Peter O'Sullivan (born 1943) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a goalkeeper for the

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

senior team. O'Sullivan joined the team as substitute goalkeeper during the 1963 championship, and took over as first-choice goalkeeper at the end of the decade. He retained that position until his retirement after the 1972 championship. During that time he won one All-Ireland medal and one

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medal. At club level O'Sullivan enjoyed a lengthy career with

Cashel King Cormacs GAA Cashel King Cormacs GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. They play their games in Leahy Park, on the Clonmel Road in Cashel. The club is named for the king-bishop Cormac Mac Cár ...

Playing career

Club

O'Sullivan played his club

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local Cashel club.

Inter-county

O'Sullivan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team in the early 1960s. He won a

title in this grade in 1961, following a 7-11 to 1-6 trouncing of fierce rivals

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. Tipp subsequently lined out against

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

in the All-Ireland minor decider. A high-scoring game developed over the hour, however, O'Sullivan let in three goals and Kilkenny emerged victorious by 3-13 to 0-15. O'Sullivan later joined the county under-21 team. Here he won a

title in the inaugural year of the competition in 1964, following an 8-9 to 3-1 thrashing of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. An All-Ireland final appearance beckoned, with

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

providing the opposition. That game also turned into a rout, as Tipp won easily by 8-9 to 3-1. The victory gave O'Sullivan's an All-Ireland under-21 winners' medal. O'Sullivan subsequently joined the Tipperary senior inter-county team, making his debut as a substitute in the Munster final defeat by Cork in 1970. He became the first-choice goalkeeper on the team in 1971 and it proved to be a successful year. That year he started in his first full Munster final against

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. An exciting game developed, however, at the full-time whistle Tipp were the 4-16 to 3-18 winners. Kilkenny provided the opposition against Tipperary in the subsequent All-Ireland final, the first to be broadcast in colour by Telfis Éireann. In an exciting and high-scoring game Tipp relied on two freak goals to capture a 5-17 to 5-14 victory. The game itself is still remembered for the image of

Babs Keating Michael "Babs" Keating (born 17 April 1944) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer who played as a forward for the Tipperary senior teams. Born in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, Keating first played competitive Gaelic games during his s ...

discarding his worn-out boots and playing the last few minutes of the match in his bare feet. The victory gave O'Sullivan a senior All-Ireland winners' medal in the senior grade. Tipperary quickly surrendered their Munster and All-Ireland titles in 1972, and O'Sullivan was replaced as goalkeeper in 1973.

Inter-provincial

O'Sullivan also lined out with

in the inter-provincial hurling championship. He played in the

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

final of 1972, however,

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

won the title by 3-12 to 1-10.''The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games'' p. 82

References

Teams

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Peter 1943 births Living people Tipperary inter-county hurlers Cashel King Cormac's hurlers Munster inter-provincial hurlers Hurling goalkeepers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners