Cosc ar bheoir ghlas *

Amateur day is rapidly approaching. I know it is somewhat silly but I really do wear green and eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. Jeff and I would to start our day of celebrating the life of our grandfather at Birraporetti's on West Grey in Houston and then we would cruise over to Griff's in Montrose to continue our festivities. On the 17th of March we are all a wee bit Irish. Jeffy passed away from leukemia in 1986. I miss him. I will make my way down to O'Brien's and tip a few pints of Guinness in memory of my grandfather Dit and my first cousin, Liam Jeffery Parks. I will probably have to stand since most of the chairs at the bar will be occupied by Germans, Poles, Czechs or Italians. There will be pipers there. I know pipers are generally considered Scottish, but the krauts, polocks, bo-hunks, and waps, will never know the difference. Here is a wee bit of trivia for you. The person known as St. Patrick, Maewyn Succat, was not Irish at all. He was born in Scotland. He was sold into slavery by his own parents. He did become a Catholic Priest and he did travel to Ireland where he spent most of his adult life. He died on March 17. He was never actually canonized by the Catholic Church. Yes, he is a Patron Saint of Ireland as is Columba and Brigid Of Kildare. Legend says he used the shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity. He never banished the snakes from Ireland. There never were any there to begin with. He probably did a good job of running a few Druids away though. He is credited, along Palladius, with bringing Christianity (Catholicism) to the island. The Irish TriColour (shown above) is the official flag of the Country of Ireland. The three colors represent Orange for the English (William of Orange known as King Billy) Green for the Catholic Church (The color of it's vestments for the majority of the year) and White to represent the lasting peace between the two. There is a movement afoot to change the national flag of Ireland to remove the color orange completely and reflect an image of one unified Ireland. The picture on the left is that proposed flag. Celebration of St. Patrick's Day is minimal in the country of Ireland. It is mostly a religious holiday. As you know it is huge here in the "States". You cannot find any green beer in Ireland either. The funny thing is that the color green worn by so many to celebrate St. Patrick's Day is in actuality an affirmation to keep Ireland Catholic. I am sure a lot of pro testants would not be happy with that bit of information. It is the single most celebrated "ethnic" holiday celebrated in the United States. As one of Irish decent and having a last name which is the third most common of Irish surnames (behind Murphy and Kelly)(In Gaelic the name O'Sullivan is O Suileabhain), I tend to enjoy all of the clamor that surrounds the day.

Michael Tomas immigrated to the United States in the 19th century. He was from a small village called Buttevant in the northern part of County Cork (located in the southern part of Ireland). He was baptized as an infant at St. Mary Catholic Church in the Diocese of Cloyne. ( I actually have a copy of his baptism certificate) In 1846 when he was nearly 16 years old he immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York City. He, like many Irish immigrants of the day, ended up in the "Five Point's slum. (as mentioned in the movie Gangs of New York). According to his letters (of which I have copies),within a few years he ended up in Memphis Tennessee and became a fireman for the City of Memphis. When the war between the states began he volunteered to serve in the Confederate army. In 1862 he was captured at the Battle of Shiloh and spent about a year in a prison camp near Chicago, Illinois. While there, he befriended a man by the name of Donal Liam Walsh. Walsh was from the northern part of Mississippi and he suggested that after the war that Michael accompany him back to his family farm. The two of them were released under a prisoner exchange program and they both saw "action" under the command of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forest (a person Mike had known in Memphis before the war). In late November of 1863, at the Battle of Lookout Mountian, Michael Tomas O'Sullivan (Mike) received a shoulder wound. After the war the two went to Mississippi and while there Michael met and fell in love with Liam's younger sister Ellen. They were married and they had a several children of which one was named Tomas Ulliam (after his uncle) (both Liam and Ulliam are Gaelic for William) nicknamed or called Liam. Liam had a son who was named Didymus Ulliam nicknamed or called Dit (short for the Greek, Aramaic and Gaelic name Didymus for Thomas the Apostle) later they changed his name to Thomas William. (His name in the family bible was shown as Didymus Ulliam while his birth certificate reflects Thomas William). He had a son who was named Thomas William (T.W.)(Jr.) who had a son named Thomas William (who was the third and last of the line of Thomas William (s). The patronymic O' was removed from our family name by Michael Thomas. The O meant "grandson of". In the mid to late 19th century, Irish-Americans were discriminated against a lot. The O in front of his name made him sound too Irish. The family name already had three syllables, so he (like thousands of other Irish-Americans) stopped using it. Nothing legally was ever done to formally change the name. Before he died of complications of the wound he received during the Civil War, he arranged to have his mother (Ellen) and father (Padriag) and a sister (of who was born after he left County Cork) and her new husband, to come and live with him and his new family in Montgomery County Mississippi.

My Great Great Great Grandfather,(Pad) My Great Great Grandfather, (Mike) and my Great Grandfather, (Liam) are all three buried in the same cemetary near Winnona, Mississippi. Yes the initials "C.S.A." are on Mike's tombstone. Along with a shamrock.

I only remember seeing Dit my grandfather drink a beer one time. It was in 1964 and he had assisted my father in moving furniture into our new house on Sandra Street. I recall it was very hot (in early June) and my Dad and Grandaddy were setting on the tailgate of a borrowed pickup truck. They had a beat up styrofoam ice chest full of Falstaff beer. I remember my grandaddy pulling one out and using his "church key" he popped two holes in it and handed it to me. I was only twelve at the time. I took a few swallows and my father took it away citing that they both would most probably die if the boy's mother saw him with a beer. My mother was actually allergic to alcohol. I mean she really was allergic to it. She would break out in a rash or have difficulty breathing if she as much as drank one beer or one shot of liquor. From the time I was 16 years old, Dit would always give me a six pack of Guinness on Saint Paddy's day. Back then Guinness was damn near impossible to obtain. But he always came through. My mother did not approve but my dad always said it was ok for just one day a year. When I drink Guinness, I always think of him. He used to quote his grandfather (Mike) and say "If it wasn't for alcohol the Irish would rule the world" He died in September of 1971 at the age of 72. Five years later (to the day) my oldest child "Sully" was born. We did not know if we were having a boy or girl. We had several names picked out for a boy and or a girl. My grandmother Mao Maw Bessie ,(Dit's widow) strongly suggested we should name the new baby Thomas William. She said we could call him Billy or Liam. I was dead set against having another Thomas William but as I sat outside the delivery room waiting for the new arrival, I admitted to myself that if it was a boy we would indeed name him The Fourth. She was a girl.
Years later with the second Mrs The Third pregnant with my youngest child and only a few weeks before she died at 96 years of age, Bessie once again suggested that I name my new child Thomas William....

Well..........We did not name her Thomas or William either.

"St. Patrick's Breastplate" I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through the belief in the threeness, Through the confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation. Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Beannachtam na Femle Padraig** Éirinn go brách, *** Didymus Ulliam O Suileabhain, The Third * the title of this blog translated = "no green beer" ** translated as "Happy St. Patrick's Day" *** translated as "Ireland Forever"