Sullivans and Gleasons
On our travels to Ireland we have been very successful in connecting with family members on the Gleeson side in Youghal. We have not been so fortunate when we have visited my grandmother's birthplace in Rosscarbery. The main issue is that her surname was Sullivan and there are lots of Sullivans in County Cork. For example, when we visited the courthouse in Skibbereen to retrieve a copy of her birth certificate, there were 3 Ellen Sullivans born in the same year as my grandmother in the same small village. Eventually we were able to ascertain which was the right one.
When I was a young boy, It seemed like everyone on my father’s side of the family had a last name of Sullivan. But it was just a big blur; a bunch of older people of whom I had no idea how we were related. All I knew is that they all either lived in or came from the Charlestown section of Boston. It was as if everyone in Charlestown was named Sullivan. Of course Sullivan was the most common surname in the Boston area and I went to school with lots of Sullivans.
When I was in my junior year at Boston College, my date for the Military Ball was Sheila Sullivan. And when I told my mother my date’s name, she responded “This might be the one.” I was like, “What do you mean the one; it is just a dance date?” She explained there is a history of Gleasons and Sullivans getting together without providing any details.
Years later in 1993 I was seated at a bar in Falmouth Mass. having dinner with a friend, and I overheard the conversation of the couple sitting next to me. They were talking about their recent trip to Ireland, back to their roots. Very soon they started describing the condition and location of his grandfather’s home, and it was clear he was talking about the old thatched-roof house in which my grandfather grew up. It was an incredible coincidence. The guy’s name was Gerry Sullivan and as it turns out, his grandmother, formerly Bessie Gleason, and my grandfather, William, were sister and brother. And of course, Bessie Gleason had married Sullivan.
Gerry mentioned that he had a brother, Bob, who worked for Northern Telecom and was involved in a major project at Boston College. Coincidentally I was in charge of the project and I worked with Bob but neither of us had any idea that we were related. I also discovered that Bob’s son, Chris, was a student at BC at the time and a tackle on the football team.
This experience of a chance meeting with Gerry Sullivan got me wondering again, what exactly is my relationship with all the Sullivan’s in our family tree? It wasn’t until ancestry websites came along in the last decade that I have been able to dive deeper into the relationship and interconnections between the Gleasons and Sullivans and discover mullti-generations of Gleasons and Sullivans marrying.
It all started around 1890 when my grandfather, William Gleeson, emigrated with his sister, Elizabeth (Bessie) from Youghal, County Cork, Ireland to the Charlestown section of Boston. At the time of William’s immigration into the United States the spelling of his surname was changed from Gleeson to Gleason. About the same time my grandmother, Ellen (Ellie) Sullivan, came to this country from Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland with her brother, whose surname was logically Sullivan, and they also settled in Charlestown. That is where my grandparents met and married.
Growing up the only Sullivan family members that I knew intimately were my cousins Jack, Ginger and Kate Sullivan, who lived on the same street (Emerald St.) as my family. Their mother, my father’s sister Gertude Gleason, had married John “Ike” Sullivan, so she became Gert Sullivan. I was also aware that my father’s brother, Walter, had married Gertrude Sullivan, so she became Gert Gleason. If you are already confused, you are starting to get the picture.
When I was a young boy, It seemed like everyone on my father’s side of the family had a last name of Sullivan. But it was just a big blur; a bunch of older people of whom I had no idea how we were related. All I knew is that they all either lived in or came from the Charlestown section of Boston. It was as if everyone in Charlestown was named Sullivan. Of course Sullivan was the most common surname in the Boston area and I went to school with lots of Sullivans.
When I was in my junior year at Boston College, my date for the Military Ball was Sheila Sullivan. And when I told my mother my date’s name, she responded “This might be the one.” I was like, “What do you mean the one; it is just a dance date?” She explained there is a history of Gleasons and Sullivans getting together without providing any details.
Years later in 1993 I was seated at a bar in Falmouth Mass. having dinner with a friend, and I overheard the conversation of the couple sitting next to me. They were talking about their recent trip to Ireland, back to their roots. Very soon they started describing the condition and location of his grandfather’s home, and it was clear he was talking about the old thatched-roof house in which my grandfather grew up. It was an incredible coincidence. The guy’s name was Gerry Sullivan and as it turns out, his grandmother, formerly Bessie Gleason, and my grandfather, William, were sister and brother. And of course, Bessie Gleason had married Sullivan.
Gerry mentioned that he had a brother, Bob, who worked for Northern Telecom and was involved in a major project at Boston College. Coincidentally I was in charge of the project and I worked with Bob but neither of us had any idea that we were related. I also discovered that Bob’s son, Chris, was a student at BC at the time and a tackle on the football team.
This experience of a chance meeting with Gerry Sullivan got me wondering again, what exactly is my relationship with all the Sullivan’s in our family tree? It wasn’t until ancestry websites came along in the last decade that I have been able to dive deeper into the relationship and interconnections between the Gleasons and Sullivans and discover mullti-generations of Gleasons and Sullivans marrying.
It all started around 1890 when my grandfather, William Gleeson, emigrated with his sister, Elizabeth (Bessie) from Youghal, County Cork, Ireland to the Charlestown section of Boston. At the time of William’s immigration into the United States the spelling of his surname was changed from Gleeson to Gleason. About the same time my grandmother, Ellen (Ellie) Sullivan, came to this country from Rosscarbery, County Cork, Ireland with her brother, whose surname was logically Sullivan, and they also settled in Charlestown. That is where my grandparents met and married.
Growing up the only Sullivan family members that I knew intimately were my cousins Jack, Ginger and Kate Sullivan, who lived on the same street (Emerald St.) as my family. Their mother, my father’s sister Gertude Gleason, had married John “Ike” Sullivan, so she became Gert Sullivan. I was also aware that my father’s brother, Walter, had married Gertrude Sullivan, so she became Gert Gleason. If you are already confused, you are starting to get the picture.