Mickey O'Sullivan
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| Mickey ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Gaelic football | |
| Irish Name | Micheál Ó Suilleabháin | |
| Full name | Michael O’Sullivan | |
| Place of birth | Kenmare , County Kerry | |
| Nickname(s) | Ned | |
| Club information | ||
| Club | Kenmare | |
| Position | Forward | |
| Inter-County | ||
| County | Kerry | |
| Position | Left wing-forward | |
| Inter-County(ies)** | ||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) |
| Kerry | 1971-1980 | |
| Senior Inter-County Titles | ||
| Munster Titles | 5 (3 as sub) | |
| All-Ireland | 3 (1 as sub) | |
|
* club appearances and scores |
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Mickey ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan (born 14 April 1952) is a former Irish sportsperson who played Gaelic football with Kenmare and Kerry in the 1970s and 1980s. He is currently the manager of the Limerick senior football team.
O’Sullivan was born in Kenmare, County Kerry in 1952. He was educated at Colaiste Iosagain, Ballyvourney, Co Cork and later studied at Strawberry Hill University in London and University College Dublin. O’Sullivan still lives in Kenmare where the family has in the past run an award winning restaurant and a bar. He also works as a secondary school teacher in Scoil Gobnatan in Ballyvourney. He married Marian King in 1977, and in 1979 had their first son Eamonn, then in 1982 had their second son Bryan.
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[edit] Playing career
[edit] Club
O’Sullivan had a very successful career playing club Football with his local Kenmare club. At underage level he won a Towns Cup in 1968, before later winning three intermediate county championships in 1968, 1970 and 1972. At senior level O’Sullivan won a county league medal in 1972, as well as a senior county championship in 1974. It was Kenmare’s first county title ever, with a second medal following in 1987.
O’Sullivan also played club football with UCD where he played on the college’s Sigerson Cup team.
[edit] Inter-county
By the late 1960s O’Sullivan was a key part of Kerry’s inter-county set-up and was playing on the county’s minor team. In 1970 he won a Munster minor medal, however, he never won an All-Ireland medal. O’Sullivan later moved on to the county’s under-21 team, where he captained Kerry to an All-Ireland title in 1973.
By this stage O’Sullivan was also a member of the Kerry senior football team. He won four National Football League medal in quick succession in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974. By 1975 O’Sullivan was appointed captain of the Kerry senior team. That year he captured his first Munster Championship title on the field of play (his first provincial medal was won in 1972 as a substitute) before later winning his first All-Ireland medal at senior level, under the new management of the legendary Mick O'Dwyer. The All-Ireland final against Dublin was a disappointing affair for O’Sullivan as he became the only All-Ireland winning captain since the Sam Maguire Cup was first presented not to collect the famous trophy. He was knocked unconscious seventeen minutes into the first-half and woke up in a Dublin hospital when the match was long finished. He was awarded his only All Stars award in that year.
In 1976 O’Sullivan captured his third Munster title, however, Dublin gained revenge for the previous year by defeating Kerry in the subsequent All-Ireland final. Following this defeat O’Sullivan took a break from the game because of a loss of form. He lived in the United States for a year before returning to Ireland at the end of 1977. By 1978 he was back as a member of the Kerry senior football panel. O’Sullivan played just a few championship games after that because he was unable to hold down a regular place on the greatest football team of all-time. In spite of this he still won another set of Munster and All-Ireland medals as a substitute. O’Sullivan opted out of the game in 1979 but returned in 1980 to win another pair of Munster and All-Ireland medals as a substitute once again. He retired from inter-county football shortly after this.
[edit] Managerial career
[edit] Kerry
In late 1989 O’Sullivan took over from the great Mick O'Dwyer as manager of Kerry’s senior football side. Unusually, he took over as manager of the county’s under-21 team also. Football in the county had taken a downturn as Cork became the dominant senior team in Munster in the late 1980s. In his first year in charge in 1990 Cork hammered Kerry by sixteen points in the Munster senior final, however, O’Sullivan’s under-21 side went on to win Munster and All-Ireland honours.
In 1991 O’Sullivan’s senior team reclaimed the Munster title for the first time since 1986, however, the team was later beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final. His under-21 team also retained their provincial crown, however, they were later beaten in the All-Ireland final. In 1992 the Kerry under-21 team captured a third consecutive Munster title, however, they were later beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final. As for O’Sullivan’s senior football team, they were unexpectedly defeated by Clare in the Munster final. Following this defeat O’Sullivan resigned as manager of both the Kerry senior and under-21 teams.
[edit] Limerick
O’Sullivan is currently the manager of the Limerick senior football team.
| Preceded by ' |
Kerry Senior Football Captain 1975 |
Succeeded by John O'Keeffe |
| Preceded by Seán Doherty (Dublin) |
All-Ireland Football Final winning captain 1975 |
Succeeded by Tony Hanahoe (Dublin) |
| Preceded by Mick O'Dwyer |
Kerry Senior Football Manager 1990-1992 |
Succeeded by Denis 'Ogie' Moran |
| Preceded by ' |
Limerick Senior Football Manager 2006-present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
[edit] Teams
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