Note November 2003. Indicating the huge public interest in the US, and of course the propaganda value, a film was made in 1944 about  the Sullivans. Simply called The Sullivans (it was also called The Fighting Sullivans in some releases), the film, directed by Lloyd Bacon, was fictionalised. Although "homely and patriotic" - as you would expect given the times that were in it, it is a well-regarded film and has a rating of three stars (out of four) from Leonard Maltin's famous Movie & Video guide.

July 2003 
Battleships for Beara - Big story developing. Clue; Saving Private Ryan and the March of O'Sullivan Bere (1603). And it's nothing to do with the Raft Race* taking place here during the Festival of the Sea on 3rd August.
* I'm celebrating my birthday by taking part in the Raft Race. Our entry is being constructed with great secrecy, piracy being embedded in the genes of many on this peninsula. My roots, on the other hand - on my mother's side - go back to only butter-stealing during the Famine - See  Famine Justice? 

Monday 1st September 2003 
The Yanks are over here!  Since Friday morning last, there has been an unusual grey eminence here in Bantry Bay. Dominating the skyline, one mile south from where I write, is the considerable, battleship-grey (relieved only by green shamrocks on her funnel) hulk of the American ship, the USS The Sullivans.  An 8,500 ton, cruise missile destroyer, carrying a complement of  350 officers and crew (including many women) - and, of course, missiles such as the Gulf War-famous, Tomahawks - The Sullivans is on a "good-will mission" to Ireland, and to the Beara Peninsula in particular, to participate in ceremonies celebrating the 400 year anniversary of the Siege of Dunboy Castle, near Castletownbere. It is also the quatercentenerary of the march of desperate survival in 1603 of one of the last of the, local, Irish chieftains, Donal Cam O'Sullivan Béara. 
The astonishing feat of O'Sullivan's overland, winter-trek from the Beara Peninsula to Leitrim, fighting practically every inch of the way, and his eventual sanctuary with allies there, is one of the great stories from the Elizabethan Wars in Ireland. Many books have been written about this harrowing event - 1,000 set out, 35 only reached Leitrim (not that they were all casualties) - and a film is in development, I am told. 
Not all believe the story however. In a land of ever-evolving history and proliferating local historians, the Sullivans have their dedicated detractors too. Some say it is all a Catholic myth written down by arch-Catholic historian, Philip O'Sullivan to advance Spain's cause in Ireland and blacken the English - as usual. Others question what Donal Cam was doing 30 miles away in Glengariff when his main castle at Dunboy was being besieged by the perfidious English. And some say that he was too busy guarding (and counting!) Philip II of Spain's treasure - at the expense of his clansmen's lives, on the March of O'Sullivan Beara, as it is now famously called.
Meanwhile back at the ship; not since the British inexplicably withdrew from this strategic anchorage in 1938 - Berehaven was one of the three Treaty Ports held onto by the British after Ireland had gained a measure of independence from the Empire in 1922 - has there been such a formidable piece of navy hardware afloat on these sheltered waters. 
The US warship has an extra-special reason to visit the area. The boat is the second named after the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, who were killed in a WW II action in the Pacific. Unusually, and tragically, they were all serving on the one craft, the USS Juneau, when she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Battle of Guadalcanal, November 1942. Four of the brothers were killed instantly and one survived for days in the shark-infested seas before succumbing to his terrible fate. Of the 700 crew of the Juneau, only 13 survived! The story of the Sullivan brothers shocked America at the time and prompted President Roosevelt to visit their home and their grieving mother.
From then, no more than one member of a family was allowed to serve on the same vessel. 
The story prompted many publications, and an early film, and also inspired the more recent one, The Saving of Private Ryan.
The ancestors of the Iowa Sullivans were O'Sullivans from Adrigole, a village half way out the Beara Peninsula from the well-known tourist resort of Glengariff. In a moving ceremony, a plaque was unveiled there on Saturday morning last by Kelly Sullivan Loughren and John Sullivan - both grandchildren of the dead seamen. Many attended, including officers and crew from the American ship and others that had proceeded east along the Bay in a clourful, horn-sounding flotilla from their anchorage in Bere Haven. 
Later in the day, a survival from other wars, a Martello Tower - newly restored - was opened by Agriculture Minister and local TD (MP) Joe Walsh. In an otherwise characterful event, enthusiastically put on by the islanders - and a fascinating lecture by local historian, Connie Murphy -  there was, however, a gauche moment. A large Stars and Stripes hung alone at the entrance steps of the Martello Tower. Some of the several-hundred-crowd gathered on the beautifully-scenic hilltop grumbled at this, and the flag was soon taken down and bundled inside the building. Whether this was in deference to the feelings of the crowd, the republican sentiments of august Min.Joe (shockingly on the shortlist for Franz Fischler's job!) Irish television cameras or what, was not made clear, but a sigh of satisfaction rippled through the crowd. Americans welcome, was the feeling - but not to walk all over us!
There were a few other akwardnesses about. Security was so paramount to the visiting Americans that, in the weeks beforehand, proper factual information was advised not to be given, and, even when spokespersons for the tourist committee gave their bit on radio and in print media, they seemed to go out of their way to be evasive and distorting. In some cases - in a frenzy of wishful thinking, some said - they grossly overstated the size of the visiting vessel, calling it an "aircraft carrier with a crew of 5,000", later down-graded to a "battleship with a crew of 2,000". 
The result was that the locals who flocked to watch its arrival were quite disappointed with its titchy size. "Is that what all the fuss was about?" was a comment by one early riser on Friday morning at local beauty spot and bathing place, Sandmount, a good vantage point when the ship first came into the Sound, east around Lonehort Point, and subsequently when it anchored just offshore.
Despite its wiener size however there was an undignified scramble to get on the list of invitees to the American vessel. There was a limited number of lay (in the sense of non-clerical, non-poliician, non-local tourist committee, trawler owners etc) people allowed on board The Sullivans as guests of the captain, and, inevitably, this led to disappointment, jealousy and anger from those passed over for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see such a WMD - weapon of mass destruction - up close and personal. 
There was similar high-demand for tickets to a banquet given on Saturday night at the local Cametringane Hotel. An added attraction was the prospect of meeting so many eminently eligible ship's officers, men and women.
For both occasions, every guest had to have security clearance. Nobody seemed to know who had the final say and nobody was saying if anybody was not cleared. One boastfull guest-to-be claimed he had been security cleared by the CIA. A companion said, "That's OK, but I'm one better - I've been cleared by the ICA" (Irish Contrywomens' Association!).
As the chosen few nursed their hangovers the morning after the banquet, and told whoever would listen, what a great time was had by all (the few!) the feeling was that the close community will ever be divided by those who were on the American Navy ship, and at the famous feast, and those left to knash their teeth in exterior darkness.
Getting back to the mis-information again: it was confusing in other ways. The vessel was described as a "training ship carrying no large weapons". Not a warship at all..
That was a particular piece of prize bull! But perhaps cunningly couched to deflect potential protesters.
On the contrary, the USS The Sullivans has seen heavy action. It was one ot the two ships attacked in Aden by al-Qaida terrorists in 2000. Its companion ship, the USS Cole, was badly damaged and lost 17 of its crew. The Sullivans was well-blooded otherwise too. It was given a special Battle Efficiency Award for its efforts in supporting the aircraft carrier, USS John F.Kennedy, in Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan in 2002. 
Altogether, The Sullivans is a formidable fighting machine, with a huge guided missile arsenal and highly specialised personnell to use them.
Whilst anchored in Beara Sound over the last few days it certainly had the security and menacing demeanour of a fully-fledged warship. 24 hour-Zodiac patrols intercepted every craft that came within a mile of the destroyer. Local mackerel fishermen and lobster pot-haulers were not amused! Boat loads of sight-seers were turned back to their great annoyance - at least during the first few days.
Each night however there seemed to be a Holy Hour, around 4 or 5 am, when perhaps a local dauber could have left his anti-war  message. Security otherwise seemed to relax considerably after Sunday, perhaps because of the obvious goodwill of the local population, and possibly also, the Guinness, Heineken and hospitality generally  were having a subverting influence on the normally stiff, cautious and formal behaviour of the visitors. 
Some good fun was had over the weekend. The best reported was in the village of Eyeries when soccer was played between the visiting sailors and locals. The eventual score was; Warship 0 - Locals 3. A comment on the young American players was "Line-backers, they were not". Some noses were bloodied in a later demonstration of one of our ferocious national games, Gaelic footbal. Good naturedness predominated throughout the day and evening, and Craic agus Ceoil continued into the night.
Monday morning in Castletownbere, hundreds of casually-dressed seamen - most with blue jeans and white "sneakers" (the men with close-cropped hairstyles, the women with gorgeous tans and a healthy, fit-looking sparkle) mooched the town's shops, looking for something worthwhile to take back home to the folks and to mark their unusual and historic visit to Ireland. 
Nobody had anything to say about the anti-war protesters that showed up on Saturday. Misled (deliberately?) in advance, and misdirected when they arrived, only a handful turned up in the square in Castletownbere. One carried a poster declaring "Bread not Bombs". Another, Owen Dubsky, was infamous for defacing an American plane in Shannon earlier this year. There were precious few to demonstrate to in the town as everybody was away at Adrigole, Bere Island, or afloat on the water in some craft or other in this maritme community. 
The boatless-few protesters were told at 1.30 pm by one of the ferry operators to Bere Island, that the last ferry to the events was gone. The "Events" didn't start 'till 3 o'clock and there were other ferries. It seems as if the protesters were well and truly scuppered! As planned?
Dominic Carrol, speaking on behalf of a group, Clonakilty against War ,said that "People are determined to make the voice of opposition heard". Others claimed the destroyer is the centrepiece of a US Navy propaganda exercise intended to strengthen military links with Ireland. 
However that might be, the sight of the avuncular Min Joe talking to US Navy officers at the Martello Tower on Saturday somehow doesn't lead one to suspect that there is going to be some kind of unholy alliance (more than it is already!) between the current Irish government, with its republican flavour, and the rather different Republican US administration. 
Maybe this trip was truly a "goodwill mission", and no more than that. Empire ambitions though the US certainly has, gunboat-up-the-river this foray certainly was not. The Irish don't do pressure anymore - certainly not of the bullying kind. 
The warship departs on Tuesday and Beara people will return to their usual rhythms of making money from fishing, and farming, and tourism, and gossiping, and eternally appreciating their colossal luck in living in one of the most beautiful places on earth. 
One old woman had this to say about the navy of the world's greatest super power - as she had experienced it in the last few days: "Aren't they innocent wee lads and lassies to be in charge of such a big fighting ship". 
Ma'am - I think you're right! 

See www.bearatourism.com for a few other details on the Beara/Breifne Greenway etc.

9th September 2003 
The Late Destroyer departed last Tuesday at 4 pm, without so much as a grateful blast on its horn - to the disgust of the handful of on-lookers that gathered down here at Sandmount. I got very close to it, surprisingly, shortly before, in my military-style Zodiac and tried to deliver a letter to Commander "Rich" Brown (mainly to draw his attention to my article on the website and encourage him to include more organic produce on the ship - they have junk-food shops on board and I worry for those ghetto AS).
I was intercepted by a powerful Avon inflatable. My cover was my piddling mackerel lines and I had quite a pleasant conversation with the two security guys about fishing - after they had advised me that I was within "The Security Sector" - 200 metres of the boat (I had been told that it was 200 feet!! Gulp!). They turned perplexed however when I presented my Planorganic card and asked them to deliver a letter to the commander. Bottom line - No way, José! Could anyone tell me how to get an email address for the ship?
Some of you (techo-perverts) have asked for further detail. The USS The Sullivans is 505' long, widest beam 66', draught, 32', displacement 8,315 tons. I'm not going to go into the considerable weapons stuff - Use the Internet! 
Warship Snippets; A friend who was an invitee to the ship, was not impressed with the crew whom he described as "robots". 
The officers of the visiting ships (there was a French one too and our own Orla) were massively impressed with the warmth of the welcome. House-parties were laid on all over for their entertainment. 
The locals were impressed with them too. One prominent fisherman/businessman was heard to say that we should be eternally grateful to America for taking in our Famine poor and that it is now time for us to become the 51st State of America! 
Apart from the Old Glory cock-up on the island - reported above - there was only one other negative incident that I heard of; two coloured seamen in uniform were spat on by a local drunk. The sailors showed admirable restraint in not reacting violently - I would have forgiven them if they had eviscerated the punk!