The Emergency resulted in Byrne never playing in the minor grade for Tipperary, however, he joined the senior panel during the 1945 championship. Over the course of the next fifteen years, he won five All-Ireland medals, beginning with a lone triumph in 1945 as a non-playing substitute, three championships in-a-row from 1949 to 1951 and a final championship in 1958. Byrne also won five Munster medals and eight National Hurling League medals. He retired from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1959-60 league, having made 34 championship appearances for the team.