View source for Locky Byrne

{{Short description|Kilkenny and Waterford hurler}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox Gaelic games player
| code= Hurling
| sport = Hurling
| image = 
| name = Locky Byrne
| irish = Séamus Ó Broin
| fullname = James Loughlin Byrne
| height = 
| nickname = Locky
| occupation = Carpenter
| county = Waterford
| province = Munster
| club = [[Mount Sion GAA|Mount Sion]]
| clposition = Forward
| clubs = 
| clyears = 
| clapps(points) = 
| clcounty = 
| clprovince= 
| clallireland = 
| counties = [[Waterford county hurling team|Waterford]]<br>[[Kilkenny county hurling team|Kilkenny]]
| icposition = Full-forward
| icyears = 1931–1941<br>1934–1938
| icapps(points) = 
| icprovince = 1
| icallireland = 1
| nhl = 0
| allstars = 
| clupdate = 
| icupdate =
| birth_date = 28 April 1913
| birth_place=[[Waterford]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| death_date = 18 January 1941 (aged 27)
| death_place=[[Dublin]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
}}
'''James Loughlin "Locky" Byrne''' (28 April 1913 – 18 January 1941) was an [[Irish people|Irish]] [[Hurling|hurler]] who played as a full-forward at senior level for the [[Kilkenny county hurling team|Kilkenny]] and [[Waterford county hurling team|Waterford]] county teams.

Born in [[Waterford]], Byrne first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of fifteen when he first linked up with the Waterford minor team, before later joining the senior side. He made his senior debut during the [[1931 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|1931 championship]]. Byrne immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen, before later playing with Kilkenny, and won one [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|All-Ireland]] medal, one [[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship|Leinster]] medal and one [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship|Munster]] medal. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions.

As a member of the [[Munster GAA|Munster]] and [[Leinster GAA|Leinster]] inter-provincial teams on a number of occasions, Byrne won one [[Railway Cup]] medal. At club level he played with [[Ferrybank GAA|Ferrybank]], [[Slieverue GAA|Slieverue]], [[Mooncoin GAA|Mooncoin]] and [[Mount Sion GAA|Mount Sion]], winning several championship medals.

==Biography==
Loughlin Byrne was born in the Glen area of [[Waterford]] in 1913.<ref>"Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FBTR-84X : accessed 17 November 2015), BIRTHS entry for James Loughlin Byrne; citing Waterford, Jul - Sep 1913, vol. 4, p. 580, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin; FHL microfilm 101,075.</ref> The son of a railyard worker called James "Dashy" Byrne, he was raised in [[Ferrybank, Waterford|Ferrybank]] on the Waterford-Kilkenny border.

==Playing career==
===Club===
Byrne played his club hurling with a number of clubs in both Waterford and Kilkenny. As a player with [[Ferrybank GAA|Ferrybank]], in 1928, he won a minor [[Waterford Minor Hurling Championship]] title.  Byrne later joined the [[Mooncoin GAA]] club in Kilkenny. Here he captured a senior [[Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship]] in 1936. He also lined out with [[Slieverue GAA|Slieverue]] during this period. Byrne later joined the [[Mount Sion GAA]] club in Waterford city and shared in some of that club's victories. He won his first senior [[Waterford Senior Hurling Championship]] with Mount Sion in 1938. It was the first of three consecutive county titles as Byrne collected two more county medals in 1939 and 1940.

===Inter-county===
Byrne first joined the [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] minor hurling team in the late 1920s. He was only fifteen years-old when he won a [[Munster Minor Hurling Championship]] title in 1929 following a 7-5 to 0-2 thrashing of [[Tipperary GAA|Tipperary]]. Waterford later qualified for the All-Ireland final where [[Meath GAA|Meath]] provided the opposition. Waterford won by 5-0 to 1-1 giving Byrne an [[All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship]] medal.

Byrne was later drafted onto the Waterford senior hurling panel. He was only seventeen when he played in the 1931 Munster final with [[Cork GAA|Cork]] providing the opposition. In eight minutes of injury time, Cork scored an equalising point and the game ended in a draw. The replay was more conclusive as Cork won by 5-4 to 1-2, ending Waterford's championship campaign.

By the mid-1930s Byrne had crossed the border and was playing with the [[Kilkenny GAA|Kilkenny]] senior inter-county team. He played in the Leinster decider of 1934; however, [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]] were the winners on that occasion. The following year Byrne was still on the team as Kilkenny defeated [[Laois GAA|Laois]] to take the [[Leinster Senior Hurling Championship|Leinster]] title. Byrne later lined out in his first All-Ireland final at senior level. [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]] provided the opposition on that occasion and were favourites to win. They were the reigning National League and All-Ireland champions and had played a remarkable 31 games without defeat. A record crowd of over 46,000 turned up to watch the game.  At the beginning of the second-half [[Lory Meagher]] sent over a huge point from midfield giving Kilkenny a lead which they wouldn't surrender. As a result of this victory, Byrne collected an [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship]] medal.

By 1938 Byrne was back on the Waterford senior team. That year his side reached the Munster final with [[Clare GAA|Clare]] providing the opposition. In a close game Waterford emerged as the victors on a score line of 3-5 to 2-5.  Not only was it Byrne's first [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]] medal, but it was also the first time that Waterford had won the provincial title. Waterford later accounted for [[Galway GAA|Galway]] allowing Byrne's side to advance to their first-ever All-Ireland final. [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]] provided the opposition on that occasion. [[Declan Goode]] scored a goal for the Decies after just six minutes, however, Dublin fought back with goals of their own. Eventually, victory went to Dublin on a score line of 2-5 to 1-6.

==Death==
In 1940 Byrne got injured playing a club match against [[Portlaw GAA|Portlaw]] and came off with a coat wrapped around himself. He sat in the wet grass on the sideline for the remainder of the game and, as a result, contracted [[tuberculosis]].  His health steadily declined over the next few months and on 19 January 1941 he died in a Dublin hospital. He was twenty-seven years old.<ref>The Unconquerable Keane: John Keane and the rise of Waterford hurling by David Smith, Published by Original Writing, Dublin Ltd. 2010 (www.originalwriting.ie)</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Kilkenny Hurling Team 1935}}
{{Kilkenny Hurling Team 1936}}
{{Waterford Hurling Team 1938}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Locky}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners]]
[[Category:Erin's Own (Waterford) hurlers]]
[[Category:Ferrybank hurlers]]
[[Category:Irish carpenters]]
[[Category:Kilkenny inter-county hurlers]]
[[Category:Mooncoin hurlers]]
[[Category:Mount Sion hurlers]]
[[Category:Slieverue hurlers]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Ireland]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Waterford inter-county hurlers]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen]]