Michael Joseph Bulger
| Full name | Michael Joseph Bulger | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 15 May 1867 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kilrush, Ireland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 20 July 1938 (aged 71) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Holloway, Middx, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Blackrock College | ||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Trinity College, Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senior career | |||
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| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1888 | Ireland | 1 | (0) |
Michael Joseph Bulger (15 May 1867 – 20 July 1938) was an Irish rugby player, athlete and medical doctor. Along with his brothers, Daniel Delany Bulger (1865–1930) and Lawrence Bulger (1870–1928), he was prominent in the Irish sporting world in the late 19th century. Michael achieved lasting fame for his role in the disqualification of Dorando Pietri at the finish of the marathon at the London Olympics in 1908.
The Bulger family were from Moore Street, Kilrush, County Clare, where their father, Daniel Scanlan Bulger (1831–1904), was a woollen merchant and draper and ran a loan office. Around 1880, the family moved to Dublin, where Daniel Scanlan Bulger became a member of the Dublin Stock Exchange and his sons were educated at Blackrock College and Trinity College Dublin.
Bulger played rugby union while at Blackrock and from there, in a rugby career which his younger brother Lawrence would later follow, he represented Dublin University Football Club. It was while at Dublin University that Bulger was called up to play in his one and only international match, facing the first ever New Zealand Native football team. Bulger was brought in at threequarters along with David Woods and Alfred Walpole, Walpole being the most experienced international with just a single cap. The game was lacklustre for the main body of the match until the last third when the Natives took charge winning by four goals to one. After the loss Bulger never played international rugby again, but this did not diminish his involvement in the game, as he represented Lansdowne Football Club while still a student. After completing his university education in Ireland, Bulger moved to London to set up a medical practice. A few years later Lawrence followed him to the capital, and the two brothers worked together in the same practice. In 1898 both brothers were founding members of London Irish.
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