Educated at Blackrock College in Dublin, Cryan first played Gaelic football with the Ballinamore Seán O'Heslin's club.
He progressed to the junior team and won a Connacht JFC medal in 1952.
Cryan was part of the Leitrim senior football team that lost four consecutive Connacht SFC finals to Galway from 1957 to 1961.
He was also a sub on the Connacht team that won back-to-back Railway Cup titles in 1957 and 1958.
Cryan ended his inter-county career by claiming a second Connacht JFC medal in 1962.