Eddie Keher

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Eddie Keher
irish = Éadbhard Ó Cathaoir
fullname = Edward Peter Keher
placeofbirth = Inistioge
countryofbirth = County Kilkenny
bday=14
bmonth=10
byear= 1941
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
height =
nickname = Eddie
county = Kilkenny
province = Leinster
club = Rower-Inistioge
clposition = Forward
clubs = Inistioge
clyears = 1950s-1980s
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Kilkenny
icposition = Corner-forward
icyears = 1959-1977
icapps(points) = 50 (36-307)
icprovince = 10
icallireland = 6
nhl = 3
allstars = 4 Cú Chulainn
5 All-Stars
clupdate =
icupdate =

Edward Peter Keher (born 11 November, 1941 in Inistioge, County Kilkenny), better known as Eddie Keher, is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local Rower-Inistioge club from the 1950s until the 1980s and was a member of the Kilkenny senior team from 1959 until 1977. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers in the history of the game.Fact|date=April 2008

Keher's status as one of the all-time greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted for eighteen years he won ten Leinster titles, six All-Ireland titles, two National Hurling League titles and nine Railway Cup titles. His record score of 36 goals and 207 points from 50 championship games has yet to be equalled, while his tally of 2 goals and 11 points in the All-Ireland final of 1972 was a record score for a final which stood until Nicky English surpassed it in 1989.

Keher has also been the recipient of many awards and honours off the field. From 1971 until 1975 he won five consecutive All-Star awards, while in 1972 his hurling prowess earned him the prestigious Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Keher was later honoured in 1984 when he was named, by popular opinion, in the left corner-forward position on the GAA Hurling Team of the Century. He was named in the rigfht corner-forward position on the GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium in 1999.

Early & private life

Eddie Keher was born in Inistioge, County Kilkenny in 1941. From an early age he showed exceptional talent at the game of hurling, developing his skills with his friends in the square in his local village. Keher first came to prominence as an 8-year-old playing in an under-14 hurling final. Even at that early stage a report of the match described his exceptional talent and his amazing ability at free-taking. Keher later attended the famous St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny where, at the age of 15, he was instrumental on the college hurling team that defeated St. Flannans College of Ennis in the 1957 All-Ireland senior colleges final. In the game itself Keher scored three goals in the second-half to clinch victory, before setting up a fourth goal for his team-mate on the forward line. In 1959 Keher captained St. Kieran's to a second All-Ireland colleges’ success over the Abbey School, Tipperary Town CBS.

Keher subsequently worked as a bank official with Allied Irish Bank in Dublin. He later became manager of the AIB branch in Callan, County Kilkenny. In 2006 Keher was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Science at the University of Limerick. [http://www.gaa.ie/plugins/newsfeed.cgi?rm=content&plugin_data_id=16796]

Hurling career

Club

Keher played his club hurling with his local Rower-Inistioge club in County Kilkenny. The club itself was not one of the most successful and had only joined the ranks of the senior county championship in the early 1960s. In 1968, however, the club came from nowhere to win the senior county title. Naturally Keher played a key role in this success and he was rewarded by being appointed captain of the Kilkenny senior hurling team for 1969. He continued playing with the club until the late 1980s when he won a special junior hurling title.

Inter-county

Keher’s performances for St. Kieran’s College brought him to the attention of the Kilkenny minor hurling team selectors in the late 1950s. He quickly joined the team and won his first Leinster title in 1957. Keher later lined out with Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, however, Tipperary were victorious on that occasion. He won a second Leinster title in 1958, however, there would be no subsequent All-Ireland appearance that year. Keher captured a third consecutive Leinster title in 1959, however, in spite of a personal tally of six points Kilkenny were defeated by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final for the second time in three years.

That same day the Kilkenny senior team drew with Waterford in the All-Ireland final and the replay was scheduled for exactly one month later. In those four weeks Keher made a seemless transition from minor to senior. He impressed the selectors in some challenge games against Dublin and Wexford and was listed as a substitute for the replay of the senior All-Ireland final. After twenty minutes in that game Keher replaced Johnny McGovern to make his senior debut, however, in spite of having a reasonably good first game victory went to Waterford. Three years later in 1962 Keher captured his first National Hurling League medal. It was Kilkenny’s first league title since 1933. The following year Keher showed his worth when he scored 2-5 in the Leinster semi-final. He later won his first Leinster title following a comfortable victory over Dublin. This victory allowed Kilkenny to advance directly into the All-Ireland final where, for the third successive occasion, their opponents turned out to be Waterford. This was the second All-Ireland final to be broadcast live on Telefís Éireann, allowing the whole nation to witness Keher’s outstanding scoring talents. In the game itself he scored a record 14 points, 10 of which came from frees, giving the Kilkenny men a comfortable 4-17 to 6-8 victory over the Decies. He had finally captured his first All-Ireland medal.

In 1964 Keher won a second Leinster title following another huge win over Dublin. Tipperary later provided the opposition in the All-Ireland final, however, in spite of Kilkenny being the pundits’ favourites the men from Munster completely overpowered Keher’s side on a score line of 5-13 to 2-8. Kilkenny lost their provincial crown in 1965, however, Kilkenny bounced back in 1966 with Keher collecting a second National League medal and a third Leinster title. Kilkenny later faced Cork in the All-Ireland final for the first time since 1947 and, once again, the Leinster champions were the red-hot favourites over an unfancied Cork side. In the game itself Keher scored a late goal, however, the damage was done as Cork went on to win their first All-Ireland title in twelve years. The following year Kilkenny continued their provincial dominance with Keher picking up a fourth Leinster title before lining out in a fifth All-Ireland final at Croke Park. Tipperary were Kilkenny’s opponents on the day, however, ‘the Cats’ had goals at vital times from Paddy Moran, Martin Brennan and Tom Walsh to lay to rest a Tipperary bogey that had lasted since 1922. Kilkenny won on a score line of 3-8 to 2-7 and Keher collected a second All-Ireland medal. Wexford put an end to Kilkenny’s hopes of retaining the title in 1968, however, the Noresiders bounced back the following year with Keher, who was now captain of the side, collecting a fifth Leinster medal. Cork faced Kilkenny in the subsequent All-Ireland final and revenge for 1966 was foremost in the minds of the Kilkenny team. For a while it looked as if the Leesiders would triumph over their great rivals once again, however, five points from Kilkenny in the last seven minutes gave Keher the honour of climbing the steps to collect the famed Liam McCarthy Cup and a third All-Ireland medal.

While Keher had already appeared in six All-Ireland finals, ending up on the winning side on three occasions, the best was yet to come for the Kilkenny team in the 1970s. 1971 saw Keher capture a sixth provincial medal as Kilkenny began to assert their dominance over Wexford. The Leinster champions later played Tipperary in the only eighty minute final between these great rivals. The game has gone down in All-Ireland final folklore for a number of reasons. As the first All-Ireland final to be broadcast by RTÉ in colour, the nation saw Keher score a remarkable 2 goals and 11 points and still end up on the losing side. Kilkenny’s ever-dependable goalkeeper, Ollie Walsh, had a nightmare of a game in which he conceded five goals, one of which passed through his legs, while that year’s Hurler of the Year, Michael 'Babs' Keating, played out the closing stages of the game in his bare feet. After a thrilling game Tipp emerged the victors on a score line of 5-17 to 5-14. In 1972 Keher won a seventh Leinster title following a victory over Wexford in a replay of the provincial final. Once again, Cork provided the opposition in the All-Ireland final, a game which is often considered to be one of the classic games of the modern era. Half-way through the second-half Cork were on form and stretched their lead to eight points. Drastic action was required for Kilkenny and Keher was deployed closer to the Cork goal. One of the most abiding memories of that game is of Keher grabbing the sliothar out of the sky and racing up the wing in the shadow of the Hogan Stand. From that sideline position Keher pucked the sliothar as if going for a point, however, the sliothar dropped short, deceiving Cork goalkeeper Paddy Barry, and ending up in the back of the net. After scoring that goal an almost emotionless Keher simply turned around to go back to his normal playing position with blood pouring out of a cut over his eye. Keher finished the game with a tally of 2 goals and 9 points and collected his fourth All-Ireland medal. After scoring a remarkable 20 goals and 134 points during the 1972 championship season, Keher was an automatic choice as the Texaco Hurler of the Year. His famous sideline goal from the All-Ireland final was chosen as one of RTÉ’s Top 20 GAA Moments in 2005.

In 1973 the Leinster Championship posed little difficulty for Kikilenny and Keher collected a seventh provincial medal before making his eighth All-Ireland final appearance. For the first time since 1940 Kilkenny would play Limerick in the championship decider. Keher’s side, as the reigning champions, were credited as the favourites to win, however, a goal from Mossie Dowling and a rampant attack spearheaded by Richie Bennis saw victory go to Limerick on a score line of 1-21 to 1-14. Wexford were once again narrowly defeated by Kilkenny in the 1974 Leinster final, giving Keher a ninth provincial title. In a repeat of the previous year Limerick provided the opposition, however, revenge was foremost in the minds of Kilkenny supporters. The Munster champions stormed to a five point lead in the first 11 minutes, however, a converted penalty by Keher, supplemented by two further Kilkenny goals gave Kilkenny a twelve-point win and gave Keher a fifth All-Ireland medal. In 1975 Kilkenny defeated Wexford for the fifth consecutive year in the provincial final, giving Keher a fifth Leinster medal in-a-row. It was his tenth Leinster title overall. Keher later lined out in yet another All-Ireland final with surprise semi-final winners Galway providing the opposition on this occasion. The men from the West lead by three points at half-time, however, Keher’s huge tally of 2 goals and 7 points kept Galway at bay giving Kilkenny a 2-22 to 2-10 victory. Keher had once again powered his team to an All-Ireland victory, his sixth overall. Sadly, it was to be Keher’s last appearance in an All-Ireland final. In spite of winning a third National League title in 1976, Wexford finally triumphed over their Leinster rivals in the provincial finals of 1976 and 1977, bringing the curtain down on Keher’s inter-county career.

Province

Keher was also a regular player with the Leinster hurling team in the Railway Cup inter-provincial competition. He first lined out with his province in 1961 as Munster provided the opposition in the final on St. Patricks Day. Spectators that day saw two of the all-time greats of the game battle against each other as Keher lined out in the forwards for Leinster and Christy Ring lined out in the forwards for Munster. As Ring was ending his long career Keher was just beginning his. It would be 1964, however, before the young star won his first Railway Cup title. Further honous would come Keher’s way in 1965, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977.

Post-playing career

In retirement from playing Keher continued working as a bank official, however, he also became involved in coaching. Together with Pat Henderson he coached the Kilkenny senior hurlers to a Leinster final victory over Wexford in 1979. The team later defeated Galway in the championship decider, giving Keher All-Ireland victories as both a player and as a manager.

In retirement Keher came to be regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time. His huge scoring records, coupled with his deadly accuracy when taking frees meant that Keher was an automatic choice for a special Hurling Team of the Century, picked in 1984 to mark the centenary year of the Gaelic Athletic Association. In 1999 he was picked on the GAA Hurling Team of the Millennium, marking him out as one of the greatest players of all-time. Mr. Keher was also prominent in the foundation of the No-Name Club.

Honours

Teams

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ee also

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