IN THE MIDDLE of 2017, Barry Dan O’Sullivan found himself at a loose end in terms of his sporting endeavours.
His Kerry football U21 commitments had wrapped up a few months before. His club Dingle were knocked out of the local county championship that July. He had opted against heading Stateside to kick ball.
The summer stretched out before him.
Then a call came from leftfield. Ian Brick was selling the idea of throwing his lot in with the Kerry U21 hurlers. O’Sullivan had dabbled in the sport previously. There had been some experience in school in Dingle in his younger days, a couple of run outs at minor level with north Kerry outfit Kilmoyley.
He seized this surprise inter-county opportunity and by September was midfield on All-Ireland hurling final day in Semple Stadium, departing with a medal in his pocket. Kerry lifted the title at B level with Shane Conway in free-scoring form, the curtain-raiser to Limerick’s band of future senior heroes despatching Kilkenny in the A final. Victory saw O’Sullivan match his club-mate Paul Geaney’s feat at the same grade back in 2010, a nice addition to a sporting life anchored down by football.
It still stands as O’Sullivan’s most recent championship appearance in Kerry colours.
And yet that period of inactivity looks set to come to an end in striking fashion.
Kerry set out on the Munster senior trail on Saturday in Killarney against Tipperary. After a spring where he bedded down at midfield, O’Sullivan is in line to feature in Fitzgerald Stadium. Tasting championship action for Kerry again – 2,051 days since his last outing.
A senior championship bow for Kerry at the age of 27.
It’s a curious and unlikely tale, ignited by a career renaissance. A testament to perseverance as well and the production of club form that was impossible to ignore.
“I wasn’t involved with Dingle last year but he was outstanding,” says Diarmuid Murphy, a Kerry selector and Dingle club-mate.
“I thought he was the form midfielder in the county championship. When you are involved with Kerry it is important you reward fellas who do well in county championship. That’s what we go on really, when we are looking for new fellas for the squad. Barry is a good solid fella, confident lad, so delighted for him.”
“I think it was a great sign by the Kerry management that they were keeping a keen eye on the club championships,” says Kerry defender Tadhg Morley.
“Anybody that was going well got a look. Lads know if I play well with my club here, I’ve a chance. It’s great to bring back Barry because he deserved his chance.”
O’Sullivan’s football CV is framed by honours. Kerry minor and U21 experience, spanning five seasons across both. Part of a Tom Markham Cup triumph in 2014, Jack O’Connor the guiding hand as manager, Geelong’s Marc O’Connor riding alongside him in the midfield engine room. The same year featured another Croke Park highlight, Hogan Cup glory with PS Chorca Dhuibhne.
Then there were two Sigerson Cup medals collected in UCD colours, a sub in 2016 and a starter in 2018, where he partnered current county colleague Jack Barry at midfield. With Dingle there were splashes of success across the underage landscape and he has been a pillar in their senior midfield for the guts of a decade.
Making that next step has been the challenge. He came on as a sub for Kerry against Roscommon in the 2016 league, came off the bench twice in 2017 against Donegal and Mayo, before a consistent run of outings in 2018 at midfield with five appearances.
After that there was radio silence. Years in the wilderness would have prompted most to reasonably assume the inter-county game had passed them by.
And yet in the last few months O’Sullivan was handed a starting spot for six of Kerry’s league encoutners and only illness ruled him out of the trip to Omagh. He added a scoring touch at times to Kerry’s form, clipping two points against Galway and rifling home a goal against Mayo.
“He’s good on the ball and under a kick out,” says Murphy. “Good to break a line, take the ball on, kick a score and set up a score which is important in midfielders in the modern game. Especially against defensive set ups that you have a player that can do that.”
There is another context to this career renaissance. Kerry lifted Sam last July but that did not make them immune to setbacks. When Jack O’Connor went to assemble his 2023 crew, his midfield cupboard was looking bare.
David Moran moved to retirement, robbing them of a towering figure. A potential replacement was hit with a cruciate tear last autumn in Joe O’Connor. The Na Gaeil pair of Jack Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor remain strong options, but the latter missed a chunk of the league through injury and their club-mate Stefan Okunbor, a versatile operator, has been ruled out for the season with a hamstring tear.
As Kerry scanned for candidates, O’Sullivan put up his hand for inclusion and years out of an inter-county environment had not set him at a physical disadvantage.
“For lads coming into county squads who haven’t been involved in the last number of years, the gym side of it, the S&C side of it, that a lot of them struggle (in) as much as anything else,” outlines Murphy.
“Barry has been working hard with Dingle for the last couple of years and having been involved with Dingle myself, Shane O’Rourke and a couple more of the boys back there have been doing massive S&C work with Dingle.
“So the shortfall wasn’t huge for him to make up coming into the county scene.”
Veterinary science studies had brought O’Sullivan to Dublin with his course tying him to the UCD campus in Belfield for a few years. Trying to put in the miles from there to become a Kerry player was not easy, a move back home for work has facilitated his form.
Club duties kept him busy last year. DIngle were pipped in the semi-final by a point by eventual champions East Kerry last October. He hurled for Kilmoyley and struck 0-3 in their hurling last four clash against Causeway.
“He’d a very strong season last year with Dingle, we came up against him a couple of times,” says Morley.
“It was probably hard for him when he was in Dublin. going up and down training with Kerry at the same time. So it’s only in the last year or so he’s transferred back to living in Kerry.
“Very fit last year and he’s followed that through this year.”
“I think he had the ambition but it was a question of getting the form right really was the thing for him,” says Murphy.
“I think he has matured a lot over the last two or three years physically and in terms of his football as well.
“He is making the most of his opportunity now.”
Patience has been rewarded.
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