Donegal · Banba's Crown, Malin Head
The edge of the island
The most northerly point on the island of Ireland, in the county where his story starts. Beyond the signal tower there is nothing but the Atlantic.
Donegal · Grianán of Aileach
Ryan Kelly · Writer & editor · Cork
Fourteen years at GOAL, from the Goal Ireland desk to its global English-language team. Bylines in the Irish Times, Irish Independent and Irish Examiner.
Dunlewey Old Church and Errigal, Donegal
About
An experienced writer and editor. Most recently at GOAL, he specialised in high-impact SEO content, audience development and affiliate marketing.
The route
Born in Letterkenny, schooled in Derry, educated in Galway, and now writing from Cork.
Where it started. His mother's town, in the green and gold of Donegal.
Educated at St Columb's College, the school of Heaney and Hume.
A BA in English Literature and Classics, then an MA in Classics, with a President's Award along the way. His thesis, The Katabasis of Kubrick, traced classical themes in Kubrick's films. He played for the university soccer team, and met his wife here.
Home now, and the base for his writing and editing.
Donegal · Banba's Crown, Malin Head
The most northerly point on the island of Ireland, in the county where his story starts. Beyond the signal tower there is nothing but the Atlantic.
From his LinkedIn recommendations
Ryan is an excellent journalist with outstanding knowledge of sport, search engine optimisation, and how to turn information into interesting copy.
Ryan has been absolutely crucial to GOAL's audience growth and affiliate success. He would be a major asset for any newsroom or affiliate team.
He had a sharp eye for commercial opportunity and the editorial discipline to act on it. … A hard worker, a clear thinker, and someone who made the broader team better.
He co-ordinated the smooth delivery of live coverage of every single World Cup match in 14 languages across 18 different territories.
Cork · Shandon
Selected writing
A long-form essay on memory and the passage of time, in his most personal voice.
Read the essay → Football & cultureGOALHow Ewan MacColl's 1949 song about Salford's gasworks and canal became a terrace anthem, and why so many people think it's Irish.
Read on GOAL →Influences
Lines from writers and players on the game and on life, and the subjects he writes about in return.
On the tables at his wedding
Two keen readers made these by hand for the day, slices of pine written on in pen: a line on one side, a book on the other. Hurston's “There are years that ask questions and years that answer” turns over to Their Eyes Were Watching God, the novel it comes from. Another turns over to Ballard's Empire of the Sun.
Tap a coaster to turn it over
“I made the Iliad from such / A local row. Gods make their own importance.”
“The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style and with a flourish.”
“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.”
“What I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to football.”
“Walk on air against your better judgement.”
“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”
Donegal · Grianán of Aileach
Nothing is written
“Truly, for some men, nothing is written unless they write it.”
Lawrence of Arabia, 1962. The line that named the blog.
Away from match reports and deadlines, Ryan's blog follows his curiosity wherever it goes: politics and society, books, history and pop culture, and always sport.
It's where the longer, slower pieces live, the ones that don't fit a match report.
Off the page
Scroll sideways
Writing, editing, SEO and content strategy
Ryan is open to new writing and editing roles, in Cork or remote.