Butte Sullivans heading to global family reunion in Ireland

The clock is ticking in Ireland’s Beara Peninsula.

By the end of May, Sullivans and O’Sullivans from across the globe will have descended on this stretch of land bordering Counties Cork and Kerry.

It’s a perfect spot for such a reunion, as O’Sullivan is Beara’s most common surname.

The brainchild of Kelly Sullivan, chieftain of the O’Sullivan Clan worldwide, the reunion will be held May 31-June 2. The reasons are twofold — meet new and old relatives and attempt to hold the largest ever surname reunion with the bonus of making it into the Guinness World Records.

The current record holder is the Gallagher Clan, which held a reunion of 1,488 Gallaghers in Letterkenny, County Donegal on Sept. 9, 2007.

Sullivan, who lives in Iowa, is the first woman and first American to lead the Sullivan clan. She is also the granddaughter of Albert Sullivan, and the great-niece of Joseph, Frank, Matt and George Sullivan.

The five Irish-American brothers, ages 27 to 20, would become known worldwide after being killed in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

The siblings were serving together aboard the light cruiser, the USS Juneau, when Japanese torpedoes hit the ship on Nov. 13, 1942, causing the deaths of 687 men, including the Sullivan brothers.

As for the upcoming reunion, if all goes according to plan, it will be a win for the Sullivans, as currently 2,600 people have signed up to attend.

It’s a family celebration Con Sullivan of Butte does not want to miss. He and his wife, Nancy, have been making plans for more than a year.

Con’s ancestors include John Peter O’Sullivan, who came to Butte when he was just 13 years old. Since working on his genealogy, Con has learned of 50 relatives living in the Beara Peninsula. He hopes to find even more.

The Butte man will be traveling with an important item — a time capsule he designed and built made of Butte copper ore.

Shamrocks are engraved on the capsule, along with a title: O’Sullivan/Sullivan Gathering, 30-May-2026, From Butte America.

“The copper ties Butte and the Beara together,” said Con.

A letter from Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher will also be read to the O’Sullivan/Sullivan descendants, honoring the 6,000 men from the Beara Peninsula who worked in the Butte mines.

Largely because of Butte’s booming copper industry, it is estimated that by 1900 a quarter of the mining camp’s population was Irish, with the highest percentage emigrating from the Beara Peninsula.

Copper was a key component for a second time capsule, designed in Ireland. Coordinated by Damien O’Sullivan of Castletownbere, it will include copper extracted from one of the bygone copper mines in Allihies.

At the reunion, Sullivans from across the globe will be encouraged to write notes to place inside the capsules.

First dibs, however, will go to Mary O’Sullivan, one of the oldest residents living in the Beara Peninsula.

“Mary is 99 years young and is coming to the gathering,” said Con. “She goes first.”

Colleen Sullivan Horsley, who was born and raised in Butte, now lives in Boise, Idaho. She and her husband, Paul, are bound for Ireland as well.

Like Con, Colleen’s ancestors, including Jeremiah and Ellen Sullivan, were from the Beara Peninsula, and she hopes the reunion will help build on her family’s bloodline and how it is connected to Butte.

“My ancestors were trailblazers, coming from Beara to Butte,” she said.

Colleen also wants to learn more about her ancestors’ homeland and attempt to visualize some of their experiences.

Just as important is the reunion, where she hopes to make more connections.

“We share DNA with the people that are coming to the gathering,” she said. “I want to meet all the Sullivans.”

Con has been back to Ireland a few times and said it has always felt like home. He’s not expecting it to be any different this time.

“Magic happens when you land in Ireland,” he said.