to the earth. They departed from the their church's pro-slavery teachings and seemed to willingly "punch holes in the restrictions of the law and custom that separated white from black." Because the Irish 'knew their place' as they moved in this social structure, they suffered no successful, extensive nativist backlash. However, they were condemned for "trading with slaves and for fighting with freed blacks."
Savannah grew in the quarter century before the Civil War. "The relative shortage of free black or slave labor in the city created employment opportunities in which the Irish immigrants eagerly took up. Thus in some respects they did not have to fully compete with slave labor. By 1860 the southern share of foreign-born actually declined to 12% while the proportion of Irish-born in the South increased to 11%. 1840 to 1852 were peak years of immigrant arrivals. By 1850 Irish-born were 10% of Savannah's population and 19% of it's white population. By 1861 the Irish were 'neither masters nor slaves in most cases but no longer strangers either.
A Hibernian Society had been established and on March 17, 1813 they marched in a procession to the Independent Presbyterian Church. Speaking of their St. Patrick's Day Parade, Don Fallin said, "In Georgia we've never had enough Pipe Bands to make it a happy a parade as we wish it to be; we could use a few more," he said. "In the local area we don't have participation of units in the area like there are in the North and the Northeast." Fallin knows that many available pipe bands want to go to New York City or other large cities on St. Patrick's Day but feels that "if we can entice people to come down and go to another Southern parade, there are three; one within 35 or 40 miles, one within 125 and another within 250 miles; if we can get 'em to come down and participate in two parades, maybe that would be an enticement." Any other enticements for pipe bands to come to Savannah for St. Patrick's Day? Fallin smiled and said, "It's sportcoat weather here on St. Patrick's Day."
History is alive in Savannah. The city played an important role in the Revolutionary War and the "War of Northern Aggression" is never far from the conscious. Those with family members who fought with the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia or the Western Army are fully aware of their family's contribution and loss during this momentous event. The 'Jasper Greens' were named after Irish-American Sgt. William Jasper, mortally wounded during the 1778 siege of Savannah. When the Civil War began they went off to fight. The 'Montgomery Guards' became a part of the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia. One third of this unit were Irish.
John Mahoney, originally from Shelby, NC, has resided in Savannah for twenty years. "My dad, a lawyer and a judge, was a 'Southie' from Boston. We were the only Mahoneys in North Carolina." From 1962 to 1971 he actually ran a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Savannah that consisted of only the Mahoney family." Working as a volunteer at a recent Savannah Irish Festival, Mahoney said, "It's brought together the eleven Irish groups in Savannah. We're doing this to bring the Irish culture to the community." Like many other areas of the country, everybody drank green beer and wore plastic green hats. "That's not the case here," said Mahoney. "Traditional Irish music is brought in regularly at Kevin Barry's Irish Pub on River Street and the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) sponsors 'The Thistle and Shamrock' radio show. That takes a good deal of our effort to do it but we think it's really important to bring the culture to the community." The show is heard in Savannah every Saturday at 8pm, 9l.1. "Anybody reading the Irish Echo Newspaper is invited to next year's Festival.
Southern hospitality and a friendly Irish community here will make anyone feel comfortable." As Part of the Savannah Festival the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians sponsors a poster contest for schoolchildren, awarding prizes and honorable mention in several categories. It involves youngsters in their Irishness as well as current events in the Irish community, and provides festival-goers with an art exhibit, all of which is colorful and impressive. It's the first time this writer has seen anyone do this and I certainly encourage other festivals to do likewise.
Robert Buttimer (Bobby) is past-Chairman of the Festival committee. He is quoted in Savannah's 'Scene' magazine: "The Savannah Irish Savannah Festival focuses more on the arts, on educating people in Irish culture. The parade committee has made great efforts in years to stop the commercialization of the parade. What we would like to be is a complement to the parade, never to compete. We open the St. Patrick's Day season the third weekend in February. Every weekend from then on is filled with local Irish events." Kevin Barry's is definitely the center of the trad music scene in Savannah.
Owned and operated by Queens, N.Y. native Vic Powers, we were treated to his rendition of 'Kelly, the boy from Killane.' After each evening's Festival performance the crowd gathered at Barry's for impromptu performances by musicians that have included the Makem Brothers. A new act (for this writer) was the Dady Brothers, John and Joe, from Rochester, NY Their musical talent is spread between fiddle, guitar, tin whistle and bodhran but it's their on-stage antics that freshen a stage and bring smiles to young and not-so-young alike. We'd love to see them at an Ohio Irish festival. While there were many talented performers, honorable mention goes to the Buddy O'Reilly Band, who put in a fine performance of traditional Irish music. And, of course, it's always fun to meet one's namesake.
We met John and Mary Ellen Sullivan, who reside in Savannah. And then there was the lively and talkative Jack Sullivan, proprietor of an Irish shop in Lafayette, NJ. Introducing myself he said, "I knew you were a Sullivan. You can tell a Sullivan by the eyebrows." I guess he was referring to those new, black Savannah curly strands growing from mine. Hmmm, they say when I reach puberty that'll stop. As our Irish luck would have it, we didn't see sunshine from Friday through Monday. When we left on Tuesday the sun peeked through the clouds. However, it certainly didn't dampen the Irish spirit in the least. The Irish community, as well as the vast crowd of visitors, is large, active and spirited. And John Mahoney is right. Between Southern hospitality and Irish friendliness, we felt right at home in Savannah.
2. SAVANNAH'S MOST INTERESTING IRISH-AMERICAN
Throughout our lives we meet 'Irish' people. Some are native-born, some are Irish-Americans. Some we soon forget, some we can never forget. Savannah's Irish poet laureate, Jimmy Buttimer, falls into this latter category. At this writing he was enrolled in a Masters Program (History), a subject he's always been interested in.
During the last few years of his life, the entire family took care of their grandfather, Patrick Joseph Buttimer. They talked a great deal about his childhood in Savannah. "He knew his grandfather, the original emigrant from Cork, and his name was also Patrick Joseph. So I started to research a lot to do with the family and a lot of the records I found intact on his life were his service records in the Confederate Army."
Jimmy followed the history of his regiment and found a diary of one of the members that had some really remarkable passages in there about the Irish in the unit. They made up about a third of it. "I went ahead from there and added imagination to the facts that I found but my poetry is all based on primary sources and materials. He was in a unit called the First Georgia Regulars. They were a unique regiment, probably the crackerjack regiment. They were sent from Georgia to Virginia early in the war," Buttimer said. He continued. "They had professional discipline; the officers were from the best, well-known families in the State. They were very strict in their discipline and training and so they were much more professional than many other units in existence at the beginning of the war. They were recruited, a large number of them, from Irish dockworkers here in Savannah. Instead of a regional pool they were created statewide and sent up to Virginia in service of the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate)."
One evening during Savannah's recent Irish Festival Buttimer took the stage at Kevin Barry's Pub on River Street. A hush fell over the crowd and a shh went out from them in an attempt to deaden the chatter from the next door bar. "To Have A History," is a tribute to his great-great grandfather. Speaking with a brogue that an American would be hard pressed to discern as not being native to Ireland, he begins.
"Now I have heard the different camps proclaim their honor and these same men would seek to find the first wrong on a field of carnage. So as to say that one was Cain, the other Abel. But I was there to live the hate, to smell the fear and heed the slaughter and here's the Hell of it.
We murdered them and they murdered us and that was our war in the Deep South when we were fighting the Negroes.On John's Island we were pressed by a vast host of Negroes. They carried the works on our right flank and murdered the wounded Stono Scouts before our eyes.But their victory was short as we counterattacked and the men went red-eyed mad with rage.
We shot the captives where they stood or hunted them down in the tall grass to finish them off with clubbed rifles and bayonets.And we would have killed them all but for our officers who beat us with their swords."
Midway through his poem Buttimer pauses to catch his breath and compose himself, temporarily overwhelmed by the deep emotions he feels. Flashing eyes reveal the inner passion of his deeply-felt West Cork Irish roots. After a few moments he continues.
"In quiet moments long removed that hellish day is with me. 'Twas there I heard the sound of blood lapping from throat to earth and saw the bodies arch and heave with each fresh gout of blood.And now I'm back in the Old Fort with the Negroes and the Irish as before the war.
And my neighbor comes from Africa with ritual scars upon his face as a sign of his people.And now his son runs with my son as two-legged pups through the dusty lanes.
And I often stop and wonder...at the quareness of it all. At times like these my heart is troubled and I walk the few blocks to the river. And I watch its currents moil.'Tis a great, muddy beast of a river...'Tis the lifeblood of God, and it carries the sins of the world.
What was it drove my hand to murder?Was it truly the love of one thing and the hatred of another? Or did the priest say more than he knew? We are made in His image. We are made in His image.So ye that would seek the first wrong on a field of carnage content yourself with what ye find.
But I would tell ye as ye do not know, that murder is murder and a history is a hard thing to have."
Buttimer has begun a series of poems that will be melded to other prints he has in mind that will relate to Irish service in the Army of Northern Virginia. "I've taken the life of my great-great grandfather more as a template and added my own imagination as to how the Irish might have felt in a particular situation and I chronicled their mingling with the black population that they lived with in Savannah, as well as the native white population, the 'crackers.' (From the Irish world Craic - meaning fun). "They fought in every state from Maryland to Florida and they're the only unit I know that had done that. They served two years in Virginia and came back just prior to the Gettysburg Campaign. Out of the 660 men that left, 150 came back. They regrouped with conscripts."
When asked why they fought, Buttimer doesn't provide you with a simple answer. "They deemed they were a uncommonly hard lot. When they came here during the years of the 'Great Hunger' and dispersal, exile and mass starvation, they were the survivors of that very horrible and brutal holocaust. When they got to Savannah there was a very caring priest here, Fr. Jeremiah O'Neil. He helped establish a fund for the support of Daniel O'Connell and his campaign to repeal the union with Great Britain."
Buttimer reported that the local Irish raised a large sum of money, which he thinks was particularly noteworthy since their community was living in poverty. "At this stage what the Irish saw of the situation of the slaves was they were better fed, in better health, better clothed, better cared for, possessing a rich cultural life. The Irish didn't see themselves being in any better position and, in fact, many of them were in much worse shape, and so when Fr. O'Neil met the 'Great Emancipator' in Ireland, O'Connell upbraided him on his silence on the issue of slavery. Fr. O'Neill told him he needed to concentrate on raising the living standards of the Irish peasantry to the level of the black slaves in Savannah. So, it's a very complex issue. They saw this not as an issue of slavery. They were more or less viewed suspiciously by the native population, wondering where their sympathies were. It was basically a 'are you for us or agin us?' They signed up in record numbers and supported the efforts of their new found communities."
The Buttimer family hails from West Cork. "They took care of me when I visited them and made me feel very welcome. I did meet the Buttimers around Kilmichael and Dunmanway in West Cork." He's attempted to pick up the traces of when the great dispersal occurred but it was so massive and so many records have been destroyed or lost it's difficult to find out exactly where in West Cork the family is from. Buttimer says the first mention of the name in Irish records is 1601. "There was a group of 'Whiteboys', who were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth. "One of 'em was a Buttimer from Cork" It is interesting to note that one of the nationalist groups in Ireland the A.O.H. is descended from is the "Whiteboys".
The name (Bottymer) is also familiar around the Lake country in England. "I think the Buttimers might have originally been part of a failed plantation in Cork in the mid 16th century and became 'more Irish than the Irish themselves.' They're very staunch Republicans, the very salt of the earth. Very strong religious vocations.And we love sports. What I've seen in Ireland they're very active in sports and in the community," he said. Sounding like he's family, I commented that I didn't know if the Sullivans had Buttimer blood or the Buttimers had Sullivan blood. Not surprisingly, Buttimer said, "Let me tell you, my great-great grandmother, the wife of Patrick Joseph, was Mary Sullivan from Kerry. She was born in transit in the ship in the ocean. This has survived in the oral history of our family so there's no records of it."
Being a full-time student didn't provide Buttimer with a lot of time nor funds to promote his work. However, interested readers can obtain a print of 'Irish Rebels in the First Georgia Regulars, the Evacuation of Savannah, December 20, 1864', by Stephen Schildbach. On this print is another of Buttimer's poems, 'The Partings.' Interested readers can obtain a copy by contacting him in Savannah.
Sources for Savannah-Irish History:
History of the Hibernian Society of Savannah, 1812-1912, Savannah, Braid & Hutton, 1912.
Hibernia America, Dennis Clark, The Irish and Regional Cultures, Contributions in Ethnic Studies, Westport, CN, Greenwood Press, 1986.
"The South's Irish Catholics, A case of cultural confinement", Catholics in the Old South, Editor Randall N. Miller & Jon L. Wakelyn. Macon Mercer University Press, 1983.
'Strangers & Citizens, Irish Community in Savannah, 1837-1861', UMI Disseration Information Service, a Bell & Howell; Howell Information Company, 300 North Zeeb, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 313 761 4700,
The town can best be described as 'The Way A City Oughta Be', a visually delicious city in the process of downtown preservation and restoration, where history is a living presence. Brick-lined pathways are bordered with azaleas while her streets are widely divided with rows of Cypress and Elm trees sweeping above the sidewalks, lending them an elegant shading. Her architecture abounds with wrought-iron balconies, fences and ornamental work that lend her buildings a reflection of Southern grace, gentility and craftmanship, the latter being a missing ingredient in functional city and government structures, North and South. In the Historic District one cannot drive two blocks without encountering a park square through which motorists must slowly negotiate. But Georgia's best-kept secret is her large Irish community in Savannah, a town with long links to Wexford.
Beginning in the mid-1830's a mass of Irish came in direct response to work opportunities. Ill-fated canal projects and the 1830 Central of Georgia Railroad project, completed in 1843, contributed to a fifteen year expansion of the regional economy. The majority of Savannah's Irish came from only six of Ireland's thirty-two counties, Wexford, Cork, Mayo, Tipperary, Cavan and Kerry. The strong link to Wexford provided "acquaintance, kinship and remittances."
By 1850 nearly half of the foreign-born and 55% of the Irish born were living in the middle Atlantic states; 13% of the foreign-born and 10% of the Irish-born were living in the South. Settling in Savannah, the Irish found two communities to make an adjustment to - the black community and the white, the former being quite a complicated relationship. While living in the same parts of the city, they had a limited socialization; it is reported they were extremely complicated. They lived in the same parts of the city where they engaged in a underground economy (black market) in which alcohol was reportedly the most important commodity. Tobacco, linens, foodstuffs and the like were undoubtedly bartered as well.
The upper class Irish, most of whom arrived much earlier than the working-class Irish, apparently shared the racial outlook of their social/economic peers among native-born Southerners. The Irish working-class were a bit closer to the earth. They departed from the their church's pro-slavery teachings and seemed to willingly "punch holes in the restrictions of the law and custom that separated white from black." Because the Irish 'knew their place' as they moved in this social structure, they suffered no successful, extensive nativist backlash. However, they were condemned for "trading with slaves and for fighting with freed blacks."
Savannah grew in the quarter century before the Civil War. "The relative shortage of free black or slave labor in the city created employment opportunities in which the Irish immigrants eagerly took up. Thus in some respects they did not have to fully compete with slave labor. By 1860 the southern share of foreign-born actually declined to 12% while the proportion of Irish-born in the South increased to 11%. 1840 to 1852 were peak years of immigrant arrivals. By 1850 Irish-born were 10% of Savannah's population and 19% of it's white population. By 1861 the Irish were 'neither masters nor slaves in most cases but no longer strangers either.
A Hibernian Society had been established and on March 17, 1813 they marched in a procession to the Independent Presbyterian Church. Speaking of their St. Patrick's Day Parade, Don Fallin said, "In Georgia we've never had enough Pipe Bands to make it a happy a parade as we wish it to be; we could use a few more," he said. "In the local area we don't have participation of units in the area like there are in the North and the Northeast." Fallin knows that many available pipe bands want to go to New York City or other large cities on St. Patrick's Day but feels that "if we can entice people to come down and go to another Southern parade, there are three; one within 35 or 40 miles, one within 125 and another within 250 miles; if we can get 'em to come down and participate in two parades, maybe that would be an enticement." Any other enticements for pipe bands to come to Savannah for St. Patrick's Day? Fallin smiled and said, "It's sportcoat weather here on St. Patrick's Day."
History is alive in Savannah. The city played an important role in the Revolutionary War and the "War of Northern Aggression" is never far from the conscious. Those with family members who fought with the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia or the Western Army are fully aware of their family's contribution and loss during this momentous event. The 'Jasper Greens' were named after Irish-American Sgt. William Jasper, mortally wounded during the 1778 siege of Savannah. When the Civil War began they went off to fight. The 'Montgomery Guards' became a part of the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia. One third of this unit were Irish.
John Mahoney, originally from Shelby, NC, has resided in Savannah for twenty years. "My dad, a lawyer and a judge, was a 'Southie' from Boston. We were the only Mahoneys in North Carolina." From 1962 to 1971 he actually ran a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Savannah that consisted of only the Mahoney family." Working as a volunteer at a recent Savannah Irish Festival, Mahoney said, "It's brought together the eleven Irish groups in Savannah. We're doing this to bring the Irish culture to the community." Like many other areas of the country, everybody drank green beer and wore plastic green hats. "That's not the case here," said Mahoney. "Traditional Irish music is brought in regularly at Kevin Barry's Irish Pub on River Street and the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) sponsors 'The Thistle and Shamrock' radio show. That takes a good deal of our effort to do it but we think it's really important to bring the culture to the community." The show is heard in Savannah every Saturday at 8pm, 9l.1. "Anybody reading the Irish Echo Newspaper is invited to next year's Festival.
Southern hospitality and a friendly Irish community here will make anyone feel comfortable." As Part of the Savannah Festival the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians sponsors a poster contest for schoolchildren, awarding prizes and honorable mention in several categories. It involves youngsters in their Irishness as well as current events in the Irish community, and provides festival-goers with an art exhibit, all of which is colorful and impressive. It's the first time this writer has seen anyone do this and I certainly encourage other festivals to do likewise.
Robert Buttimer (Bobby) is past-Chairman of the Festival committee. He is quoted in Savannah's 'Scene' magazine: "The Savannah Irish Savannah Festival focuses more on the arts, on educating people in Irish culture. The parade committee has made great efforts in years to stop the commercialization of the parade. What we would like to be is a complement to the parade, never to compete. We open the St. Patrick's Day season the third weekend in February. Every weekend from then on is filled with local Irish events." Kevin Barry's is definitely the center of the trad music scene in Savannah.
Owned and operated by Queens, N.Y. native Vic Powers, we were treated to his rendition of 'Kelly, the boy from Killane.' After each evening's Festival performance the crowd gathered at Barry's for impromptu performances by musicians that have included the Makem Brothers. A new act (for this writer) was the Dady Brothers, John and Joe, from Rochester, NY Their musical talent is spread between fiddle, guitar, tin whistle and bodhran but it's their on-stage antics that freshen a stage and bring smiles to young and not-so-young alike. We'd love to see them at an Ohio Irish festival. While there were many talented performers, honorable mention goes to the Buddy O'Reilly Band, who put in a fine performance of traditional Irish music. And, of course, it's always fun to meet one's namesake.
We met John and Mary Ellen Sullivan, who reside in Savannah. And then there was the lively and talkative Jack Sullivan, proprietor of an Irish shop in Lafayette, NJ. Introducing myself he said, "I knew you were a Sullivan. You can tell a Sullivan by the eyebrows." I guess he was referring to those new, black Savannah curly strands growing from mine. Hmmm, they say when I reach puberty that'll stop. As our Irish luck would have it, we didn't see sunshine from Friday through Monday. When we left on Tuesday the sun peeked through the clouds. However, it certainly didn't dampen the Irish spirit in the least. The Irish community, as well as the vast crowd of visitors, is large, active and spirited. And John Mahoney is right. Between Southern hospitality and Irish friendliness, we felt right at home in Savannah.
2. SAVANNAH'S MOST INTERESTING IRISH-AMERICAN
Throughout our lives we meet 'Irish' people. Some are native-born, some are Irish-Americans. Some we soon forget, some we can never forget. Savannah's Irish poet laureate, Jimmy Buttimer, falls into this latter category. At this writing he was enrolled in a Masters Program (History), a subject he's always been interested in.
During the last few years of his life, the entire family took care of their grandfather, Patrick Joseph Buttimer. They talked a great deal about his childhood in Savannah. "He knew his grandfather, the original emigrant from Cork, and his name was also Patrick Joseph. So I started to research a lot to do with the family and a lot of the records I found intact on his life were his service records in the Confederate Army."
Jimmy followed the history of his regiment and found a diary of one of the members that had some really remarkable passages in there about the Irish in the unit. They made up about a third of it. "I went ahead from there and added imagination to the facts that I found but my poetry is all based on primary sources and materials. He was in a unit called the First Georgia Regulars. They were a unique regiment, probably the crackerjack regiment. They were sent from Georgia to Virginia early in the war," Buttimer said. He continued. "They had professional discipline; the officers were from the best, well-known families in the State. They were very strict in their discipline and training and so they were much more professional than many other units in existence at the beginning of the war. They were recruited, a large number of them, from Irish dockworkers here in Savannah. Instead of a regional pool they were created statewide and sent up to Virginia in service of the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate)."
One evening during Savannah's recent Irish Festival Buttimer took the stage at Kevin Barry's Pub on River Street. A hush fell over the crowd and a shh went out from them in an attempt to deaden the chatter from the next door bar. "To Have A History," is a tribute to his great-great grandfather. Speaking with a brogue that an American would be hard pressed to discern as not being native to Ireland, he begins.
"Now I have heard the different camps proclaim their honor and these same men would seek to find the first wrong on a field of carnage. So as to say that one was Cain, the other Abel. But I was there to live the hate, to smell the fear and heed the slaughter and here's the Hell of it.
We murdered them and they murdered us and that was our war in the Deep South when we were fighting the Negroes.On John's Island we were pressed by a vast host of Negroes. They carried the works on our right flank and murdered the wounded Stono Scouts before our eyes.But their victory was short as we counterattacked and the men went red-eyed mad with rage.
We shot the captives where they stood or hunted them down in the tall grass to finish them off with clubbed rifles and bayonets.And we would have killed them all but for our officers who beat us with their swords."
Midway through his poem Buttimer pauses to catch his breath and compose himself, temporarily overwhelmed by the deep emotions he feels. Flashing eyes reveal the inner passion of his deeply-felt West Cork Irish roots. After a few moments he continues.
"In quiet moments long removed that hellish day is with me. 'Twas there I heard the sound of blood lapping from throat to earth and saw the bodies arch and heave with each fresh gout of blood.And now I'm back in the Old Fort with the Negroes and the Irish as before the war.
And my neighbor comes from Africa with ritual scars upon his face as a sign of his people.And now his son runs with my son as two-legged pups through the dusty lanes.
And I often stop and wonder...at the quareness of it all. At times like these my heart is troubled and I walk the few blocks to the river. And I watch its currents moil.'Tis a great, muddy beast of a river...'Tis the lifeblood of God, and it carries the sins of the world.
What was it drove my hand to murder?Was it truly the love of one thing and the hatred of another? Or did the priest say more than he knew? We are made in His image. We are made in His image.So ye that would seek the first wrong on a field of carnage content yourself with what ye find.
But I would tell ye as ye do not know, that murder is murder and a history is a hard thing to have."
Buttimer has begun a series of poems that will be melded to other prints he has in mind that will relate to Irish service in the Army of Northern Virginia. "I've taken the life of my great-great grandfather more as a template and added my own imagination as to how the Irish might have felt in a particular situation and I chronicled their mingling with the black population that they lived with in Savannah, as well as the native white population, the 'crackers.' (From the Irish world Craic - meaning fun). "They fought in every state from Maryland to Florida and they're the only unit I know that had done that. They served two years in Virginia and came back just prior to the Gettysburg Campaign. Out of the 660 men that left, 150 came back. They regrouped with conscripts."
When asked why they fought, Buttimer doesn't provide you with a simple answer. "They deemed they were a uncommonly hard lot. When they came here during the years of the 'Great Hunger' and dispersal, exile and mass starvation, they were the survivors of that very horrible and brutal holocaust. When they got to Savannah there was a very caring priest here, Fr. Jeremiah O'Neil. He helped establish a fund for the support of Daniel O'Connell and his campaign to repeal the union with Great Britain."
Buttimer reported that the local Irish raised a large sum of money, which he thinks was particularly noteworthy since their community was living in poverty. "At this stage what the Irish saw of the situation of the slaves was they were better fed, in better health, better clothed, better cared for, possessing a rich cultural life. The Irish didn't see themselves being in any better position and, in fact, many of them were in much worse shape, and so when Fr. O'Neil met the 'Great Emancipator' in Ireland, O'Connell upbraided him on his silence on the issue of slavery. Fr. O'Neill told him he needed to concentrate on raising the living standards of the Irish peasantry to the level of the black slaves in Savannah. So, it's a very complex issue. They saw this not as an issue of slavery. They were more or less viewed suspiciously by the native population, wondering where their sympathies were. It was basically a 'are you for us or agin us?' They signed up in record numbers and supported the efforts of their new found communities."
The Buttimer family hails from West Cork. "They took care of me when I visited them and made me feel very welcome. I did meet the Buttimers around Kilmichael and Dunmanway in West Cork." He's attempted to pick up the traces of when the great dispersal occurred but it was so massive and so many records have been destroyed or lost it's difficult to find out exactly where in West Cork the family is from. Buttimer says the first mention of the name in Irish records is 1601. "There was a group of 'Whiteboys', who were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth. "One of 'em was a Buttimer from Cork" It is interesting to note that one of the nationalist groups in Ireland the A.O.H. is descended from is the "Whiteboys".
The name (Bottymer) is also familiar around the Lake country in England. "I think the Buttimers might have originally been part of a failed plantation in Cork in the mid 16th century and became 'more Irish than the Irish themselves.' They're very staunch Republicans, the very salt of the earth. Very strong religious vocations.And we love sports. What I've seen in Ireland they're very active in sports and in the community," he said. Sounding like he's family, I commented that I didn't know if the Sullivans had Buttimer blood or the Buttimers had Sullivan blood. Not surprisingly, Buttimer said, "Let me tell you, my great-great grandmother, the wife of Patrick Joseph, was Mary Sullivan from Kerry. She was born in transit in the ship in the ocean. This has survived in the oral history of our family so there's no records of it."
Being a full-time student didn't provide Buttimer with a lot of time nor funds to promote his work. However, interested readers can obtain a print of 'Irish Rebels in the First Georgia Regulars, the Evacuation of Savannah, December 20, 1864', by Stephen Schildbach. On this print is another of Buttimer's poems, 'The Partings.' Interested readers can obtain a copy by contacting him in Savannah.
Sources for Savannah-Irish History:
History of the Hibernian Society of Savannah, 1812-1912, Savannah, Braid & Hutton, 1912.
Hibernia America, Dennis Clark, The Irish and Regional Cultures, Contributions in Ethnic Studies, Westport, CN, Greenwood Press, 1986.
"The South's Irish Catholics, A case of cultural confinement", Catholics in the Old South, Editor Randall N. Miller & Jon L. Wakelyn. Macon Mercer University Press, 1983.
'Strangers & Citizens, Irish Community in Savannah, 1837-1861', UMI Disseration Information Service, a Bell & Howell; Howell Information Company, 300 North Zeeb, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 313 761 4700,
FATHER'S DAY
by
J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
Each year the month of June usually tells me warm weather is here for real. And it's the month that celebrates a day that continues to make me confront conflicting feelings - Father's Day. Although I knew more than one man as my father, each occupied the same physical body. Memories are bittersweet and span many years.
True to his Scorpio nature, Da was an enigma to his family and perhaps to himself as well. We never knew much about his youth; he shared few memories about growing up. Maybe his youth, like mine, contained many bittersweet or painful memories and feelings. A family member once told me that when his younger sister Kitty died during the flu epidemic of 1918, during World War One, his mother told him it should've been him who died instead of her.
We know that after graduating from Cathedral Latin High School in 1929 he disappeared from Cleveland, never telling anyone in the family what he was planning. They eventually heard from him; he'd hitchhiked,or rode rails, West with a friend. While there he attended the University of New Mexico and apparently fell ill with a mysterious malady. We don't know if it was of a physical or spiritual nature, perhaps it was both. He returned home to Ohio when he recovered.
We've a photograph of him in his Army uniform, wearing a Sam Browne Belt and packing a forty-five caliber pistol. It was taken during the Depression years when work for most American men just wasn't available. While on temporary duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky, at a U.S.O. dance, he met a bright, spirited and beautiful Irish-American lass from Louisville. Later, against the wishes of her family, because she was so young, they married in Louisville's St. Patrick's Church, in the Irish district called Portland, and he brought her home to Cleveland. His bride, from a city at least as old as Cleveland, was insulted when my grandmother attempted to explain to her what traffic signals were.
The first father I remember was a quiet, fearless hero. He had an athletic build and was darkly handsome. During, or immediately after World War Two, a fire broke out on our street, Shelley Court, in the Berea projects where we lived. With a blanket over him for protection, he crawled in and rescued two sisters. Unfortunately, their mother, whose husband was away in the Navy, died in the fire. I still have the framed oil the sisters painted and later presented to him in gratitude for his selfless act. My mother told me she'd been upset the following day when the newspaper story mispelled Da's name.
This first father, the one who enjoyed taking his sons with him, occupies my first conscious memories. Shortly after the end of World War Two he took my brother and me through the 'bomber plant', which is now Brookpark's I-X Center. We felt privileged among our peers, as if a heretofore secret world had been revealed to us. We'd seen part of the adult world; bodies of aircraft in various stages of construction; we saw what some people did 'at work.'
This first father enjoyed taking his sons on the bus to Hopkins International Airport. Together we watched aircraft take off and land. Da would identify the planes as they taxied. "That's a C-47, the military version of the DC-3," he would say, pointing out an olive-drab colored warbird. We people-watched bodies scurrying to and from important places, where we imagined they did important things. He topped-off our day of simple pleasures with lunch with at the airport restaurant. That made US feel important, as if we were part of a bigger world, and had only paused in Cleveland to refuel our bodies.
This was the father that made my brother and me Cleveland Browns football fans. The first 'real' fight we ever witnessed was in the 'Dawg Pound', the bleacher section at Cleveland Stadium. In those days, when the Browns were perennial champions, there was never a screen raised behind the goal posts to prevent the football from going into the stands. If you caught the football after it was kicked there, you kept it. After one such kick, two men were violently disagreeing on who was going to keep the football. My memories with this father are treasures, before our family grew to nine children, and life's stresses apparently molded him into another man.
This later father sought activities in which perhaps he sought personal therapy and relevance, or even flight from personal demons. He no longer included his sons in activities. I can't recall that he ever attended one of my baseball or basketball games. Nor did he share his feelings about things. Except when he was angry or upset about something, which seemed to be frequent. We never had a one-on-one dialogue, the kind of talk in which fathers reveal to their sons how men naturally communicate and express feelings to each other. Instead, he seemed to retreat to other activities and adult toys that occupied his time, talent and energy; like the black Royal manual typewriter perched atop his basement desk. I often think how he would love using my personal computer, word-processing software and Seikosha printer.
From his subterranean desk, his solitude next to the furnace, a few feet from the ever-present mound of soiled clothing from our family of nine children, he banged out letters on his old black, Underwood typewriter and wrote - the White House, Congress and friends around the world, especially missionary friends in Patna, India. During the '50s he was published in an international Catholic newspaper when he'd written that, in an attempt to convert him, Americans should send Russia's Joe Stalin a Christmas card. The editor, apparently sensing there would be reaction, added his postscripts about what the "guy named Sullivan" was had to say. The editor's instincts were right on the money because reaction, indeed, came in - from all over the world. Most suggested Da needed psychiatric counseling.
In what must have been a half-hearted venture, he apparently ran for political office once. I recall seeing a letter offering him condolences of sort on his unsuccessful run for Governor of Ohio. No one else in the family knew about this.
As I left my teen years, I departed home for the first time. Later came marriage and eventually children, three daughters. As Da and I both grew older our relationship improved somewhat. He was certainly more laid back after his retirement. My younger brother says Da even attended his own baseball games. However, as men, Da and I were still unable to communicate feelings to each other than those that were on the surface every day. As a result, we blocked ourselves from a fully human relationship.
After an absence of fifteen years he visited me recently in a dream. An overwhelming and indescribable feeling of love filled me when I saw him return. He was with two others; all were engaged in important work, just like his homicide and undercover Detective work in Cleveland had been. They couldn't stay, they didn't have a lot of time. As in life, we two Scorpios still didn't have the right words for each other. Sensing this, and reading my heart, my father took the lead and broke the long silence before leaving again. "But you KNEW I loved you," he said.
"Yes, Dad, I knew," I said, "but you never told me."
My children, now young adults, know I love them...I continue to tell them so.
J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
Each year the month of June usually tells me warm weather is here for real. And it's the month that celebrates a day that continues to make me confront conflicting feelings - Father's Day. Although I knew more than one man as my father, each occupied the same physical body. Memories are bittersweet and span many years.
True to his Scorpio nature, Da was an enigma to his family and perhaps to himself as well. We never knew much about his youth; he shared few memories about growing up. Maybe his youth, like mine, contained many bittersweet or painful memories and feelings. A family member once told me that when his younger sister Kitty died during the flu epidemic of 1918, during World War One, his mother told him it should've been him who died instead of her.
We know that after graduating from Cathedral Latin High School in 1929 he disappeared from Cleveland, never telling anyone in the family what he was planning. They eventually heard from him; he'd hitchhiked,or rode rails, West with a friend. While there he attended the University of New Mexico and apparently fell ill with a mysterious malady. We don't know if it was of a physical or spiritual nature, perhaps it was both. He returned home to Ohio when he recovered.
We've a photograph of him in his Army uniform, wearing a Sam Browne Belt and packing a forty-five caliber pistol. It was taken during the Depression years when work for most American men just wasn't available. While on temporary duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky, at a U.S.O. dance, he met a bright, spirited and beautiful Irish-American lass from Louisville. Later, against the wishes of her family, because she was so young, they married in Louisville's St. Patrick's Church, in the Irish district called Portland, and he brought her home to Cleveland. His bride, from a city at least as old as Cleveland, was insulted when my grandmother attempted to explain to her what traffic signals were.
The first father I remember was a quiet, fearless hero. He had an athletic build and was darkly handsome. During, or immediately after World War Two, a fire broke out on our street, Shelley Court, in the Berea projects where we lived. With a blanket over him for protection, he crawled in and rescued two sisters. Unfortunately, their mother, whose husband was away in the Navy, died in the fire. I still have the framed oil the sisters painted and later presented to him in gratitude for his selfless act. My mother told me she'd been upset the following day when the newspaper story mispelled Da's name.
This first father, the one who enjoyed taking his sons with him, occupies my first conscious memories. Shortly after the end of World War Two he took my brother and me through the 'bomber plant', which is now Brookpark's I-X Center. We felt privileged among our peers, as if a heretofore secret world had been revealed to us. We'd seen part of the adult world; bodies of aircraft in various stages of construction; we saw what some people did 'at work.'
This first father enjoyed taking his sons on the bus to Hopkins International Airport. Together we watched aircraft take off and land. Da would identify the planes as they taxied. "That's a C-47, the military version of the DC-3," he would say, pointing out an olive-drab colored warbird. We people-watched bodies scurrying to and from important places, where we imagined they did important things. He topped-off our day of simple pleasures with lunch with at the airport restaurant. That made US feel important, as if we were part of a bigger world, and had only paused in Cleveland to refuel our bodies.
This was the father that made my brother and me Cleveland Browns football fans. The first 'real' fight we ever witnessed was in the 'Dawg Pound', the bleacher section at Cleveland Stadium. In those days, when the Browns were perennial champions, there was never a screen raised behind the goal posts to prevent the football from going into the stands. If you caught the football after it was kicked there, you kept it. After one such kick, two men were violently disagreeing on who was going to keep the football. My memories with this father are treasures, before our family grew to nine children, and life's stresses apparently molded him into another man.
This later father sought activities in which perhaps he sought personal therapy and relevance, or even flight from personal demons. He no longer included his sons in activities. I can't recall that he ever attended one of my baseball or basketball games. Nor did he share his feelings about things. Except when he was angry or upset about something, which seemed to be frequent. We never had a one-on-one dialogue, the kind of talk in which fathers reveal to their sons how men naturally communicate and express feelings to each other. Instead, he seemed to retreat to other activities and adult toys that occupied his time, talent and energy; like the black Royal manual typewriter perched atop his basement desk. I often think how he would love using my personal computer, word-processing software and Seikosha printer.
From his subterranean desk, his solitude next to the furnace, a few feet from the ever-present mound of soiled clothing from our family of nine children, he banged out letters on his old black, Underwood typewriter and wrote - the White House, Congress and friends around the world, especially missionary friends in Patna, India. During the '50s he was published in an international Catholic newspaper when he'd written that, in an attempt to convert him, Americans should send Russia's Joe Stalin a Christmas card. The editor, apparently sensing there would be reaction, added his postscripts about what the "guy named Sullivan" was had to say. The editor's instincts were right on the money because reaction, indeed, came in - from all over the world. Most suggested Da needed psychiatric counseling.
In what must have been a half-hearted venture, he apparently ran for political office once. I recall seeing a letter offering him condolences of sort on his unsuccessful run for Governor of Ohio. No one else in the family knew about this.
As I left my teen years, I departed home for the first time. Later came marriage and eventually children, three daughters. As Da and I both grew older our relationship improved somewhat. He was certainly more laid back after his retirement. My younger brother says Da even attended his own baseball games. However, as men, Da and I were still unable to communicate feelings to each other than those that were on the surface every day. As a result, we blocked ourselves from a fully human relationship.
After an absence of fifteen years he visited me recently in a dream. An overwhelming and indescribable feeling of love filled me when I saw him return. He was with two others; all were engaged in important work, just like his homicide and undercover Detective work in Cleveland had been. They couldn't stay, they didn't have a lot of time. As in life, we two Scorpios still didn't have the right words for each other. Sensing this, and reading my heart, my father took the lead and broke the long silence before leaving again. "But you KNEW I loved you," he said.
"Yes, Dad, I knew," I said, "but you never told me."
My children, now young adults, know I love them...I continue to tell them so.
LENEGHAN BOYS BUILD TREE HOUSE
by
J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
What a grand summer night 'twas. Two Cleveland Indians baseball tickets in hand, me beautiful blond bride of thirty years at me side, crusin' and takin' a detour to check out Cleveland's newest pub before the game. To say the establishment is unique wouldn't do it justice. The Tree House is a creation - of Scott Gurko and brothers Tom and Pete Leneghan, and fueled by a passion to fulfill a dream. They've interspersed plenty of hard work to turn a ninety-year old former bank into a contemporary 'Libation Arboretum.' "Our father gave us our vision and work ethic," said Tom Leneghan, referring to the late Bartley Leneghan, a native of Ballycroy. Their mother is Bridget Campbell Leneghan of Cleveland. "It was unfortunate that he passed away before he could see this project come about. He would've been down here giving us a lot of help. We owe what we have to his upbringing and his good help." The boys father first American pub was the Pride of Erin, which he co-owned with brother-in-law John Campbell. His uncle Chris Campbell, along with cousin Tom McGowan, own the Blarney Stone Tavern, both of which are popular Irish pubs on Lorain Avenue.
"Pete always came over to Ireland," said Pete Leneghan. That's 'Irish Pete' from Westport being quoted, not to be confused with his cousin 'American Pete.' "I befriended him and we ended up being best buddies. We talked about this project in a Dublin pub about five years ago. That day he said to me, 'Someday Pete, I'm going to build a bar. Then one day they rang me up and said, 'Come on over to America. It's happening - we're building it. I came over to give 'em a hand" And it was "Irish Pete" who came up with the name The Tree House.
The Cleveland Leneghan boys have come a long way from their first pub, Westie's Tavern on Cleveland's West 25th Street. We stopped in there once for a cold one and to wish the boys well in what was their new endeavor at the time. We didn't see them that day but a customer from Puerto Rico happened in while we were there. Inquiring of our heritage, we informed him we were Irish. "Oh," he said, "you're the people who ride horses and buggies." Amish and Irish - that's about as close as it got in his world view.
Actually the Puerto Rican fellow wasn't far off the mark if he'd been talking to 'American Pete', who does own a horse and buggy business in New York City, a trade that's dominated by the Irish there. "He's owned the Shamrock Stable for at least seven years," said Bridget Campbell Leneghan. "They work the area of Central Park. The day half of the business is being run by John McGowan (no relation) and another guy works the night half. Pete worked it himself for six years," she said.
'American Pete' is thinking of going back to New York shortly to work the business for the balance of this year. "Christmas and New Year," said brother Tom. "Jimmy Campbell, John's brother, was the owner of the stable. That's how he got involved in the business." Pete worked hard and was able to save some money and buy the day half of the business. "A year or two later he was able to buy the night half. So now he owns the whole medallion." 'American Pete', forever the entrepreneur, recently purchased a new carriage and sent it to New York. "He already brought the old carriage to Cleveland. We're going to refurbish it and put it downtown," Tommy concluded.
So, you've been thinking, why have they named the Cleveland establishment The Tree House? There's a couple of answers to the question. The area in which it's been built - Tremont, is on Cleveland's near West Side. It sits at the corner of College and Professor Avenues, across from St. John Cantius Church. "We decided that the place was a little too nice and we didn't want to intimidate anyone with a stuffy name so my cousin Pete came up with the idea making it sound like a fun place but having nice decor", said Tom's brother 'American Pete ' Leneghan. "It's a comfortable place," brother Tom interjected, "and we have a fun name to go along with that." Tommy recommends Mayo folks who visit Cleveland see the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum or attend a Cleveland Indians baseball game. "Stop in at The Tree House for a cold one ," he said. "Should they stop before or after the game?" I asked. "Before and after."
The Tree House menu and chef keep within the international tradition the boys have established in getting the project off the ground. Their Palestinian chef is Ayman (no lie) and his menu lists Black Sea Caviar, Mediterraneo and Moroccan Couscous. Lest any visitors bemoan a lack of American fare he also offers the good ole Juicy Greasy Burger. Yee Haw! 'All delicacies are served on a piece of lumber,' the menu reads. 'Prices are up to you! After your meal, you decide!' Well boys, for the sake of yer pocketbook, I hope none of my relatives show up!
'Irish Pete' designed the round tables and the stools that folks sit on. He also laid the patio chessboard. "It'll be one of the first outdoor chessboards in Cleveland. The pieces will be about two feet in height. There'll be two tall chairs on either side of the board. Whoever's playing next will move your pieces."
"He designed a lot of it sitting 'round the bar talkin'," added cousin Tom. 'Irish Pete' responded by saying "Things are hard to do in Ireland but Tom and Pete made it so easy for me over here I just want to thank them."
'Irish Pete's' father, John, is a contractor in Dublin. "He taught me everything I know. My mother, is Mamie (Corrigan) Leneghan from Doona, Ballycroy." Pete's unmarried brother John is a carpenter living in Dublin. His sister Maureen Doyle lives in Dublin as well. Brothers Gerry and Noel, both tradesmen, are married and living in Westport.
"I've learned some more good things about life since I came over," said 'Irish Pete.' "We have a good life in Ireland but we don't realize how good it is until you come over to America; the richness of having land, having freedom; having the ocean right beside you. And I only realized that when I came over here. Everybody's dreams are to go back to Ireland and retire and they just work over here . But they have family - that's what keeps them over here. It just makes me think an awful lot about how much I miss home.
Pete's father was the only one of his family to stay in Ireland. "All his brothers came over. They're doing pretty good. I'm the only one out of my family to come over here and try to make a living. Everybody over here made it good and I think they're more Irish than we are over there. They're keepin' the culture alive over here - it's unbelievable. There's more culture over here than there is in Ireland. That's what I see. The parades, the flags flying outside the houses; I know that's easy to say coming from Ireland but we don't have to do it because we're Irish. We don't realize how much people think about us over in America. Coming over here - it's so easy 'cause everybody wants to help you. And that's nice 'cause if you go over to Ireland we're there for you, too.
"Tremont is the perfect locale for people who are looking for a good time with a variety of places to stop into, places that are at once happening and sophisticated, yet comfortable and congenial," said manager Mike Hurley, as quoted in Downtown Tab magazine. "Tremont is the place they're discovering and The Tree House is one of the jewels in the crown."
J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
What a grand summer night 'twas. Two Cleveland Indians baseball tickets in hand, me beautiful blond bride of thirty years at me side, crusin' and takin' a detour to check out Cleveland's newest pub before the game. To say the establishment is unique wouldn't do it justice. The Tree House is a creation - of Scott Gurko and brothers Tom and Pete Leneghan, and fueled by a passion to fulfill a dream. They've interspersed plenty of hard work to turn a ninety-year old former bank into a contemporary 'Libation Arboretum.' "Our father gave us our vision and work ethic," said Tom Leneghan, referring to the late Bartley Leneghan, a native of Ballycroy. Their mother is Bridget Campbell Leneghan of Cleveland. "It was unfortunate that he passed away before he could see this project come about. He would've been down here giving us a lot of help. We owe what we have to his upbringing and his good help." The boys father first American pub was the Pride of Erin, which he co-owned with brother-in-law John Campbell. His uncle Chris Campbell, along with cousin Tom McGowan, own the Blarney Stone Tavern, both of which are popular Irish pubs on Lorain Avenue.
"Pete always came over to Ireland," said Pete Leneghan. That's 'Irish Pete' from Westport being quoted, not to be confused with his cousin 'American Pete.' "I befriended him and we ended up being best buddies. We talked about this project in a Dublin pub about five years ago. That day he said to me, 'Someday Pete, I'm going to build a bar. Then one day they rang me up and said, 'Come on over to America. It's happening - we're building it. I came over to give 'em a hand" And it was "Irish Pete" who came up with the name The Tree House.
The Cleveland Leneghan boys have come a long way from their first pub, Westie's Tavern on Cleveland's West 25th Street. We stopped in there once for a cold one and to wish the boys well in what was their new endeavor at the time. We didn't see them that day but a customer from Puerto Rico happened in while we were there. Inquiring of our heritage, we informed him we were Irish. "Oh," he said, "you're the people who ride horses and buggies." Amish and Irish - that's about as close as it got in his world view.
Actually the Puerto Rican fellow wasn't far off the mark if he'd been talking to 'American Pete', who does own a horse and buggy business in New York City, a trade that's dominated by the Irish there. "He's owned the Shamrock Stable for at least seven years," said Bridget Campbell Leneghan. "They work the area of Central Park. The day half of the business is being run by John McGowan (no relation) and another guy works the night half. Pete worked it himself for six years," she said.
'American Pete' is thinking of going back to New York shortly to work the business for the balance of this year. "Christmas and New Year," said brother Tom. "Jimmy Campbell, John's brother, was the owner of the stable. That's how he got involved in the business." Pete worked hard and was able to save some money and buy the day half of the business. "A year or two later he was able to buy the night half. So now he owns the whole medallion." 'American Pete', forever the entrepreneur, recently purchased a new carriage and sent it to New York. "He already brought the old carriage to Cleveland. We're going to refurbish it and put it downtown," Tommy concluded.
So, you've been thinking, why have they named the Cleveland establishment The Tree House? There's a couple of answers to the question. The area in which it's been built - Tremont, is on Cleveland's near West Side. It sits at the corner of College and Professor Avenues, across from St. John Cantius Church. "We decided that the place was a little too nice and we didn't want to intimidate anyone with a stuffy name so my cousin Pete came up with the idea making it sound like a fun place but having nice decor", said Tom's brother 'American Pete ' Leneghan. "It's a comfortable place," brother Tom interjected, "and we have a fun name to go along with that." Tommy recommends Mayo folks who visit Cleveland see the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum or attend a Cleveland Indians baseball game. "Stop in at The Tree House for a cold one ," he said. "Should they stop before or after the game?" I asked. "Before and after."
The Tree House menu and chef keep within the international tradition the boys have established in getting the project off the ground. Their Palestinian chef is Ayman (no lie) and his menu lists Black Sea Caviar, Mediterraneo and Moroccan Couscous. Lest any visitors bemoan a lack of American fare he also offers the good ole Juicy Greasy Burger. Yee Haw! 'All delicacies are served on a piece of lumber,' the menu reads. 'Prices are up to you! After your meal, you decide!' Well boys, for the sake of yer pocketbook, I hope none of my relatives show up!
'Irish Pete' designed the round tables and the stools that folks sit on. He also laid the patio chessboard. "It'll be one of the first outdoor chessboards in Cleveland. The pieces will be about two feet in height. There'll be two tall chairs on either side of the board. Whoever's playing next will move your pieces."
"He designed a lot of it sitting 'round the bar talkin'," added cousin Tom. 'Irish Pete' responded by saying "Things are hard to do in Ireland but Tom and Pete made it so easy for me over here I just want to thank them."
'Irish Pete's' father, John, is a contractor in Dublin. "He taught me everything I know. My mother, is Mamie (Corrigan) Leneghan from Doona, Ballycroy." Pete's unmarried brother John is a carpenter living in Dublin. His sister Maureen Doyle lives in Dublin as well. Brothers Gerry and Noel, both tradesmen, are married and living in Westport.
"I've learned some more good things about life since I came over," said 'Irish Pete.' "We have a good life in Ireland but we don't realize how good it is until you come over to America; the richness of having land, having freedom; having the ocean right beside you. And I only realized that when I came over here. Everybody's dreams are to go back to Ireland and retire and they just work over here . But they have family - that's what keeps them over here. It just makes me think an awful lot about how much I miss home.
Pete's father was the only one of his family to stay in Ireland. "All his brothers came over. They're doing pretty good. I'm the only one out of my family to come over here and try to make a living. Everybody over here made it good and I think they're more Irish than we are over there. They're keepin' the culture alive over here - it's unbelievable. There's more culture over here than there is in Ireland. That's what I see. The parades, the flags flying outside the houses; I know that's easy to say coming from Ireland but we don't have to do it because we're Irish. We don't realize how much people think about us over in America. Coming over here - it's so easy 'cause everybody wants to help you. And that's nice 'cause if you go over to Ireland we're there for you, too.
"Tremont is the perfect locale for people who are looking for a good time with a variety of places to stop into, places that are at once happening and sophisticated, yet comfortable and congenial," said manager Mike Hurley, as quoted in Downtown Tab magazine. "Tremont is the place they're discovering and The Tree House is one of the jewels in the crown."
O'Donnell Family Continues Christmas Tradition of Giving Back
by J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
They're like combat veterans in a sense, uncomfortable talking about themselves and what they've experienced. And, like soldiers receiving their deserved decorations, it's left to somebody else to tell you of their deeds. In the case of Cleveland's O'Donnell family, that somebody is me.
For eight years the family has hosted a Christmas get-together where friends and family donate gifts and/or money to underprivileged children and the Catholic Church. What began in their home has expanded to the point that they now rent a hall to accommodate it. This year it will be in the Church Hall of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on Cleveland's West side. It makes one wonder how it all came about.
"We used to work the soup kitchen at St. Patrick's on Bridge Avenue," said Barbara O'Donnell. "My sister Trish ran it and on the holidays, for about four or five years, the rest of the family all went down there to help where we could. Once we graduated from college there just wasn't any time. So we decided, just for the kids, once a year we'd put this together and accept gifts for underprivileged children or cash for the church if we could."
Trish O'Donnell-Gallagher readily gives credit to their many friends who help stage the ever-growing event. "Everybody does a small little part," she said. "One person's doing coffee, another pastry, another silverware. It's really a shared effort by a lot of friends. That's what makes it work. Everybody helps."
For years, O'Donnell-Gallagher and her sister Maureen ran the Wednesday night free meal program at St. Patrick's Hunger Center. "Little kids would come around and ask if they could help so we'd find little things for them to do. As it got closer to Christmas we'd do things for the kids, like take them sled riding. And we'd say, 'Oh, you better be good.' You know that suburban saying, 'If you're good Santa will come and he'll be good to you."
One year, after Christmas, a particular little boy, about four or five years old, said, 'I must not have been good 'cause Santa didn't come.' "We were dumfounded by what he said", said O'Donnell-Gallagher. "According to the youngster's mother, their family 'fell through the cracks' of then-current programs. So we decided that because our family is so very fortunate that we have each other and hold decent employment, the least we can do is make another child's Christmas."
Despite the O'Donnell family's success, they are no stranger to hardship and sacrifice. They were all quite young when their father died. "I remember liftin' a Christmas tree from somebody's field because we couldn't afford one," said O'Donnell-Gallagher. "We cut it down and hauled it home. If you can make a difference to one person's life...the great thing about this event is nobody knows you're doing it. You can wrap a gift that's five bucks or one that you always wanted that costs seventy. But nobody knows who gave what. All these people here tonight are doing this rally together for the same reason - 'cause we believe."
Matriarch of this energetic, creative and spirited clan is Fran Coyne-O'Donnell, a native Clevelander and first-generation Irish-American. "The three oldest were baptized at St. Patrick's; we lived in the parish. Their father lived nearby when he was growing up in what was called the 'Angle' neighborhood. I'm really pleased to see them putting back into the community."
Recipient, or rather distributor, of the gifts from the O'Donnell family and friends is Father Mark DiNardo, St. Patrick's parish. "We really like Father Mark,' said Barbara O'Donnell. "He's a real good egg, a true priest. He's pretty anonymous and he keeps it anonymous." O'Donnell believes that many want to give at holiday time but they're unsure of who to give because of mistrust.
"The O'Donnells have been a fantastic group people," said Fr. DiNardo. "For a long time, instead of having a Christmas party on their own, where they exchange gifts, they turned the money they would've expended on gifts into contributions for making a Christmas toys or parcels for other families. It's a wonderful, wonderful way that this parish of ours is the recipient of generosity that completely blows my mind. They're super, super people; I love them dearly."
A visitor to last year's rally was local Irish radio personality, Mayo-born Jerry Quinn. The following morning, on his Irish Radio Show, he talked about the O'Donnell party. "They don't publicize it or anything; they just do it out of the goodness of their heart." When he was driving from the party he thought, "With all of the bad things we hear about in the world; it's refreshing to hear that a lot of the people that I know are so good and charitable." He added Eddie O'Donnell appeared to be in charge. "I asked him if he was," said Jerry, "and he said, 'No, not really. We're all working on this together.'" Quinn added that he thought the O'Donnells and friends should be commended for doing such a wonderful thing. "All these people get together, they pay for everything themselves and buy gifts for less fortunate kids at St. Patrick's and they don't publicize or advertise it."
Kati has been the most-recent O'Donnell to visit Ireland. While there she stayed with cousin Annie "Ginger" Lynch and her daughter Margaret Campbell of Achill.
They're like combat veterans in a sense, uncomfortable talking about themselves and what they've experienced. And, like soldiers receiving their deserved decorations, it's left to somebody else to tell you of their deeds. In the case of Cleveland's O'Donnell family, that somebody is me.
For eight years the family has hosted a Christmas get-together where friends and family donate gifts and/or money to underprivileged children and the Catholic Church. What began in their home has expanded to the point that they now rent a hall to accommodate it. This year it will be in the Church Hall of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on Cleveland's West side. It makes one wonder how it all came about.
"We used to work the soup kitchen at St. Patrick's on Bridge Avenue," said Barbara O'Donnell. "My sister Trish ran it and on the holidays, for about four or five years, the rest of the family all went down there to help where we could. Once we graduated from college there just wasn't any time. So we decided, just for the kids, once a year we'd put this together and accept gifts for underprivileged children or cash for the church if we could."
Trish O'Donnell-Gallagher readily gives credit to their many friends who help stage the ever-growing event. "Everybody does a small little part," she said. "One person's doing coffee, another pastry, another silverware. It's really a shared effort by a lot of friends. That's what makes it work. Everybody helps."
For years, O'Donnell-Gallagher and her sister Maureen ran the Wednesday night free meal program at St. Patrick's Hunger Center. "Little kids would come around and ask if they could help so we'd find little things for them to do. As it got closer to Christmas we'd do things for the kids, like take them sled riding. And we'd say, 'Oh, you better be good.' You know that suburban saying, 'If you're good Santa will come and he'll be good to you."
One year, after Christmas, a particular little boy, about four or five years old, said, 'I must not have been good 'cause Santa didn't come.' "We were dumfounded by what he said", said O'Donnell-Gallagher. "According to the youngster's mother, their family 'fell through the cracks' of then-current programs. So we decided that because our family is so very fortunate that we have each other and hold decent employment, the least we can do is make another child's Christmas."
Despite the O'Donnell family's success, they are no stranger to hardship and sacrifice. They were all quite young when their father died. "I remember liftin' a Christmas tree from somebody's field because we couldn't afford one," said O'Donnell-Gallagher. "We cut it down and hauled it home. If you can make a difference to one person's life...the great thing about this event is nobody knows you're doing it. You can wrap a gift that's five bucks or one that you always wanted that costs seventy. But nobody knows who gave what. All these people here tonight are doing this rally together for the same reason - 'cause we believe."
Matriarch of this energetic, creative and spirited clan is Fran Coyne-O'Donnell, a native Clevelander and first-generation Irish-American. "The three oldest were baptized at St. Patrick's; we lived in the parish. Their father lived nearby when he was growing up in what was called the 'Angle' neighborhood. I'm really pleased to see them putting back into the community."
Recipient, or rather distributor, of the gifts from the O'Donnell family and friends is Father Mark DiNardo, St. Patrick's parish. "We really like Father Mark,' said Barbara O'Donnell. "He's a real good egg, a true priest. He's pretty anonymous and he keeps it anonymous." O'Donnell believes that many want to give at holiday time but they're unsure of who to give because of mistrust.
"The O'Donnells have been a fantastic group people," said Fr. DiNardo. "For a long time, instead of having a Christmas party on their own, where they exchange gifts, they turned the money they would've expended on gifts into contributions for making a Christmas toys or parcels for other families. It's a wonderful, wonderful way that this parish of ours is the recipient of generosity that completely blows my mind. They're super, super people; I love them dearly."
A visitor to last year's rally was local Irish radio personality, Mayo-born Jerry Quinn. The following morning, on his Irish Radio Show, he talked about the O'Donnell party. "They don't publicize it or anything; they just do it out of the goodness of their heart." When he was driving from the party he thought, "With all of the bad things we hear about in the world; it's refreshing to hear that a lot of the people that I know are so good and charitable." He added Eddie O'Donnell appeared to be in charge. "I asked him if he was," said Jerry, "and he said, 'No, not really. We're all working on this together.'" Quinn added that he thought the O'Donnells and friends should be commended for doing such a wonderful thing. "All these people get together, they pay for everything themselves and buy gifts for less fortunate kids at St. Patrick's and they don't publicize or advertise it."
Kati has been the most-recent O'Donnell to visit Ireland. While there she stayed with cousin Annie "Ginger" Lynch and her daughter Margaret Campbell of Achill.
SULLIVANS JOIN US NAVY
by J C Sullivan, Ohio, USA
December 7, 1941 was the "day that will live in infamy, the Japanese bombing of the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. "I remember I was crying a little, Aletta Abel Sullivan said, as reported in the Waterloo Sunday Courier. "Then George said, Well, I guess our minds are made up, aren't they fellows? And, when we go in, we want to go in together. If the worst comes to the worst, why we'll all have gone down together. Serving together in the US Navy became a term of the brothers' enlistment.
Both Gunner's Mate George Sullivan, 27, and Coxswain Francis Sullivan, 25, had four years of prior Navy service. Joe (Red), 23, Matt, 22 and Al., 19, became seamen, second class , when they enlisted and were assigned to the new $13,000,000 light cruiser, Juneau, the first American war ship commissioned in camouflage. Nine months later, during the Battle of Guadacanal, near the Solomon Islands, she was steaming toward base when an explosion sent her to the bottom. Later reports said she'd been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
"It just happened all at once and the Juneau was gone, reported an officer who witnessed it from another ship. One of the most extraordinary tragedies which has ever been met by any family in the United States., spoke Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States, referring to the sinking . The Navy issued a statement: "Loss of the five Sullivan brothers ranks as the greatest single blow suffered by any one family since Pearl Harbor and probably in American Naval history. In peacetime the Navy has allowed brothers to serve together but in wartime it has been Navy policy to separate members of the same family. Presence of the five Sullivans aboard the USS Juneau was at the insistence of the brothers themselves and in contradiction to the repeated recommendations of the ship's executive officer. Serving together had been one condition of their enlistment.
The lads were the sons of Thomas F. and Aletta Sullivan., 98 Adams Street. Mr. Sullivan was born on a farm in Taylor Township, Allamakee County, Iowa, near Harpers Ferry, Iowa.
On January 12, 1943 the headlines of the Waterloo Daily Courier screamed SULLIVANS MISSING!
The family were parishioners at St. Mary's Church. A sister, Genevieve, survived them. Al was the only brother to marry. In February, 1941, his wife Katherine bore him a son, James T., who lives today in Waterloo. Quite naturally, he is a Navy veteran.
In their honor a U S Naval Destroyer was named The Sullivans. It earned nine battle stars in the Pacific and two battle stars for action in Korea. The 376-foot, 2,050 ton destroyer has since been decommissioned and in 1977 was dedicated as part of the Naval and Servicemen's Park, Buffalo, New York. Attending the dedication was James Sullivan, his spouse Sally, and their two children, John and Kelly. The ship had been towed from Philadelphia, manned by volunteer crews and financed with a $250,000 state grant to Buffalo's Urban Renewal Agency.
In Iowa a memorial was constructed at Waterloo's 8-acre Sullivan Brothers Memorial Park, Fourth and Adams Street, in which the family homesite is incorporated. It honors the five Sullivan brothers and all of America's fighting men who die in the cause of freedom throughout the world. A pentagonal concrete dais topped with a circular polished granite base supports a bronze shamrock, insignia from the destroyer USS The Sullivans. Today, the Five Sullivan Brothers AOH Division 1 in Waterloo holds an annual ceremony at Sullivan Park following St. Patrick's Day Mass.
On April 17, 1997 Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren and John Sullivan, grandchildren of Albert and the daughter of James and Sally Sullivan, was a present at Stapleton Pier, Staten Island New York for the formal commissioning into the US Navy of the second The Sullivans (DDG68). Kelly is a schoolteacher at Southdale Elementary School in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Arleigh Burke Class destroyer, with a crew of 26 officers and 315 sailors, will be commanded by Commander Gerard D. Roncolato. Last year Commander Roncolato visited Waterloo and was escorted by Mike Magee, AOH Five Sullivan Brothers Division 1, Waterloo.
The commissioning week schedule of events began with the arrival of the ship in the vicinity of Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Monday April 14, 1997. New York Stadium hosted Sullivans Day beginning at 7:30pm. April 17th from 2 - 6:30pm was Sullivans Day at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum (NLUS).
The evening before the commissioning ceremony we visited Staten Island's Sullivan's Pub, owned by the genial former New York City fireman Charley Sullivan. While at Sullivans Pub we personally met some of the USS Sullivans crew who were on liberty that evening. One of them was FC3 Christopher M. Diedrich, Smithville, Texas. Even though he calls himself "Peon", in a self-deprecating fashion, he nonethless possesses a security clearance to work in the Tomahawk Missile area of the ship. "We were off the coast of Maine practicing the drills that would allow us to pass certification to travel the seas," he said. " At the moment that Commander Roncolato announced to us over the loudspeaker that we had indeed passed certification, crewmembers on deck noticed an American bald eagle circling the mast of the ship. It caused all to have their hearts raise up into their throats."
The following morning, April 20, 1997, we sat not more than five miles from where the five Sullivan brothers ship, the Juneau, was commissioned in 1942. We sat among thousands who were there to witness the commissioning of the new USS the Sullivans, DDG 68. It carries the motto of the Sullivan Brothers - "We Stick Together."
We were honored to meet the great-grandchildren of the late Thomas Sullivan. Thomas, father of the five lads, was a railroader and belonged to a Chicago Hibernian Division as there were none in Waterloo at the time. Kelly-Sullivan Loughren and John Sullivan are the children of James and Sally Sullivan. James is the son of Albert, the only one of the five brothers who married. "The five Sullivans were common men who made an uncommon sacrifice," Sullivan-Loughren said. "I wish to thank those who decided the ship's name, and also those who have worked so hard to bring her to where she is today, the greatest ship ever built. ...I send my love and prayers to the commander and his crew. May the luck of the Irish always be with you and your crew."
The Commander of the ship, G.D. Roncolato, spoke to the assemblage in an emotion-laden voice. "Today is one of the most significant days in the life of this new warship - she comes alive! Thank you for being here for his memorable occasion. The motto of the Sullivan Brothers, "We Stick Together," lives today in this ship and crew. These young people, two-thirds of whom had never been to sea before and whose average age is a little over 20 years old, have stuck together in a way that has been an inspiration to everyone that has seen them in action. In an era when we are bombarded with bad news about the status and future of our society, you need look no further than this crew to see what is right in America."
Roncolato addressed two survivors from the Juneau sinking, Frank Holmgren, Eatontown, N.J. and Lester Zook, Springfield, Ore. "Your courage is an inspiration to us, he said. He then led the crowd and crew in three cheers for them. Zook later said, "It seems like a long time ago. The Juneau was forgotten for a long time and still would be if it wasn't for the five brothers."
Also on hand was the O'Sullivan, James O'Sullivan, the Master, Droum House, Castletownbeare¸ County Cork. He made a special presentation to Commander Roncolato on behalf of the Sullivan/O'Sullivan clan in Ireland. "I was delighted to come as I'm the chieftain of the O'Sullivans in Ireland and I thought it my duty. I believe their ancestors came from Harjole, Castletownbeare, Co. Cork. There's an old road left there, just a few stones. It's known as Johnny O'Johns. There was a man who had a pub there, Mark Sullivan. He's long since deceased and he always claimed he was related to the five Sullivan Brothers. I've asked Mike Magee of Waterloo to go to the headstone down at Harper's Creek, Iowa and find out if it shows the age at which he died. This would be the grandfather of the five boys. Thomas emigrated with his wife Bridget Agnes and his brother Owen in 1849.
Commenting on the U.S., which he's visited five times, O'Sullivan said, "I like this country. You can talk your mind out without any restrictions. O'Sullivan presented Commander Roncolato with a map of Bantry Bay, a video and a map of Ireland and hopes to greet the ship in Ireland at some point in time. Commander Roncolato hopes that is the case too.
The following morning we all sat dockside on the Stapleton Pier and watched the ship come alive as the she was placed into commission and the crew, in dress uniforms, ran single file off the pier and onboard the ship.
The National President of the AOH in America, Edward J. Wallace, was there for a special presentation. It was his second experience with the commissioning of US Navy vessel. "I was at the USS Barry commissioning two years ago in Alabama, coming from O'Sullivan lineage, it's a personal pleasure for me to participate and meet some of the dignitaries who are here." Wallace added that he was very happy to learn the father of the Sullivan Brothers was a Hibernian. " That makes this day all the more special," he added.
"This is a wonderful day honoring five brave American boys who made the ultimate sacrifice, said Kevin McKernan, Staten Island. "It's a great honor that the Navy has seen fit to bestow on these boys, as well as all Irish Americans."
Chip McLean offered his feelings. "My brothers here on Staten Island are thrilled to have the commissioning of the Sullivans occurring here. We're happy to see so many Hibernians from throughout the nation and extend our hospitality to the National President and those others present here."
Eddie Sullivan, Boland-Berry Division, Cleveland, offered a little humor. "My brother told me we were going out on a boat. I never dreamed it was a Destroyer," he kidded. "I was impressed with the crew and how they understood the history of the original USS Sullivans 537 and the relation to the new ship, DD68. It seems to have brought them together in a family spirit similar to that of the five Sullivan Brothers. They recognize the historical and modern day importance of the unity aboard the vessel."
The Shield. The dark blue and gold represent the sea and excellence. They are also the Navy's tradition colors. Red is emblematic of courage and sacrifice. The five interlaced swords honor the five Sullivan brothers killed in action during WW II and commemorate their spirit of teamwork and patriotism. The upright points of the swords allude to the present ship's combat readiness and its missile system. The boarder reflects unity and the eleven stars represent the battle stars earned by the first USS THE SULLIVANS; nine for WW II and two for the Korean War. The Crest The trident, symbol of sea prowess, symbolizes DDG 68's modern warfare capabilities; the AEGIS and vertical launch system. The fireball underscores the fierce battle of Guadalcanal where the five brothers courageously fought and died together and highlights its firepower of the past and present USS THE SULLIVANS. The inverted wreath, a traditional symbol of the ultimate sacrifice, is in memory of the Sullivan brothers. The shamrock recalls the Irish heritage. The Seal The arms are blazoned in full color upon a white oval enclosed by a dark blue collar edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the name "USS THE SULLIVANS" at the top and "DDG 68" in the base in gold.
Working very hard since January has been a member of the Five Sullivan Brothers Division in Waterloo, Iowa , Mike Magee "I feel very privileged to be here. It's a day I've been looking forward to for a long time. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I met in Waterloo in 1992 when we dedicated the Sullivan Convention Center. As a matter of fact, I'm enjoying everything." He introduced us to the mayor of Waterloo.
"We have nearly one hundred people here from our fine city," said Mayor John Rooff. "We think it's an honor to be here on behalf of the citizens of Waterloo to present the silver service to Commander Roncaloto and the USS the Sullivans and to be part of this historic moment. We're pleased to represent all the people of the City of Waterloo, the home of the Sullivans."
The service was acquired and engraved as a result of an initiative by Waterloo attorney Ed Gallagher, Jr., a Navy veteran who organized a 1992 event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the brothers' sacrifice. Gallagher, a member of Waterloo's Five Sullivan Brothers Division, said, as reported in the Waterloo Courier, "...silver service is a traditional gift to naval ships and the service from the original USS The Sullivans, commissioned in 1943 and now decommissioned and docked at a Buffalo, NY military naval park, could not be located." ' Virginia Brown Hogan , Ladies AOH Chairlady of Catholic Action, and Joan Barry Hughes, President of the LAOH on Staten Island, were also dockside. "This is really wonderful. I'm really honored to be here on behalf of the Ladies AOH." Barry-Hughes, a direct descendant of Commodore Barry, was pleased to personally meet Commander Roncolato.
Any doubters of what's best in and about America would have had their eyes and faces brightened by inner and outer light if they, too, had the privilege of seeing and hearing what we saw and heard. America's best were on Staten Island, New York this weekend. No doubt about that!
December 7, 1941 was the "day that will live in infamy, the Japanese bombing of the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. "I remember I was crying a little, Aletta Abel Sullivan said, as reported in the Waterloo Sunday Courier. "Then George said, Well, I guess our minds are made up, aren't they fellows? And, when we go in, we want to go in together. If the worst comes to the worst, why we'll all have gone down together. Serving together in the US Navy became a term of the brothers' enlistment.
Both Gunner's Mate George Sullivan, 27, and Coxswain Francis Sullivan, 25, had four years of prior Navy service. Joe (Red), 23, Matt, 22 and Al., 19, became seamen, second class , when they enlisted and were assigned to the new $13,000,000 light cruiser, Juneau, the first American war ship commissioned in camouflage. Nine months later, during the Battle of Guadacanal, near the Solomon Islands, she was steaming toward base when an explosion sent her to the bottom. Later reports said she'd been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.
"It just happened all at once and the Juneau was gone, reported an officer who witnessed it from another ship. One of the most extraordinary tragedies which has ever been met by any family in the United States., spoke Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States, referring to the sinking . The Navy issued a statement: "Loss of the five Sullivan brothers ranks as the greatest single blow suffered by any one family since Pearl Harbor and probably in American Naval history. In peacetime the Navy has allowed brothers to serve together but in wartime it has been Navy policy to separate members of the same family. Presence of the five Sullivans aboard the USS Juneau was at the insistence of the brothers themselves and in contradiction to the repeated recommendations of the ship's executive officer. Serving together had been one condition of their enlistment.
The lads were the sons of Thomas F. and Aletta Sullivan., 98 Adams Street. Mr. Sullivan was born on a farm in Taylor Township, Allamakee County, Iowa, near Harpers Ferry, Iowa.
On January 12, 1943 the headlines of the Waterloo Daily Courier screamed SULLIVANS MISSING!
The family were parishioners at St. Mary's Church. A sister, Genevieve, survived them. Al was the only brother to marry. In February, 1941, his wife Katherine bore him a son, James T., who lives today in Waterloo. Quite naturally, he is a Navy veteran.
In their honor a U S Naval Destroyer was named The Sullivans. It earned nine battle stars in the Pacific and two battle stars for action in Korea. The 376-foot, 2,050 ton destroyer has since been decommissioned and in 1977 was dedicated as part of the Naval and Servicemen's Park, Buffalo, New York. Attending the dedication was James Sullivan, his spouse Sally, and their two children, John and Kelly. The ship had been towed from Philadelphia, manned by volunteer crews and financed with a $250,000 state grant to Buffalo's Urban Renewal Agency.
In Iowa a memorial was constructed at Waterloo's 8-acre Sullivan Brothers Memorial Park, Fourth and Adams Street, in which the family homesite is incorporated. It honors the five Sullivan brothers and all of America's fighting men who die in the cause of freedom throughout the world. A pentagonal concrete dais topped with a circular polished granite base supports a bronze shamrock, insignia from the destroyer USS The Sullivans. Today, the Five Sullivan Brothers AOH Division 1 in Waterloo holds an annual ceremony at Sullivan Park following St. Patrick's Day Mass.
On April 17, 1997 Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren and John Sullivan, grandchildren of Albert and the daughter of James and Sally Sullivan, was a present at Stapleton Pier, Staten Island New York for the formal commissioning into the US Navy of the second The Sullivans (DDG68). Kelly is a schoolteacher at Southdale Elementary School in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Arleigh Burke Class destroyer, with a crew of 26 officers and 315 sailors, will be commanded by Commander Gerard D. Roncolato. Last year Commander Roncolato visited Waterloo and was escorted by Mike Magee, AOH Five Sullivan Brothers Division 1, Waterloo.
The commissioning week schedule of events began with the arrival of the ship in the vicinity of Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Monday April 14, 1997. New York Stadium hosted Sullivans Day beginning at 7:30pm. April 17th from 2 - 6:30pm was Sullivans Day at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum (NLUS).
The evening before the commissioning ceremony we visited Staten Island's Sullivan's Pub, owned by the genial former New York City fireman Charley Sullivan. While at Sullivans Pub we personally met some of the USS Sullivans crew who were on liberty that evening. One of them was FC3 Christopher M. Diedrich, Smithville, Texas. Even though he calls himself "Peon", in a self-deprecating fashion, he nonethless possesses a security clearance to work in the Tomahawk Missile area of the ship. "We were off the coast of Maine practicing the drills that would allow us to pass certification to travel the seas," he said. " At the moment that Commander Roncolato announced to us over the loudspeaker that we had indeed passed certification, crewmembers on deck noticed an American bald eagle circling the mast of the ship. It caused all to have their hearts raise up into their throats."
The following morning, April 20, 1997, we sat not more than five miles from where the five Sullivan brothers ship, the Juneau, was commissioned in 1942. We sat among thousands who were there to witness the commissioning of the new USS the Sullivans, DDG 68. It carries the motto of the Sullivan Brothers - "We Stick Together."
We were honored to meet the great-grandchildren of the late Thomas Sullivan. Thomas, father of the five lads, was a railroader and belonged to a Chicago Hibernian Division as there were none in Waterloo at the time. Kelly-Sullivan Loughren and John Sullivan are the children of James and Sally Sullivan. James is the son of Albert, the only one of the five brothers who married. "The five Sullivans were common men who made an uncommon sacrifice," Sullivan-Loughren said. "I wish to thank those who decided the ship's name, and also those who have worked so hard to bring her to where she is today, the greatest ship ever built. ...I send my love and prayers to the commander and his crew. May the luck of the Irish always be with you and your crew."
The Commander of the ship, G.D. Roncolato, spoke to the assemblage in an emotion-laden voice. "Today is one of the most significant days in the life of this new warship - she comes alive! Thank you for being here for his memorable occasion. The motto of the Sullivan Brothers, "We Stick Together," lives today in this ship and crew. These young people, two-thirds of whom had never been to sea before and whose average age is a little over 20 years old, have stuck together in a way that has been an inspiration to everyone that has seen them in action. In an era when we are bombarded with bad news about the status and future of our society, you need look no further than this crew to see what is right in America."
Roncolato addressed two survivors from the Juneau sinking, Frank Holmgren, Eatontown, N.J. and Lester Zook, Springfield, Ore. "Your courage is an inspiration to us, he said. He then led the crowd and crew in three cheers for them. Zook later said, "It seems like a long time ago. The Juneau was forgotten for a long time and still would be if it wasn't for the five brothers."
Also on hand was the O'Sullivan, James O'Sullivan, the Master, Droum House, Castletownbeare¸ County Cork. He made a special presentation to Commander Roncolato on behalf of the Sullivan/O'Sullivan clan in Ireland. "I was delighted to come as I'm the chieftain of the O'Sullivans in Ireland and I thought it my duty. I believe their ancestors came from Harjole, Castletownbeare, Co. Cork. There's an old road left there, just a few stones. It's known as Johnny O'Johns. There was a man who had a pub there, Mark Sullivan. He's long since deceased and he always claimed he was related to the five Sullivan Brothers. I've asked Mike Magee of Waterloo to go to the headstone down at Harper's Creek, Iowa and find out if it shows the age at which he died. This would be the grandfather of the five boys. Thomas emigrated with his wife Bridget Agnes and his brother Owen in 1849.
Commenting on the U.S., which he's visited five times, O'Sullivan said, "I like this country. You can talk your mind out without any restrictions. O'Sullivan presented Commander Roncolato with a map of Bantry Bay, a video and a map of Ireland and hopes to greet the ship in Ireland at some point in time. Commander Roncolato hopes that is the case too.
The following morning we all sat dockside on the Stapleton Pier and watched the ship come alive as the she was placed into commission and the crew, in dress uniforms, ran single file off the pier and onboard the ship.
The National President of the AOH in America, Edward J. Wallace, was there for a special presentation. It was his second experience with the commissioning of US Navy vessel. "I was at the USS Barry commissioning two years ago in Alabama, coming from O'Sullivan lineage, it's a personal pleasure for me to participate and meet some of the dignitaries who are here." Wallace added that he was very happy to learn the father of the Sullivan Brothers was a Hibernian. " That makes this day all the more special," he added.
"This is a wonderful day honoring five brave American boys who made the ultimate sacrifice, said Kevin McKernan, Staten Island. "It's a great honor that the Navy has seen fit to bestow on these boys, as well as all Irish Americans."
Chip McLean offered his feelings. "My brothers here on Staten Island are thrilled to have the commissioning of the Sullivans occurring here. We're happy to see so many Hibernians from throughout the nation and extend our hospitality to the National President and those others present here."
Eddie Sullivan, Boland-Berry Division, Cleveland, offered a little humor. "My brother told me we were going out on a boat. I never dreamed it was a Destroyer," he kidded. "I was impressed with the crew and how they understood the history of the original USS Sullivans 537 and the relation to the new ship, DD68. It seems to have brought them together in a family spirit similar to that of the five Sullivan Brothers. They recognize the historical and modern day importance of the unity aboard the vessel."
The Shield. The dark blue and gold represent the sea and excellence. They are also the Navy's tradition colors. Red is emblematic of courage and sacrifice. The five interlaced swords honor the five Sullivan brothers killed in action during WW II and commemorate their spirit of teamwork and patriotism. The upright points of the swords allude to the present ship's combat readiness and its missile system. The boarder reflects unity and the eleven stars represent the battle stars earned by the first USS THE SULLIVANS; nine for WW II and two for the Korean War. The Crest The trident, symbol of sea prowess, symbolizes DDG 68's modern warfare capabilities; the AEGIS and vertical launch system. The fireball underscores the fierce battle of Guadalcanal where the five brothers courageously fought and died together and highlights its firepower of the past and present USS THE SULLIVANS. The inverted wreath, a traditional symbol of the ultimate sacrifice, is in memory of the Sullivan brothers. The shamrock recalls the Irish heritage. The Seal The arms are blazoned in full color upon a white oval enclosed by a dark blue collar edged on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the name "USS THE SULLIVANS" at the top and "DDG 68" in the base in gold.
Working very hard since January has been a member of the Five Sullivan Brothers Division in Waterloo, Iowa , Mike Magee "I feel very privileged to be here. It's a day I've been looking forward to for a long time. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I met in Waterloo in 1992 when we dedicated the Sullivan Convention Center. As a matter of fact, I'm enjoying everything." He introduced us to the mayor of Waterloo.
"We have nearly one hundred people here from our fine city," said Mayor John Rooff. "We think it's an honor to be here on behalf of the citizens of Waterloo to present the silver service to Commander Roncaloto and the USS the Sullivans and to be part of this historic moment. We're pleased to represent all the people of the City of Waterloo, the home of the Sullivans."
The service was acquired and engraved as a result of an initiative by Waterloo attorney Ed Gallagher, Jr., a Navy veteran who organized a 1992 event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the brothers' sacrifice. Gallagher, a member of Waterloo's Five Sullivan Brothers Division, said, as reported in the Waterloo Courier, "...silver service is a traditional gift to naval ships and the service from the original USS The Sullivans, commissioned in 1943 and now decommissioned and docked at a Buffalo, NY military naval park, could not be located." ' Virginia Brown Hogan , Ladies AOH Chairlady of Catholic Action, and Joan Barry Hughes, President of the LAOH on Staten Island, were also dockside. "This is really wonderful. I'm really honored to be here on behalf of the Ladies AOH." Barry-Hughes, a direct descendant of Commodore Barry, was pleased to personally meet Commander Roncolato.
Any doubters of what's best in and about America would have had their eyes and faces brightened by inner and outer light if they, too, had the privilege of seeing and hearing what we saw and heard. America's best were on Staten Island, New York this weekend. No doubt about that!
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