The Last Pages of Denis O'Sullivan: Rebels, Soldiers and Irishmen

A Century of Irish and Irish-American History, Told from the InsideSome family stories survive by accident. This one survived because Denis O'Sullivan wrote it down — in narrative passages, genealogical notes, letters, and reflections accumulated over decades — and because the people who came after him understood, even before they knew what they had, that it was worth keeping.The Last Pages of Denis O'Sullivan: Rebels, Soldiers and Irishmen is the restoration of that manuscript. Gathered, organized, and extended by Denis's great-nephew Anthony Garrow, this book brings Denis's voice forward intact — observant, dry, deeply rooted in the world of Cork, Kerry, and immigrant Niagara Falls — and places it within the broader sweep of Irish and Irish-American history that shaped him.The O'Sullivan name reaches back into medieval Ireland — to the ancient kingdoms of Munster, to Dunkerron Castle, to generations who endured siege, hunger, and dispossession. Denis traces that line forward through the townlands of Kilgarvan and Ballyvourney and into the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century.By the time the O'Sullivans and Kellehers reach the revolutionary period, the stakes are personal. Denis's relatives were not bystanders to the Irish War of Independence and Civil War — they were participants. The story of Con Kelleher's IRA connections and the death of Seán Kelleher reconstructed from letters and oral testimony form some of the most significant passages in the book.Then comes emigration. Patrick O'Sullivan and Nellie Kelleher arrive in Niagara Falls at the turn of the century, building a life in the Fourth Ward. Patrick becomes a policeman. Nellie becomes the center of gravity of a large and rambunctious family. Their children grow up between the wars, shaped equally by their Irish inheritance and their American ambitions.Denis, his brother Patty Joe, and his brother John all serve in World War II. The wartime chapters are among the book's most vivid — not battlefield dispatches but the texture of military life: the long waits, the absurdities, the humor that kept men sane.After the war, Denis pursues a career in Navy and NATO service, travels to a divided Ireland, and spends his later decades writing about the Troubles and the prospect of a united Ireland. The final chapters, some written months before his death in 2012, bring the full arc into focus: a man trying to leave a record that future generations might find useful.Denis's original voice forms the heart of every chapter. Alongside it, Anthony Garrow has added Context Notes, Reflection passages, and bridging chapters supplying the grounding Denis assumed his original readers would bring. These additions are clearly distinguished throughout — not interpretations but orientations. The book also includes a family reference section, historical notes, a glossary, and a bibliography.First and foremost, this is a book for anyone with roots in the O'Sullivan and Kelleher families of County Kerry and County Cork. But its reach extends to readers with Irish or Irish-American heritage, those interested in twentieth-century Irish history, and anyone drawn to family memoir and the pleasure of a voice shaped by one life, written without any audience in mind.Denis O'Sullivan (1921–2012) was born in Niagara Falls to Irish immigrant parents. He served in World War II, attended the University of Miami and Niagara University, and pursued a career in government and Navy service. Anthony Garrow, his great-nephew and co-author, is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm who came to Denis's papers as a caretaker and left the project having traced the family across medieval legend, revolutionary Ireland, and the whole of the twentieth century.The Last Pages of Denis O'Sullivan honors the Irish tradition of keeping the past from slipping away — and carries it forward. Read more