In 1956, Liam O’Dwyer O/C of the Irish Volunteers’ Castletownbere Battalion testified to the Bureau of Military History about the battalion’s activities during the War of Independence. It contains a reference to Quinlan Sullivan. It describes him as “one of our best trained men”
“Early in November (1920) our Battalion (Castletownbere) was asked to send in to the Column a section of our best trained men, fully armed.
Fourteen men drawn from the Battalion were selected, They were armed with rifles and double bandoliers of ammunition and set out for the Column about the third week in November, 1920. Some members of this party were – Liam O’Dwyer (witness), Christy O’Connell, Murt McCarthy, Tim O’Dwyer, Jim Sullivan, “Quinlan” Sullivan, Jeremiah McAuliffe. Miceal 68 O’Sullivan, Jack Sullivan (Shamrock)., Jim Sullivan.
When we reached the assembly point notified to us – Togher near Dunmanway – we failed to make contact with the man who was to meet us or with the other members of the Column. We remained in this area making discreet enquiries but failed to find our contact man or anybodyof the name in the area. We then decided that there must have been an error in the dispatch notifying us to travel and we returned to Baurlin in Bantry Battalion area where we remained for some time making fruitless enquiries. We then returned home.” P.15
BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21. Ref WS1527
The full tetimony is included below
sullivansetc.com 