Homecoming away from home
Emigrants from Achill to Ballycroy, Westport to Cong and many Mayo towns and villages in between, celebrated in Cleveland last week
Denise Horan
THOUGH the city boasts a population of almost half a million people and spans an area of 82 square miles, it’s hard to turn a corner in Cleveland without encountering someone from Ireland. And Mayo people carry the Irish flag more than anyone in this lakeshore city.
Last Saturday week, over 400 of them – either directly from Mayo or whose parents or grandparents came from Ireland’s western shores – gathered in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Rockside for the fourth annual Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland Ball. Though the occasion was tinged with sadness for members of the Society and for the visiting delegation from Mayo, due to the death in June of Vice-President and long-time stalwart of all Mayo-associated activities in Cleveland, Steve Mulloy, the night was a celebration too. Of Steve’s life and his contribution to the Mayo community in Cleveland, and of the growing bond between the twin areas of Cleveland and Mayo.
The Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland was founded in 2004 as a not-for-profit organisation, to provide a forum for information and activities of interest to individuals of Irish descent, particularly those with ancestral ties to County Mayo. The Society makes contributions to public charities in the United States that have a link to County Mayo or to Ireland, or to public charities in Ireland, or for temporary emergency relief to indigent Irish nationals in the United States who are in urgent need of medical attention, are victims of crime, or victims of man-made or natural disasters.
Welcoming all in attendance at the Ball, both from Cleveland and from Mayo, Gerry Quinn, President of the Society, spoke of the links between the two communities and of the importance of nurturing and deepening the bond that exists. He also acknowledged the huge work carried out by his friend, and friend of all who were involved in the Society, Steve Mulloy, before presenting his wife, Annie, with an award on Steve’s behalf in recognition of his invaluable work.
Guest speaker at the event was northwest MEP and Ballyhaunis native, Jim Higgins, who said he had long had links with Cleveland, having cousins in the city, and said he had accepted the invitation to speak at the event ‘unhesitatingly’.
In a wide-ranging address, he related Ireland’s positive experience as a member of the European Union, and spoke of the important links between Ireland and America that stretched back over generations.
“There are 40 million people in America who are proud of their Irish ancestry. The Irish, over the generations, played an important role in making America the powerhouse it was, and will continue to be, on the world stage.
“Ireland, too, has had a similar experience. Without immigrants the Celtic Tiger would not have reached the pinnacle of the success it enjoys today. Nor would we be enjoying the fruits of the Celtic Tiger were it not for investment from many American companies, such as Coca-Cola, Hollister, Allergan, Baxter, all of which are situated in Mayo,” he said.
Cllr Joe Mellett, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said he was delighted to be representing the Council in Cleveland and spoke of the importance of the relationship between Ireland and its emigrants.
“It is one of my priorities as Chairman of Mayo County Council that the ties with our emigrants be maintained and developed. We should never forget the great influence all over the world that Ireland and its emigrant society hold. We should also be grateful to the USA for providing our ancestors with the opportunity to go there and send home the much-needed dollars to assist their beloved families in Ireland. I am convinced that but for the success of our emigrants there would be no such thing as Gross Domestic Product in Ireland and certainly no Celtic Tiger,” he said.
Cllr Mellett also officially launched the Rehab Mayo People of Year International Award, encouraging those present to nominate anyone they believed was deserving of the accolade, which recognises the contribution by a Mayo person or organisation to any cause that is worthwhile, particularly in terms of its benefits to the county of Mayo.
Cllr Mellett made a presentation to Gerry Quinn on behalf of Mayo County Council.
Speaking on behalf of Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla, and the people of Achill, the organisation’s CEO, Terence Dever, paid a warm tribute to Steve Mulloy and vowed to continue the good work Steve had pioneered between the two communities.
“In December 2002, Steve approached me with a view to exploring if anything further could be done to establish a formal bond between Achill and Cleveland. We had a long chat and within weeks a formal meeting took place in Mayo County Council offices to begin this process. I can safely say no stone was left unturned until we had a twinning agreement in place between the city of Cleveland and County Mayo.
“Later that year, in August, the then Mayor, Jane Campbell, led a delegation to Mayo, including the late Steve Mulloy and Con Mangan. Then, in October of that year, the then Chairman of Mayo County Council, Cllr Frank Chambers, led a delegation from Mayo to Cleveland. These were emotional times and I recall clearly Steve shedding many tears of joy,” he said.
“We commit, by our presence here tonight and into the future, that this bridge of friendship, this symbolic twinning, will be maintained nurtured and developed in honour of its instigators.”
A presentation was made by Terence on behalf of the people of Achill to Annie Mulloy, with the inscription reading ‘In memory of a dear friend, ambassador and family man’.
Entertainment on the night was provided by ‘Good Clean Fun’ from New York, while Mary Agnes Kennedy from Cleveland concluded the night with powerful renditions of both ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’ and The Star-Spangled Banner’.
The visiting delegation from Mayo comprised the following: Cllr Joe Mellett, Cathaoirleach, Mayo County Council, and his wife, Frances; Cllr Annie May Reape and her husband, Diarmuid McLoughlin; Jim Higgins, MEP, and Noreen Glavey; Cllr John Cribbin, Jackie Denning, Mayo County Council; Terence Dever, CEO, CFÁA; Kenneth Deery, Chairman, Achill Tourism; Helen Applegarth, Manager, Achill Tourism; Kate O’Malley, Secretary, Achill Tourism; Anne-Marie McNulty, Mary B Gallagher, Catherine Patten Scanlon and Dominic McNulty, all Achill; Denise Horan, Editor, The Mayo News, and Pat Cawley, Advertising Manager, The Mayo News.
Planning for the future
WHILE attending the annual ball, paying tribute to Steve Mulloy and enjoying the sights of Cleveland all formed part of the itinerary for the Mayo group that travelled last week, there was another purpose too – strengthening links between Mayo and its American twin city.
The twinning between Mayo and Cleveland was formalised in 2003 and since then the bond between the two places has grown, friendships have been cemented, ideas have been exchanged and some mutually-beneficial projects have come to fruition.
Judging by discussions that took place last week between members of the Irish delegation and local representatives in Cleveland, and a number of site visits, there are further developments in the pipeline.
Achill is the region of Mayo that has perhaps the greatest affinity with Cleveland, being the part of the county most strongly represented among the population of the American city. Last week, a group of eight people travelled from the west Mayo island community to Cleveland, including the CEO of Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiúil Acla, Terence Dever; Chairman of Achill Tourism, Kenneth Deery; Manager of Achill Tourism, Helen Applegarth, and Kate O’Malley, Secretary of Achill Tourism.
The weekend was very positive from the point of view of building on the good relationship that already exists between the communities of Cleveland and Mayo, according to Terence Dever.
“It was a superb weekend; poignant and sad on the one hand because of Steve’s [Mulloy] absence, but constructive too. Kenneth [Deery] and I had formal discussions with members of the Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland with a view to developing a number of projects that will be very positive for Mayo if they come to pass. We need to engage with some other parties when we get home and see what progress can be made, but I am confident that a couple of exciting projects – from a business and tourism perspective, as well as from a cultural perspective – will be brought to fruition in the coming months,” he said.
The Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Joe Mellett, was equally positive about his first trip to the Ohio city.
“I could see the huge opportunities that exist in Cleveland and the huge number of Mayo people that live there. It’s a matter now of maintaining our ties with Cleveland and of exploring whatever opportunities exist there for County Mayo. Anything that can help us to survive here in Mayo in these difficult economic times is worth looking at, and there is certainly a lot that can be learned from Cleveland,” he said.
Chairman of Achill Tourism, Kenneth Deery, was also in no doubt about the worthwhile nature of the event. “The value of the greater Ohio area to Mayo, and Achill in particular, is untold. There is a diaspora of 250,000 people claiming heritage of our community in that state alone. The Mayo Ball in Cleveland is the premier event in their calendar, accessing some 500 people on the night and indeed the media publicity generated before and after is of key importance to us representing and promoting Achill,” he said.
Helen Applegarth, the recently-appointed Manager of Achill Tourism, was impressed with her first visit to the Cleveland area. “The bonds between Mayo and Cleveland are stronger than ever. Steve Mulloy’s passing has highlighted the work of one man in bringing so many people together. We look forward to seeing our friends from Cleveland in Ireland in the near future,” she said.
A lifelong friend
Steve Mulloy is sadly missed by all who knew him in Cleveland and in Mayo, but most of all by his beloved wife, Annie, and their children
Denise Horan
DAYS before he passed away on June 29 last, Steve Mulloy and his wife of 52 years, Annie, talked for the first time about what was coming. Not wistfully or emotionally – that would come later – but practically.
As ever, he wanted no fuss. “I don’t know how the subject came up, but I asked him where he wanted to be buried and he said ‘beside Con Mangan and Jimmy Lavelle’. He wanted Johnny Kilbane to deliver the eulogy and he wanted no special hymns, only what fitted in with the Mass.
“He wanted it simple,” recalled Annie last week, in Cleveland, the place she and Steve called home for 54 years.
Steve Mulloy got his final wishes. The Mass was simple, but poignant, a piper played ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ – ‘my national anthem’, he told Annie – as his coffin was carried from the church, his friend and colleague in the Local 310 union branch, Johnny Kilbane, paid an emotional tribute. And he was buried beside his long-time friends and proud, fellow Irishmen, Con Mangan and Jimmy Lavelle.
Along with simplicity though, his funeral brought a huge crowd. He may have considered himself ‘a common five-eighths’, as Kilbane recalled in his eulogy, but Steve Mulloy was far from ordinary. “Most of us in the course of our lifetimes get to know or become acquainted with a few hundred people. Steve’s friends and acquaintances must number in the thousands…When you met Steve you knew that a brief encounter would become an enduring friendship,” Kilbane told the packed congregation on the day of Steve’s funeral.
With tears in her eyes, bravely fought back, Annie Mulloy echoed these sentiments about her late husband last week. Though initially reluctant to accept the award presented to her on Steve’s behalf at the Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland Ball (hoping instead to leave the duty to one of her children), she finally assented. She accepted it from with dignity, warmth and good humour.
“I was like Prince Philip in Steve’s life; always walking three steps behind,” she joked, before thanking the society for the honour bestowed.
Two days later, she was ready to talk some more about the man she knew since childhood, the lifelong partner she recalls as a boy at benediction in church in Achill. “It’s funny the things you remember about someone,” she observed. But spend some time in Annie Mulloy’s (nee O’Donnell) company and you soon see there’s nothing at all funny about her reminiscences from over half a century ago. Like her late husband, whose encyclopedic memory was often remarked upon, her own recollection of the past is razor sharp. She rhymes off names and dates, details of events, people and places, marriages and relationships from 1950s Achill as if she were recounting happenings of yesterday.
In their fondness for and interest in people, Annie and Steve were, it seems, two of a kind.
She delights in talking about him, her stories filled with humour and their telling punctuated by broad smiles. “When he heard he was getting the award, he said ‘I don’t know why they’re doing this; what do I need this for?’.”
He didn’t need it. Steve Mulloy, as all who knew him were happy to relate through stories and anecdotes last weekend in Cleveland, did not help countless emigrants who landed in the US, did not promote all things Irish with child-like enthusiasm and did not assist numerous charities throughout his life in order to get recognition. He did it all because he delighted in people, he loved his country and he had a kind heart.
It meant that the Mulloy household, where ten children were reared – the sixth, Michael, died tragically in a fire at the age of four – was always busy with traffic from Ireland. But it was part of who Steve was, and Annie accepted it willingly.
“When he came out here [to Cleveland], evidently someone helped him and he was just carrying on the tradition. He didn’t mind asking for jobs for people or taking people in. I got up one morning and there was someone sleeping on the floor, and I said ‘where did you come from?’. He would take anyone in,” remembers Annie.
All he did in his life was underpinned by goodness and, though others featured prominently in that outpouring, his family was always top of his list of priorities.
“He was a very good husband and a very good father. He was a very nice, kind and soft-spoken man. I rarely heard Steve raise his voice.
“And we had an excellent life, we really did. I’d say ‘we can’t afford this or we can’t afford that’ or ‘we shouldn’t be doing this or we shouldn’t be doing that’ and he’d say ‘when you’re six feet under someone will walk on you’. Money was not an object that mattered to Steve.”
Steve and Annie’s nine children – Tony, Mary, Steve, Patrick, John, Thomas, Brendan, TJ and Anne – were all present at the Ball in Rockside, at which their father was honoured. Each has taken his death in a different way, she points out, noting that the emotion hits at different times. “This morning, something happened and it set me off [crying]. You just don’t know when it will happen.
“I go to the graveyard every day and sit down in a chair and read a book beside him, but I won’t be able to do that over the next few months. Some people think you’re crazy, but that’s the way it is,” she says matter-of-factly.
Everyone who knew Steve Mulloy had ‘not just good stories, but great stories’ to tell about him, as his friend and fellow Achill champion, Terence Dever, recalled in a tribute to him in Cleveland. He was a true ambassador for Achill, a friend to those who needed help finding their feet when they arrived in Cleveland, a proud son of Mayo and a supporter of many worthy causes. By all of those, he is missed.
But for Annie, with whom he shared over half a century of marriage, ten children and his closest lifelong friendship of all, the void is the greatest. In her heart, though, are the sweetest memories.
Pictures page 60
Speaker’s corner page 31
