Family of Cork man located deceased after 34 years praise 'the woman who looked after him'

Patrick Patsy O'Sullivan was last seen by his family in Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork, over the Easter bank holiday weekend in April 1992.

The brother of Cork man Patrick 'Patsy' O'Sullivan said it was "a hard pill to swallow" when the family were told he had died over three decades after going missing. 

Patsy was last seen by his family in Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork, over the Easter bank holiday weekend in April 1992.

"On August 7, Garda PJ Roche called me and asked if I would be available on the following Monday," said Patsy's brother Jerry O'Sullivan.

He explained that they had been in regular contact with gardaí over the years with updates on the missing person's case. 

"The last thing I expected him to tell me was that Patrick had been found," he said.

"They gave us the news and told us he had been found deceased, which was a hard pill to swallow. I was always hopeful that he would be found, but all the DNA they tested from John Does over the last 10-15 years was negative.

"So it came as a huge shock to us."

Jerry said he believes his brother, who was a gay man, "thought he was doing the right thing" by leaving Ireland.

"It can't have been an easy decision for him to leave his two parents and six siblings, so I must give him credit for doing something like that.

Life has changed since then, I take comfort in knowing [being gay] is more accepted now, but there was a lot of cruel people back then.

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993. 

Jerry said that prior to his brother's death, he was being cared for by a woman who discovered his original identity.

This same woman paid for Patrick's cremation and, at his request, spread his ashes with the ashes of his partner at a place they frequented in London.

Jerry said this woman then made attempts in 2024 to locate his family back in Ireland, which went unnoticed until now.

"The person I really have to thank is the woman who looked after him," said Jerry.

"She found a piece of paper in his flat from when he changed his name in 1995, and she kept that in the hopes of finding us."

Patsy changed his name in 1995 to Patrick Aldridge — the surname of his partner, who predeceased him in 2022.

Jerry said: "She posted something online in 2024 looking for a connection, but unfortunately nothing ever came of it.

"She is an incredible lady. She was the only one who had the key to unlock all of this."

She actually paid for his funeral, which is something that I will hold dear to her forever — because it is an astonishing thing to do for someone you barely knew.

Jerry said he will be travelling to the UK in November to meet with a number of people who knew his brother over the last three decades.

"I'm hoping that we weren't far from the back of Patrick's mind, that he never forgot about us," said Jerry.

"I'll get to meet a few of his neighbours next month, and the woman who cared for him.

"I want to meet as many people as I possibly can to get some bit of information on his life.

"When I get back, we're going to do something here for him, maybe a memory box and getting his name put on a headstone."