One night during the 1990s, sophomore arts student Gisèle Scanlon was on her way to the Belfield campus of University College Dublin. “You wouldn’t expect the dog to come out,” he remembers the bad weather.
Kerry’s student lived on campus and was on his way to meet some friends from the theater society. While walking through the dark and unpopulated area, she was attacked by a tall dark-haired man.
“This guy just came out of nowhere,” he says. “Like he wrapped his arms around my chest and just dragged me to the ground … like a rugby tackle.”
At first she thought it was someone she knew she was playing with, but soon her alarm grew when the stranger tried to assault her.
Suddenly another figure appeared and ran to his aid. UCD resident vagrant Michael Byrne, affectionately known as ‘Old Belfield’, had stepped in to save her.
“He dragged the guy off of me, threw him aside, said nothing and just helped me up.”
Ms. Scanlon says that Mr. Byrne did not punch, but instead pushed the man away and helped her up.
“He didn’t say anything. I thought he would have screamed. It was all done very quietly like a Zen Buddhist.” After the intervention, Ms Scanlon’s attacker “did not defend himself”, he simply “slipped away” in the night.
The woman who is now president of the Trinity Graduates Students’ Union has never forgotten the friendly demeanor of her rescuer. “I was looking at him and he had the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen in a human being,” he says.
Once the danger was gone and the attacker was out of sight, she walked over to her friends and Mr. Byrne “followed closely”. In her opinion, he was watching.
She asked her hero how she could thank him and offered him tea with the theater society.
“He just shook his head. He was so quiet and unassuming that you couldn’t really have a conversation with him. He was so shy. Something like that changes a person,” he says, adding that it “changed my entire college experience.”
Since that day, she “has always prioritized the safety of everyone on campus.” He does not drink too much, as he does not want to “be in a situation where there is no Michael.” Three years ago, she ran into Mr. Byrne at a Donnybrook bus stop and said, “You probably don’t remember me, but on a windy night at UCD you were very nice to me.”
The calm man found his voice. Gisèle remembers him smiling and saying with a “very pronounced Dublin accent”: “There is no need to say anything like that. These things happen.”
With that, the two of them got on the next bus together. She got off at Leeson Street and he continued into town. That was the last he saw of Michael Byrne, who died last month on UCD grounds. His death sparked a wave of love and support from students and alumni, with stories emerging of his small but significant acts of kindness over the years.
In recent weeks, a man has come forward to say that he may be Byrne’s son. Gardaí has performed a DNA test and they are awaiting the results that can solve the mystery.
Recalling the news of his death, Ms. Scanlon said: “My heart stopped. Just for a second. Michael really boils down to the term ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ And I always think of that when I think of he. “
UCD has created the Michael Byrne Community Fund to support scholarships for underrepresented socioeconomically disadvantaged students, to aid community initiatives at UCD, and for an annual student award that recognizes community building.
To donate, see ucdfoundation.ie/old-man-belfield
