New York captain with Donegal roots looks to make history on his return to Ireland

It might actually be fitting that Jamie Boyle was born in the Big Apple because the positive attitude and leadership of New York’s captain looms like a skyscraper. 

He was on 28th street, making his way to a meeting on 45th street in Midtown Manhattan when he answered the call from across the Atlantic regarding his upcoming Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final against Laois this weekend in O’Moore Park. 

It took a few moments to flush out the background noise of sirens and horns before speaking. There was no other place he could’ve been in other than the City that Never Sleeps with noise like that. 

It’s nine weeks, which should be more than enough time to erase any disappointment about the nature of that 15-point defeat to Mayo in the Connacht championship in the Bronx. 

But the man with Donegal blood is well used to the highs and lows of the GAA championship at this point. 

He was a part of the magical night in the Bronx when New York overcame Leitrim in the Connacht championship, with Boyle lining out at corner-back in New York’s first-ever championship win. 

“Like, that night in the Bronx last year . . . I think it was just a great moment for the GAA. For me, what I remember the most is the young kids running onto the field after the final penalty. It was a great night for all of us and something we’ll remember for a long time,” Boyle claimed. 

The grandson of emigrants from Donegal, his grandfather Michael (Mike) on his mother’s side is from Barnesmore, with his grandmother Margaret (Peg) Meehan just outside Drimarone. On the other side of the family, Jamie’s father hails from Wexford town. 

His parents met at Good Shepherd GAA club on the north tip of Manhattan, a real Irish heartland, before raising their boys upstate, and although Boyle has been embraced his entire life within Irish culture and while he played Gaelic football from a young age with the St Brendan's club, his sporting career then took a different turn. 

“I played GAA until I was about 16. Then I remember my American football coach in high school was looking for a kicker and wanted me to do it. So, my sophomore year at high school I started kicking American football,” he said. 

“I started getting some college interest and I actually went to college to kick, so I continued doing that down in Florida with the University of Central Florida. 

“But as you know, it’s hard to make it in American football, it’s really difficult, so I eventually moved back to New York and got involved in the GAA, but very loosely. I played with Donegal New York because all my uncles played with them, and my grandfather was massively involved. But I didn't start to take it seriously until the Covid pandemic and that’s when I got called into the New York team.” 

Meehan now awaits Laois this weekend as he and the rest of the New York team make their journey back for the second year in-a-row to Ireland, and with the introduction of the Tailteann Cup, Boyle is pleased to get a second bite of the cherry. 

“It’s great that we have another shot at playing in the championship now. I mean in the past we only had one game, and that was tough because we would meet in January and then train for maybe 11 weeks and then we would be eliminated,” Boyle said. 

“But now with the Tailteann Cup, it feels more like a season, so we know now what we need to work on and what we have to get better at. So, it’s great that we get that second game and potentially a third game.” 

Boyle will also make a welcome return following the Laois match to Donegal Town to meet family members of his mother.  

While born and raised in New York, he admits he always felt from a young age he was Irish, but now refers to himself as Irish-American, as, he puts it, not to annoy people. 

“My mum has cousins in Donegal Town, so I’ve been over a lot, just as recently as last year we stayed in Bundoran, and I’ll be going up again this year after our game, to make a holiday out of it. 

“Growing up in New York with Irish grandparents, you feel that you are Irish. I would tell everyone that I’m Irish and I feel very proud of it. With Donegal, I used to have the jerseys around the house, and we would be supporting them in the GAA, so Donegal was just a part of our family.” 

Boyle and his side know what it’s like to make history before and now they’re determined to do it again.