Eddie Keher is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
But who would have known that when Keher pucked his first sliotar at age four that he would go on to make history, amassing a hurling all-time scoring record that wouldn’t be broken for 30 years!
A winner of five consecutive All-Star awards between 1971 and 1975 (probably a lot more if the awards had been around before then! ), Keher's reputation as one of the all-time greats of hurling was cemented in 1984 when he was named, by popular opinion, in the left corner-forward position on the GAA Hurling Team of the Century.
“While those achievements are great my favourite memory has to be the 1969 All-Ireland final when we won,” he said. “I was captain and behalf of my team-mates and the Rower-Inistioge club I had the chance to lift the cup. That’s some moment one you never ever forget.”
While some people may mind their records being broken this was not the case for Mr Keher, “I was delighted when Henry achieved the new record. He’s an amazing hurler and it was also special as he’s a Kilkennyman. I remember when I had achieved that scoring record I never imagined I’d still hold it 30 years later.”
Before all those records the talent in Keher was very evident even at eight, when he was lining out with the bigger boys.
“I was an eight-year-old playing on the under-14 hurling team. My old school teacher Mr Walsh gave me the chances and I gladly went with it.”
Keher not only played the game at the top levels but he went on to be a selector with the senior hurling team and managed the side in 1979 and 1980.
“I had the opportunity to manage the team to All-Ireland glory in 1979 along with Pat Henderson,” he said. “That was some year for Kilkenny. At the time Offaly and Wexford were the form teams and to win was an amazing moment.”
As for this year’s All-Ireland final, Keher certainly sees Tipp as a threat. “Tipp are very good.” he said. “They troubled us last year and almost snatched the trophy from us and believe me they will be all fired up this weekend so our boys will need to be as sharp and fast as they can be. In saying that I believe Kilkenny will do it.”
There’s been a lot of talk about Henry’s injury and miraculous recovery but once the name of Ger Hartmann was thrown into the mix Keher wasn’t surprised with the results.
“When I heard Henry was attending Ger Hartmann’s clinic I knew there would be good results,” he said. “I work with Ger as I’m the chairman of the Sports Arena in the Limerick University, where Hartmann works. Ger is the best at what he does; he has Olympic athlete Usain Bolt attending his clinic and will do so ahead of the next Olympics. Hartmann has worked on the best athletes in the world and it’s no surprise he has Henry back in action.”
What advice would Keher give to the younger players ahead of this year's final?
“The thing is the build up is long and at times pressured, but the game itself is over in no time,” he said. “It’s only a short time to make your mark. I would tell them to not pay attention to the build-up, to get out there and to know they have only a short amount of time to make a massive difference — and to enjoy it.”
