Harry Byrne

Harry Byrne was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. A longtime sailing enthusiast and competitor since his teens, Byrne was one of the members of a three man yacht Alphida, from the International Dragon Class. They sought to represent Ireland in the 1972 Munich Olympics. To that end, they competed in many international championships all over Europe and were selected to represent Ireland at the Olympics when they won the Duke of Edinburgh Cup in Belfast Lough in 1971 and the 1972 English-Speaking Union Dragon Trophy at Torquay, England. They continued to compete in championships in 1972 with a very successful series in the International Gold Cup in København (Copenhagen) in which they secured fifth place out of 72 dragons competing.

With this excellent result, the 3 crew members Byrne, Robin Hennessy, and Eoin Delaney were heralded as potential medal winners in the upcoming Olympics; Byrne later described the opening ceremony as a moment to remember for a lifetime. The sailing events were held in Kiehl, where the Irish team’s luck ran out in such a competitive fleet when crew member Eoin Delaney became so ill that he was obliged to stand down and was flown home to Ireland. He was replaced by boat owner Joe McMenamin. According to Byrne, this change just before the Olympics upset the balance of the team, and the crew would go on to finish 16th in a field of 23 countries. Later that year, Byrne was also a member of the crew that competed in the European Championships held in Hyères, France.

Byrne has remained active in sailing all his life. A longtime member and former commodore of Howth Yacht Club, he was also a key member of the crew of an Irish entry in the 1977 fastnet race, amongst other competitions. He also enjoys cruising widely. By profession, he worked in the brewing industry and also holds a keen interest in railways and construction of scale models of Irish locomotives.