Go figure: Cats lack deserved respect

I WAS talking to Kilkenny County Board chairman Ned Quinn on Sunday morning, in relation to the injury to star defender JJ Delaney (which, by the way — and I said this in a text to JJ — will also have upset every true Cork hurling supporter), and something he said got me doing a little research. Herewith then, a few facts.

Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Galway, Offaly, Clare, Waterford: these are the 10 most recognised hurling counties, the leaders — in the above sequence — in the All-Ireland senior hurling order of merit.

Okay, a few stats from the recent census: 240,270; 44,165; 75,672; 92,545; 65,949; 582,240; 116,171; 35,796; 56,000; 53,919. Those are the number of males in each of those counties. That looks complicated, so let’s simplify it, just round off and take it in thousands: 240k, 44k, 76k, 93k, 66k, 582k, 116k, 36k, 56k, 54k. The second lowest population in that lot? That’s right, Kilkenny, with 44k males.

Finding a match of those stats with the number of clubs per county was a little more difficult, but eventually I got my hands on a sheet, a little dated perhaps but nevertheless a decent guide (the number of GAA clubs isn’t increasing in proportion to the general population). The number of adult clubs in those 10 counties is: 264; 43; 93; 69; 178; 270; 88; 65; 90; 57.

The county with the lowest number of clubs? Kilkenny — in fact, only Carlow and Leitrim come in with fewer when all counties are considered.

But wait, I hear you cry, Kilkenny is almost exclusively a one-sport county, hurling completely dominant. You would be forgiven too for holding that opinion, given Kilkenny’s success in hurling, their distinct recent lack of same in football (Kilkenny were something of a football power in the early decades, won the first Leinster senior title, 1888, won again in 1900 and 1911, beaten in several others, their last appearance being in 1922).

But, Kilkenny has more adult football teams than a lot of counties (64), and has far more adult football teams than most counties have adult hurling teams.

In adult hurling teams (and remember, you can have several adult teams in one club), Kilkenny does make a massive leap forward. 301; 116; 157; 75; 126; 102; 111; 68; 125; 91. These are the latest figures I have for the counties as outlined above, Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Galway, Offaly, Clare and Waterford, in that order.

What this means is Kilkenny is batting far above its weight in the promotion of hurling than any other county, relative to population. It is also batting far above its weight in All-Ireland titles won, a fact pointed out by Ned Quinn.

“It’s presumed the talent just comes off the tree, but there’s ferocious work being put in. It’s the people, the clubs and schools — we have 12 teachers involved in training teams with the county, and every club is out every Sunday with their underage teams, their U-7s, U-8s, U-9s, all the way up along. We’re one of the smallest counties in the association, but we’re up there fighting with Cork for All-Ireland honours.

“That’s not to take anything from Cork, and in fairness there’s no county with which I enjoy a better relationship; there’s never a moan out of them if we win, they’re great sports people, and it’s same with us if we lose to them. I have great time for them, and I’m not trying to take from what they’ve achieved in hurling, but I don’t feel we’re getting the credit. I don’t expect that every time we play people are going to say Kilkenny are great, but it seems lately as if we’re not getting any credit at all, everything is negative.”

YOU HAVE to admit, what Ned says stands up. Given that Cork had something of a head start on them in the All-Ireland honours stakes — five titles in the bag before Kilkenny won their first — the Marble City and county has been more successful than any since 1900.

Currently they trail Cork by two in the senior order of merit (28 to 30), but given the imbalance in population between the two counties, the imbalance in the number of adult hurling clubs, Kilkenny’s achievement is one to be marvelled at; as Quinn also says, this is not to denigrate Cork, rather it puts the achievements of everyone else bar Tipperary in perspective.

Why aren’t Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Galway, Clare, Waterford, even Offaly, up there with Kilkenny? Why not Laois, Kerry, Carlow?

In the absence of a total root-and-branch reorganisation of the GAA calendar, club and county, the Kilkenny fixtures format is the best, an example that should be followed by every county in the association; likewise their academy structures for the development of elite players.

Last Saturday evening Kilkenny qualified for their fourth All-Ireland U-21 final in a row, their seniors will contest their seventh senior final in nine years on Sunday week; they are to be commended, admired.

We salute ye, Cats; respect, well earned.