In 1988, Byrne played with Callan CBS to win Roinn B All-Ireland Colleges Juvenile Hurling Champion, and went on to win the Roinn B All-Ireland Colleges Senior Hurling Championship of 1991 where they beat Coláiste Spiorad Naomh (Cork) 1-14 to 1-0.
[4][5][6] Byrne won an All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship medal with Kilkenny in 1991 when they beat Tipperary 0-15 : 1-10 at Croke Park.
[12] Byrne was captain of Kilkenny for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final of 1999[2] where they were runner-up to Cork 0-13 – 0-12.
[12] He played on the Kilkenny All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winning side of 2000,[2][13] and was awarded an All-Star during the same year.
[12] He captained the Kilkenny team in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2001[13] where they won the leinster final beating Wexford.