![\"Crookhaven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4903256_2_articleinline_Billy_OSullivan_e53f0a08487bb57d2e44c9c6fbb0cc4b9733d9e0a5da0b9a.jpg\" "\\"Crookhaven")
Crookhaven publican Billy O’Sullivan.<\/p>\nA glowing tribute has been paid to \u201clegendary\u201d 88-year-old West Cork publican Billy O\u2019Sullivan, who passed away this week following a long-term illness.<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Sullivan, of O\u2019Sullivans Bar in Crookhaven, died peacefully in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork city while surrounded by family on Monday.<\/p>\n
Crookhaven publican Billy O’Sullivan.<\/p>\n
The Mizen\u00a0native was the second generation of his family to run the famed establishment, known fondly as the spot for the most southerly pint in Ireland, spectacularly located on the pier in the West Cork village.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Echo, Cork businessman and Win Happy podcast host Greg Canty, who lives in Crookhaven, said \u201ca piece of old Ireland\u201d died alongside Mr O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I would say is that Billy, and what he created down in O\u2019Sullivan’s, is absolutely at the heart of the community,\u201d said Mr Canty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of his practical role down there, he made a decision with his team a long time ago, when most seasonal places throughout the length and breadth of the country decided to shut up shop from September\/October, that they wanted to provide the exact same service on a bleak Tuesday in February as they do in the peak of summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bought a summer house down in Crookhaven about three years ago, and it very quickly became an all-year-round house because it\u2019s such a lovely place \u2013 we wouldn’t stay there if places like O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s weren\u2019t open.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cNo matter who you are or where you\u2019re travelling to, there\u2019s always a fire on, a kind welcome and some fantastic food in O’Sullivan’s.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not about profit, it\u2019s about public service and being a leading light in the local business community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a man \u2013 he was legendary down there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom going in and out of the place, I\u2019ve gotten to know him a little bit \u2013 I had him on my podcast two years ago, and he is clearly the lifeblood of the place.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen you go in the door, you experience it through all the pictures on the walls, you can feel the joy and see why the whole region is so popular – and it\u2019s all down to him in my opinion.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever you are, if you\u2019re a French traveller wandering from village to village, you\u2019d have someplace to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Sullivan, while being an established publican and fan-favourite local of the Crookhaven area, was also well-known for being the last person to speak with French artist, Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, the night before her murder in December, 1996.<\/p>\n
![\"Sophie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4903259_2_articleinline_O_27Sullivans_20Bar_1_.jpg\" "\\"Sophie")
Sophie Toscan du Plantier was a regular visitor to O’Sullivan’s bar. Picture: Ellie O’Byrne<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in the day, there was a very popular lobster factory down there that was owned by a French company, so there were a lot of French people in and out of the locality,\u201d said Mr Canty.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBilly, being the kind of man that he was, learned French and he could speak with Sophie, and whoever else went through the place.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI 100% understand why Sophie went there, she liked the banter and the back and forth \u2013 she used to practise her English on him and he\u2019d practise his French on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minute he\u2019d get talking to anyone, he\u2019d light up the room with his stories \u2013 he was a born publican and a born storyteller.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart does go out to each and every one of his friends and family, I know how much they adored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will be deeply missed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was part of that older generation of hospitality that Ireland is so famous for \u2013 if you could wrap it all up in one person, that was him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a way, a piece of old Ireland is disappearing with him, but I know O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s is in safe hands with the crew behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a gorgeous man who needs to be celebrated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Sullivan was reposed at McCarthy\u2019s Garden in Crookhaven on Tuesday, with a Requiem Mass held at 12pm today in the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea and St Patrick, in Goleen.<\/p>\n
A cremation service in the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy took place at 4pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A glowing tribute has been paid to \u201clegendary\u201d 88-year-old West Cork publican Billy O\u2019Sullivan, who passed away this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[2736,781,18,117,19,17,22676],"class_list":{"0":"post-237957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cork-business","9":"tag-cork-news","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-west-cork"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115736508405712494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}