Tuosist GAA Club
Tuosist GAA Club is a GAA Club in County Kerry, located on the beautiful Beara Peninsula. Founded in 1972, we have made our home in Phil O'Sullivan Park in Lauragh where we have had many great days. We have been very priveleged to have had the backing of the Smyth family, which has enabled us to use the pitch for all of our club's activities and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them enormously for their continued support.
A number of years ago, the club looked into purchasing a site on which to develop a pitch of our own. After careful consideration, a site beside Tuosist Parish Hall was selected and the wheels were set in motion for the development of a community complex that not only caters to the needs of the GAA club, but also for the entire community. By creating a large walkway/recreational park around the grounds of the new complex, we hope that everyone in the area will see it as an outlet for exercise, or even just to gather their thoughts in the safe, pleasant surroundings. We also plan to upgrade and extend the Parish Hall, which will allow for bingo, plays, music, dance etc to continue. Our local Youth Club, and the Caha Centre also use this amenity frequently, so it will benefit many of the locality. The playing field will be a 130m x 80m synthetic pitch, which will allow it to be used 365 days a year. This development is currently subject to planning permission, but we are very hopeful that we will be receiving good news on this shortly.
This is obviously a very expensive project, and to that end we are now undertaking a large fundraising campaign. We will be applying for the various grants on offer, but we will also need the help of our local community, the wider diaspora and anyone who might want to help us out - no donation is too small.
We will keep everyone updated as our development progresses, but for now we would just like to thank everyone who has got us this far. We would particularly like to remember our late friend and Club Treasurer George Harrington. Without his vision and efforts, none of this would have become a reality.
Thank you for your support.
50 Years of Football
This year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Tuosist GAA Club. in 1971 a meeting was chaired by Fr.Dennehy at the Parish Hall with the goal of re-establishing a club. It was agreed that the club would be called Tuosist and would affiliate to the Kenmare District Board. John Healy was elected chairman and PJ O'Sullivan Ardea secretary. After PJ left for Templemore to train with An Garda Siochana Michael Murphy NT Lauragh was then elected secretary at the clubs first AGM which was held in the spring of 1972.
Tuosist Senior Football Team 1970s
Tuosist played their first County League match in 1973 against Fossa. They lost this match but were unbeaten in all of their remaining games.
In 1975, after a replay, Tuosist defeated Kilgarvan in the Kenmare District Murphy Cup Final. In the drawn game with time almost up they trailed by a point before John O'Sullivan Ardea snatched a late equaliser. Tuosist won the replay by nine points to eight. A feature of this game was the place kicking by Jeremiah O'Shea Glenmore. Stephen O'Shea Gurranes made history as the clubs first winning captain. John Healy and John O'Sullivan-Silvie managed the team. In 1976 Dermot O'Sullivan was selected on the Kerry U21 All Ireland winning panel.
Tuosist defeated Templenoe in the 1977 Murphy Cup Final. With minutes remaining and four points behind Mike Moriarty scored a point and then sixteen year old substitute Eugene McCarthy scored an equalising a goal after which PJ O'Sullivan secured the winning point.
In 1984 Teddy Harrington captained a combined Tuosist/Kilgarvan/Templenoe team to victory over Milltown/Castlemaine in the Minor County League Div.3 Final. Brendan O'Shea, Sean O'Sullivan and John Browne were also on this winning side. Michael O'Sullivan Killaha was selector with this team.
Tuosist Senior Football Team 1986
1986 was a great year for the club. Tuosist Seniors went twenty two games unbeaten in all competitions. They won the County Novice 'B' Championship, defeating Foilmore eleven points to eight in the final. They also won the Kenmare District Spillane Cup competition and were promoted to Div.3 of the County League with full points. Teddy Harrington was captain of this successful side. It was also a special year for Club Chairman John Healy who received the GAA Clubman of the Year Award from Dr. Mick Loftus, Uachtaran CLG.
Eugene McCarthy, Denis O'Sullivan and Teddy Harrington were on the the Kenmare District side that won the 1987 Senior County Championship.They defeated Dr.Crokes after a replay with Eugene McCarthy scoring the winning goal. Teddy, Eugene and Cian Sughrue were on the Kenmare District side that won the Gleneagle Shield in 1991 and Teddy also captained the Kerry Juniors to All Ireland success that same year. In 1993 Tuosist fielded two teams at U14 level and one of the players, Margaret O'Sullivan-Cumeen had the distinction of being the first female to play football with Tuosist club. Cathriona O'Sullivan-Greene won an All Ireland U16 medal with the Kerry Ladies in 1993.
Peter Smyth won two All Ireland Vocational School medals in 1994. Peter scored the winning goal for his school Beara in the final.Two weeks later he won his second medal with the Cork Vocational Schools.
Tuosist Minor Football Team 1997
In 1995 Michael Murphy, Lauragh captained Tuosist to win the Novice 'B' Championship.The Murphy and Spillane Cups were also won to crown the clubs most successful season since 1986. Tuosist retained the Murphy Cup in 1996 and were unlucky to loose the 1997 Finnigan Cup semi-final by a point to Templenoe. Steven O'Shea and Timmy O'Neill managed these teams. Tuosist Minors captained by Morgan O'Sullivan won the clubs first ever County League title in 1997. The team was managed by Pat Brosnan, Teddy Harrington and Laurence O'Sullivan.
Brendan O'Neill captained Tuosist to win the Spillane Cup in 1998 and the team were narrowly beaten by Kenmare in the Finnigan Cup and Cromane in the Novice 'B' final.
Der O'Sullivan and John Michael Healy managed the team
The Spillane Cup was won again in 1999 defeating Kilgarvan in the final on a score of 2-08 to 0-08 points.
Tuosist Senior Football Team 1998
Tuosist made it three in a row Spillane Cup titles after defeating a full strength Kenmare 0-11 points to 2-02 in the 2000 final. Tuosist were also to play Kenmare in the Finnigan Cup Final but unfortunately this competition was never finished.
In 2001 Tuosist created history when they defeated Kenmare 1-12 to 1-09 in the semi-final and Templenoe 1-12 to 1-08 in the final to win the Finnigan Cup for the first time.
They also won both the Murphy and Spillane Cups. The team was captained by James O'Neill and managed by Denis O'Sullivan and Bernie Healy. Tuosist went on to win five out of the next six Finnigan Cups. The winning captains include - 2002 Kieran O'Shea -Glenmore, Brendan Kelly '04, Stephen John O'Shea '05, James Healy '06 and John Joe Brosnan '07. Tuosist won promotion to Div.4 of the league in '02 and they defeated Kenmare in the Centenary Junior Cup in 2003 but lost by 1-11 to 3-03 to Currow in quarter final.
Alan O'Sullivan won an u16 County Championship with Eoghan Rua in '03. He also captained Kerry South U16s.
Tuosist Senior B Football Team 2002
Tuosist won a further four Spillane Cup titles in '05, '06, '08 and '09 and won promotion to Div.3 of the league in '06.
Flor O'Sullivan, Marcus McNally and John Joe Brosnan were on the All Ireland winning Kerry Junior panel in 2006.
Tuosist, Kilgarvan and Templenoe combined in 2006 to win a second Div.3 County Minor League title. They defeated Churchill in the final. Tuosist had six players involved.
Tuosist entered a 'B' team in the County Cahill Cup competition in 2002. That same year the 'B' team won the District Purcell Cup competition for the first time. The team was captained by Donal O'Sullivan, Killaha. Tuosist won this competition again in '04 captained by Johnny O'Shea, Brendan O'Shea '05 and Sean Healy in '06. Sean O'Sullivan and Michael O'Sullivan Corrnagillagh managed the team.
In 2008 Tuosist captained by Marcus McNally won the County Novice 'A 'Championship.They defeated Scartaglen in the final by 1-06 to 0-07. The team was managed by Denis O'Sullivan.
The following season Tuosist captained by Stephen O'Sullivan Ardea defeated Ennistymon from County Clare to win the Munster Novice Championship in Knockaderry.
Alan O'Sullivan was on the Kerry U21 Kerry All Ireland team of 2008 while Mike Tim O'Sullivan was on the Kerry Minor team which won the Munster Championship.
A Tuosist U14 side managed by Teddy Harrington, Cyril O'Donoghue and Tony Daly defeated Urhn in the Beara League Final and in so doing became the first team from this parish to win a Beara competition since the Lauragh team of 1937.
Stephen O’Sullivan captain with the Munster Novice Football Trophy 2009
Having been relegated in 2009, Tuosist Seniors under the management of Paul McCarthy, Brendan O'Shea and Steven Murphy were promptly promoted back to Div.3 of the County League again in 2010.
Dermot O'Sullivan, Paul McCarthy and Donal Downing managed the senior team in 2011. They were unlucky to loose out to Glenbeigh/Glencar by the narrowest of margins in the County Junior Championship that year. Denis O'Sullivan was back as manager in 2012. Tuosist defeated Cordal in the first round of the Junior but were narrowly defeated by finalists Na Gael in the quarter final.
Tuosist and Templenoe minors amalgamated in 2012 and defeated Dingle in the Div.2 County League decider which was played at the Austin Stack Park. Johnny Breen scored the winning goal late in time added on to seal the win.
Marcus McNally and Barry O'Sullivan won All Ireland Junior Sevens medals with the Middle Easts Quatar team in 2012.
After defeating Ballyduff in the semi-final, Tuosist lost to Lispole in the County Novice Final in 2016.
They were unlucky to loose out in the 2017 County Junior semi-final with Castlegregory scoring a late winning point nine minutes into injury time.
Tuosist/Kigarvan U16s won the East Kerry Div.1 League title in 2016. They also reached the County Div.1 semi-final.
Thomas and Gary Harrington, Daniel Hawker, Tadgh Sughrue and Aaron Morris all won County U21 winning medals with Kenmare District during this period.
Darragh Sughrue won a Munster medal with the Kerry Minors in 2016 while his brother Tadgh was selected on the Kerry U20 team that won Munster in 2020.
Julie O'Sullivan won an All Ireland U16 Championship with Kerry in 2016 and went on to win a National League Div. 2 title and All Ireland Senior Runners-up medal in 2022.
In 2021 Tuosist entered the 13/15 a Side County Senior League competition. Having finished on top with full points, Tuosist then played second place Kenmare 'B' in the final. With the game gone into time added on Kenmare lead by four points before Peter O'Shea and Darragh Sughrue scored two late goals to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Tadgh Sughrue was captain and Denis O'Sullivan and Stephen John O'Shea managed this team.
Other players to have played County football at various levels include the following : -
Kerry Vocational Schools - John O'Sullivan Ardea, Henry Harrington, Liam O'Shea.
Kerry Minor - Cian Sughrue, James O'Neill.
Kerry Junior - Eugene McCarthy, Brendan O'Neill, Colm Brosnan. London Seniors - Peter O'Shea.
Kerry Ladies - Mary O'Shea, Aileen Brosnan, Rachel Sheehan, Jean O'Sullivan, Emma O'Sullivan.
Kerry South - Gary Harrington, Cormac O'Sullivan, Jamie Harrington, Mark Torpey and Donncha O'Sullivan.