It proved to be a year to remember for Hugh ‘Yank’ Boyle and his Donegal Boston teammates as they got their hands on a coveted Boston Championship title.
Those medals are a valuable currency in the American city where Gaelic Games dominate the weekends during the summer.
Boyle has been representing Donegal Boston since 2017 and while he was once regarded as a dashing inside forward, the Rosses man is now found between the sticks for his adopted club.
Of course, he is very much the modern goalkeeper, happy to come out with the ball, while making sure his restarts are on the money, as much as the traditional elements of shot-stopping and dealing with the high ball.
It is a winter of contentment for Boyle as he reflects on a hard-earned championship earlier this year.
“We finished the season well. I suppose we weren’t firing well in the early stages of the summer but we managed to get over the line just about.
“It’s no different to winning any championship at home, it means a lot to everyone that’s involved with the club to win. We had 50-60 men at training between our three teams.
“When you have numbers like that you quickly realise how important it is for Donegal Boston to win.”
Donegal Boston had a super brilliant final victory over Connemara Gaels at Canton, as they prevailed by 1-17 to 1-16.
While it was a great team effort, the performance of Cloughaneely man Jason McGee was noteworthy as he scored 1-4 in the triumph.
“It was a great final as a neutral to watch I’m sure, we came strong in the last five minutes with big scores from Jason McGee and Darragh Roche from Kerry.
“Similar to most years we have lads that join the club for the summer that help us. They quickly see the importance of winning the championship for the club and buy into it.”
Shane O’Donnell and Conor O’Donnell Snr (St Eunan’s) and Domhnall Mac Giolla Bhríde (Gaoth Dobhair) were granted sanctions to Donegal Boston in the summer and played influential roles in their success, as did former Cavan senior star Thomas Galligan.
However, the home-based players are just as important as the summer recruits, and Boyle says it isn’t overly challenging for their men based in the states to get up to speed with the intercounty stars.
“We are lucky to have such a strong home based with players like Jason Noctor, Cory Gallagher, and Jack O’Brien who have featured for Donegal seniors at some stage in their careers.
“I’d say with it being a condensed season (April to August) we don’t see as much game time as players coming out from home who play basically all year round now.”
Medals certainly aren’t handed out like confetti in Boston, and every championship success is hard-earned.
Donegal Boston know that they have to be at themselves if they are to see off the likes of Connemara Gaels, Galway, and Aidan McAnespie’s.
“To be fair we have had decent success in the last number of years but if you ask anyone that’s played in the Boston championship there is no easy game – 30 degree weather out in Canton, 13-a-side, anything could happen.
“I haven’t seen anyone brave enough to transfer clubs yet anyway, there’s a healthy rivalry between all the clubs here.”
Boyle is very much part of the Donegal Boston furniture now and is at home in the US.
“My first summer here was 2017.
“I went back home then but always planned on coming back so in January of 2018 I came back and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.”
The Irish diaspora will be flocking to Canton again during the summer weekends but it is much more low-key during the winter months.
“It would be fairly quiet now with the GAA until March when usually we would start back.
“If it was up to Declan Scott from Downings we would be training all year around.”
Boyle helped Naomh Muire to win an Intermediate title back in 2013 when he was a fresh-faced teenager.
He went on to play for the club in the senior championship before heading for the States.
Emigration has had a big impact on Naomh Muire, and Hugh’s brother Shaun is another loss in the forward line.
However, another sibling Paul is back home after living in the Middle East for a few years.
Paul will be an important man in 2024 for Naomh Muire and Hugh will be keeping a close eye as always on matters at the Banks.
“I’d be following all of Donegal GAA results in fairness.
“We hadn’t a great year but the important thing I’d say for the club was to stay in the intermediate championship.
“With Danny (O’Donnell) now back involved hopefully we can start being competitive again. The Donegal GAA TV is great for watching the championship games.”
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