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.