Joseph O'Sullivan
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Joseph O'Sullivan (25 January 1897 – 10 August 1922), along with fellow
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
(IRA) (London Battalion) volunteer
Reginald Dunne Reginald William Dunne (June 1898 – 10 August 1922) was Battalion Commandant of the London Battalion, IRA and one of two men hanged for the murder of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson. Dunne, the only child of Robert and Mary Dunne, was born (as ...
, shot dead
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Sir Henry Wilson Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, (5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Irish unionist politician. Wilson served as Commandant of the St ...
outside Wilson's home at 36 Eaton Place,
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,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 22 June 1922. Convicted by a jury, he was sentenced to death by Mr Justice Shearman. Despite a petition of 45,000 signatures, and a plea for clemency from many prominent figures at the time, including playwright
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, O'Sullivan and Dunne were hanged for the murder on 10 August 1922 at
Wandsworth Prison HM Prison Wandsworth is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Pri ...
. The event provided the inspiration for the film ''
Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...
''. O'Sullivan's father, John, was originally from
Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula is ...
,
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
, and had moved to London as a young man where he eventually became a successful tailor. O'Sullivan's mother, Mary Ann O'Sullivan (née Murphy), was born in
Inniscarra Inniscarra () is a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry East, County Cork, Ireland. It is located about 15km west of Cork city. The local GAA club is Inniscarra GAA and Dripsey GAA. Inniscarra is located on the north side of the River Lee. In ...
,
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
. O'Sullivan was the youngest of thirteen children, all born in London, although only eleven survived to adulthood. As a boy he attended
St Edmund's College, Ware St Edmund's College is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operating and ...
. On 25 January 1915 (his eighteenth birthday) O'Sullivan enlisted into the
Royal Munster Fusiliers The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...
, and later transferred to the London Regiment and served with the rank of
lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...
during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and lost a leg at
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in 1917. On being discharged from the army in 1918, O'Sullivan was employed by the
Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...
and, when the war ended, was transferred to the
Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...
where he worked as a messenger. The Ministry of Labour was located in Montagu House, later demolished and replaced by the present day
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
. Montagu House was located adjacent to
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
. He became a member of the IRA detachment in London, and was named by Rex Taylor as being responsible for the execution of Vincent Fovargue as a British spy at the Ashford Golf Links, Middlesex, on 2 April 1921 with a label pinned to his body stating "Let spies and traitors beware, IRA". Fovargue had been an officer in the
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
IRA. O'Sullivan's brother, Patrick, the first Vice-Commandant of the London IRA during its early days in 1919 but was seconded to the Cork No. 1 Brigade during the
Anglo-Irish War The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
. Patrick O'Sullivan had also served in the London Regiment during the First World War, along with another brother, Aloysius, who was discharged from the army in 1916 suffering from
shell shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
. Patrick O'Sullivan was also wounded in a gas attack during the First World War. He fought with the
Anti-Treaty IRA The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
during the Civil War and was wounded ten days after his brother was executed. Shortly before that, he had crossed over to England to participate in an abortive attempt to rescue Dunne and his brother. In 1923, John O'Sullivan tried to have the remains of his son and Dunne released for a funeral Mass. But it was not until after the abolition of capital punishment in the UK that Patrick O'Sullivan, with the assistance of the Irish Republican
National Graves Association The National Graves Association (NGA; ga, Cumann Uaigheann na Laochra Gael, "Grave Committee of Heroes of the Gaels") is an Irish organisation which seeks to maintain the graves of Irish republicans who died in the pursuit of a united Ireland. I ...
, was able to arrange for the bodies of Joseph O'Sullivan and Reginald Dunne to be sent to Ireland for burial. In mid August 1929
Irish Republicans Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The developm ...
in London unveiled a plaque commemorating Dunne and O'Sullivan. In 1967, after some political and diplomatic debate by the British and Irish governments, the British Government allowed the bodies of Dunne and O'Sullivan to be exhumed. They were subsequently reburied in
Deans Grange Cemetery Deans Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown part of the former County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been burie ...
,
County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, Ireland.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Joseph 1897 births 1922 deaths 20th-century executions by England and Wales British Army personnel of World War I Burials at Deans Grange Cemetery Executed Irish people Executed assassins Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Irish amputees Irish nationalist assassins Irish people of World War I People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware Criminals from London People of the Irish War of Independence Royal Munster Fusiliers soldiers