A Day in the Life – Eddie Keher, Kilkenny hurling legend

This week I had the pleasure to chat to one of the true greats of hurling, Kilkenny’s Eddie Keher. Eddie and I had a great conversation about the game of hurling, how he would love to be playing it today and Kilkenny's greatest hurling team of all time. 

Keher needs little introduction. A Kilkenny senior hurling legend, he was part of the great Kilkenny side of Father Tommy Maher.

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Eddie Keher, Kilkenny vs London 1969 at the INPHO Exhibition in the Pembroke Hotel

Born in Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Keher first played competitive hurling whilst at school in St. Kieran's College. His first senior championship appearance was in the 1959 All-Ireland final replay against Waterford - he also played in a minor All-Ireland final, against Tipperary, that year.

Keher went on to play a key part for Kilkenny over several seasons. He won six All-Ireland medals, ten Leinster medals and three National Hurling League medals. An All-Ireland runner-up on four occasions, Keher also captained the team to All-Ireland victory in 1969.

Keher played his last All-Ireland final in 1975 and retired in 1977 from the Kilkenny team but continued playing for his Club and won his last medal against Bennettsbridge when he was 46 years of age.

His day job was as Bank Manager of AIB from which he retired 20 years ago, when he was the manager of the Callan branch. At the same time, Eddie and his wife Kay moved to Inistioge where Eddie found a new team to join – the Inistioge Parish Choir.

With five children and 12 grandchildren, Eddie is kept busy in his retirement. He is involved on many sport boards as well as founding the No-Name Club, a club that gives young people an alternative outlet to socialise in, other than the pub.

Here is a glimpse into Eddie Keher’s life pre and post his hurling days…

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Your first senior All-Ireland final was in 1959, what do you remember about that day?

I was a minor that year and had just played on the Kilkenny minor team on the first Sunday in September 1959. The senior final was a draw against Waterford, and I was drafted into the panel for the replay, two weeks before my 18th birthday!

I was in awe of the players; I was training with the fellas that were my idols.

I didn’t start in the game - I was a sub - but Father Tommy Maher, who was the famous coach of the day came to me beforehand and told me how Johnny McGovern from Bennettsbridge was injured in the draw match. Johnny had trouble with his shoulder, and they weren’t sure if he would last the game or not, so I was told to be ready.

After nearly 15 minutes, Johnny went off injured and I came on - it was a fantastic occasion. I remember lots about that day and the way I felt. I was in awe and not quite sure what my role was because it was a different role than I had with the minor team.

I let go in the second half and did alright and I scored two points, but we were beaten by Waterdford.

What was Father Maher’s X-Factor?

Training that time was very simple and lads were more naturally fit too with the more physical work they did. 

In those days there was very little planning of the way to play to develop skills. You had it naturally and tried to improve on it.

But when Father Tommy Maher came along, he analysed the whole game. He identified over 100 different skills in hurling and developed methods for players to improve themselves.

He taught me maths in St Kieran’s and applied maths to the game of hurling too. He had everything worked out, he would weigh the sliotar, balance it on the hurl and marry its weight with the hurl. He worked out the best type of hurl to have. He also explained things very simply.

You must remember in those days there were only a few pitches in every county and the standard of the pitches were terrible, mucky, and uneven. Nowadays you can scoop up the ball, like the way TJ scoops it up, but back then you had to roll and lift it, because of the quality of the pitches.

I remember him coaching me on taking a free and he would say ‘the most important thing is to raise the ball properly and forget about hitting it. If you don’t raise it properly you are not going to hit it properly.”

He told us to look down at that ball and say to it, ‘I am going to raise you up properly’. I never forgot that advice, because to roll it up and lift it on poor soil wasn’t easy. That was just one example out of all the aspects of the game.

Would you like to be playing hurling on the pitches of today?

I would love it. When we were allowed in to watch the training, I would be at it every night, and I’d say how much I’d love to be out there with the lads.  

What do you miss the most?

It’s just like the choir I sing in. You get together with a group of fellas who you enjoy being with, competing with and against in training. Like any sports person you look forward to the competitive thing and winning if you can.

There’s a lot of things you learn from the game; you learn how to lose too. This helps you in life, to learn that you are not going to win everything.

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Retirement from sport is tough on athletes. A lot of athletes are now talking about the problems they face when they retire. Was that an issue in your day?

It’s one of the things I don’t like about professional sport, I think it’s very hard on people.

In amateur sport, players have a day job too, so there’s other aspects of life. Hurling or Gaelic football is a big part of your life, but if you play a match on Sunday, you are still back at work Monday morning. So, it isn’t as hard for amateur players.

Professional sport is so different because they are living in each other’s faces 24/7 and suddenly that’s all gone when they retire.

One last question. In your opinion who is the greatest Kilkenny hurling team of our time?

There have been so many great teams, but the team who won 11 All-Irelands in the 2000s, that was a fabulous team.

When you look back at the players on that team, there have been about four teams in that period.

Their x-factor was Brian Cody. Regarding his management of the team and the players he brought on from being good players to become outstanding players.

The way he got the unbeatable spirit into them, he generated a spirit in that team that was unbreakable.

I’ve heard it said, ‘ah sure he had great players.’ Yes, it was true, but he put that extra dimension into them.  

If you look back on the record of that team over all that period, there were several matches, semi-finals, and Leinster finals that they won by the skin of their teeth, because of that spirit that was injected into them by Brian Cody.

The other thing that I will give him full credit for, was that he always talked about honesty. I very much admire that part of Brian and what he inspired.

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