A multiple All-Ireland winner with Dublin, Martha Byrne is aware of her good fortune on the journey from underage dropout to starting corner-back in Mick Bohan's dominant side. 

Making her way as a young footballer with Cuala, Martha Byrne's long road to the Dublin senior football team was already underway.

"I played with Dublin underage," she recalled on Wednesday's OTB AM of her involvement in the county's development squads. "But I left when I was about 12 or 13 because my friends weren't on the team and I didn't want to be a part of it.

"When you're that age and don't have friends in the team, you feel a bit left out. I don't even think I really was left out, but when you don't have those familiar faces there with you it is hard."

Jennifer Dunne, left, and Martha Byrne of Dublin lift the Brendan Martin Cup in 2018. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

After years of underachieving and failing to build upon their All-Ireland triumph of 2010, Ladies Gaelic football in Dublin is thriving.

Much like their male counterparts, Byrne and her teammates have been all-conquering in recent years, winning their third successive All-Ireland title against Galway last year.

"We always used to look at Cork and think that what they achieved was phenomenal," admitted Byrne of Cork's 11 All-Ireland wins in 12 years, "and while I'd never compare our team to theirs because they created that history, football has moved on and we're focused on this season."

Throughout this new era of Dublin's dominance, Martha Byrne has been an ever-present fixture in Mick Bohan's full-back line.

Yet, as she explained to OTB AM, that initial feeling of isolation very nearly cost her the opportunity of representing Dublin at this grade.

Martha Byrne of University College Dublin in action against Shauna Howley of University of Limerick. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile

"After I left at 13 I went away and played Cuala underage," she recalled. "I ended up giving the Dublin minor trials a go but didn't succeed.

"I really regretted it growing up as a teenager [that I'd walked away]."

As she made the move from secondary school to university, however, a new opportunity presented itself.

"When I went into UCD we had a fantastic team," she stated before noting the presence of another Dublin star in Noelle Healy.

Thanks to a knowing nod from Healy to the decision-makers in the Dublin management team, Byrne had a chance at redemption.

"I was invited," she recalled disbelievingly. "To not get on a minor team but be brought into the senior team!

"I was delighted. I couldn't believe it."

Steadily developing into a regular starter, at 23-years-old there remains plenty of time for Martha Byrne to build on an already impressive haul of medals and memories.

You can watch Martha Byrne's interview back in its entirety here.

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