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CLEVELAND HONORS DISTUINGISHED IRISH-AMERICANS
by
J.C. Sullivan
Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1997, the Irish-American
Archives Society of Northeast Ohio has annually honored four select and
distinguished Irish-Americans. As one can imagine, most have had Mayo
connections. 2007 is no different. Sr. Maureen Burke, SND, George E.
Condon and Gerald Quinn were the Mayo-connected honorees this year.
Thomas C. Sullivan, Jr., is the exception, with paternal roots in
Skibbereen, Co. Cork and maternal roots in Tipperary.
 Sr.
Maureen, a Sister of Notre Dame since 1973, has been described as a
“beloved figure who brings a large heart and understanding soul” to all
she does. She equipped herself with both a master’s degree in Education
and Political Science and a doctorate in Education Leadership. She has
used this education to become a leader with vision.
Currently principal of Regina High School, a private, Catholic school
for girls, she has instituted programs that have put Regina High School
ahead of the pack with her innovative programs for students. These
have included: pre-engineering; an Allied Medical Career program; a
Shadowing/Mentoring program; a student exchange program with a Notre
Dame High School in Germany; a Japanese Language School, and an on-site
Notre Dame Tutoring Agency. A “Step Ahead” program allows elementary
school students to take courses at Regina. While public schools in
Cleveland struggle and look for answers from people outside the region,
they would need only to look in their backyard for answers to their
questions about the state of public education.
Sister Maureen is the daughter of Irish immigrants. Her late father,
Joseph Burke, was born in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Mom was born in
Tourmakeady. The first three sons, Michael, Sean and Joseph, were
Mayo-born. After arriving in America they welcomed into the world James,
Thomas, Maureen, Judy and Kevin. I once told her that I, too, had Mayo
Burke roots and she replied, “That’s a pretty wide claim.”
 George
E. Condon is a prolific and active ninety year old senior. Although he
attended the festivities in a wheelchair, he nonetheless demonstrated a
quick wit and wonderful sense of humor.
He retired in 1985 from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he had become
the newspaper’s first television and radio critic. He authored a daily
column.
Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, the engaging storyteller is one of
eight children. His father, John J. Condon, was born in Dungarreen,
County Wexford. His mother, Mary O’Malley, was reared in Blackburn,
Lancashire. However, Condon assures readers she was conceived in Mayo.
The family moved to Cleveland in 1927 to be near her family.
At Ohio State University, where he was educated in their School of
Journalism, he met Marjorie Philona Smith. They married the year of my
birth, 1942. The union produced seven children: Theresa Ann Condon;
Mary Katherine (deceased); John Raymond (deceased); George Jr., current
Washington Bureau chief with Copley News Service; Katherine Elizabeth
Condon; Mary Philona Brereton and Susan Condon Love, Plain Dealer Homes
editor and weekly columnist. Marjorie passed on in 2001.
Condon’s awards have been numerous. They include public service,
headline writing, humor and general excellence recognition by the Press
Club of Cleveland; Ohioana Award for history; Cleveland women’s City
Club Award for Literature, to name a few. In 1990 he was inducted into
the Press Club’s Hall of Fame.
 The
great-grandson of Frank J. Sullivan, a County Cork immigrant, was also
honored this evening. Thomas C. Sullivan is the retired yet active,
leader of RPM, Inc., a $3 billion (yes, with a b, not an m)
organization. The company, originally named Republic Powdered Metals,
was formed by his late father, Frank C. Sullivan. Under Tom’s
leadership, the company became RPM, Inc... The holding company then
acquired forty independent operating units. Readers will recognize brand
names such as Day-Glo, Rustoleum and Bondex, to name a few.
Sullivan’s roots are in Skibbereen, Co. Cork. His great-grandfather, a
stone-cutter, emigrated after the worst years of An Gorta Mor, in the
18606s. He always referred to America as “this magnificent country.” His
great-grandmother was Catharine Harty from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
In Cleveland, Sullivan has had many business affiliations and charities.
These include the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Malachi House, Catholic
Diocese of Cleveland Foundation, and Urban Community School. He is a
U.S. Navy veteran, serving as a Communications Officer in the western
Pacific. He was named CEO of the Decade by Financial World Magazine.
Sullivan possesses what some have called “that vision thing.” As
Chairman of the National Paint & Coatings Association, he negotiated a
milestone agreement that established lead exposure warnings and
education programs. He made NPCA a persuasive proponent of America’s
Environmental Protective Agency’s Sector Strategies Program. This
program provides the industry with performance-enhancing incentives and
tools.
Tom and his wife, Sandra Simmons Sullivan, are the parents of four sons
and two daughters: Frank, Sean, Tommy, Danny, Kathleen and Julie.
 The
fourth 2007 honoree needs no introduction to readers of the Mayo News –
my friend Gerald M. Quinn. A native of Garacloon, County Mayo, he is he
son of Liam Quinn, the schoolmaster at Ballina’s National School and
Mary Ellen Clarke. He has three brothers and a sister. Seamus lives in
Co. Longford, Liam in Galway and Fionan in Columbus, Ohio. His sister
Maura Quinn Lee resides in London.
Quinn immigrated to America in 1961. It was a time when employment in
Ireland was not what it is today. Like so many before him, he departed
the harbor of Cobh for the port of New York. He was met by his lifelong
friend, John Garvey. He was then sent to his family in east Cleveland,
Pat Quinn and Bridey O’Donnell.
A radio broadcaster here for 27 years, The Jerry Quinn Irish Radio
Show, was named the Best Ethnic Program. Undoubtedly a man with
vision, Quinn has been a major leader in Cleveland’s Irish community.
The Irish American Club – East Side (
www.irishamericanclubeast.com/) was formed in 1978 under his
leadership. He is a founding Trustee of the organization that honored
him this evening, The Irish American Archives Society (
www.wrhs.org/library/template.asp?id=270). In 2004, a long-time
dream of his came to life – the Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland (
www.clevelandmayosociety.org/). Quinn has served as president of
both organizations.
In Cleveland, Quinn met his future bride, Nellie Stack. They have raised
six children: Mary Ellen Benitt, Patrick, Sean, KevIn, Gerard and
Michael.
Sullivan is an Irish-American writer residing in northeast Ohio.
He is a frequent contributor to the Mayo News.
The Cleveland Mayo Society's President, Jerry
Quinn is Honored as a Recipient of the 2007 Walks of Life Award
INDUSTRIALIST, NUN, AUTHOR, BROADCASTER SUCCEED IN SPADES
WHERE ANCESTORS WERE TOLD ‘DON’T BOTHER TO APPLY’
Four Clevelanders of Irish heritage whose achievements on their chosen life
paths have been called extraordinary will be honored on February 22 on the site
of the neighborhood where Irish immigrants once huddled against the February
lake winds in clapboard shanties and tarpapered shacks. Receiving the coveted
“Walks of Life” Awards will be:
• Industrialist Thomas C. Sullivan, the grandson of Irish immigrants,
under whose leadership RPM, Inc., the Medina-based company (whose predecessor
was founded by his father Frank in 1947) grew from $11 million to $2 billion and
became a world leader in specialty coatings. It serves both industry and
consumers with products like Rust-Oleum and Day-Glo that often command number
one position in their respective markets. 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. Tom was named CEO of the Decade by Financial
World magazine.
• Visionary educator Sr. Maureen Burke, SND (the daughter of Irish
immigrants), under whose 15 years of leadership Regina High School has been
named a National School of Excellence. A product of Christ the King Elementary
School, Regina High School, Notre Dame College (Magna cum Laude), Baldwin
Wallace College and Kent State University (where, respectively, she earned
master’s degrees in Education and Political Science) and Nova Southeastern
University (Ed.D. in Educational Leadership), Sr. Maureen, a beloved figure who
brings “a large heart and understanding soul” to all she does, has pioneered
imaginative collaborations with institutions here and abroad to provide
innovative opportunities for girls.
• Journalist George E. Condon, the youngest of eight children born to
Irish immigrants, joined The Plain Dealer in 1943, becoming the paper’s first TV
& radio critic (1948) and a popular daily columnist till his retirement (1985).
His love of a good story may have begun at birth—in Fall River, Mass., where
memories of a shocking axe murder were still fresh, having occurred there only
14 years earlier (he thinks the real culprit may have been the Bordens’
hot-tempered Irish maid). His 11 books include Cleveland: The Best-Kept Secret,
Stars in the Water: The Story of the Erie Canal, Gaels of Laughter and Tears and
West of the Cuyahoga (2006), published by Kent State University Press just weeks
after his 90th birthday.
• Award-winning Broadcaster and Irish community leader Gerald M. Quinn,
born in Garracloon (pop. 44), County Mayo, and now living in Euclid, has played
a decisive part in keeping Cleveland’s Irish in touch with their heritage. He
conceived and chaired the efforts that led to the founding of Cleveland’s Irish
American Club–East Side (1978) and Mayo Society (2002), serving as first
president of both. His weekly show, Gerry Quinn Irish Radio, 27 years on the air
this month, received an A.I.R. (Achievement in Radio) Award in 2001 and was
named Best Ethnic Program in Northeastern Ohio. Gerry, a pipe fitter with Local
#120 until his retirement in 2004, also founded and ran two successful
businesses.
The four will be honored at a gala dinner on Thursday, February 22, at
Windows on the River—the west bank of the Cuyahoga River, that is—site of the
fabled neighborhood known as “the Angle,” where Irish immigrant laborers and
their families once lived and worked, fought and sang, prayed and told their
stories. The “Walks of Life” Awards were established in 1996 by the newly formed
Irish American Archives Society (IAAS) to recognize living persons whose
contributions honor their Irish heritage and the determination of their
ancestors to realize the promise of America. "In recognizing these individuals,"
said IAAS founder and Cleveland State University professor, the late Thomas F.
Campbell, "we hope to draw attention not only to their achievements, but to the
breadth of involvement in American society made in our own time by the
descendants of Irish immigrants who came here with nothing and were often barred
from opportunities with signs that read 'NO IRISH NEED APPLY.' Many an Irishman
left his spade at the side of the barn and made the perilous journey to
America—only to be handed another spade and sent out to dig the Ohio & Erie
Canal.” Proceeds from the dinner—an event that annually brings together
Cleveland’s long separated West Side and East Side Irish in a rare spirit of
camaraderie—will support the development of the Irish American Archives at the
Western Reserve Historical Society. IAAS is an independent organization founded
in 1994 to insure that the history of northeast Ohio’s Irish immigrants and
their descendants is preserved. In 1999 IAAS persuaded the Historical Society to
establish the Irish American Archives and hire an archivist charged with
bringing in papers, diaries, letters, photographs and memorabilia that document
the struggles and achievements of the Irish in the Cleveland area. The evening
will feature examples of the kinds of things that are being placed in the
Archives. The position of Associate Curator for Irish American History, which
IAAS continues to support financially, is currently held by Galway native Regina
Costello (who says her name, from the Irish Mac Oisdealbhaigh, is pronounced
CAH-stuh-lo). Costello can be reached at 216-721-5722 ext. 326. Windows on the
River is located in the renovated Powerhouse, 5000 Sycamore Road. The reception
begins at 5:30 (cash bar); dinner, 6:30; presentations, 7:30. Business attire.
Parking for the Walks of Life Dinner just $1 till 6:30. Reservations must be
made by Feb. 14. Tickets are $55. Call Rosemary Feighan DeJohn, 216-228-0000.
*
For more, contact Dennis Dooley 216-481-8465 or djdooleyink@sbcglobal.net or
IAAS president Jerry Sheehan at 216-397-4565 or jsheehan@jcu.edu.
For additional background on, photos of, or to reach honorees, contact
for Tom Sullivan: Mary Hall Crawford at 330-273-8800 (Wed or Thu 9:30-4 p.m.)
for Sr. Maureen Burke: Sr. M. Sally Huston, SND, at 216-382-2110 ext. 235 for
George E. Condon: Susan Condon Love at 216-534-2826 for Gerry Quinn: Himself at
216-254-6640.
Press Releases
MAYO SOCIETY OF GREATER CLEVELAND TO HOST
FIRST GRAND BALL AND GALA DINNER DANCE
by
J.C. Sullivan
Cleveland, Ohio. For a town that prides
itself on its County Mayo roots, it’s surprising it hasn’t
occurred before. All it took was a few leaders with vision and energy to spare
and, voila – The Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland is born (www.clevelandmayosociety.org)
When major events such as this
take place in Cleveland, one suspects the fingerprints of
Ballina’s son, Jerry Quinn, might be detected. And they would be right. After
all, he was also one of the movers and shakers behind the formation of the
Irish-American Club East in Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
Quinn, a friendly and natural
promoter, hosts the Jerry Quinn Irish Radio Show in
Cleveland from
10:00 a.m. to noon on Sunday mornings. The very popular show can be heard live
on the Internet at www.whkradio.com.
Quinn has attracted other like-minded, talented spirits. All are well-known in America and Ireland. Steve
Mulloy is Vice-President of the Society. Kevin McGinty, Treasurer and Marie
McHugh is Secretary. On the Board of Directors are Bridgie Conway, Pat
Fitzpatrick, John Gill, Bobby Masterson and Bridie Talty.
On Friday evening, October 28th, Cleveland’s Windows on the River, in the “Flats” area
along the Cuyahoga River, will be the venue for this
historic event. The event has already sold out. “We probably could’ve sold a
couple hundred more tickets,” said Quinn. “We initially planned for 300. Then I
went to 400. We had to stop at 460, the maximum we can fit in.”
The guest speaker for the
evening will be Enda Kenny. No, he will not be the Dublin-born songwriter
currently residing in Melbourne, Australia but the Finn Gael leader
and TD. Kenny is considered a legitimate contender for the office of Taoiseach.
He has identified health, crime and the cost of living as the key battleground
on which the next election in Ireland will be fought.
Mistress of Ceremonies for the
evening will be another well-known Cleveland personality
with Mayo roots, the Emmy Award-winning Denise Dufala. A local reporter and
popular favorite, she anchors the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts at WJW-TV/Channel
19 (www.fox8cleveland.com).
Keeping with the
County
Mayo theme, a special
musical talent will perform in the person of James Kilbane (www.jameskilbane.net).
A rising talent and versatile performer, Kilbane was raised in Achill, Co. Mayo.
He was a finalist in the “You’re a Star” television program, Ireland’s own “American Idol.”
Kilbane will perform a mix of country. Gospel, Irish ballads and folk music.
Kilbane is in demand for many prestigious shows and events. He’s been regularly
a guest on radio and television shows, including Phil Coulter's. He has
performed at various festivals including the International Rose of Tralee
Festival where he sang for the winning Rose to an audience of several thousand
people. He has performed at the Irish National Entertainment Centre (INEC)
Killarney, County Kerry, as well as Portugal and America.
“We initially filed the papers
with the state of
Ohio prior
to this year,” said Quinn. “In 2002 we got it together and moved it forward.” In
their Mission Statement the Society is dedicated to “public charities in the
United States that have a link to County Mayo
or to Ireland…” They also will provide
temporary emergency relief to indigent Irish nationals in the United States who
have an urgent need for medical attention or who have been victims of crime or
man-made or natural disasters. Once a year we’ll run an event for charity.”
Additionally, the Society is dedicated to cultural, scientific and/or literary
exchanges between the people of the United States
and the people of Ireland, with particular emphasis, of course, to
County
Mayo. The study of Irish
and Irish American history will also be included.
Quinn said Fr. Michael Tracy’s
church and 3 schools were demolished by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding
afterward. There’s already been a huge fundraiser in Ireland. The Cleveland Society is
planning on donating some of the funds raised by the Ball to Fr. Tracy. “There
are other needs but it will depend on how much money we will be able to raise.”
Sullivan is an Irish-American
writer residing in northeast Ohio. His publishing credits are numerous,
including Irish America Magazine, Irish Echo Newspaper, Western People Newspaper
and Mayo News.
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