Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Cuala pictured ahead of Sunday's AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Final against Errigal Ciaran.
By John Harrington
In an interview with GAA.ie on the day he was announced the 2018 PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year, Brian Fenton name-checked Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne who was someone he felt we’d be seeing a lot more of in the years to come.
Apparently Fenton had gotten a lot of grief from his Dublin team-mates in training because the young upstart from Cuala was consistently winning throw-ups over him.
Ó Cofaigh Byrne made his debut for the senior Dublin team the following year and since then has played 18 times across all competitions
His inter-county career hasn’t quite taken off yet to the extent Fenton suggested it might back in 2018, and ironically it might take Fenton’s retirement from inter-county football to give Ó Cofaigh Byrne the extended run in the team he needs to truly show his worth.
Based on his excellent form with Cuala on the way to Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Final against Errigal Ciaran, he’s surely a leading candidate to fill the void by the departure of both Fenton and James McCarthy.
Now 25, he has served a long apprenticeship, but he believes it’s one that has stood him in good stead.
“Being involved with Dublin, the amount you get out of that regardless of what happens on the pitch is huge,” says Ó Cofaigh Byrne. “The characters that are there, you just want to emulate them. If you can be any bit like any of them you'd be happy.
“There's so many lads you try to glean stuff from and and hope you can be like them. Players like James McCarthy, Stephen Cluxton, they're absolute professionals. Luckily enough for me when I came up Michael Fitzsimons and Con (O'Callaghan) were there as well and playing with them now, they're the exact same.
“Michael and Con are very open to anyone if you want to come up to them and need any advice or help. They'll even come up to you if they have questions. And that's something that, 100 per cent I think, has shaped me as a person and a footballer just being around them, trying to get anything out of them that I could.
“Thankfully and luckily, I still am around them a lot, they're in my club, and I'm eternally grateful for that. I used to get lifts out when I was stuck with Con or Michael even if they weren't close to meet. That's something that I've never, never forgotten, and I'll take with me always and try to do for young lads as well.”
Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Dublin in action against Tiarnan Madden of Cavan during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Cavan and Dublin at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Given Ó Cofaigh Byrne’s experience of senior inter-county football to date, it’s perhaps no surprise to hear that he keenly appreciates the value of those unsung heroes at the back end of a panel who give their all for the greater good.
You ask him what has turned Cuala from being a team with a lot of potential into one that won county and provincial honours this season and he immediately lauds the less likely heroes.
“I think the competitiveness in the squad has been huge,” he says. “That that has probably been driven by a lot of the younger lads in the squad coming on and being really, really hungry and pushing through.
“There's so many that probably don't any headlines or you probably never heard them. But players like Aodhán English, Conor Groarke, Dan O'Sullivan, my brother's there as well. There's a lot of lads really pushing lads on and it has just genuinely made us better and better and better.
"If we were to win this weekend it would be 100% down to the effort they've put in, not just the 15 who are starting. I think there's probably a bit of that and a bit of belief.
“We were a bit disappointed last year with how we did and I think from the get go in the league at the start of this year we just had that belief and trust and belief in each other and that's really just kind of driven us through to where we are now.”
Ó Cofaigh Byrne has played a big part himself in Cuala’s run to Sunday’s Final.
His midfield partnership with Peter Duffy is a nicely balanced one with Ó Cofaigh Byrne’s sheer size and ball-winning ability complemented by Duffy’s mobility.
“Peter's great,” says Ó Cofaigh Byrne. “Peter was playing rugby a couple years ago and was doing athletics, that's why he has the pace that he has. He became involved a couple years ago and it's just been a pleasure to play with him.
“He had taken a couple years out from playing when he was playing rugby, and then he came back to Cuala and was so open to improving his skills, improving his ability, and just even his learning of the game. He's constantly at it. And I think we all 100 per cent take a leaf out of his book. Just trying to improve it even a little bit every every day or every year and every match.
“He's great. He's got legs to burn just an incredible athlete. So having him there for me, I appreciate it a lot.”
Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Cuala celebrates after his side's victory in the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Coolera-Strandhill and Cuala at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
If Cuala could win Sunday’s Final they’d be only the second ever club to win both senior football and hurling All-Ireland titles.
What would it mean to them to ink what would be a very special piece of history?
“It'd be huge,” says Ó Cofaigh Byrne. “For us as players it's absolutely great but for some of the people in the club, it means so much to them. There's a lot of people in the football section and the club overall that have been slogging and trying to do the best they could for the club for years.
“After winning the Dublin final they were completely filled with joy and you felt a great sense of pride for what you could bring to them, which probably drove us on a lot more in the next few games. That's why you do it. It's great for yourself, but it's for all those people it affects that really drives us on.
“Around Christmas time going to training and seeing all the flags, it really was a moment for me that hit home this is huge for the club, for the area, for the parish.
“There are young families on my road that I didn't even know were Cuala families and they're so supportive and absolutely buzzing after the games when you see them.
"For an area that's quite large it does really feel quite tight-knit and it's something I probably didn't appreciate until we've been on this run and you see how many people it affects, and see how many people get so much joy out of it. It has that little bit of a rural feel to it. It's just been great.”
