Rose of Tralee winner is former Castlebar Celtic star

CELTIC STAR Rose of Tralee Jennifer Byrne pictured in her Castlebar Celtic days.

Daniel Carey

LAST Wednesday was a significant night for two Castlebar Celtic players – one past, one present.
Former Celtic player Jennifer Byrne was named the 2017 Rose of Tralee, while Lucy Tuohy lined out for the under-16 team after recovering from a very serious accident.
Jennifer’s victory proved popular with her former Celtic team-mates, and
“Jenny was the nicest, most down-to-earth person ever,” said James Murray – who was Celtic chairman during their time in the Women’s National League. “The signs are on her that she won the Rose of Tralee! Lovely, lovely person and a great brain on her.”
The 24-year-old represented Ireland in soccer at under-17 and under-19 level and at the World University Games. She currently plays with Galway WFC in the Women’s National League, and won an All-Ireland intermediate ladies football title with Westmeath in 2011.
“She’s very athletic,” James Murray told The Mayo News. “She was a defender, really, but she’s very tall, and she could sent the ball up to the [halfway] line with a header. She’d turn on a sixpence too. She also played at midfield at times. Real down to earth. She was studying medicine that time, and coming down training two evenings a week and playing a match on Sunday.”
The newly-crowned Rose works as a junior doctor at University Hospital Galway, where Murray occasionally meets her through his work with Murray Ambulance Service. He attributes her involvement with Celtic to the late Jeremy Dee, who persuaded players from the midlands, Donegal, Galway and Clare to join Celtic, who were initially the only Women’s National League team from the west of Ireland.
Meanwhile, Richard Berkley expressed his delight at seeing Lucy Tuohy back playing with Castlebar Celtic under-16s on Wednesday evening, saying it was ‘amazing’ to see her playing ‘after a very serious accident’ in November 2016.
All in all, an evening to remember!