Born in Dublin, Byrne first played competitive hurling after his family moved to Thurles, County Tipperary. His skills were developed at Thurles CBS, with Byrne winning a Dean Ryan Cup medal in 1939. His performances at colleges level brought him to the attention of the Thurles Sarsfields selectors and he simultaneously joined the club's minor team, winning a county minor championship medal in 1940. Byrne subsequently progressed onto the senior team that dominated the championship. In a club career that spanned more than twenty years, he won fourteen county senior championship medals. Byrne retired from club hurling at the age of forty-two following a defeat of Carrick Davins in the 1965 county final.