Michael Joseph Bulger (15 May 1867 – 20 July 1938) was an Irish rugby player, athlete and medical doctor. Along with his brothers,

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, he was prominent in the Irish sporting world in the late 19th century. Bulger achieved lasting fame for his role as one of the umpires involved in the disqualification of

Dorando Pietri Dorando Pietri (; often wrongly spelt Petri; 16 October 1885 – 7 February 1942) was an Italian long-distance runner. He finished first in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but was subsequently disqualified. Biography Early ...

at the finish of the marathon at the 1908 London Olympics.

Family background

The Bulger family were from Moore Street,

Kilrush Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, where their father, Daniel Scanlan Bulger (1831–1904), was a woolen merchant and draper and ran a loan office. Around 1880, the family moved to Dublin, where Daniel Scanlan Bulger became a member of the Dublin Stock Exchange and his sons were educated at

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

and

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

Rugby career

Bulger played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

while at Blackrock and from there, in a rugby career which his younger brother Lawrence would later follow, he represented

Dublin University Football Club Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the rugby union club of Trinity College Dublin, Trinity College, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, which plays in 2024–25 All-Ireland League (rugby union)#Division 1B, Division 1B of the All-Ir ...

. It was while at Dublin University that Bulger was called up to play in his only international match, facing the first-ever New Zealand Native football team. Bulger was brought in at three quarters along with David Woods and Alfred Walpole, Walpole being the most experienced international with just a single cap. The game was lackluster for the main body of the match until the last third when the Natives took charge winning by four goals to one. After the loss, Bulger never played international rugby again, but this did not diminish his involvement in the game, as he represented

Lansdowne Football Club Lansdowne Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. Called Football Club instead of Rugby Football Club due to being founded before the formation of the IRFU. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the ''Irish Champion Ath ...

while still a student. After completing his university education in Ireland, Bulger moved to London to set up a medical practice. A few years later Lawrence followed him to the capital, and the two brothers worked together in the same practice. In 1898 both brothers were founding members of

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

1908 Olympic Marathon

had trained hard for the

1908 Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

in London. In a race in

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Roman Catholic titular see People ...

he ran in 2 hours and 38 minutes, an extraordinary result for the times. The marathon, which took place on 24 July 1908, started with 56 competitors, including Pietri and fellow Italian Umberto Blasi. It began at 2:33pm. The weather was particularly hot by British summer standards. The London course measured ; the distance would later become the official marathon length from 1921. Pietri began his race at a rather slow pace, but in the second half of the course began a powerful surge moving him into second position by the mark, 4 minutes behind South African

Charles Hefferon Charles Archer Hefferon (25 January 1878 – 13 May 1932) was an athlete representing South Africa who competed mainly in the marathon. Hefferon was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, to an Irish father and an English mother but moved with his ...

. When he knew that Hefferon was in crisis, Pietri further increased his pace, overtaking him at the mark. The effort took its toll and with only two kilometres to go, Pietri began to feel the effects of extreme fatigue and

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

. When he entered the stadium, he took the wrong path and when umpires, including Michael Joseph Bulger, redirected him, he fell down for the first time. He got up with their help, in front of 75,000 spectators. He fell four more times, and each time the umpires helped him up. In the end, though totally exhausted, he managed to finish the race in first place. Of his total time of 2h 54min 46s, ten minutes were needed for that last 350 metres. Second was American

Johnny Hayes John Joseph Hayes (April 10, 1886 – August 25, 1965) was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early gro ...

, with a time of 2h 55min 18s. The American team immediately lodged a complaint against the help Pietri received from the umpires. The complaint was accepted and Pietri was disqualified and removed from the final standings of the race, but almost immediately became an international celebrity. The images, if not the names, of Bulger and the others who helped him across the line became equally well known.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulger, Michael Joseph 1867 births 1938 deaths Rugby union players from County Clare People from Kilrush Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Irish general practitioners Lansdowne Football Club players Dublin University Football Club players London Irish players Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Rugby union three-quarters People educated at Blackrock College Medical doctors from County Clare