Killeen History

The fifties were quite bleak times in Ireland but things started looking up in the roaring sixties. With this prosperity we saw more taking up the sport and a golf TV series called “Wonderful World of Golf”, commissioned by Shell, featuring Killarney, well and truly put the Club on the map in the US . The course attracted high profile tournaments and even more attention worldwide with special guests like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope playing Killarney.

Swelling numbers led to more land being purchased and the Killeen course was built and opened eventually in 1972.

This ambitious project, which involved the splitting of the Mahony’s Point course in two and extending the course in both directions was met with huge scepticism but this project was driven home by the clear thinking, determined Dr Billy O’Sullivan.

Many feared that a great course would be lost but instead two fine modern courses with distinctive features were borne.