Shane Ryan (born 5 October 1978) is an

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 ...

sportsman who plays

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

for the Dublin county team and, formerly,

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 ...

also for the Dublin county team (F), for which he received an All Star. Ryan plays his club hurling and football for

Naomh Mearnóg This is a list of the saints of Ireland, which attempts to give an overview of saints from Ireland or venerated in Ireland. The vast majority of these saints lived during the 4th–10th centuries, the period of early Christian Ireland, when Celt ...

and his preferred position is centre back, although he is known to have played many positions for Dublin. He made his senior debut for Dublin on 4 June 1999. He made the decision to concentrate solely on Gaelic football in 2004, which dealt a blow to the then hurling manager

Humphrey Kelleher Humphrey Kelleher (1946–2005) was an Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Millstreet and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1971 until 1975. Playing career Club Kelleher played his club footb ...

. In 2009, he made the decision to switch back to hurling and join Anthony Daly's team after giving it much consideration. Ryan is a graduate of Business Studies (2001) in

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

and is a teacher by profession. Ryan has an illustrious ancestry in the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

as his father, Jack Ryan, won an

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurling competition i ...

medal with

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

in 1971. His mother, the late Orla Ní Shíocháin was an inter-county

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

player with

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 ...

for many years and won three All-Ireland Senior Camogie medals. She also won many

Interprovincial Championship The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medals with

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 paternal grandfather was Séamus O'Riain,

President of the Gaelic Athletic Association The president of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ga, Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) is the head of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The president holds office for three years. The role of president has existed since the foundation of ...

1967–70 and his maternal grandfather,

Seán Ó Síocháin Seán Ó Síocháin (24 March 1914 – 2 February 1997) was an Irish Gaelic footballer, hurler, ballad singer, broadcaster and Gaelic games administrator. His championship career with the Cork and Dublin senior teams spanned seven sea ...

, was the first Director General of the Association, having served as General Secretary for many years.

Sporting achievements

Ryan was a Leinster Under 21 finalist in 1998 in football and a Leinster Minor and Under 21 finalist in 1996 and 1998 in hurling. He has won six

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

medals with

in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2011 Ryan won a National Hurling League medal and was part of the Dublin team that reached the All-Ireland Hurling semi-finals against Tipperary. In 2006, Ryan won the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

with

and was nominated for an All Star award for his performances with Dublin in Midfield. 2006 continued to be a good year for Ryan as

Seán Boylan Seán Boylan (born 12 December 1949) is an Irish former Gaelic football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath. He retired from his position as manager of the senior Meath county team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in ch ...

named him on the Compromise Rules squad to play

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the first test at

Pearse Stadium Pearse Stadium ( ga, Páirc an Phiarsaigh) is the principal GAA stadium in Galway, Ireland. The Galway GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams use the stadium for their home games. The stadium, amongst others in the province of Connacht, is also ...

on 29 October 2006. He then won his first All Star award in 2008, when he was named in midfield alongside

Enda McGinley Enda McGinley (born 1981) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player for the Errigal Ciarán club and the Tyrone county team. He managed the Antrim county team between 2020 and 2022. McGinley was part of Tyrone's All-Ireland-win ...

from Tyrone. In May 2012, Ryan announced his retirement from the inter-county game due to plagues of injuries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Shane 1978 births Living people Alumni of Dublin City University Dual players DCU Gaelic footballers DCU hurlers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Dublin inter-county hurlers Irish international rules football players Irish schoolteachers Naomh Mearnóg Gaelic footballers Naomh Mearnóg hurlers