Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-04-13
D HARA NOMAD
CLAN HERE To
BURY ITS DEAD
Wandering Irish Bands Gather
for Annual Interment in Atlanta
Of Deceased Members.
7 BODIES HELD IN MORGUE
Rich Tribe Resent Name Of Gyp-
sies-Deatn Considered Real
Tie That Unites Family.
BODIES HELD IN M0RGUE

The clan OrHara is in Atlanta TO
hurry its dead. It's men and womer
came across country from every d.
rertion in wagons luxuriously fur
nished and fitted. and are gathered
IN their camp home in West Atlanta,
At the corner OF Bellwood Avenue and
Ashby Street.
They are the living The dead are
here. too, embalmed and casketed
awaiting burial, seven Of them. The
funeral day is April rs.
The clan O'Hara. be it known. are
patrician horse traders. and the most
romantic OF nomads with IT Its
members. 500 or more. scatter with
the seasons from end to end OF Amer
lea, but gather once each year, in &C
cordance with their custom, to bury
those who have died in the twelve
months
The custom 10 immemoriaL Even
back in Ireland, before old father
O'Hara yielded TO the lure Of the
wanderlust and came across the
ocean. the clan has buried It's dead
together. And when they came TO
The New World they brought the Gus
tom.
Would you insult a member of the
o'Hnra clan? Then call him a gypsy.
They are not gypHies. they hotly will
tell YOU. but 1rishmen. jealous Of their
blood and their caste. Irishmen rs
truly and as purely az the undehled
blood OF Brian Boru and Of old King
Tara can make them Irish, Irishmen
who are expatriates only because
here is something OF wildness In their
strain that impels them 20 wander
restleasly and forever.
To wander. with only the one tie OF
death
Because most of the clan O'Hara
love the warm South, they selected
Atlanta a Southern city, as the place
for the annual burial of their dead
Nashville was the first burial place
but only occasionally now are the
bodies sent there. This year. for in
stance. seven will be buried in At
ianta. and only one in Nashville.
Wherever and whenever a member
Of the clan dies. the body Is brought
10 Atlanta, embalmed and held for
the day when the living will gather
TO mourn. Greenberg a Bond, under
takers Of Atlanta, have always been
intrusted with the task of arranging
the burials. and a representative OF
the firm goes TO the place Of each
death and brings the body to Atlanta.
The seven dead of clan OHara are
to-day IN the chapel OF Greenberg &
Bond.
Dead All Females.
One has been there nearly eleven
months. A handsome white casket
holds the body OF a young girl, who
died last June in Montgomery Ala.
She Is Mrs Mamie Nelson. 10 years
old. Her face is the beautiful face of
child. stony white. like that Of a
statue. with all the months that her
body has been held since her death.
The members OF the clan OHara
marry early. The girl Mrs Nelson.
had been wife for several years be-
fore her death,
No men OF the clan died last year.
OF the seven bodies in the chapel, four
are those OF women, and three OF girl
children.
Plainly the name OF Bridget is en-
deared 20 the clan. -Four Of the dead
bear that name. or some form OF Its
diminutive betokeninE love Bridgle
Mack. 1S months old died IN Thorn
asviIe Ca Bridge Costello, 2 months
old. died in Blackshear, Ga. A large
conn holds the body OF Mrs. Bridget
O'Hara, 40 years old, who died in Sa-
vannah. The body OF Bridge Sher-
lock s months old. was brought from
Sparks. Ca. The two other dead are
Mrs. Anna Sherlock, AZ years old. and
Maggie Sherlock. IA. Mrs. Sherlock
died IN Bailey. and the girl in Alamo,
Ga.
The last OF April is the traditional
time for the burial OF the clan mem
bers. The date has been observed be-
yond the memory Of those clansmen
IN Atlanta-for what reason is not 20
he determined.
Time Of Burial Symbolic.
The time is supposed 90 be Symbol
&C. April IS the time Of freshness and
new life. Of flowers and the new
green. Il is the time 60 bury the dead.
and 10 turn ones face toward a new
year Of life. Maybe il Is thus right
that April should be selected.
The clan O'Hara are lrishmen. and
therefore good Catholics Their fu-
neral service is the service of the
catholic Church. and the dead are
buried always from the Church OF the
Immaculate Conception In Atlanta.
Evidence Of the wealth of the
strange people IS furnished In tho Law
Ssh expenditure whiCsi they make Tor
the burial OF their dead. The casksts
which they select are always the most
costly. and the tender m.uistrations
Incidental 70 burial always are the
most elaborate The clan OHara is
wealthy.
How wealthy is not 20 De said. But
they live simply. trade freely and
a-ith profit born OF great experience
and thus have acquired riches Then
proud bearing bespeaks "a sense OF
1heir own power. financial as well as
racial They are a people unto them
selves