Byrne again fighter
Kildare star buzzing after battling back from horror injuries
IT MAY have just been a first-round game in Division 3 of the Lidl National Football League but for Róisín Byrne, Kildare’s clash with Down at St Conleth’s Park felt like a whole lot more.
Having overcome persistent shoulder problems to be named on the TG4 Intermediate Team of the Championship for 2020, the Sarsfields attacker suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the Lilywhites’ League encounter against Longford in June the following year.
She underwent surgery a month later, but was back under the knife again in February 2022 due to the fact there was also substantial damage to the cartilage in her knee.
During her time on the sidelines, Byrne readily admits experiencing doubts over whether she’d ever feature again in a competitive inter-county fixture. But those fears were finally put to bed when she contributed 1-5 as a starter in that emphatic 3-13 to 0-6 victory for Kildare last month.
‘I had ruptured the ACL, but I had actually shattered the cartilage, nearly all of it. The surgeon had basically said “we’ll repair whatever cartilage we can”, but that it was so badly damaged that he anticipated in the next two years I’d be back for another surgery to remove the last part of it,’ Byrne explained.
‘When I started getting back doing more rigorous training, it became apparent it wasn’t going to work. It was a bit experimental to see can we save a bit of it and we couldn’t. I had the big surgery in July [2021] and I had another surgery the following February. My first match back with Kildare was on the pitch that I’d done my knee on. That was in my head as well. I know it was the first round of the League, but for me it felt nearly like we’d won a Leinster or we’d won an All-Ireland.
‘There were times when I didn’t think I’d be able to get back. Getting through Down and playing a full match was unbelievable.’
When you consider how little match practice she had coming into 2023 (a combination of injury recovery and a decision to go travelling meant she didn’t see any club action with Sarsfields last year), Byrne’s form for Kildare thus far becomes all the more remarkable.
Following her impressive showing against Down – which was preceded by a couple of challenge matches – she has gone on to amass big tallies in subsequent wins at the expense of Longford (2-5) and Clare (0-7).
‘In hindsight, if you were to tell me where I’d be a year ago, when I was going through the rehab, I’d be delighted,’ Byrne added.
‘Now that I’m here and looking at things I can improve, I feel like my speed isn’t where it was. My fitness needs a bit of work. My accuracy and my shooting stayed and I’m lucky with that, but there’s definitely a lot of things I need to stay working on.
‘I’m now thinking “where do I need to improve”. At the moment I’m just looking at the next match going “right I need to work on speed for the next couple of weeks or I need to try and get in an extra couple of runs”.’
Though injury denied her a chance of playing for Kildare during Sean Finnegan’s brief spell as manager, Byrne is enjoying life under another native of Mayo. After working alongside Finnegan in a coaching capacity for the 2022 inter-county season, Diane O’Hora, multiple All-Ireland winner during an illustrious playing career, has stepped into the hot seat with the Leinster side.
‘Diane is a legend. She has won All-Irelands, she has played at the elite level and she has done it. When she’s talking about things, you listen. You know she’s been there, you know she’s done that and she has got a really good backroom team in with her.
‘We’re quietly optimistic. There’s a really good buzz in the team.
‘I feel like yesterday I was one of the youngest ones on the team and now I’m one of the oldest ones. There’s all this young blood coming in and they’re absolutely class.’
This will be a big year for Byrne on a number of fronts. In addition to returning to full-time teaching at St Conleth’s and Mary’s Primary School in Newbridge following a
“It felt nearly like we’d won an All-Ireland”
“There is a real good buzz in the team now”
career break, she will be getting married at the end of the year, to Athy senior footballer Liam McGovern.
She is also hoping for success on the football field later in the summer, with Kildare among those aiming to challenge for top honours in the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate championship.
This is a competition she won with the Lilywhites in 2016.
‘I know everyone kind of says it, but I feel like that year [2016] nearly passed us by. I was only 22 and you kind of think because we got landed in there the year before, we were in a final as well and we lost, you think these days come around a lot,’ Byrne added.
‘We’ve been trying to get back there and if we do, it’s just going to mean so much.
‘There’s girls my age, we’ve been playing together since U12 development squads. If we were able to win with this group, it would be something really special.’