Noel Skehan

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Noel Skehan

Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Date of Birth	1944
Place of birth	Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny
Club information
Club	Bennettsbridge
Position	Goalkeeper
Club(s)*
Club	Years	Apps (scores)
Inter County
County	Kilkenny
Position	Goalkeeper
Inter County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Kilkenny	1963-1985
Inter County Titles
Leinster Titles	14
All-Ireland	9
All-Stars	7
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Noel Skehan (born 1944) is a former Irish sportsperson who was a member of the Kilkenny senior hurling team between 1963 and 1985. He is regarded as one of the greatest hurling goalkeepers of all-time.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Playing career 2.1 Club 2.2 Inter-county 2.3 Records 3 Teams 4 References

[edit] Early life

Noel Skehan was born in Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny in 1944. He was born into a family, and into an area, that had a strong association with hurling. His uncle, Dan Kennedy, captained Kilkenny to victory over Cork in the 1947 All-Ireland final, while his mother was a first cousin of the legendary Kilkenny goalkeeper Ollie Walsh. Skehan was educated locally in Bennettsbridge and naturally showed a great skill at the game of hurling in his youth.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Skehan played his club hurling with his local Bennettsbridge club. Bennettsbridge was one of the most successful clubs in Kilkenny, and Skehan won many honours with the club. He won four Kilkenny SHC titles in 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1971.

[edit] Inter-county

Skehan was quickly spotted by the Kilkenny selectors and he joined the inter-county minor team in 1962. It proved to be a successful year as he won his first All-Ireland medal. He joined the senior team in 1963, however, Skehan still had to play second fiddle to Ollie Walsh who was still the number one choice as goalkeeper. Skehan remained as a substitute until Walsh’s retirement in 1971. In spite of not playing he still won six Leinster and three All-Ireland medals as a member of the senior panel in 1963, 1967 and 1969.

In 1972 Skehan had his first full season of championship hurling. As well as this he was appointed captain of the team. It was another successful year as Skehan captured another Leinster medal and an All-Ireland title following a thrilling victory over Cork. In 1973 he claimed his second consecutive Leinster medal on the field of play, however, a depleted Kilkenny side lost out to Limerick in the All-Ireland final. In 1974 another provincial medal was captured by Skehan, as well as his second All-Ireland medal as a full member of the team. Kilkenny captured back-to-back All-Ireland titles by defeating Galway in the 1975 final. This brought Skehan’s overall All-Ireland medal tally up to six. Kilkenny set a record by making their fifth All-Ireland final appearance in-a-row. No other team in the history of the championship had appeared in more than four consecutive All-Ireland finals.

In 1976 Kilkenny’s dominance in the Leinster Championship was broken by Wexford. Skehan did have some consolation by winning his first National Hurling League title. The “Cats” were back in 1978 but lost out to Cork who won their third All-Ireland hurling title in-a-row. In 1979 he won his seventh All-Ireland medal with a victory over an up and coming Galway side. Offaly emerged as a new hurling force at the start of the 1980s, however, Kilkenny were back in 1982 and 1983 winning back-to-back National League and All-Ireland titles. This brought Skehan’s All-Ireland medal total up to a record-breaking nine medals. He continued playing with Kilkenny until 1985 when he retired from hurling.

[edit] Records

No player in hurling history has matched the astonishing record of nine All-Ireland medals won by Skehan from 1963 to 1983. With three of those medals won as a substitute, his record is surpassed by the eight All-Ireland's won by Christy Ring and John Doyle, which were won as full team members. He also won seven All-Star awards in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982 and 1983. Skehan was also the recipient of the Texaco Hurler of the Year award in 1982.

Preceded by Tadhg O'Connor (Tipperary)	All-Ireland Hurling Final winning captain 1972	Succeeded by Éamonn Grimes (Limerick)
Preceded by Pat Delaney (Offaly)	Texaco Hurler of the Year 1982	Succeeded by Frank Cummins (Kilkenny)

[edit] Teams

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1972 (18th title)
1 N. Skehan (Capt.) | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 P. Dillon | 4 J. Treacy | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 E. Morrissey | 8 F. Cummins | 9 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 J. Kinsella | 13 N. Byrne | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Subs: M. Murphy | M. Coogan | P. Moran | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1974 (19th title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 N. Orr (Capt.) | 4 J. Treacy | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 T. McCormack | 8 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 9 F. Cummins | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 B. Fitzpatrick | 13 M. Brennan | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1975 (20th title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 N. Orr | 4 B. Cody (Capt.) | 5 P. Lawlor | 6 P. Henderson | 7 T. McCormack | 8 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 9 F. Cummins | 10 M. Crotty | 11 P. Delaney | 12 B. Fitzpatrick (Capt.) | 13 M. Brennan | 14 K. Purcell | 15 E. Keher | Manager: Fr. T. Maher

	Kilkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1979 (21st title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 P. 'Fan' Larkin | 3 P. Prendergast | 4 J. Henderson | 5 R. Reid | 6 G. Henderson | 7 N. Brennan | 8 J. Hennessy | 9 F. Cummins | 10 G. Fennelly (Capt.) | 11 B. Fitzpatrick | 12 L. 'Chunky' O'Brien | 13 M. Brennan | 14 M. Crotty | 15 M. Ruth | Subs: D. O'Hara | K. Fennelly | Managers: P. Henderson | E. Keher

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1982 (22nd title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 J. Henderson | 3 B. Cody (Capt.) | 4 D. O'Hara | 5 N. Brennan | 6 G. Henderson | 7 P. Prendergast | 8 J. Hennessy | 9 F. Cummins | 10 R. Power | 11 G. Fennelly | 12 K. Brennan | 13 B. Fitzpatrick | 14 C. Heffernan | 15 L. Fennelly | Manager: P. Henderson

	KIlkenny - All-Ireland Hurling Champions 1983 (23rd title)
1 N. Skehan | 2 J. Henderson | 3 B. Cody | 4 D. O'Hara | 5 J. Hennessy | 6 G. Henderson | 7 P. Prendergast | 8 F. Cummins | 9 G. Fennelly | 10 R. Power | 11 K. Brennan | 12 L. Fennelly | 13 B. Fitzpatrick | 14 C. Heffernan | 15 H. Ryan | Sub: P. Lannon Manager: P. Henderson

[edit] References

• Colm Keane, Hurling's Top 20, (2002)