Placed high on a house at 82 Douglas Street there is a stone plaque. It's inscription:
"In loving memory of Captain Tadhg O'Sullivan C Company 2nd Battalion 1st Brigade of the IRA in Cork who was murdered in this house on the 19th April 1921.
Irish police of the King of England did the treacherous deed.
May his soul be on the right hand of god."
The Republican monument in O'Sullivans native Rathmore.
In 1920 he was sent to jail in Belfast where he went on hunger strike. When he was released he came back to Cork where he resumed his IRA activities which marked him out as a wanted man by the British authorities.
On the evening of April 19th 1921 O'Sullivan was walking back to his lodgings on Douglas Street when he spotted plain clothes detectives searching people near the top of White Street.
Unfortunately for the Kerryman, he was spotted slipping into No. 82 Douglas Street by the notorious Sergeant Hollywood.
Sergeant Hollywood blew his whistle and led his men in pursuit of O'Sullivan. The young IRA Captain was pursued up stairs and as he was fleeing out through a window to escape onto the roof Sergeant Hollywood aimed and fired.
O'Sullivan's bullet riddled body fell out onto the backyard. Witnesses claimed Sergeant Hollywood had unloaded his whole chamber of bullets into the Kerryman.
Sergeant Hollywood was a prime target of the Cork IRA, he was responsible for many upsets, including the killing of O'Sullivan. Despite numerous attempts to 'get' Hollywood, the IRA never did. Making him one of the very few who survived the guns of the Cork Brigade.
The funeral of Captain Tadgh O'Sullivan took placec on April 22nd. From St Finbarrs chapel, not far from the scene of his death, O'Sullivan was taken to St Finbarrs cemetery where he was laid to rest in the Republican plot.
Sergeant Hollywood blew his whistle and led his men in pursuit of O'Sullivan. The young IRA Captain was pursued up stairs and as he was fleeing out through a window to escape onto the roof Sergeant Hollywood aimed and fired.
O'Sullivan surrounded by his grieving family.
O'Sullivan's bullet riddled body fell out onto the backyard. Witnesses claimed Sergeant Hollywood had unloaded his whole chamber of bullets into the Kerryman.
Sergeant Hollywood was a prime target of the Cork IRA, he was responsible for many upsets, including the killing of O'Sullivan. Despite numerous attempts to 'get' Hollywood, the IRA never did. Making him one of the very few who survived the guns of the Cork Brigade.
St Finbarrs South Chapel, Dunbar Street.
Much to the distress of his family and comrades, Captain O'Sullivan's coffin was escorted by heavily armed British Soldiers.
Grave of Cpt O'Sullivan at St Finbarrs Cemetery.
A local said to me that there were two Volunteers involved that fateful day. Tadhg Ó Súilleabháin was killed by the Tans. My informant told me that the second volunteer also fled but when cornered by the enemy 'he hung himself'. Can anyone corroborate this?
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