KERRY viewers of RTEs Fair City are no doubt glued to their screens at the moment, following the gripping storyline of a love triangle going on between the characters of Carol, Sylvester and undercover cop Rory.But what many fans of the popular soap probably dont realise, is that Frank OSullivan, who plays the evil crime boss Sylvester Garrigan,
By Deirdre WalshKERRY viewers of RTE’s ‘Fair City’ are no doubt glued to their screens at the moment, following the gripping storyline of a love triangle going on between the characters of Carol, Sylvester and undercover cop Rory.
But what many fans of the popular soap probably don’t realise, is that Frank O’Sullivan, who plays the evil crime boss Sylvester Garrigan, is indeed one of our own - as he was only born and reared in our own Cahersiveen!
“We know him better as Francis, though when he started out as an actor he became known as Frank,” recalls the actor’s former classmate, Cllr Paul O’Donoghue.
“We were in the same class all the way up through school and he always had a talent for acting.
None of us who left school with him in 1975 were remotely surprised that he pursued that career.”
The son of Teresa and the late Jerry John Tade O’Sullivan, Frank grew up at Fair View, Cahersiveen, where his mother still lives. He then went to school at the local CBS national and secondary schools, before moving up to Dublin to work as a tree surgeon.
He married his childhood sweetheart, Anne Concannon from Waterville, and eventually broke in to the acting scene, securing roles in a wide variety of films among them including ‘Michael Collins’, ‘Into the West’ and ‘War of the Buttons’, all this as well as regular theatre work.
But it was his role as Dublin underworld crime boss Sylvester Garrigan that has made him a household name throughout Ireland in recent years - particularly in the past few weeks, as his character is involved in a major storyline.
“Locally we are all following his performances very closely and everyone is thrilled with his success. Cahersiveen is very proud of him,” said Cllr O’Donoghue.
But Frank O’Sullivan isn’t the only ‘Fair City’ actor with close Kerry connections.
Una Kavanagh, who plays Heather, is the daughter of two South Kerry natives.