Father Donal V. O'Sullivan (died 5 July 1916) was an Irish Catholic priest, and chaplain in the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in World War I. He was killed aged 26, in Albert in France, on 5 July 1916, during the attack on Bouzincourt, a part of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

. O'Sullivan was mortally wounded by shrapnel from a shell which exploded near him, while he ministering to a wounded English soldier, who survived the war. His brother Dr J. Ivo O'Sullivan KM served with the 5th

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Fo ...

, as a medic in the war, in Ypres, Salonika, Gallipoli, earning a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. A Chalice owned by O'Sullivan, was presented to the St Joseph's Young Priests Society, by his Nephew Dr Ivo O'Sullivan.

Life

O'Sullivan was born to Dan and Hannah O'Sullivan of High Street,

Killarney Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...

, County Kerry. He was educated in St Brendan's College, Killarney and

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, and was ordained at Maynooth in 1914 for the Diocese of Kerry. He returned to St Brendan's to teach for 18 months, before becoming an army chaplain. O'Sullivan ministered to the 7th Battalion,

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 kept a diary from the day he left Killarney for the war until his death. The soldier who had been ministered to by O'Sullivan when he was killed travelled to Killarney and met his mother Hannah.

Death

O'Sullivan is buried in Bouzincourt Communal Cemetery in the Somme. In 1927 the local priest in Kerry, wished to have O'Sullivan reinterred in a local graveyard, however his mother Hannah disagreed saying he would have wished to remain alongside the men to whom he ministered.Ivo O'Sullivan
Recording, www.irishlifeandlore.com According to Tom Johnstone, who sources this to a letter from the curé of Bouzincourt to O'Sullivan's mother in the possession of the O'Sullivan family at Ballydowney House, Killarney, it was the curé who requested Mrs O'Sullivan's permission to reinter O'Sullivan beside a new

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

erected to replace the one destroyed in the war. But reburial of the war dead was disallowed by the British government at that time, with the sole exception of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Donal 1890 births 1916 deaths 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish military chaplains World War I chaplains Christian clergy from County Kerry People from Killarney People educated at St Brendan's College, Killarney Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Royal Ulster Rifles officers Royal Munster Fusiliers officers Military personnel from County Kerry