'It's closure for us'

The family of a man who went missing in 1992, and who it has since been revealed was living under an assumed name in London, have said that news of his death has been "closure" for them.

Patrick 'Patsy' O'Sullivan, originally from Lombardstown, was last seen by his family over the Easter bank holiday weekend in April 1992. He had been working as a chef in Killarney and would travel home to Lombardstown every few months before his disappearance.

He was known to travel for work for weeks at a time, but would always maintain contact with his family during those periods. It has since been discovered by gardaí that he passed away in London in 2024 from sepsis, and had been living there under the name Patrick Aldridge since 1995. It is understood that Aldridge was the name of his partner, who passed away in 2022.

Speaking to PJ Coogan on ‘Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line’ on Tuesday, Patrick's brother Jerry O'Sullivan said that it was a closure for the family after looking for him for so long.

However, he said the family still has many unanswered questions.

"What we can take solace from is that he lived a life, his life, and a good life as far as we can gather," he said. It is understood that Patrick was gay, and was living with a partner in London. At the time he left in 1992, homosexuality was illegal in Ireland, and wouldn't be decriminalised until 1993.

Jerry said that the family had always hoped that Patrick would some day turn up.

"We'd always hoped that one day he'd turn up, let it be an event that we were having or whatever the case may be, or get a phone call. It never happened unfortunately," he said.

He also praised the gardaí who led the investigation into his disappearance.

"Garda PJ Roche here in Mallow took over the case and from then he's been a breath of fresh air. He went above and beyond, and the team that came in with him left no stone unturned until they had him found.

"Which is incredible for us as a family, I never thought I'd see the day that we'd actually get closure," he said.

Jerry said that he will be meeting with a number of people in the UK to find out what he can about his brother's life since he left Ireland. He said that he is "intrigued" to get stories about Patrick in the last 30 years of his life.