Michael Collins is a

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 ...

referee from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. He is from

Clonakilty Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population was 5,112 at the 2022 census. T ...

. Collins first took up refereeing in 1985 when he officiated a West Cork Junior B Football League game in

Barryroe ''Barryroe'' is an undeveloped oil and gas field in the Atlantic Ocean due south of County Cork, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitic ...

. After four years, he was part of the

Cork GAA The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Cork GAA is one of the 32 County board (Gaelic games), county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the Cork county teams. It ...

referees' panel. He made his inter-county debut in 1994, overseeing a Munster MFC game between

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

and Tipperary. His first involvement at senior inter-county level saw him referee

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

against Tipperary in the 1998 Munster SFC. He later officiated the 2001 Ulster SFC final, an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final and the 2001 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final between

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 ...

and

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

. He also received a Celtic Ross Sports Star of the Year Award in 2001. Collins's inter-county refereeing career concluded in 2013, after he officiated the Division 2 game between

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

and

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. His last championship involvement was a Leinster SFC first round game between

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

and Longford. He was replaced by David Gough, who would become an All-Ireland SFC final recipient himself, though there was space on the panel after

Pádraig Hughes Pádraig Hughes is a Gaelic football referee from Armagh. He is a regular member of the Gaelic Athletic Association's Championship Panels for inter-county games. Hughes injured himself against Eamonn Doherty when he was officiating the Dublin ...

injured himself against Eamonn Doherty when he was officiating the

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 ...

game in

Ballybofey Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn (County Donegal), River Finn, the ...

. Collins is married and has a son. As of 2018, he was working in SuperValu in Clonakilty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Living people All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final referees Gaelic football referees