Tullysaran O'Connell's was one of the nine clubs represented at the first recorded meeting of Armagh County Board on 30 March 1889. The Armagh Guardian of 20 May 1904 records a match being played at Kilmatroy near Tullysaran, but the club's own records date back only to 1932, referring not to the present name but to Knappagh O'Connell's or the Sons of O'Connor, Knappagh. In the late 1930s the parish league included a White Arrows team from Maydown, and other teams from Milltown/Aughatarra, Ballymacully and Knappagh.

The O'Connell's name re-emerged around 1947.