Andy O'Sullivan (died 22 November 1923) was an Irish militant and Republican activist who was an intelligence officer and regional leader in the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

. He died during the

1923 Irish hunger strikes In October 1923 mass hunger strikes were undertaken by Irish republican prisoners protesting the continuation of their internment without trial. The Irish Civil War had ended six months earlier yet the newly formed Provisional Government of the Iri ...

while in prison.

Background

O'Sullivan was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and was one of three IRA men to die on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in 1923. IRA Volunteers

Joseph Whitty Michael Joseph Whitty (7 January 1904 – 2 August 1923) was an Irish militant and Republican activist who was the youngest (at 19 years of age) of the 22 Irish republicans who died while under on hunger strike in the 20th century. Whitty was on ...

from Wexford died on 2 September 1923 and

Denny Barry Denis Barry (15 July 1883 – 20 November 1923) was an Irish Republican who died during the 1923 Irish hunger strikes, shortly after the Irish Civil War. Early life Barry was born into a farming family in Riverstick, in south County Co ...

from Cork died on 20 November 1923 in the

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp () is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel. History Longstanding military heritage Th ...

hospital. O'Sullivan died as a result of hunger on 22 November 1923 in

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...

. Whitty, Barry and O'Sullivan were three of the 22 Irish Republicans (in the 20th century) who died on hunger strike. O'Sullivan was born in Denbawn,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

in 1882, the eldest of eight children. His father Michael Sorohan emigrated to the United States but returned to take over the family farm. Andy worked on the family farm but won a scholarship provided by the local paper ''The Anglo-Celt,'' to Monaghan Agricultural College. From there he won another scholarship to the Royal Albert College in Dublin and attended the college as a full time student from 1907 - 1909. He graduated as one of the top students in his year and was also elected head of the student union, the highest elected position in the college. In addition he was secretary of the college hurling team which was undefeated after 14 games in 1909. In 1909 O'Sullivan got a job as an agricultural instructor in Mallow area of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. In addition to educating and advising local farmers on crops and new techniques, he also judged local agricultural shows.

Arrest, internment, hunger strike and death

O'Sullivan was a captain in the IRA in the intelligence unit during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

. He began his intelligence activities in 1917 using the code name W.N - the last 2 letters of first and last name. During the Civil War O'Sullivan was

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

(OC) Administration in the North Cork area and later in the IRA's 1st Southern Cork Division, where he had been appointed by Liam Lynch. O'Sullivan dedicated his life to the establishment of an

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( or ) was a Revolutionary republic, revolutionary state that Irish Declaration of Independence, declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdict ...

: "His ideal and his goal was a Republic, and he went straight ahead working to achieve it. Nothing else bothered him." After the signing of the 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

, he joined the anti-treaty side during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

. During the Civil War, O'Sullivan was arrested by Free State forces and

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

in Mountjoy Prison. In 1923, (after the end of the war) thousands of interned

Irish republicans Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

protested being held without trial, poor prison conditions and being treated as convicts rather than political prisoners. On 13 October 1923,

Michael Kilroy Michael Kilroy (14 September 1884 – 23 December 1962) was an Irish republican and politician. He was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) officer in his native County Mayo during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. Subsequently, he w ...

, the OC of IRA prisoners in Mountjoy Prison, announced that 300 men would go on hunger strike. This action started the

. Within days, thousands of Irish republican prisoners were on hunger strike in multiple prisons/internment camps across Ireland. The mass hunger strike of 1923 started at midnight on 14 October 1923. Previously, the Free State government had passed a motion outlawing the release of prisoners on hunger strike. However, because of the large numbers of Republicans on strike, at the end of October, the Government sent a delegation to speak with the IRA leadership. On 23 November 1923, the 41-day hunger strike was called off (O'Sullivan had died the previous day), setting in motion a release program for many of the prisoners. However, some were not released until as late as 1932. Andy O'Sullivan died on 23 November 1923 (after 40 days on hunger strike) at age 41 in St. Bricin's Military Hospital, Dublin.Flynn, Barry, pg83 He was buried in Saint Gobnaits Cemetery, Goulds Hill, Mallow, Cork on 27 November 1923; his funeral cortège was reported to be a mile in length. O'Sullivan's name is commemorated on a statue that stands outside

Cavan Courthouse Cavan Courthouse () is a judicial and municipal facility in Farnham Street, Cavan, County Cavan, Ireland. History The building, which was designed by William Farrell in a neoclassical style and built in ashlar limestone, was completed in 1824. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Andy Irish republicans Irish prisoners who died on hunger strike Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members 1882 births 1923 deaths