Tommy Ryan(born 1967) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former

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 ...

er. Born in

Termon Termon () is a village in the north of County Donegal, Ireland. Geography Termon is located eight miles from Letterkenny, Donegal's main town and seven miles from Creeslough. Termon is made up of many townlands including Currin, Doon, Drumlaur ...

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, he attended

St Eunan's College St Eunan's College ( ; ga, Coláiste Adhamhnáin), known locally as The College to distinguish it from the cathedral and GAA club, is a voluntary Roman Catholic all-male secondary day school (and former boarding school) in County Donegal, Ire ...

. Termon has a small club, near Letterkenny, but had only been competing at

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level shortly before Ryan was picked for Donegal. Ryan was part of the team that won the 1987 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship. He made his championship debut against

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

in 1988. He won an Ulster MFC in 1985, an

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and All-Ireland Under-21 in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, and an Ulster SFC and All-Ireland SFC in 1992. He returned from the U.S. in 1990 and played against Armagh in the 1990

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

final, won by Donegal, scoring 0–1 (and — seemingly — a first-half goal, ruled out when referee Damien Campbell pulled play back). He was Donegal's top scorer in the 1992 Ulster SFC. He did not play in the

All-Ireland final The All-Ireland Final may refer to: * All-Ireland Hurling Final, the last match to be played in the All-Ireland Hurling Championship (Senior, Minor and Under-21 levels) * The last match to be played in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship ...

but started the semi-final win over

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on 16 August 1992. Ahead of the All-Ireland final, Ryan lost his place in the team to

Manus Boyle Manus Boyle (born 1966) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Na Cealla Beaga and the Donegal county team. He writes a column for the ''Donegal Democrat'' ("The Breaking Ball") and is a health coach. He played county football f ...

, who gave a man of the match performance. The vote against Ryan's inclusion was tight (3–2). Ryan told the '' Sunday Independent'' in 2021 that he had "zero political clout. You had the county chairman

Naul McCole Naul or NAUL may refer to: *Naul, Dublin, a village in north County Dublin, Ireland *Naul (singer) (born 1978), South Korean soul singer, member of Brown Eyed Soul *National Amalgamated Union of Labour, in the United Kingdom See also *Willie Naull ...

(also a selector)… he was from Tony oyles club and a neighbour of Declan onners… Seamus Bonner, one of the selectors, Seamus is from Donegal town which has Four Masters and Joyce McMullan is the only man on the team from that area… You had the two McHughs (Martin and James) in the half-forward line… the other position was between me and Manus… If there was going to be a switch there was only one way it was going to be accommodated and I was going to be the one to lose out and that was just it". Ryan returned to the team in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

several weeks later. He was not selected for the 1993 Ulster final, which Donegal lost to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. Manager

Brian McEniff Brian McEniff (born 1 December 1942) is a former Gaelic football manager, administrator and player. McEniff played as a wing-back for the St Joseph's combination of clubs from Bundoran and Ballyshannon. He won seven Donegal Senior Football C ...

, according to Ryan, admitted his omission had been a mistake. His last competitive game for his county was in April 1995. He won 2 Trench Cups with Sligo. Upon retiring as a player, he remained active in football, managing Termon to the club's second county final. He, alongside Tony Boyle, was part of John Joe Doherty's backroom team when Doherty managed Donegal. In 2011, he was fined for not having a license for his

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. In 2014, he was disqualified from driving for 4 years for not providing a breath test when gardaí stopped his car.

References

External links

Tommy Ryan
at gaainfo.com
Tommy the 'Termonator'
Profile in the ''

Donegal Democrat The ''Donegal Democrat'' is a twice-weekly local newspaper, covering County Donegal, Ireland. The paper was traditionally based in the town of Ballyshannon in the south of the county, but now has offices in Donegal Town (southern edition) and Let ...

'' 1967 births Living people Donegal inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football selectors People educated at St Eunan's College {{Donegal-gaelic-football-bio-stub