Brother Tom Sullivan SDB RIP 

AN ORDINATION DENIED

Brother Thomas Sullivan was a theologian during my schooldays in Blaisdon: he taught Geography and Nature Studies to the boys of the 1952-1955 period.  His style of teaching was most orthodox: loads of writing on the blackboard and pupil's taking reams of notes.  He made his pupils learn by rote: the more knowledge they knew by heart and could feed-back to him, the more Good Marks he awarded 

He took the one hour study session most evenings before supper: I owe my sound knowledge of all the rivers of Europe to him: their sources and their estuaries.  The beauty of this method was that you, by extension, learned the names of all the cities and towns through which they ran.  You had to go up to his desk placed on a dais: he would demand for example:  "Now, Brady where is the source of the Rhine, what cities and countries does it pass through; where does it join the sea?"  Another session could be questions on The       Rhône, The Danube, The Vistula, The Don and so on. Gradually, you ended up with the whole map of Europe in your head. 

Bro. Tom's nature studies were for the most part conducted outdoors.  This was a bonus for me, as that invariably meant straight down to Stud Farm.  He was great mates with Father Dan Lucey.  He would leave his class to its own devices and, so long as you had one or two different tree leaves, plant specimens or grasses to hand, when he eventually exited the farmhouse tea drinking session, he was happy.  Not all studies were external though.

Brother Tom was responsible with Father John Connolly for placing the visible bee colony in the school Library.  Brother Tom Caulfied made the glass-sided casing through which the bee's activity could be observed.  An opening through the wall allowed free passage for bees to come and go.  In a lesson about bee behavior, Brother Tom read from a scientific magazine where the latest research revealed that bees perform an elaborate "bee dance" on returning to the hive after finding sources of pollen.  The various forms of the dance tell the other bees how to return to the source and find its exact location.  One cheeky boy asked Bro. Tom: "Do the bees wear clogs when they dance?"  "Only in Lancashire!" said Bro. Tom.  "Write out 100 times the I will not be a drone in class." 

The Irish love of horse racing enthused him: he was the unofficial Community and Blaisdon village "runner" for The Grand National, The Derby and The Cheltenham Gold Cup.  In the 1950's, betting off course was illegal as were betting shops. Once, while in the Gloucester bookie's, it was raided by the police and other punters knowing he was a "monk" tipped him off just before the cops arrived.  He always wore his clerical collar. 

On Tuesday afternoons Bro. Tom was gang-master for non-army cadets.  They reported to him and he gave them jobs: weeding the pathways, tidying the bins area, bringing fuel for the school heating stoves, helping out in the market garden, marking the football pitches with sawdust.  He toured and supervised these activities by bicycle.  Like many of the priests and theologians he welcomed physical work, and I, Jim Meenagham, Stephen "Nanny" Drewe and others, assisted him with building an extension to the piggeries at Stud Farm.  We mixed the mortar and he placed and trimmed the concrete "breeze" blocks. If Bro. Thomas Gallagher couldn't lend him his spirit level at the time, Bro. Tom would use a square glass medicine bottle with a bubble in it. 

When he was really pleased with his labourer's work he would say:  "Bejassus! I am getting you to serve my first Mass!"  He really looked forward to be ordained a Salesian Priest.  Years later Fr. Dan told me, that like himself, Bro. Tom found the studies very hard.  In that regard they were tortoises among the hares.  On walks with him, he talked about the enforced emigration from Ireland referring to the phenomenon as "The Scattering" following The Great Famine in Ireland.  He lived as a boy, close to the sea and supplemented his poor diet by beachcombing.  At Porthcawl, pool and their sea life studies lead by him, were notable for his ability to free limpets from their rock footholds and eat them.. 

Brother Tom never really fancied football or cricket: refereeing and umpiring the House matches pleased him.  He was the Priest's & Lay-brother's Team Goalie.  He adored Gaelic Football and Hurling.  One of the most exiting times for him was when a team of Irish theologians came to Blaisdon from Beckford and other Salesian Houses and played friendlies in both games on Harvey's Acre.  Earlier, boys helped Bro. Allen and Bro. Tom convert the football goalposts to the high posts required.  Freshly white-washed, the latter enthusiast trimmed them with green tape to mark the feast of St. Patrick. Bro. Tom was a star performer in both matches.

If ever I do get round to growing my own vegetables, I will have no trouble with sowing the various seeds, because I still have Brother Tom Sullivan's spacing and depth instructions.  I also still have his guidance for recognising trees in Winter.  An early death denied him the long desired ordination to the Salesian priesthood.  He is one among so many of the Blaisdon Salesian priests and lay-Brother of whom I think lovingly each day. 

Tony Brady  -  June 2009