Pat Shovelin (1975/6 – 21 October 2017) was a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

coach from Ardara,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

. He was the goalkeeping coach for the

Donegal county football team The Donegal county football team ( ) represents Donegal in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Donegal GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the Al ...

. He represented Ardara, his local club. Donegal won the

2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final The 2012 All-Ireland Football Final, the 125th event of its kind and the culmination of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was played at Croke Park, Dublin, on 23 September 2012. Donegal and Mayo, widely considered "one of the mos ...

and are All-Ireland Champions, the highest achievement in the sport of Gaelic football. As Donegal goalkeeping coach, Shovelin was responsible for the training of county netminders

Paul Durcan Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet. Early life Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and forma ...

and Michael Boyle. Shovelin considered Durcan to be as influential as

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

. Shovelin graduated through the ranks with manager

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and Manager (Gaelic games), manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal ...

, with the pair previously working together with the Donegal under-21 football team. His style was that of "always-smiling and ever-mischievous". Shovelin was with Donegal when they won the NFL Division 2 title at Croke Park. He was awarded medals on the basis of Donegal successes at senior and U21 levels. Though diagnosed with

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, he continued as part of the Donegal under-21 team that won an Ulster title in April 2017 and died that October.

Personal life

He was married. His first child was born on the Wednesday before Donegal won the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. McGuinness, Jim. ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 197 ...

''. RTÉ Television, 23 September 2012. He and

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

were close.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shovelin, Pat 1970s births Date of birth missing Place of birth missing 2017 deaths Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Deaths from liver cancer Gaelic football goalkeeping coaches Gaelic football selectors People from Ardara, County Donegal