Seán Boylan

Seán Boylan (born 12 December 1949) is an Irish former Gaelic football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath. He retired from his position as manager of the senior Meath county team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in charge. During his time with Meath, he managed the team to four All-Ireland Senior Football Championships (1987, 1988, 1996, 1999), three National Football League titles, and eight Leinster Senior Football Championships.

Seán Boylan
Personal information
Irish nameSeán Ó Baíolláin
SportGaelic football
Born12 December 1943[1]
Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland
Club management
Years Club
St Peters Dunboyne
Inter-county management
Years County
1982–2005 Meath
Inter-county titles
County League Province All-Ireland
Meath 3 8 4

He also managed the Meath county hurling team, whom he also played with for 21 years.

On 6 August 2020, a documentary called Sean aired on RTÉ about Boylan's life on and off the pitch.[2]

Gaelic games

In recognition of his services to Meath GAA and his services to Meath as a county, Boylan was conferred as Freeman of the County of Meath – the first (and only) person ever to be bestowed with the title – on 23 April 2006. He was entered into the GAA Hall of Fame for his services to Meath football at a ceremony after Meath's Leinster Minor Football Championship victory over Offaly in Croke Park on 16 July 2006.

He has also been involved with UCD in the Sigerson Cup and was announced as part of Conor Laverty's Down under-20 backroom team in December 2020.[3]

Managerial statistics

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship record as Meath manager.

Year Played Won Draw Lost Honours
1983 2 0 1 1
1984 4 3 0 1
1985 2 1 0 1
1986 4 3 0 1 Leinster Champions
1987 5 5 0 0 Leinster and All-Ireland Champions
1988 6 5 1 0 Leinster and All-Ireland Champions
1989 3 2 0 1
1990 5 4 0 1 Leinster Champions and All-Ireland Runner up
1991 10 5 4 1 Leinster Champions and All-Ireland Runner up
1992 1 0 0 1
1993 2 1 0 1
1994 3 2 0 1
1995 4 3 0 1
1996 6 5 1 0 Leinster and All-Ireland Champions
1997 5 2 2 1
1998 3 2 0 1
1999 5 5 0 0 Leinster and All-Ireland Champions
2000 1 0 0 1
2001 7 5 1 1 Leinster Champions and All-Ireland Runner up
2002 5 3 0 2
2003 5 2 1 2
2004 3 1 0 2
2005 4 2 0 2
Total 95 61 11 23
Percentages 64% 12% 24%

Honours

Manager
Meath
Meath management roll of honour

International rules football

Boylan coached the Ireland team against Australia in the 2006 International Rules Series in two games in Pearse Stadium, Salthill, Galway and Croke Park, Dublin in October 2006. Australia won the series by 30 points but the game was overshadowed by violent incidents in the first quarter of the second test match, including a serious injury sustained by Graham Geraghty. He also admitted that he brought his players off at the end of the first quarter in protest and did not want them to return, later saying "I said I'd do it. Only the players themselves changed my mind. They said they wanted to go out and give it a go, they wanted to play football."

Boylan coached the international side again in 2008. Ireland won on an aggregate score of 102–97.

Outside Gaelic games

Boylan's late father, also called Seán, was a leader of the Irish independence movement in the early twentieth century, being a prominent member of the IRA in Co. Meath during the Irish War of Independence.

Like another Meath football icon, Colm O'Rourke, Boylan has strong Leitrim connections as his late mother hailed from near the small village of Cloone near Mohill.

Boylan is a traditional medical herbalist, practicing out of his home at Edenmore, Dunboyne.[4]

He had prostate cancer in 2009. In January 2021, he gave an interview to RTÉ Radio, during which he said he had tested positive for COVID-19 the previous March, lost ten kilograms in six days, and was in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown until the 31st of the same month.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Boylan, who turns 71 on Saturday..." 10 December 2020.
  2. "'Brilliant', 'Inspirational', 'Gentleman' - tributes pour in after Sean Boylan documentary". The 42. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. "Boylan part of Laverty's new Down U20 football management team". Hogan Stand. 10 December 2020.
  4. Western Herbal Medicine and Irritable Bowel Syndrome The Irish Times.
  5. "'The terror, the fear. It was uncanny, it was unreal'". Hogan Stand. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021. Duffy, Emma (17 January 2021). "'The terror, the fear — it was uncanny. I was never as afraid of anything in my life'". The42.ie. Retrieved 17 January 2021. Boylan, who managed his native Royal county to four All-Ireland titles in a remarkable 23-year tenure, told RTÉ's Sunday Sport how he was 'just terrified' as the virus hit him 'like a bolt' last March. 'It's such a dangerous thing', the 77-year-old said. 'I'm speaking as somebody who went for a vaccination for pneumonia and the flu. Some six days later, I wasn't feeling well. It turned out that I had Covid'... Boylan, who turned 77 in December and previously fought a battle with prostate cancer in 2009... "'The terror, the fear, was unreal. I lost ten kilos in six days' - Sean Boylan opens up on Covid battle". Irish Independent. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021. Speaking to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio One, Boylan revealed that although he has now made a full recovery, it was a long and scary process. 'I ended up in hospital and was discharged from hospital on March 31st', he said. "Seán Boylan: There are positive signs in Meath football". RTÉ Sport. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021. A routine trip for a flu vaccination ended with Boylan eventually being taken to hospital. He would go on to test positive for Covid-19, and he says it took him six weeks to get back to feeling normal... 'I was never healthier, fit as a fiddle. I lost 10 kilos in six days. the[sic] people in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown couldn't have been nicer to me'.
Gaelic games
Preceded by
Mick O'Brien[1][2]		 Meath Senior Football Manager
1982–2005		 Succeeded by
Eamonn Barry
  1. "Mick O'brien's midas touch". 27 November 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. Hayes, Liam (5 June 2014). Heffo – A Brilliant Mind: A Biography of Kevin Heffernan. Transworld Ireland. ISBN 978-1848271869. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
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