Michael Boyle (born 1986/7) is an Irish sportsperson and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

coach. He plays with his local club Termon and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team. Educated at St Eunan's College in

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

, he was his county's number one goalkeeper in the past, though Paul Durcan had something to say about that. Boyle has also played soccer for

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

Playing career

College

Boyle studied Sports Science and Health at

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

(DCU). Boyle won the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. T ...

twice in 2010 and 2012 with the DCU GAA team. He was goalkeeper on both occasions, on the team that beat UCC in the 2010 final and the team that beat Maynooth in the 2012 final. The Higher Education GAA later barred him for playing for his college due to a new rule it introduced, prompting the team manager to consider a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

Club

Despite being a goalkeeper, Boyle was Termon's top scorer with four points in an away fixture against Aodh Ruadh at Fr Tierney Park in 2012. Termon defeated Aodh Ruadh by a total of five points, a score of 0–13 to 0–8. Boyle's performance led to media comparisons with

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, who would regularly do likewise for his team, including scoring the winning point in the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Later that year, Boyle won the

Donegal Intermediate Football Championship The Donegal Intermediate Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal IFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA. Termon are the title holders (2024) defeating Naomh Columba in the Final. History The competition has been ...

, again against Aodh Ruadh. He also played for Donegal Boston, winning the North-East Men's Senior Football Championship in 2015. Boyle did not play for Termon in 2020 as he was based in London, where he opted to remain for 2021.

Inter-county

Boyle was a member of the Donegal squad that won the 2007 National Football League. He played in the first team for periods in 2005 and 2009. Rivalling Paul Durcan for a place in the Donegal team, Boyle appeared at half-time in a 2009 All-Ireland qualifier after Durcan fouled Clare player

Gary Brennan Gary Brennan is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Clondegad club and at senior level for the Clare county team. He also plays club hurling for Ballyea. Playing career Club Inter-county On 31 July 2016, Brennan started in midfi ...

and conceded a penalty. Boyle retained his starting place for the games against

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

at Markievicz Park and Cork at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

. Boyle was named on the bench for the 2012

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

final against Down, although he later claimed to have picked up 43 points playing golf at Slieve Russell in Cavan. He was also on the bench for the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final against Mayo. A noted penalty saver, he was named on the "Future Champions 2012" football team. In 2014, Boyle sustained a cruciate injury. This left him lacking match fitness in 2015 when the chance to play for Donegal presented itself following Durcan's transfer to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. He made a substitute appearance for Durcan in the second round of 2015 National Football League fixtures against Dublin at Croke Park. He also started the league games against Tyrone and Mayo, as well as the NFL semi-final against Cork. Ahead of Donegal's 2015 Ulster semi-final, Boyle left the panel to travel to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

for the summer. He was "not fit" for the 2016 championship, leaving the goalkeeping position vacant for Mark Anthony McGinley and

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. He is known for his character actor roles in film and television and received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. ...

. McGinley was selected ahead of Peter Boyle.

Coaching

Boyle assisted Mervyn O'Donnell during

Gaoth Dobhair Gweedore ( , officially known by its Irish language name, ) is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district, and parish, located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. It stretches some from Glasserchoo ...

's successful 2018 Donegal Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship campaign. Boyle left his position with Gaoth Dobhair ahead of the 2020 season. He has also been involved with the Donegal under-20 backroom team. In 2022, he was coaching North London Shmarocks, which included his former Termon teammate Nathan McElwaine. Further details in the print edition.

Personal life

As of 2021, Boyle was employed as a commercial manager in the London office of construction recruitment firm, 3D Personnel.

Honours

;Donegal *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

;Termon *

: 2012 ;Donegal Boston * North-East Men's Senior Football Championship: 2015 ;College *

: 2010, 2012

References

External links

Official profile
*
2009 All Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final: Cork vs Donegal: Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke consoles Donegal goalkeeper Michael Boyle after the game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Michael 1980s births Living people Alumni of Dublin City University Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers DCU Gaelic footballers Gaelic football coaches Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States People educated at St Eunan's College Termon Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football) Men's association football goalkeepers Finn Harps F.C. players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Association footballers from County Donegal 21st-century Irish sportsmen Year of birth missing (living people)