James Shane Byrne (born 18 July 1971) is a former

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

hooker. He is nicknamed 'Munch' or 'Mullet' (a reference to his hair style). A native of

Aughrim, County Wicklow Aughrim (; ) is a small town in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies in a scenic valley in the Wicklow Mountains in the east of Ireland where the Ow and Derry rivers meet to form the Aughrim River. Aughrim is on the R747 road between Arklow and Ba ...

, Byrne played

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 ...

up to under-16 level with the local Aughrim club.Hoganstand.com – GAA Football & Hurling
/ref> He attended

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary secondary school, voluntary day school, day and boarding school, boarding Catholicism, Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, Dublin, Bl ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Career

He plied his trade for many years at

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. His international career started comparatively late and did not blossom until the retirement of

Keith Wood Keith Wood (born 27 January 1972) is an Irish former international rugby union player who played as a hooker for Ireland, the British & Irish Lions, Garryowen, Harlequins and Munster. He was nicknamed 'The Raging Potato' because of his bal ...

. When he eventually got his chance in a World Cup qualifier in Romania in 2001 he took it and thereafter became a fixture in the national side where he won 41 caps between 2001 and 2005, scoring three tries. In February 2003 Byrne played his 100th game for Leinster. In 2005 he was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and played in the first and third tests. Byrne has scored a total of three tries for his country, scoring two of those in one match against Wales during the 2004 Six Nations series. Following the Lions tour his contract talks with

were inconclusive and he joined

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

in the summer of 2005 for two years, before returning to Ireland.

Personal life

Byrne participated in a

Charity You're A Star ''Charity You're a Star'' (initially known as ''You're a Star Charity Special'') is a talent contest created by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), in which various Irish celebrities sang to raise money for the Charitable organization, charity of ...

edition on RTÉ in the Helix, DCU. His chosen charity was GOAL, an Irish founded charity group. In June 2008, Byrne revived his GAA career with the local Aughrim club after a 17-year lapse, lining out at centre-back in a Wicklow junior 'C' league game against Coolkenno. His switch to the full-forward position did not stop Aughrim from crashing to a heavy defeat. In June 2010, Byrne announced his involvement in ''RuckingBall.com'', an online community for the development of school-boy rugby, coaches and parents. In April 2012, Byrne participated in an episode of Celebrity Come Dine With Me Ireland. In June 2014, Shane made his acting debut with the release of ''

Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie ''Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie'' is a 2014 Irish comedy film based on the sitcom ''Mrs. Brown's Boys'' and is co-produced by That's Nice Films, Penalty Kick Films, RTÉ and BocFlix. BBC Films is acting as sales agent and it was distributed by Uni ...

''. Byrne is a director with Arklow Waste Disposal, his family business. He is also head of operations for Focus International Property. Byrne has been a captain on the sports quiz show ''

Know The Score ''Know The Score'' was an Irish sports quiz show produced by RTÉ which started airing on 6 November 2016 on RTÉ One. The show was presented by Jacqui Hurley with team captains Ruby Walsh Rupert Walsh (born 14 May 1979 in Kill, County Kildar ...

'' since November 2016. He is married to Caroline (a native of County Monaghan) and has twin girls Alex and Kerry. Byrne is the grandson of deafblind doctor

James Hanlon James Hanlon (born 1966) is an American actor and director; he also served as a New York City firefighter. He executive produced and directed the CBS documentary film ''9/11''. Early life and education Hanlon was born in the South Bronx and g ...

References

External links

ESPN Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Shane 1971 births Living people Blackrock College RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Gaelic footballers who switched code Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Saracens F.C. players You're a Star contestants People educated at Blackrock College Rugby union players from County Wicklow Rugby union hookers