Donal O'Sullivan (1893-1973)

Abstract

There will be many who will have received the belated news of Donal O'Sullivan's death with profound sorrow. We, the members of the IFMC, have special cause to be grateful to him. He was one of our earliest members, and for twenty years he devoted himself unstintingly to the promotion and welfare of the Council. Besides being a member of the Executive Board from 1956 to 1962 and a Vice-President from 1963 to 1967, he served from 1959 to 1967as a member of the small Advisory Committee that used to meet in London from time to time, and it was, perhaps, in this last capacity that he contributed most to the work and development of the Council. Donal 0' Sullivan was a man of many parts and his services to the Council were manifold. He was a first-rate scholar and he had a sensitive perception of the aesthetic qualities offolksong and of its value in the life of today. He was a man of affairs and he guided the Council through many difficult passages. He was, for instance, mainly responsible for the valuable Statement on Copyright in Folk Music, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1957. As Honorary Secretary I constantly turned to him for advice and assistance and invariably I received by return of post a reply which was full of wisdom and encouragement. He combined a spirit of boundless enthusiasm with far-sighted vision. Above all he was a warm-hearted, generous and lovable man who enlivened the spirit of all who came into contact with him.Owing to ill-health he had little contact with the Council during recent years, but those who knew him will always remember him with gratitude and affection.