Noel Skehan

Noel Skehan

Personal information
Irish name	Nollaig Ó Sceacháin
Sport	Hurling
Position	Goalkeeper
Born	6 December 1945 (1945-12-06) (age 65) Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Occupation	Brewery supervisor
Club(s)
Years	Club
1960s-1980s	Bennettsbridge
Club Titles
Kilkenny titles	6
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1968-1985	Kilkenny	42 (0-0)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	14 (6 as sub)
All Irelands	9 (3 as sub)
NHL	3
All Stars	7

Noel Skehan (born 6 December 1945 in Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny) is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played hurling with his local Bennettsbridge club and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1963 and 1985. Skehan is regarded as one of the greatest hurling goalkeepers of all-time.

Skehan's status as one of the all-time greats is self-evident. In a senior inter-county career that lasted for two decades he won a record nine All-Ireland titles (three of which were as a substitute), eight Leinster titles on the field of play, three National Hurling League titles and four Railway Cup titles with Leinster..

Skehan has also been the recipient of many awards and honours off the field. In 1982 his hurling prowess earned him the prestigious Texaco Hurler of the Year award. He is only the second goalkeeper to be presented with that award. Skehan also collected an impressive tally of seven All-Star awards.

Early life

Noel Skehan was born in Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny in 1945. 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, May, was a first cousin of the legendary Kilkenny goalkeeper Ollie Walsh. He lived on the famous Woodlawn Estate with many other famous hurlers including Paddy Moran, Séamus Cleere, Liam Cleere, John Kinsella, Pat Lawlor and Liam Simpson. Together these players have over twenty All-Ireland medals. Skehan was educated locally in Bennettsbridge and naturally showed a great skill at the game of hurling in his youth.

Playing career

Club

Skehan played his club hurling with his local club in Bennettsbridge and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county title in 1960 when he was just sixteen years old. Two years later in 1962 Skehan was just out of the minor grade when he collected his second county title with ‘the bridge’. The club seemed to develop a pattern of winning county titles every other year as Skehan picked up further honours in 1964 and 1966. Skehan added a fifth winners’ medal to his ever-growing collection in 1967. Four years later in 1971 Bennettsbridge won its twelfth county championship title ever, a sixth personal triumph for goalkeeper Skehan.

Minor

Skehan’s performances for his club brought him to the attention of the Kikenny selectors. He joined the county minor hurling team in 1962 with success coming immediately. That year he was the goalkeeper as Kilkenny defeated Wexford by 5-7 to 5-4 to take the Leinster title at minor level. He later lined out in the All-Ireland final with Tipperary providing the opposition. Skehan kept a clean sheet in that game and collected a coveted All-Ireland minor medal following a 3-6 to 0-9 victory.^[1]

Senior

In 1963 Skehan joined the Kilkenny senior hurling panel as understudy to his first cousin and legendary goalkeeper Ollie Walsh. For the next nine championship seasons Skehan did make some cameo appearances as a substitute, however, Walsh’s position as first-choice ‘keeper was secure. In spite of not being a first-team regular 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 finally succeeded in displacing Walsh as the number-one goalkeeper on the Kilkenny team. Not only was it his first full championship season in goal but he also had the honour of being named captain of the team. It was another successful year as Skehan captured his first Leinster medal on the field of play following a victory over Wexford. Another victory over Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final allowed Kilkenny to advance to the championship decider where Cork provided the opposition. The game itself is regarded as one of the classic games of the modern era. With time running out Cork were cruising to victory and led the 'Cats' by eight points. A Kilkenny fight-back, however, saw the team draw level with Cork and score seven further points without reply to capture a 3-24 to 5-11 victory.^[2] It was a huge blow to a Cork team that seemed destined for victory, however, it gave Skehan hi first All-Ireland title on the field of play as well as the honour of lifting the Liam McCarthy Cup on behalf of his county. He was also named man of the match before collecting his very first All-Star award.

In 1973 Skehan claimed his second consecutive Leinster medal on the field of play after another victory over Wexford. Between that victory and the All-Ireland final with Limerick the Kilkenny team suffered a series of misfortunes and injuries that depleted the team. It was a bad afternoon at Croke Park for Kilkenny. A goal by Limerick's Mossie Dowling and an attack spear-headed by Richie Bennis led to Limerick winning the game by 1-21 to 1-14.^[3] There was some consolation as Skehan was later presented with a second All-Star.

Wexford were once again narrowly defeated by Kilkenny in the 1974 Leinster final, giving Skehan a third provincial title on the field of play. In a repeat of the previous year Limerick provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final, 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 Eddie Keher, supplemented by two further Kilkenny goals gave Kilkenny a twelve-point win and gave Skehan a second All-Ireland medal.^[4] He late picked up a third All-Star award.

In 1975 Kilkenny defeated Wexford for the fifth consecutive year in the provincial final, giving Skehan a fourth Leinster medal in-a-row. Skehan later lined out in his fourth consecutive All-Ireland final with surprise semi-final winners Galway providing the opposition on this occasion. The men from the West led by three points at half-time, however, Eddie Keher’s huge tally of 2 goals and 7 points kept Galway at bay giving Kilkenny a 2-22 to 2-10 victory.^[5] Skehan's goalkeeping skills were also noted as he subsequently collected a fourt All-Star to go with his third All-Ireland medal.

1976 began well for Skehan when he played a key role in Kilkenny’s National Hurling League victory over Clare. A fifth consecutive All-Star soon followed. His side later went into decline and surrendered their provincial crown to Wexford in both 1976 and 1977.

In 1978 Skehan lined out in yet another Leinster final against Wexford, the reigning champions. The game developed into a close affair; however, victory went to ‘the Cats’ by 2-16 to 1-16. It was Skehan's fifth Leinster title on the field of play. Following a subsequent victory over Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final Kilkenny faced arch-rivals Cork in the All-Ireland championship decider. Much was at stake as Cork were aiming to capture a third All-Ireland victory in-a-row and nothing would give Kilkenny greater pleasure than stopping them. Both sides remained neck and neck for much of the game. Cork’s Jimmy Barry-Murphy scored the winning goal for Cork with thirteen minutes left in the game.^[6] For the second time that decade Skehan ended up on the losing side on All-Ireland final day.

In 1979 Kilkenny qualified for the provincial decider once again with Wexford providing the opposition. The game developed into a close affair; however, victory went to ‘the Cats’ by 2-21 to 2-17. It was Skehan's sixth Leinster title. This victory allowed Kilkenny to advance directly to the All-Ireland final. Galway provided the opposition on that occasion, however, the game turned out to be one of the least exciting finals of the decade. A goal by Noel Lane after forty-seven minutes gave Galway a two-point lead; however, Galway failed to score for the rest of the game. Kilkenny, on the other hand, scored two long-range goals to secure a 2-12 to 1-8 victory.^[7] It was Skehan's fourth All-Ireland medal on the field of play.

Skehan was still a key feature of the team in 1980; however, Offaly emerged as a new force in Leinster in both 1980 and 1981.

In 1982 Skehan added to his medal collection when Kilkenny captured the National Hurling League title before later lining out in Croke Park for the Leinster final. Offaly, the reigning provincial and All-Ireland champions were the opponents on that occasion and an interesting game developed. After a close seventy minutes of hurling Kilkenny emerged victorious by just two points and Skehan collected his seventh Leinster winners’ medal. He subsequently lined out in the All-Ireland championship decider against Cork. Christy Heffernan was the hero of the day as he scored two goals in a forty second spell just before half-time. Ger Fennelly captured a third goal in the second half as Kilkenny completely trounced ‘the Rebels’ by 3-18 to 1-15.^[8] This victory gave Skehan an impressive fifth All-Ireland medal while he was also named man of the match. A sixth All-Star award followed while he was also named Texaco Hurler of the Year.

In 1983 Skehan had another great season in the black and amber jersey. He began the year by capturing a second consecutive National League victory, his third in all, before lining out in the Leinster final against Offaly. It was their second consecutive meeting in the provincial decider, however, on this occasion the victory was more comprehensive. A 1-17 to 0-13 win gave Skehan his eighth Leinster medal, his fourteenth over all including ones won as a substitute. For the second year in-a-row ‘the Cats’ squared up to Cork in the All-Ireland final. Once again Kilkenny dominated the game, assisted by a strong wind in the first-half, and hung on in the face of a great fight-back by Cork. At the full-time whistle Kilkenny emerged victorious by 2-14 to 2-12.^[9] It was Skehan's sixth and final All-Ireland medal and a record-breaking ninth winners' medal in all. He was later presented with a seventh All-Star award.

Skehan continued playing with Kilkenny until 1985 when he retired from hurling without any further success.

Provincial

Skehan also lined out with Leinster in the inter-provincial hurling competition and enjoyed much success. He captured his first Railway Cup title in 1973 when Leinster defeated arch-rivals Munster. Skehan made it three in-a-row with further victories over Munster in 1974 and 1975. Four years later in 1979 he captured his fourth and final Railway Cup medal as Connacht fell in the final.^[10]

Post-playing career

In retirement from playing Skehan, as well as maintaining a keen interest in the game, has also come to be regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time. In 1997 he took charge of the Kilkenny intermediate hurling team for the newly-revived All-Ireland series of games. He guided his county to the championship decider in 1998, however, Kilkenny were defeated by Limerick on that occasion. Following Kevin Fennelly's departure as manager of the KIlkenny senior team at the end of 1998, Skehan was one of the names mentioned as a possible successor.^[11] The job eventually went to his former team-mate Brian Cody.

Skehan was one of Kilkenny's best prospects for the goalkeeping position on the Team of the Millennium, however, he faced still opposition from such legends as his fellow county man Ollie Walsh, Cork's Ger Cunningham and Wexford's Art Foley. In the end the honour went to Tipperary's three in-a-row winning 'keeper Tony Reddin. He was also beaten into second place for the 'keeper position on the Kilkenny Hurling Team of the Century. In spite of this Skehan is unique among exponents of Gaelic games. 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 both Christy Ring and John Doyle, which were all won on the field of play.

Skehan has also served as a selector with the Kilkenny senior hurlers under Brian Cody. During his tenure as a selector in the early 2000s Kilkenny captured back-to-back All-Ireland titles in 2002 and 2003. Those two years also saw Skehan guide the Leinster provincial team to back-to-back Railway Cup titles.

On February 7, 2008 Skehan was profiled on the TG4 television programme Laochra Gael.

Honours

Kilkenny

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (6): 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1983
    • As sub (3): 1963, 1967, 1969
  • Runner-up (4): 1973, 1978
    • As sub (2): 1964, 1966
• Leinster Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (8): 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983
    • As sub (6): 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971
  • Runner-up (3): 1976, 1977, 1980
    • As sub (3): 1965, 1968, 1970
• National Hurling League:
  • Winner (3): 1975-1976, 1981–1982, 1982–1983
    • As sub (1): 1965-1966
  • Runner-up (2): 1976-1977, 1977–1978
    • As sub (1): 1966-1967
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1962
• Leinster Minor Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 1962

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (2005)
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (2005)
• Fullam, Brendan, Captains of the Ash (2004)
• Keane, Colm, Hurling's Top 20, (2002)

References

1. ^ Des, Donegan (2005). The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games. DBA Publications. p. 29. 
2. ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. p. 358. 
3. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 358
4. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 358
5. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 358
6. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 359
7. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 360
8. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 361
9. ^ The GAA Book of Lists p. 361
10. ^ "Leinster Railway Cup Winning Teams". Leinster GAA. http://leinster.gaa.ie/archive/pdf/P70_75RailwayCup.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 
11. ^ "Fennelly quits Kilkenny prior to his re-appointment as manager". Irish Examiner. 1998-10-15. http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/10/15/shead.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-26. 

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

Teams

Persondata
Name	Skehan, Noel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1945-12-06
Place of birth	Bennettsbridge
Date of death
Place of death