Uncle Florry's Will — New Voodou

We have been doing a major purge and reorganization of our closets and file cabinets. It wasn't easy to toss all those old client files, but I doubt I will ever need them. And anything halfway important is backed up on a remote drive. What has been much harder is going through the old family files. My sister Dianne, a trained museum registrar with years of experience dealing with documents, designated me the family archivist. It's true we have more storage space, and retired I have more time.

This week, trying to winnow down a file box overstuffed with my father's papers, I rediscovered a curious, heartwarming copy of Uncle Florry's will. Florry Sullivan was my paternal grandmother Mary Egan nee Sullivan's younger brother. When he died in 1978, he left one seventh share of his estate to his one living brother and three sisters and "one seventh share thereof to be divided by right of representation, among the lineal descendants of his deceased sisters."

This wouldn't seem curious except that Florry left the family farm in Ardgroom 1909 immigrating to Butte, Montana never to return to Ireland. Between 1906 and 1923, seven of the Sullivan brothers and sisters left the farm for Butte. They were among the hundreds who immigrated from the Beara Peninsula in the far west of Ireland to Butte to work in the mines or support relatives who did. The peninsula was home to Ireland's largest copper mine, the Allihies Copper Mine, and many who came to Butte were experienced miners. Not so the Sullivan brothers, who were raised on the family farm.

They were, however, strong, smart, and used to hard labor. Mike, the eldest arrived first in 1906, followed by Mary the eldest sister in '08 and Florry in '09. Sisters Margaret, Bridget, Kate, and Hannah followed over the next fourteen years. All the sisters except Kate, married Irishmen they met in Butte. Mike and Florry remained bachelors. When Mary and Margaret lost their husbands to consumption, the "mountain con", that was a common cause of death among the hard rock miners, Mike moved in with Mary to help her as she raised her two boys and Florry moved in with Margaret to help with her four sons.

Only Mike returned to visit the family in Ardgroom where his parents, sisters Norah and Nellie and the youngest brother Patrick still lived. Yet the family bonds were strong on both sides of the Atlantic and across it, strong enough that Uncle Florry bequeathed the shares of his estate equally among his family in Butte and those in Ardgroom, including his deceased sister Norah's children, whom he had never met.

There was no record of the size the estate among the documents but clearly there was enough to make it worthwhile to share. Like my grandmother and the others Florry worked hard, saved, and invested wisely. At some point he left the mines and worked as a clerk of the courts. I remember seeing him when I was a young girl in Butte, a tall, straight man who carried himself with dignity as he walked to and from the public library where he spent his retirement days reading.

Several years ago, Dianne, her son Eamon and I visited the farm in Ardgroom, where Michael, the eldest son of Patrick, lives with his wife Mary. Uncle Paddy had stayed, worked the land, and raised his family in the house where he and all of his brothers and sisters were born. Today Michael farms, raises horses and, with his sons, has built tourist cottages where their land meets the sea.

Thanks to my father and my Uncle Eddy, this was not our first visit to the farm nor our first afternoon with Michael and Mary. Over tea we told stories about the Butte Sullivans, their children and grandchildren and heard about the Ardgroom clan some of whom we would see later that day. Michael showed us around the property, of which he is rightly proud. He pointed to an outbuilding that he was told had been built by Uncle Florry before he left for Butte at age 22 to make his luck and in the end share it with his extended family.