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Dr. Eamon O'Sullivan, a Biography
By Weeshie Fogarty

Introduction
Terrace Talk's Weeshie Fogarty is in the process of writing an in depth book detailing the
life and times of Dr. Eamon O'Sullivan.
We will be updating Terrace Talk Visitors on his progress. Until the book is completed
please see below for a brief profile of Dr. Eamon.

A Brief Profile of Eamon
The one thing Eamonn will always be remembered for is his record breaking
feat as trainer of eight All-Ireland Kerry winning teams. It would be correct to say that many of Kerry's great footballers reigned during Dr.Eamonns time as trainer. He took ordinary players and inspired them to their greatness. In 1924 he was first appointed trainer of the Kerry team by the Kerry Co. Board. His success was instant for Kerry were victorious in winning their first All-Ireland in ten years. He went on to train seven more All-Ireland winning teams in 1926, 1937, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1959 and 1962.
The training in those years differed from the methods adopted nowadays.
Teams in his time engaged in what was termed a collective or full-time system of training. This meant that teams came together for a number of weeks prior to important fixtures and stayed together in a hotel for the full period. This type of training was abolished by congress in 1954.

 

The name of Dr. Eamon O'Sullivan will always be a household word as long as Gaelic games and athletics live on in Ireland.
Eamon's record-breaking feat as trainer of eight All-Ireland winning teams, his staging of the Colleges competitions and his organisation of athletic meetings throughout Ireland in the late twenties will be talked about for many a long day.
Others will remember him as the man who brought a breath of fresh air and hope to the mentally ill through the pioneering of open-air therapy as a worthwhile method of treatment. But here, in Killarney, and in the Dr. Croke Club in particular, Dr. Eamonn will be remembered and cherished most of all as the 'Creator', 'Innovator', 'Administrator', 'Trainer', 'Author' .... and 'Player'. He was the man who dreamed great dreams and brought them to fruition. The creator of the great Fitzgerald Stadium erected by him and his contemporaries, is a fitting memorial to one of the greatest footballers of all, Dick Fitzgerald. The magnificent stadium stands as a lasting tribute to the foresight, energy, and ability of Dr. Eamonn.