In the closing days of August 1975, Paddy Downey, the revered Gaelic games correspondent of The Irish Times, made a little pilgrimage to Kilkenny and had a ball.

Speaking at the History of Hurling one-day seminar held at The Schoolhouse venue at Muckross House in Killarney last Saturday, one of the most stylish forwards of his era reflected on a 19-year senior inter-county career.

KILKENNY hit the campaign trail on Sunday with the whiff of hurling history all around them.