By Susan Glaser
The Plain Dealer
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Patricia Hollywood is president of the “Travel Connection” one of the region’s longest-operating travel agencies. At age 77, she said she has no plans to retire.
AURORA, Ohio
At age 18, Patricia Hollywood left Ireland with three friends, traveling aboard Cunard’s Britannic ship, bound for Cleveland via New York City.
Sixty years later, she’s still here — and still introducing travelers to her beloved homeland.
There have been numerous detours and diversions along the way — she returned to Ireland for more than a dozen years in the 1970s, where she met her husband and had three children.
But she felt the pull back to Cleveland, and returned in 1986.
Today, she’s president of the Travel Connection, one of the region’s longest-operating travel agencies. At age 77, she said she has no plans to retire. “I’ve threatened to a few times,” she said. “But I still love it. I could see myself working part-time, maybe down the line.”
Pat Hollywood (nee Doherty), a native of County Donegal in far northwest Ireland, chose Cleveland because her uncle lived here. The Irish economy was in bad shape, and America was the land of opportunity.
“My parents thought I was crazy,” she said. “America seemed like the big, gleaming place to come to. At the time, I didn’t know how long I’d stay or what I’d do. I really fell in love with the place, saw the opportunities.”
She worked in insurance for a couple of years, then moved to a travel agency, motivated by her wanderlust. “I had the spirit of adventure in me from the beginning,” said Hollywood, who, despite living more than half her life in Cleveland, still speaks with an Irish accent.
She became a U.S. citizen in 1965, then got lured back to Ireland in 1969 to open a travel office in Shannon, then Dublin. Years later, an opportunity arose to return to Northeast Ohio, and she jumped on it.
Her husband, the late Ray Hollywood, was a native of Northern Ireland, and liked to joke that he was hijacked to Cleveland. Her kids — who had discovered Cedar Point during vacations to Ohio — were thrilled with the relocation.
She said she is frequently asked if Hollywood is her “stage name,” by people who don’t realize its Irish roots. It’s a translation of cullinan or cuileann, which is Gaelic for holly tree. “Where do you think Hollywood, California came from?” she asked. “An Irishman came up with it.”
Her son, Mark, now works with her in the agency. Her daughters, Bronagh and Claire, live in Boston and Washington, D.C.
About half of her agency’s business, which employs six, is planning trips to Ireland and the United Kingdom. In recent decades, as tensions between Ireland and Northern Ireland eased, both countries have become very popular tourist destinations.
The Rev. John Carlin, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Parma, is a long-time client. “She’s the go-to person in Cleveland for Irish travel,” said Carlin, whose church often uses Hollywood to plan tours to Ireland, including an upcoming trip to see the University of Notre Dame football team play Navy in Dublin in August.
“She can make it as simple or as ornate as you want,” said Carlin. “She brings Irish hospitality to Cleveland.”
Hollywood, a past president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, travels to Ireland numerous times every year. She maintains a close relationship with the Irish Tourist Board and Aer Lingus, the national airline of Ireland. “I know Ireland like the back of my hand,” she said.
She describes it as a country with tremendous variety — great natural beauty, vibrant cities, charming towns. “But their greatest asset is probably their people,” she said. “The Irish are very friendly, they’ll go the extra mile for you.”
She is anxiously watching the drama in London surrounding Brexit, which will likely impact travel to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union may make it more difficult to travel between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland, which is not.
Her ultimate, long-term hope: the reunification of Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Over the decades, Hollywood has experienced numerous dramatic disruptions to the travel business, from the rise of the Internet to 9/11.
She continues to believe in the value of the work she and other travel agents do.
“If you have an issue at the airport in London, we can help you sort it out,” she said. “We emphasize our service. We’re here 24/7.”
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
