Joseph O'Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Joseph O'Sullivan along with Reginald Dunne
, was a member of the Irish Republican Army
, who shot dead Field Marshal
Sir Henry Hughes Wilson on his doorstep at 36 Eaton Place in London
on 22 June 1922. He was hanged for the killing on 10 August 1922 at Wandsworth Prison. The event provided the inspiration for the film Odd Man Out
.
O'Sullivan's father John was originally from Bantry
, County Cork
, 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 also born in Ireland
in Inniscarra, County Cork
. O'Sullivan was the youngest of a thirteen children all born in London, although only eleven survived to adulthood. As a boy O'Sullivan attended St Edmund's College, Ware. On 25 January 1915 (his eighteenth birthday) O'Sullivan enlisted into the Royal Munster Fusiliers
, and later transferred to the London Regiment
. O'Sullivan was serving as a British Army
lance corporal with the London Regiment
during the First World War and lost a leg at Ypres in 1917.
On being discharged from the army in 1918 O'Sullivan was employed by the Ministry of Munitions and when the war finished was transferred to the Ministry of Labour
where he worked as a messenger. The Ministry of Labour was located in Montagu House
which was later demolished and replaced by the present day Ministry of Defence
. Montagu House was located adjacent to Scotland Yard
and it is probable that O'Sullivan used his position in the civil service to obtain information for the London IRA. On the day of the assassination O'Sullivan left work at lunchtime and did not return. During the course of his pursuit and capture O'Sullivan shot and wounded two policemen and a civilian.
Joseph O'Sullivan was an active Volunteer with the London IRA and was named by Rex Taylor as being responsible for the shooting of the "spy" Vincent Fovargue
on Ashford
Golf Links, Middlesex
. Forvarge was found dead on the golf course on the 5th April 1921 with a label pinned to his body stating "Let spies and traitors beware, IRA". Fovargue was 21 years old when he died and had been an officer in the Dublin IRA. He had been captured and tortured by the Crown Forces and allowed to "escape" after promising he would infiltrate the London IRA.
O'Sullivan's brother, Patrick O'Sullivan was the first Vice Commandant of the London IRA during its early days in 1919 but was seconded to the Cork No. 1 Brigade for the period of the Anglo-Irish War. 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
. Patrick O'Sullivan was also wounded in a gas attack during the First World War. Patrick O'Sullivan fought with the anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War and was wounded in action ten days after his brother was executed. Shortly before that Patrick had crossed over to England in order to participate in any attempt to rescue the two men. In the year after their execution John O'Sullivan tried to have the remains of the two men released in order that they could have a proper burial. However it was only after the abolition of hanging that the law was changed and Patrick O'Sullivan with the assistance of the Irish National Graves Association
was able to arrange for the bodies of Joseph O'Sullivan and Reginald Dunne
to be repatriated to Ireland.
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
in Ireland. O'Sullivan's brother Patrick and another former comrade Harry O'Brien accompanied the bodies from England to Dublin airport, where Patrick O'Sullivan placed an Irish tricolour flag on Dunne's coffin. This was the same flag that Dunne had placed on the coffin of Terence MacSwiney
at Euston Station
when his body was returned to Cork in 1920.
Reginald Dunne
Reginald Dunne was the second in command of the London branch of the IRA who was hanged after killing Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson.Dunne attended St Ignatius College in Tottenham, North London...
, was a member of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
, who shot dead Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir Henry Hughes Wilson on his doorstep at 36 Eaton Place in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 22 June 1922. He was hanged for the killing on 10 August 1922 at Wandsworth Prison. The event provided the inspiration for the film Odd Man Out
Odd Man Out
Odd Man Out is a 1947 Anglo-Irish film noir directed by Carol Reed, starring James Mason, and is based on a novel of the same name by F. L. Green.-Plot:The film's opening intertitle reads:...
.
O'Sullivan's father John was originally from Bantry
Bantry
Bantry is a town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the N71 national secondary road at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for 30 km to the west...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, 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 also born in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in Inniscarra, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
. O'Sullivan was the youngest of a thirteen children all born in London, although only eleven survived to adulthood. As a boy O'Sullivan attended St Edmund's College, Ware. On 25 January 1915 (his eighteenth birthday) O'Sullivan enlisted into the Royal Munster Fusiliers
Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its home depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company. It served in India and...
, and later transferred to the London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
. O'Sullivan was serving as a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
lance corporal with the London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
during the First World War and lost a leg at Ypres in 1917.
On being discharged from the army in 1918 O'Sullivan was employed by the Ministry of Munitions and when the war finished was transferred to the Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour was a British civil service department established by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916. It was renamed the Employment Department in 1988, and finally abolished in 1995...
where he worked as a messenger. The Ministry of Labour was located in Montagu House
Montagu House, Whitehall
Montagu House was the name of two mansions in Whitehall in Westminster, Central London, England.In 1731, John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, abandoned the existing grand Montagu House in the socially declining district of Bloomsbury, which was later to become the premises of the British Museum, and...
which was later demolished and replaced by the present day Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. Montagu House was located adjacent to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
and it is probable that O'Sullivan used his position in the civil service to obtain information for the London IRA. On the day of the assassination O'Sullivan left work at lunchtime and did not return. During the course of his pursuit and capture O'Sullivan shot and wounded two policemen and a civilian.
Joseph O'Sullivan was an active Volunteer with the London IRA and was named by Rex Taylor as being responsible for the shooting of the "spy" Vincent Fovargue
Vincent Fovargue
Vincent Patrick Fovargue was a member of the Dublin Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. Under duress after his capture, Fovargue turned informer...
on Ashford
Ashford, Surrey
Ashford is a town almost entirely in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne in England, with a small part falling within Greater London. It is a suburban development situated 15 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in London and forms part of the London commuter belt...
Golf Links, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. Forvarge was found dead on the golf course on the 5th April 1921 with a label pinned to his body stating "Let spies and traitors beware, IRA". Fovargue was 21 years old when he died and had been an officer in the Dublin IRA. He had been captured and tortured by the Crown Forces and allowed to "escape" after promising he would infiltrate the London IRA.
O'Sullivan's brother, Patrick O'Sullivan was the first Vice Commandant of the London IRA during its early days in 1919 but was seconded to the Cork No. 1 Brigade for the period of the Anglo-Irish War. Patrick O'Sullivan had also served in the London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
during the First World War along with another brother Aloysius, who was discharged from the army in 1916 suffering from shell shock
Shell Shock
Shell Shock, also known as 82nd Marines Attack was a 1964 film by B-movie director John Hayes. The film takes place in Italy during World War II, and tells the story of a sergeant with his group of soldiers....
. Patrick O'Sullivan was also wounded in a gas attack during the First World War. Patrick O'Sullivan fought with the anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War and was wounded in action ten days after his brother was executed. Shortly before that Patrick had crossed over to England in order to participate in any attempt to rescue the two men. In the year after their execution John O'Sullivan tried to have the remains of the two men released in order that they could have a proper burial. However it was only after the abolition of hanging that the law was changed and Patrick O'Sullivan with the assistance of the Irish National Graves Association
National Graves Association
The National Graves Association is an Irish non-governmental organisation which seeks to maintain the graves of Irish republicans who died in the pursuit of a united Ireland...
was able to arrange for the bodies of Joseph O'Sullivan and Reginald Dunne
Reginald Dunne
Reginald Dunne was the second in command of the London branch of the IRA who was hanged after killing Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson.Dunne attended St Ignatius College in Tottenham, North London...
to be repatriated to Ireland.
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
Deans Grange Cemetery, or more commonly known today as Deansgrange Cemetery, is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown part of the former County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been buried there...
in Ireland. O'Sullivan's brother Patrick and another former comrade Harry O'Brien accompanied the bodies from England to Dublin airport, where Patrick O'Sullivan placed an Irish tricolour flag on Dunne's coffin. This was the same flag that Dunne had placed on the coffin of Terence MacSwiney
Terence MacSwiney
Terence Joseph MacSwiney was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He was arrested by the British on charges of sedition and imprisoned in Brixton prison in England...
at Euston Station
Euston station
Euston station may refer to one of the following stations in London, United Kingdom:*Euston railway station, a major terminus for trains to the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and part of Scotland...
when his body was returned to Cork in 1920.