The Short Tragic Life of Bernard O’Connor O’Brien

Thin alleyways used to spindle off the main roads of Cork City back when my ancestors lived here in the 1800s. Most are gone now, but Sullivan Alley remains. Accessible through a hole in the street’s facade, it’s like a secret place. For my family, it holds a long-lost tragic story. In 1921, this was

Colonial Soldier

James O’Connor O’Brien died at 21 Barrack Street in 1922, about six months after Ireland won its independence from England. His life ended not far from where it began — in the South Parish neighborhood of Cork City. But James was not always in Cork. He travelled far as a soldier for the 1st Battalion