Christy Byrne

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Christy Byrne was the Kildare GAA Gaelic football goalkeeper for many years. Known for his many runs down field with possession to spur on his team, to the fury of then Manager Mick O'Dwyer. He played for Kildare in the counties unsuccessful 1998 All-Ireland Final on the scoreline of 1-14 to 1-10.

He also won two Leinster Senior Football Championship titles in 1998 (beating Meath) and 2000 (beating Dublin). In 2000 he won an O'Byrne Cup beating Longford in the final, a side which was captained by Anthony Rainbow. In 2001 he was plagued with injury and retired soon after. He was replaced by current keeper Enda Murphy from Leixlip. Byrne still plays with his club Castlemitchel.

[edit] 1998 All-Ireland Final summary

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1998 Galway 1-14 v Kildare 1-10 Best: Padraic Joyce’s jig around Kildare goalkeeper Christy Byrne, which resulted in a Galway goal, is a classic All-Ireland final moment. The incident occurred in the opening stages of the second half when Joyce caught a fisted pass. The full forward, who was 20 metres out, was unmarked and headed towards the Canal End goals. As he did Byrne dashed out to narrow the angle and Kildare defenders frantically ran back. But they were too late. As Joyce approached the Kildare goalkeeper, he stepped right, dropped his shoulder and hopped back to his left. It was a move Michael Flatley would have copyrighted. Byrne was a helpless bystander as Joyce left him on the ground. Having rounded Byrne, he had the simple task of slotting the ball to the net. It was an important score and helped spur Galway to victory. Worst: Mick O’Dwyer’s face at the final whistle was full of pride, graciousness and pain. He had brought Kildare so close to their first All-Ireland title since 1928, but in the end they walked with only losers medals. He spoke emotionally afterwards and congratulated the Galway players and their boss. It had been a long summer, and apart from the Leinster title, a fruitless one for Kildare. He had guided Kerry to no fewer than eight All-Ireland titles but you feel that this is the one he wanted most of all. Mick O’Dwyer stepped down as Kildare boss in the summer of 2002. Sam Maguire had eluded him.