Remarkably, the dynamic number 8 has also made an incredible 151 consecutive starts in the league for the Blue Bulls.

He would most likely be in the 200-plus category had domestic rugby not been stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic, but with a long campaign ahead for Adrian Flavin’s side, he should reach that landmark in the coming month.

“I thought it was more last year, but I’m not too pushed on the numbers side of it. It feels like bloody more anyway! I wouldn’t have imagined I would be playing in rugby this long, never mind for the club and playing in the league,” said the 35-year-old.

“One season just goes into the next. It’s part of your life before too long and an important part of my life as well, to be fair.”

While he played schools rugby with The King’s Hospital on the west side of Dublin, the game was not necessarily the sport of choice in McKeown’s youth. In addition to playing soccer and Gaelic football, the Celbridge man was a gifted snooker player who regularly competed in European junior championships and also won a series of national underage titles.

He had all but given up on rugby in his late teens until a chance meeting with John Bagnall in Maynooth University brought him on an entirely new path.

“He’s a Coach and Player Development Officer for Leinster Rugby now and has been for a number of years. He just gave me a shout and said, ‘do you fancy coming up to Barnhall?’. I did and played some U20s and obviously, the squads weren’t as deep then. A couple of injuries and I was playing AIL towards the back end of the season with some professional players and against some soon-to-be professional players or academy players. It was a bit of a baptism of fire. I didn’t really understand it at the time, to be honest. I didn’t understand the leagues. I didn’t know anything about how it was played!”

Since those early days, McKeown’s career has come full circle, both on and off the pitch. A vital cog in Barnhall sides that have twice gained promotion from Division 2B of the AIL (2012/13 and 2018/19), he started work as a Community Rugby Officer with Leinster in September 2010.

Just under six years later, he moved into his current role as Rugby Development Manager at Maynooth University. Given this third-level institution has had a direct association with Barnhall for the bulk of his time at the club, McKeown was, in many ways, the ideal man for this job.

One of the biggest tasks he has is persuading those who have just left secondary school to remain in the game. Having initially decided not to continue with rugby when starting university himself, McKeown is aware of how steep the fall-off in participation can be.

“There is a big drop-off in sport in general but obviously, with my rugby hat on, there’s a huge drop-off post-school age.

“We’re fairly well intertwined as a club and university. A really hefty number of current students are involved across the squads. From social teams through to the U-20s, the women’s and the senior men’s. There are a lot of graduates as well still playing with the club. We have a nice blend and it is a nice hybrid club.”

After storming to the Division 2B title with 18 straight wins in the previous campaign, Barnhall found themselves on the brink of a second consecutive promotion in 2019/20. The Leixlip-based outfit were five points clear at the top of Division 2A with just four games remaining, before the rising threat of Covid-19 eventually led to the cancellation of the All-Ireland League season. The 2020/21 term also fell by the wayside, with just a couple of Energia Community Series games against Greystones and Skerries to keep their minds occupied.

Despite going close to 19 months without adding to his extraordinary AIL career stats, McKeown never once contemplated an early retirement from the game. If anything it has put a spring in his step as Barnhall once again bid for a spot in the second tier of Irish club rugby.

UL Bohemian arrive in Parsonstown Saturday afternoon (kick-off 2.30pm) for a second round clash and, with a re-energised squad of players, McKeown is confident they will be in the shake-up come the business end of the season.

“I never really thought about not coming back. You’d like to hang up your boots, no matter what sport you’re playing, on your own terms.

“I didn’t really realise it the last game, we had six guys who played their first AIL game. That’s pretty substantial out of 20.

“Our ambition is to get promoted. We’d like to do that by finishing first, but we’d love to be in the shake-up regardless for promotion. The ambition is to go to Division 1B and then obviously assess things then. We want to try and test ourselves against the best.”