Louth's Ciarán Byrne: Dublin win makes the dark days a wee bit worthwhile

Anyone who knows how much Byrne has put in to resurrect his Gaelic football career after returning from Carlton in 2019 would appreciate his celebrations.

Louth’s Ciarán Byrne celebrates a score. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

The clock read 69 minutes and 22 seconds on Sunday when Ciarán Byrne leaped into the air to claim Niall McDonnell’s kick-out and effectively put a fork in a famous win over Dublin.

It was another eight seconds before he kicked his mark. The need to kill the clock and look for options was important but there was the celebration too. With ball in hand, the Louth man turned to the Hogan Stand and stuck out his tongue.

Anyone who knows how much Byrne has put in to resurrect his Gaelic football career after returning from Carlton in 2019 would appreciate that release. It also capped a terrific second half for the substitute who also helped himself to three points.

Byrne’s injury problems have largely reduced his contributions to cameo appearances. He wasn’t involved in the Leinster semi-final loss to Dublin and came off the bench in the 62nd minute in last year’s provincial final win over Meath.

So, his outburst upon making that fetch was more than understandable.

“It was quite emotional, I'm not going to lie. I only had a son (Conan) there four months ago and I saw him at the end of the game. The tears were flowing down my eyes. It's been a long time coming.

“I don't think anyone sees the real dark days. There's only a couple of people that probably know and Emma, my girlfriend is one of them. Look, this makes it a wee bit worthwhile, all them dark days and I got back there, so it's great.

“Conan's only four months now. That puts a massive perspective on life. For a long time there, I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform in football. But now, you can forget about football. When I go back home and I see him smiling, it's so special.”

The journey has been gruelling for Byrne. In his first game back from returning from Australia, he fractured his right ankle playing for St Mochta’s in a county intermediate final.

“I was told I'd probably never play football again. I was lucky enough to get back from that. I always had hope that I'd get back to the levels that I know I can achieve. I just want to be able to help the team and it's a great group of lads that we have here now.

“I'm 31 now and I only saw there last week I have had 45 appearances for Louth. I haven't played much football at all. I've probably played more AFL than I've played Gaelic.

“Hopefully, that's that injury cloud behind me now and I can go and enjoy it because I love football. I think about it every day. It's part of my life and it's part of my family's life. Fingers crossed I can stay out there and enjoy playing football.”

The catch with the high knee also served as a nod to his Australian Rules past. “I've actually never done that in an AFL game before,” Byrnes admits.

“I think I was lucky enough that it was Tommy Durnin, one of my team-mates, (under him) and not a Dublin fella because sometimes they’re given as frees.”

Byrne owns his own reformer pilates business, BodyRock in Channonrock. It has provided a living and sustained his career, he says.

“I set that up during Covid. It's going really well. It's probably saved my career too. The reformer probably allows me to recover better post-game to train and keep the body in some sort of shape.”

Beating Dublin in SFC for the first time since 1973, Louth consigned another historical bugbear to the scrapheap and made up for the provincial defeat in early May.

“We were probably favourites going into the game,” Byrne recalls. “We had actually never bet Dublin, as everyone knows, in a long, long time.

“There was probably that wee bit of not believing and a fear in that blue jersey. But we know we have the players within the group to compete against anyone in the competition.”

Byrne makes it clear that Louth “aren’t finished yet”. They enter the winners’ side of the draw full of belief.

“This is a very young group. The expectations within the four walls, we know we can compete against anyone.”