O'Sullivan, Michael
June 16, 2011The death took place of Michael O'Sullivan (Nip Steve) of 5 Church Road, Ballydesmond- one of the villages most popular characters- on May 16th. Born to parents Mary and Stevie on January 4th, 1945, he had a younger brother Tim and a sister Kathleen who is now sadly deceased.
Michael attended the local national school and furthered his education in Kiskeam Technical School. He grew up and spent all of his life in Ballydesmond and during his childhood picked up the nickname Nip which stayed with him throughout his lifetime. Anyone looking for him in the locality would only have to mention this name to clarify his whereabouts.
He married the love of his life Eileen Fitzgerald in 1976 and they settled down to a happy and contented life together. They became proud parents of Mary and John and 'Nip' was delighted when John married Thelma and he later became a loving and doting grandfather to Jonah and Taylon.
During his youth, Nip acted out his nickname when he played with the local football team. He was recognised far and wide as a flying and elusive wing forward with his beloved Ballydesmond team wearing his number thirteen jersey. A loyal Cork supporter throughout his life, he took huge delight in the recent successes of the senior team.
When recuperating from his last operation, a nurse asked him to to where he came from and his witty reply where the best footballer in Ireland is from " referring to Donnacha O'Connor of the Cork senior team.
With his friendly, outgoing nature he was a very popular figure in the locality and never let his illness become a burden to him or his family. One of his proudest days was the visit of the Sam Maguire Cup to his home along with members of the Cork team.
He loved all sports and enjoyed a game of cars with his many friends in the village. Bingo and following the fortunes of the horses were other passions that Nip loved to enjoy. He took great pride in keeping up to date with the latest trends in the sport and his knowledge of the horses was eagerly taken on board by others less knowledgeable than him, especially on big race days.
He will be greatly missed by his family, relatives and many friends.
Courtesy of the Kerry's Eye
16th June 2011 Tweet
