Ciarán Byrne (born 6 December 1994) is a
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
er who plays for the St Mochta's club at senior level for the
Louth county team. He previously played professional
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
for the
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition.
Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...
.
His nickname ("Casey") was the result of his younger sister's inability to pronounce ''Ciarán'', and was used during his time at Carlton.
[
]
Early career
Byrne was a talented prospect in Gaelic football. He was selected for the Louth county team panel
Panel may refer to:
Arts and media Visual arts
* Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image
*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...
at the age of 18, and scored five points in a 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 127th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament, played between 31 counties of Ireland (excluding Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny), London GA ...
qualifier match against Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...
at Newbridge.2013 International Rules Series
The 2013 International Rules Series (officially the 2013 Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series) was the 17th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. Ireland en ...
.
AFL career
In August 2013, Byrne signed a two-year Category B rookie contract AFL club Carlton
Carlton may refer to:
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* Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
.Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
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*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
at the MCG; however, after a hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupeds, ...
injury in that game, he missed the remainder of the season, playing only a couple of games for Carlton's , the Northern Blues
The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City O ...
. He became a regular in the team's backline in the early part of 2016, playing 11 of Carlton's first 14 games before rupturing his right anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...
, an injury which caused him to miss the rest of the 2016 AFL season
The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.
The season featured e ...
.[
]
Return to Gaelic football
After returning to Ireland, Byrne resumed his Gaelic football career with the St Mochta's club. Shortly after resuming the game he dislocated his ankle in the Louth Intermediate Football Championship final (which St Mochta's won after appearing there for the first time since 1981).[ This injury caused Byrne to miss another season, and was initially thought to be career-threatening.][ He recovered with the aid of reformer ]pilates
Pilates (; ) is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates, after whom it was named. Pilates called his method "Contrology". It is practiced worldwide, especially in countries suc ...
(which he had first used while recovering from injury in the AFL) and subsequently began a pilates business in his home village of Louth, County Louth
Louth () is a village at the heart of County Louth, Ireland. It is roughly 11 km south-west of the town of Dundalk, 10.9 km to neighbouring town Ardee. The village is approximately 15 km south-east of Carrickmacross town in Coun ...
.[
Byrne was selected to play for Louth again and joined the county's senior football panel.][
]
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Ciaran
1994 births
Living people
Gaelic footballers who switched code
Irish international rules football players
Louth inter-county Gaelic footballers
Irish players of Australian rules football
Carlton Football Club players
Preston Football Club (VFA) players