The Ring

Present Day

Conor O’Sullivan searched every room in the massive house in County Cork, Ireland to no avail. He’d been at it for 5 straight days. He had barely slept nor ate. He was running out of time. He went back into the study and stared at the massive collection of books scattered on the shelves. If the circumstances were different, as a librarian turned bookstore owner, he’d appreciate the impressive collection. But the circumstances were not different. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only—to find the ring.

Seven days ago

Conor was at his bookstore, located in a small town outside Boston, Massachusetts, when he got the phone call. Cilian McGregor phoned to let him know that his mother had died, and her estate and all her assets were being sold off per her will since she had no remaining family. The fact that she didn’t acknowledge Conor as family, despite him being her only son, didn’t faze Conor at all. In fact, he would have been angry if she did, as her final act.

However, it greatly vexed poor Cilian. Conor knew Cilian from the time he was a child growing up with his Mom and Dad in a small town outside Dublin, Ireland. Cilian was the only family friend who remained close with both his mother and father after they split.

“Why are you phoning Cilian?” Conor asked the attorney appointed to handle the affairs, after he delivered the news. “I am not named in the will as you stated, and you know that my mother and I have had little to no contact for 40 years.”

“She still has the ring Conor,” Cilian said.

Conor stopped, frozen in his bookstore. She still has the ring.

“Conor, are you there? Did you hear me?” he heard Cilian on the other end of the phone, but he couldn’t move; he couldn’t speak. “I know this is drudging up very bad memories and wounds,” Cilian went on, “but you have very limited time if you want to retrieve the ring.”

“What!?” Conor snapped out of it. “What do you mean retrieve the ring?”

He never thought he’d see it again.

“Conor, I know what that ring means to you,” Cilian said barely above a whisper. “And to your father.”

It was then that Conor realized, Cilian could get into a lot of hot water as his mother’s attorney. This phone call; the revelation about the ring; all of this was Cilian being a friend to his father one last time.

“So, retrieve the ring…how?” Conor asked.

“The estate will go to auction in a little over a week,” Cilian said. “I am executioner of the estate. If someone removed something from the estate before it went to auction and I wasn’t aware…. well, there’s nothing I can do about that…”

“Where is it?” Conor asked.

“I don’t know,” Cilian admitted. “But I know she kept it. She’d occasionally make reference to it over the years. She kept it to spite you and your father, knowing if she kept it, then you could never have it.”

“She was a vindictive, manipulative human being,” Conor said flatly.  “She could care less about that ring, but she kept it all these years only because she knew how badly I wanted it.”

“Conor, listen,” Cilian said quietly, “I cannot help you search. But that ring belonged to your father and rightfully belongs to you. If you can find it before the estate goes to auction, it is yours.”

A few minutes later, Conor hung up the phone with Cilian and was booking a flight to Ireland.

Conor’s flight departed from Logan International airport in Boston the next evening. As most of the passengers switched off their reading lights to sleep, Conor was wide awake. The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind. He hung up the phone with Cilian and immediately started making plans. No one would understand why he had to get to Ireland. No one except his father. He was doing this for his father. He had to find that ring.

Conor laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. He thoughts drifted to the story; a story he hadn’t thought about in years but was the one that had him on this plane heading to Ireland.

The Story

Finn O’Sullivan came from nothing. He grew up in a small fishing village in County Cork, Ireland. He was the worst kind of thing a small Irish boy could be in the day—a bastard; his mother and his father were not married. In fact, they were not even a couple. When he was born, his mother immediately gave him to his father and declared him dead in her eyes. Evidently a trait that would continue in the O’Sullivan family. Finn’s father worked tirelessly on the docks as a fisherman, saving every penny he could to provide Finn a decent home. Finn’s grandmother, his father’s mother, was the only family member that even acknowledged his existence. His grandmother was the best. She would cook the most delicious meals and play games with Finn when his Dad was at work. His Nana didn’t care what others thought; she wanted to be a part of her son and grandchild’s life which was a very unpopular characteristic. She lost many friends because all she wanted to do was love her grandchild.

Finn was around 5 years old the first time he asked his Nana about her ring. She didn’t wear any jewelry except one single ring on her right ring finger. It was a Claddagh ring and as the saying goes – the hands are for friendship, the heart is for love and loyalty is shown with the crown up above. His grandmother spoke about the ring with such pride and awe that Finn couldn’t help but be fascinated with the ring from that day forward. As he become older, he learned the significance of the ring and how it had been passed down in his family for generations. Nowadays a Claddagh ring is well known to millions; but back then, this ring was not as common, and it was special.

When Finn was 15 years old his grandmother passed away. He remembered crying with his father as she was laid to rest. The only comfort at the time was his Dad took her Claddagh ring off her hand before the casket went into the ground.

“This ring belonged to someone who loved unconditionally,” his father would say. “Without your Nana I am not sure we could have been a family. It will always symbolize the strength and resilience of this family.”

Finn’s father kept the ring locked away in their house, only taking it out once a year on the anniversary of his grandmothers’ death. They’d bring it with them to the graveyard, place it on the headstone, and talk to her about their lives.

When Finn was 25, he met Carrie York. He’d been working on the docks with his Dad for about 8 years by this point. She was a local girl from a farming family. Finn was smitten right away and after 6 weeks he was ready to propose. He asked permission from his Dad to give Carrie his Nana’s ring. He knew the ring symbolized unconditional love which is what he thought he shared with Carrie. But also, Finn couldn’t afford any other ring.

Less than a year after Finn met Carrie, they were married in a small ceremony on her family’s farm. One year after that, Conor O’Sullivan was born.

Ironically, it was also around 5 years old that Conor recalled first noticing the Claddagh ring on his mother’s hand. Unlike, his great grandmother however, his mother did not speak about the ring in awe. In fact, even at that young age, Conor recognized his mother’s had disdain for the ring. But Conor loved that ring. He especially loved listening to his father, Finn, tell the story of the ring and all the amazing memories his father had with his grandmother. Finn still went to his grandmothers gravesite every year on the anniversary of her death and brought the ring and placed it on her headstone. When Conor turned 6, his father started taking him with him on these annual trips.

It was also around that time that Conor started to notice that his mother wasn’t the happiest or nicest of people. He recalled on more than one occasion asking his father why his Mom was so mean to his father. His father always laughed it off, excusing the behavior but as Conor got older it was hard to ignore. Conor had years now to analyze it all. But at the time he didn’t understand how two people could see the world so completely differently. His father was so loving and giving. His mother hated everyone, including him and especially his father. She made his father feel so inadequate it was hard to watch. She would constantly remind him that he was a bastard and lucky to even be alive let alone loved by anyone. Conor never quite understood why she even married him. That remained a mystery to this day. Finn worked hard every day to earn a decent living to provide for Carrie and Conor. They were not rich by any means, but they also weren’t dirt poor. But Carrie always wanted more; a fact she reminded Finn of constantly. Conor was around 8 years old when he first met Robert McMinn. He was a businessman from the States who had relocated to Ireland. He lived in a big mansion right outside of town. He took a liking to Carrie, and she did not deter his advances. She didn’t care that she had a husband and child at home. All she saw was the dollar signs and the extravagant life she could have with Robert. Six months after Conor first met Robert, and 9 years after Carrie married Finn, Conor watched his mother pack her things and leave his father and him. He remembered that he actually felt relief; now it got to be just him and his Dad. They could be happy without having to worry about Carrie’s constant nagging and unhappiness.

But something happened that day that forever haunted them—Carrie refused to give back the Claddagh ring. Even then, as an 8-year-old boy, Conor knew it made no sense. You’d think she’d want to rid herself from anything that tied her to Finn and Conor. But instead, she walked out of their lives with the ring on her finger. At the time, his father took it to mean maybe she might return because their love was unconditional. Conor knew that wasn’t the case though. His mother was doing it on purpose because she simply was not a nice person. She knew how much that ring meant to her husband Finn and knew it would devastate him if she kept it.

And it did.

She divorced Finn shortly thereafter, at which point Finn finally accepted that Carrie was not coming back. Both Finn and Conor tried to get the ring back over the ensuing years, but they were never successful. They didn’t have enough money to hire an attorney, so they had to accept the fact that their precious family heirloom was lost forever.

Carrie became more and more vindicative as the years went by. She would cause problems for Conor at school; she would start rumors about Finn at his work. She had made it her mission to make their lives a living hell. Finn nor Conor never understood why except that Carrie was simply an awful person. There was no other excuse for the nightmarish way she behaved to her ex-husband and her son.

When Conor was 10 years old, his father stopped trying to contact Carrie to get the ring and instead enrolled at university to become an attorney. For years, Conor watched his father work tirelessly to put food on the table, raise his son and get his law degree, knowing that it was all to get the ring back that was so important to him. It was his sole focus besides his son, Conor.

Ten years later, Conor watched his father, Finn, receive his law degree. He watched a man who came from nothing, a bastard, work his way thru life against all the odds stacked against him. His Dad was so proud that day; Conor was so proud that day.

That was 30 years ago and 40 years since his mother had left them with the one thing that meant the world to his father—the Claddagh ring.

And now he could get it back because his father never did.

A ring that signified to his father that he was worth love. He made so much of what little he was given, and Conor aspired to be half the man as father, Finn O’Sullivan. That was why he had to try.

The plane landed in Ireland and Conor made a beeline for the estate. Conor had not been back to Ireland since the day he left and hadn’t ever planned to set foot in the country again. But now that he was here, memories came rushing back – a bile taste began forming in his mouth and he tried to swallow it down. His memories were not good; that is why he never accessed them. He kept them buried; it was easier that way. If he allowed himself to think about everything that happened all those years ago, he became bitter and angry. He didn’t want to feel that way.  

Conor made his way to the house, found the key Cilian left and opened the door to begin his search.

Present Day

Conor had been searching for 5 days. He had torn thru every room in the house and still no ring. He had all but lost hope, but he didn’t want to stop trying until he ran out of time. It was too important to his family.

Conor walked over to the far wall and started perusing the book titles lining the shelves in the study. As he read, Conor momentarily forgot why he was here in this house, in Ireland; the collection amassed on the shelves was so impressive. He allowed himself a few minutes, lost in the titles of some of the world’s most classic novels.

His eye stopped at The Iliad, by Homer, and he had a thought. Revenge

Conor removed The Iliad off the shelf and opened it, flipping thru the pages. Nothing.

His mother was a manipulative, vengeful human being who only kept the ring because she wanted revenge. Revenge for what, neither Conor nor his father ever understood. But suddenly Conor was convinced – his mother hid the ring in a revenge book.

Conor started desperately scanning the shelves, wracking his brain for every revenge novel he could think of. He couldn’t pinpoint why but somehow, he just knew—his mother was twisted, and this was something she’d do. The problem was there were several hundred books lining the shelves and they were in no sensible order.

Wuthering Heights. Nothing.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Nothing.

The Scarlet Letter. Nothing.

He spent hours opening books to no avail. Just as he was about to accept that he was on the wrong track and he needed to move on to another room, he saw it – Carrie by Stephen King.

Of course, she wouldn’t hide the ring in a classic novel. She probably never read any of them to even know they were about revenge.

But Carrie was something she might have read or at the very least seen the movie. It was so on the nose, Connor was kicking himself for not thinking of it immediately. Could she be that transparent?

He slowly reached for the book and immediately felt the weight or lack thereof. He opened the book and there inside Conor couldn’t believe his eyes. It had been hollowed out and inside was a Ziploc bag with the Claddagh ring inside.

Of course she couldn’t even put it in a box. She carelessly threw it into a kitchen storage bag.

Conor felt the tears spring to his eyes. He couldn’t believe it.

He removed the small bag and everything felt like it was in slow motion. He slowly pulled apart the bag and reached inside to grab the ring. He held the ring between his fingers and just stared. It’d been 40 years since he laid eyes on this ring, his fathers ring, his great grandmothers ring.

He found it. He couldn’t wait to tell his father.

2 days later

Conor was back in the States and taking the very familiar path to the top of the hill that he’d been taking for 30 years; ever since that week after his father graduated from law school. That was the week, Conor moved to the States, his world as he knew it changed and he brought his fathers with him.

He removed the ring from his pocket and slowly rolled it in his hand. He brought it up closer to his eyes so he could study it once again. He’d been waiting years for this.

Conor placed the ring on top of the headstone, just like his dad used to do.

“I have it, Dad,” Connor whispered quietly thru his tears, as he stood at his father’s grave. “I finally have it.”