The 19-times capped Louth native told the Irish Independent the time was right to finish up and return home to Ireland after an enjoyable year in the Windy City.
Kearney finished up with Leinster last season having played 186 times for his home province and is fifth on their all-time try-scorers’ list.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Kearney who reveals he was the subject of abuse in the wake of Ireland’s 2015 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina, while he had to battle back from serious injuries midway through his career.
“Back in the day social media was not like it is now, but it was still pretty vicious when it wanted to be,” he said.
“You’d be going in after games and putting your name into Twitter, Facebook . . . most players did it, to be fair. After that Argentina game, I obviously took a lot of shit. I got some horrific stuff said about me online, and I remember that’s the only time it properly shook me a bit.
“I remember just thinking after that game, I could go out and score six tries, or I could go out and have a shocker. I don’t care. I’m never searching for my name on Twitter again or Facebook, wherever it is.
“Every player goes through some sort of adversity at some stage in their career and I’d a period there around 2016, ’17, ’18 when I couldn’t really catch much of a break.
“They [Leinster] didn’t really want to keep me on the following year, but all I really needed was my opportunity. I played well [against Toulouse] and started in Europe the next couple of weeks. Then the coaches started to have a bit more faith in me.
“It all changed from there. That moment would have stuck out for me also as, you know, coming off the back of a low and getting to play rugby at a high level again and feeling confident in yourself again, which was cool.”
Playing for Ireland alongside his brother Rob was Kearney’s career highlight, but he says the time is now right to hang up the boots.
“I’ve had a good innings and I’ve had a long time playing. Something tells you the time is right. I’ve been feeling that for a while,” he said.
Read the full interview in the Irish Independent and online tomorrow
