Eddie Keher

Eddie Keher
Personal information
Irish name Éamonn Ó Cathaoir
Sport Hurling
Position Corner-forward
Born (1941-10-14) 14 October 1941 (age 83)
Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Ireland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nickname Steady Eddie
Occupation Bank official
Club(s)
Years Club
 Rower–Inistioge
Club titles
Kilkenny titles 1
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
1959–1977
 Kilkenny 50 (35–336)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles 10
All-Irelands 6
NHL 3
All Stars 5
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 05:55, 31 May 2017.

Edward Peter Keher (/ˈkɛər/; born 14 October 1941) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.[1][2][3]

Born in Inistioge, County Kilkenny, Keher first played competitive hurling whilst at school in St. Kieran's College. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of fifteen when he first linked up with the Kilkenny minor team. He made his senior debut in the 1959 championship. Keher went on to play a key part for Kilkenny over several seasons, and 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.

As a member of the Leinster inter-provincial team for sixteen years, Keher won nine Railway Cup medals, a record for a Leinster player. At club level he won one championship medal with Rower–Inistioge.

Keher's career tally of 35 goals and 336 points was a record score which stood until 20 June 2010 when it was surpassed by Henry Shefflin.[4][5]

Throughout his career, Keher made 50 championship appearances, a Kilkenny record which stood until 25 July 2004 when it was surpassed by D. J. Carey.[6] His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1977 championship.

In retirement from playing, Keher temporarily became involved in team management and coaching. As joint-coach to the Kilkenny senior team with Pat Henderson, he helped guide the team to the All-Ireland title in 1979.

During his playing days, Keher won four Cú Chulainn awards and five All-Star awards, as well as being named Texaco Hurler of the Year in 1972. He also met and tutored Muhammad Ali in hurling in 1972, when he visited Dublin.[7] He has been repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including at corner-forward on the Hurling Team of the Century in 1984 and the Hurling Team of the Millennium in 2000.

Scoring Achievements/Records:

All-Ireland Finals - Scored 7 goals 74 points (95 points) in 10 games.

Leading Annual Scorer for 11 years between 1963 - 1976

Best score in All-Ireland Final: 2-11 Kilkenny v Tipperary in 1971

Best points tally in All-Ireland Final: 14 points Kilkenny v Waterford in 1963

Career Scoring Record: 211 Goals 1426 points (2059 points) from 298 games.

  1. ^ "Eddie Keher". Hogan Stand website. 7 August 1991. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  2. ^ MvcEvoy, Enda (8 October 2011). "Greatness becomes him". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  3. ^ Bunbury, Turtle (14 September 2012). "Eddie Keher: the hurling marksman". The Gathering website. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Kilkenny guided by Shefflin's hand of history". Irish Independent. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Record a 'marvellous honour' for Shefflin". RTÉ Sport. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  6. ^ McGough, Leo (8 September 2004). "Walton led for years, then D.J. set up the '50 Club'". Kilkenny People. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  7. ^ Crutchley, Peter. "When Ali thrilled Ireland: How 'the Greatest' shook up Dublin". BBC News NI. BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2016.