Podcasts

There Are Tonnes Of O'Sullivans In Kerry, So How Do You Tell Who's Who?

Kerryman Donie O'Sullivan instantly became a household name in January when the country was glued to his CNN reports from the Capitol riot in Washington D.C. At that time, Kerrywoman Lucy O'Sullivan was being bombarded with questions from friends about whether or not she was related to Ireland's new national treasure. It turns out there are quite a few O'Sullivans in Kerry! Lucy has written an article for The Skellig Coast Advertiser which compiles a list of 125 O'Sullivan families living within a 50km radius in a part of Kerry, and the nickname given to each family. [audio mp3="https://media.radiocms.net/uploads/2021/07/13114551/Lucy-OSullivan-Kerry-Names-STING.mp3"][/audio] This morning, Lucy joined The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show and talked through the meaning behind some of the nicknames, including the Sergeants, the Bishops and her own clann, the Mockies. Lucy's article has done the rounds online, with Donie himself sharing it on Twitter. In my hometown in Ireland there are A LOT of O’Sullivans Most of us aren’t related (though we probably are). As a result every family has a nickname. A local magazine put together a list of all the nicknames for the Sullivans in our area. Some of these are amazing. pic.twitter.com/7jEYgp1WQz — Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) July 8, 2021 Catch the full chat with Ian by pressing the Play button above. see more