The 26-year-old, who was drafted by St Kilda as an international rookie in 2010 before being traded to the Sydney Swans in 2011, played five senior games for the Swans, plying his trade both up forward and in defence during his three seasons at the club.
Speaking to SwansTV after informing the club of his decision to return home, Walsh said he would always look back fondly on his time in Australia.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” Walsh said.
“It’s the best thing I ever did.
“To be able to experience professional sport in two great cities with two great clubs, I’ve met a lot of great people and I’ll have friends for the rest of my life over here.
“I’m not sure when, but I’m looking forward to coming back over here already for a holiday a few years down the line and catching up with everyone again.”
Walsh said playing his first senior game against Melbourne in round eight, 2012, in front of his family, who travelled to Sydney for the match, was the highlight of his AFL career.
“Getting my first game was obviously a great experience and was something I had been working towards for a long time,” he said.
“To have my family over here was great.”
After playing three senior games in 2012, Walsh worked his way back into senior contention in early 2013, and earned his first game for the season in the Swans’ round eight draw with Fremantle at the SCG.
Two weeks later he was back on the park, but his time was cut short by a nasty hamstring injury which he suffered early in the club’s round 10 clash with Essendon.
The injury, which came at a disappointing time for Walsh given his form at the time, saw him sidelined for almost 12 months, with the Irishman not making his return until May this year.
While the injury was a significant setback for the 195-centimetre utility, Walsh said his injury had not put a dampener on his time at the Swans.
“With highs there are always lows, but that’s just sport, and I was unlucky enough I suppose to get that injury and the timing wasn’t great, but that’s sport,” he said.
“You just deal with them and cop them, and I worked hard to get back.”
Upon his return to Ireland, Walsh said he intended to continue his sporting career with his home football club, but had not ruled out a return to the Football Championship.
“It was obviously something I wanted to do since I came out here, and I always knew I’d be going back and after five years here I knew that the time was right,” he said.
“I’ll be going back to my club Kerins O’Rahilly’s and I don’t know, but maybe Kerry as well.”
Walsh expressed his gratitude to the Swans players and coaches for their support over the last three seasons.
