Cork woman Orla O’Sullivan didn't let being deaf stop her pursuing her love of music

Cork woman Orla O’Sullivan became deaf in infancy through a side-effect of medication. As a new RTÉ documentary shows, it didn’t stop her pursuing her love of music, writes Marjorie Brennan

FOR most parents, the moment when they hear their child sing for the first time is a precious one. When Orla O’Sullivan’s mother Betty heard her 3-year-old daughter humming Brahms’ Lullaby as she sat on the stairs one day, it was an event made even more momentous by the fact that Orla was profoundly deaf and visually- impaired.

Orla, who lives in Frankfield in Cork, went on to achieve what many thought was impossible, becoming a piano teacher. Her story is told in the documentary Good Vibrations on RTÉ One tonight.