Michael Ryan (hurler, born 1955)

Michael Ryan, born on 9 August 1955, is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer who played in various positions for the Nire and Fourmilewater clubs in County Waterford. He hurled with Fourmilewater and played Gaelic football with the sister club The Nire, winning a county minor championship medal as a midfielder and playing at adult level until he was 35, retiring from playing in 1990. His greater fame came in team management. He coached the Ballymacarbry ladies football team to nine All-Ireland titles in ten years from 1989, managed Waterford ladies to All-Ireland finals, coached Laois to the 2001 All-Ireland and was a selector with Dublin when they won in 2010. In hurling he joined the Waterford backroom team in 2007, guided De La Salle to the Waterford and Munster titles in 2010, managed Waterford hurlers in 2012 and 2013, and took over Westmeath in October 2014.