Popular GAA star and girlfriend announce pregnancy AND first baby's expected birth date in emotional post on Instagram

They were congratulated by another GAA star who is expecting

FEB NEWS Popular GAA star and girlfriend announce pregnancy AND first baby’s expected birth date in emotional post on Instagram

LOUTH footballer Ciaran Byrne and girlfriend Emma have revealed they are expecting their first baby.

She revealed the wonderful news in a post on Instagram alongside a photo of the sonogram.

3 Ciaran Byrne, right, is expecting his first child with girlfriend Emma Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

3 The mum-to-be shared a photo of a sonogram Credit: Instagram/emmareilly71

3 She also shared a pic of her cradling a baby pump Credit: Instagram/emmareilly71

She also shared pics of her cradling a baby bump on the beach as well as the tot's expected birth day of "February 2026".

The news was celebrated by followers on Instagram, with Derry footballer Conor Glass commenting: "Congrats"

Mayo talisman Aidan O'Shea - who himself is expecting with wife Kristin - said: "Congrats guys".

Another follower said: "Ah huge congratulations Emma! You look unreal" while a fourth said: "Aww congratulations you pair gorgeous mumma to be x"

Becoming a dad will make for a dream start to 2026 for the Louth footballer after what was a sensational 2025.

Byrne and co. made history by winning the Leinster senior football championship, bringing to an end Dublin's 14-year stranglehold on the trophy.

However, 2026 will be a new beginning for the Wee County after manager Ger Brennan left his post and took over at the Dubs.

Brennan was revealed as successor to Dessie Farrell, who stepped down after the All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Tyrone.

Louth will be led into 2026 by new manager Gavin Devlin and assistant Peter Dooley.

In a statement, the Wee County wished their departed boss well...except for when the two sides meet.

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It read: "From all at Louth GAA, we wish our former manager Ger Brennan – who guided us to our historic Leinster Championship win in 2025 – the very best of luck with his native county Dublin.

"Wishing you every success… (except when you’re playing us)

"We will be forever grateful for his work during his tenure as Louth boss

"Beir bua agus beannacht Ger"

The 37-year-old is a two-time All-Ireland winner with the Boys in Blue and was a teammate of Dessie Farrell himself.

He was also a teammate of Paul Flynn, who backed his former colleague to thrive in the job - however surprised he was to see him get it.

He told RTE Radio 1: "To me it just seemed a little bit ad hoc.

"It's funny when you're looking in, there wasn't even an awareness that there was a process ongoing.

"It just kind of was happening in the shadows a little bit. Not sure exactly who the county board spoke to or what options were there."

'HELPFUL'

However, Flynn backed Brennan to bring "humility" to the role.

Flynn added: "I think it's going to be important for everybody in Dublin GAA because the team he's inheriting is not the team that Dessie inherited.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done at the squad level, and at the underage level where we're not competing, so there's not that conveyor belt that people thought was never ending in Dublin.

"It's actually more akin to the team that Pat Gilroy picked up when he had to take on the challenge to try and build character in the group to start with and then layer on the quality.

"I'm sure Pat, a good club man of his will be there as a mentor whenever it's needed.

"I'm not sure if he's even going to be involved of any nature but he'll certainly be there to guide Ger.

"That'll be helpful because what Pat did when he came in was really about resetting things and trying to work from the bottom up."

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