Over the years, the parish of Kilskyre has produced some great GAA men - the redoubtable Peter Byrne among them. The great poet and storyteller Brian O'Higgins was well got in the parish of Kilskyre.So much so that the local hurling club called their resplendent GAA park after him. James Byrne was a neighbour, a personal friend, and a soul mate of O'Higgins. Perhaps, not surprisingly, his son Peter learned to sing off the same hymn sheet. Byrne the younger grew to become, in fact, a willing and able disciple of the gospel according to the late gaeilgoir. O'Higgins' Wolfe Tone annual, his Celtic script-embroidered Christmas cards and his gra for the Irish lanquage were all food and drink to Peadar Byrne's imagination as a gasun. Of course, the fact that the O'Higgins household was not much more than a solo and a drop-kick removed from chez Byrne's helped fuel the relationship between the two clans of course. On first acquaintance, Peter Byrne's gra for Gaelic games hits you like a wet sliotar on the inside of the thigh. Built like the gable end of a house, he has the gait of a guard but the swagger of a superintendent. Even now one wouldn't be too inclined to run into the retired publican. Better to collide with a pebble-dash wall, one suggests. Still, the fifty-something's carriage masks a degree of modesty and a demeanour which is very much rooted to the domain around Boltown, where bog meets grazing land about three miles from Kilskyre which put a spring in his step as a youngster growing up on the family farm. Peter talks about Crosswater on the Meath-Cavan border. It isn't far from his home patch. A place as racy of the north midland terrain as whin bushes, it's where two townlands (Lisnagon and Munterconnacht), two half-parishes (Ballinlough and Kilskyre), two dioceses (Kilmore and Meath),two counties (Cavan and Meath) and two provinces (Leinster and Ulster) meet. It's the imparting of such tit-bits of local knowledge that marks Peter Byrne out as a man imbued with a tremendous sense of local pride. To the unitiated, such luminary features of the local landscape would scarcely register but not with the popular Kilskyre native. But back to things sporting. In his prime, Peter was deemd to be a good, forceful hurler with his native Kilskyre. Those privvy to his wiles and ways on the playing fields however suggest he was a better footballer in the company of his Ballinlough peers. Inveigled by a rookie hack, Peter concedes that football tugged at his heart strings just that wee bit more but his liking for the ancient game brooks no debate nevertheless. The former publican also holds a candle for handball too. It almost goes without saying that Peter Byrne has been associated with Gaelic games all his lifetime. At present, he is involved as a mentor but like many of the old guard in the parish, he has long since done his bit. Meanwhile, as far as the broad GAA family goes, Peter is very much on the conservative wing. When it comes to principles and procedures connected with the GAA, he's as far removed from the latter-day a la carte brigade as you're likely to find. He's unequivocally traditional in his view on most matters GAA. That said, he was impressed by this year's Compromise Rules fare but wouldn't be a card-carrying member of the Akermanis school of sports diplomacy. More predictably, he's a fan of the modern game of Gaelic football but says there's been a tad too much tinkering with the rules of the game of late. He's strictly against any move towards professionalism also. As someone with a strong sense of community and a deep interest in local history, Peter is still national in his outlook on GAA matters. No wonder then that the textbook, shorn-from-the landscape north Meath characters such as O'Higgins and Father Foley, men who at the time inspired Peters interest, which was carried on by the work of Mattie McDonnell and Kit Lynch, while it continues today with present day men such as Sean Smith. Peter has seen many talented footballers such as Jim Ryan, Tom Muldoon, Toss Gibney and James Reilly, while George Baugh (RIP) stands out in the hurling sphere. Such men helped form the heart and soul of the GAA movement in the parish. Others of the fairer sex like Claire Ryan, Mary Corcoran and Margaret Byrne were later to add a more delicate, diplomatic edge to mundane matters - GAA wise. Peter says it almost feels like it was just yesterday that he embarked on his odyssey with the GAA. That was a time when there were almost as many sliotars and footballs kicked about the place as cows milked. Staple diets had things gaelic running right through them from the metaphorical starter through to the final course. "There were three clubs in the parish in my time. There was a hurling and football team in Kilskyre and a football team in Ballinlough but I only played hurling with Kilskyre and football with Ballinlough. "There was a minor team alright in Crossakiel too at one time. Jimmy Smith, a Cavan man from Killinkere, was the Sergeant there and he got a minor team going. "Thankfully, common sense eventually prevailed and the clubs came together to get the best out of what talent there was at that time," Peter tells us. Rural to the smallest rock in Gorman's Field, a place denuded of big-town attractions, and spat out of the God that made Ireland Gaelic and free, Kilskyre parish and Peter Byrne are ready-made bedfellows. He has great memories of his sporting days for the parish too. "I remember being on a Kilskyre team that contested a county juvenile final in 1955 when we were beaten by a Skyrne side that included top stars like Paddy Cromwell, Paddy Mulvany, David Carly and Sean Smith. There was no shame in losing to those lads. "Unfortunately, later on we lost a lot with Ballinlough, although we had a very good team in the 60's and early seventies. Kilbride had a very good team then though. They won a three-in-a-row back then but there was never more than a couple of points between us whenever we met. "I'm afraid Ballinlough went off the boil from then on. Kells got a great team together with the likes of Snitchy Ferguson, Vincent Cahill from Cavan, plus Jimmy Murray from Westmeath starring for them whereas we stuck to playing just locals apart from having Charlie Farrelly from Moynalty and Johnny Fagan and Tom Muldoon of Killallon." Meanwhile, on the county front, he was good enough to earn his place on the Meath football team that met Cork in the 1964 All-Ireland Junior decider. While silverware never threatened to smother his sideboard, Peter is proud of the prizes he did actually pick up. Medals such as the junior and intermediate hurling championship honours were hard won but well treasured. A former Chairman and Treasurer of Kilskyre Hurling Club, Peter doubled up at one juncture to hold the purse strings at Ballinlough also. As a dual player of some repute, an able administrator, vocal supporter and a latter-day underage mentor, Peter Byrne has given his all for the cause. Sons Seamus, Joseph, Hugh and Peter junior have all played with Ballinlough. What more can been asked of a fior gael than to pass on his love of Gaelic games to his children. 30 year wait ends for Kilskyre Kilskyre claimed their first underage title in over 30 years when capturing the u-16 'C' hurling championship at the expense of Longwood in the final at Kildalkey in early October, on a scoreline of 2-4 to 0-7. First half goals from Padraig Muldoon and Terence Fagan gave the eventual winners the early initiative and by half-time they led by 2-3 to 0-1. The north Meath team were first out of the blocks on the resumption with a point but that proved to their last score of the game as Longwood began to make their strong wind advantage count. They registered six points in that period but the Kilskyre defence ensured that Longwood weren't going to overtake them and they held on for a thoroughly deserved success. This championship win is proof of the excellent work being done at promoting the small ball code in the Kilskyre club and certainly augurs well for future success at adult level. Kilskyre - D Muldoon; C Maguire, B Smyth, E Smyth, N Geraghty, P Muldoon (1-2), M Gaynor, T Fagan (1-1), K Porter (0-1), P Davis, J Farrell. Subs - S Deavey, C Geraghty, N Finlay, D Reilly, C Briody, S Gaynor. Tweet

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