(died 5 Feb. 1923, in 83rd year), teacher, traveller, entertainer. Born in Munster province, Ireland. He left Ireland at 13 and settled in Liverpool, England. He was a school principal “in many parts of England, ” and spent 10 years in Australia, where he had gone for reasons of health, but returned to England. He is described as “a nephew of the celebrated Irish comedian, Barry Sullivan.” The “comedian” meant must be Barry Sullivan (1821-1891), an actor well known in major Shakespearian roles (though celebrated as a serious rather than a comic actor) and distinguished enough to have his own life in the Dictionary of National Biography and its recent successor the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Barry Joseph Sullivan of the present entry was said to have inherited some of his uncle’s talent, and to have often taken part in concerts in England, and to have been especially devoted to Shakespeare. “He knew Europe from ocean to ocean,” and was valued for his talk of his travels. He wrote “music and stories–some that are yet to be published.” His daughter Ella Mae Sullivan (1882-1967) was married in 1905 to John Caron (1867-10 Jan. 1945) who was a grocer and baker for many years at Lancaster. Barry Joseph Sullivan died at Mrs Caron’s home at Lancaster. (three children) The funeral service was at St. Joseph’s Church, Lancaster. He has no gravestone inscription at St. Joseph’s cemetery, Lancaster, but there are inscriptions there for the Carons and for his son Capt. Barry A. Sullivan (1874-1958), who at the time of his father’s death was employed at Vickers Dry Dock, Montreal.

     Barry Joseph Sullivan, the subject of the present entry, came to Canada about ten years before his death. It is not known how long he was in Lancaster before his death, or even whether he was in any sense a resident there. (For Lancaster at this period, see Louise Sandfield Macdonald) Sullivan seems to have been a remarkable man, and is of especial interest in that few people even remotely connected with the great world of the arts and entertainment touched on the GC scene in his time (see, however, Rupert Mar).

Glengarry News 9 Feb. 1923, Cornwall Standard 15 Feb. 1923 (QF) * Fraser, Gravestones, II, 149, 167, 190 * obituary of John Caron, GN 19 Jan. 1945 (much detail on the Carons) * There seems to be no ref. to the nephew in the books by Lawrence (1893) and Sillard (2 vols., 1901) on Barry Sullivan the actor