O'Sullivan, Tom
October 25, 2012Kilshannig GAA Club were saddened at the recent passing of club stalwart Tom O'Sullivan. Tom was a great supporter and player with Kilshannig from his childhood. He played junior B football and captained the team for many years. From the mid 70s he began to take an active role in the Juvenile section of the Club, initially at Committee level and later by spearheading Thomas Russell's as an outstanding Club Officer. From 1982 to1986 he served as Chairman. In his first year "at the helm", he steered Thomas Russell's to unprecedented success in North Cork hurling and football competitions, winning three titles - U12 Hurling and Football and U16 Football.
As a result Thomas Russell's was named the 1982 Most successful Club by Bord na nOg, North Cork and Tom, himself, was the Bord's unanimous nomination for Clubman of the Year. The 1982 successes were, unbelievably exceeded the following year when, again under Tom's stewardship, Thomas Russell's annexed no less then four North Cork title -U12 Hurling and Football, U14 and U16 football. This time it was cork County Bord na nOg who recognised the achievement by nominating Thomas Russell's the Most Successful Club of 1983. Subsequently, Tom severed with distinction as a member of the G.P.C of Bord na nOg, North Cork. Tom was also a racing enthusiast for many years and has been to every racecourse in Ireland bar two. His relationship with racing started in 1991 after Lovely Citizen's success in Cheltenham.
Tom enjoyed the fun and celebrations so much that he decided to start a local syndicate, the name to be, Kilshannig Racing Syndicate, after the local GAA club. Their first horse, Another Excuse proved to be a great investment and went on to win 16 races, which included The Midlands national in Uttoxeter, a win Tom truly enjoyed and the Conyingham Cup in Punchestown and was placed in some very big handicaps along the way. Kilshannig Syndicate is one of the longest running syndicates that the Turf Club have on records. Since then the Kilshannig Racing Syndicate have owned many horses, with a good deal of success. The syndicate's members varied throughout the years, but was always organised by Tom. The horse's names in the syndicate always had the word Excuse, such ad A good Excuse, Two Excuses, to name a few. These horses have given Tom and The Syndicate lots of good days out. One of Tom's best days was at Kilworth point-to-point when a gamble was landed with Excuse Me Sir, Tom drove on and pinched the bookies that day, to his delight.
He backed the horse for friends and neighbours. The celebrations knew no bounds. Tom took particular interest in their most recent purchase, a Decent Excuse. He attended the sales the day we purchased the horse and came to visit the horse almost every day, up to and including the morning he passed away. The horse was due to run on the Sunday after Tom's untimely death. He was very much looking forward to this race as it was the first time the horse was getting the ground and trip that the horse needs. Throughout the years Tom was a regular race-goer. For many years he has taken his holidays for Galway race week. He would organise a bus trip to Punchestown, Gowran Park and most recently, he organised trips to Cheltenham. The bus was to be known as Tom's Bus. Tom's love for racing rubbed off on many people as they travelled in the bus. For many years Tom worked as a Sugar Distributor all over Munster before he retired in 2000. During his retirement he was very involved in Pitch and Putt and was one of the founding members of Kilshannig Pitch and Putt Club. He made many friends while he was involved in Pitch and Putt. Tom is survived by his wife Eileen, his children Noel, Mary, Mark and Anne and his granddaughter Chloe. Throughout the years, Tom contributed immensely to Kilshannig and Tomas Russells GAA, racing and pitch and he will be greatly missed by all.
(Text courtesy of The Corkman 25/10/2012) Tweet
