James O'Sullivan

by Harriet Andrews

Posted on Bere Island, far from anywhere,
the garrison soldiers must have longed for supplies
of boots and shirts, underwear and socks,
along with cigarettes, bacon and tinned foods.
But your raids on Bantry Railway Station
and the steamboat ‘Princess Beara’
must have lowered morale and made life more unpleasant.
The enemy forces never knew what to expect next.

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. This poem was composed in Poetry as Commemoration workshops held at Bantry Literary Festival in July 2023. The workshops were led by writer Thomas McCarthy.

Bureau of Military History Witness Statement: James O’Sullivan, Rock Villas, Bantry, Co. Cork. O/C, Bantry Company, Bantry Battalion, Cork