The two Eddies, similar but different
The former — a multiple All Star and All-Ireland winner who can claim Croke Park as his second home each summer and adulation every time he walks through the Marble City.
The latter — a 25-year-old welder who is one of the hardy bunch of souls trying to keep the big ball code alive in Cat Land and famous for sharing a name with you know who.
Sometimes it can be a curse.
Take the day he proudly slammed home a penalty in the O’Byrne Cup defeat to Carlow last month.
How he cringed when numerous radio and newspapers reports credited the strike to the other Eddie.
“It’s nice to be recognised even it is by accident,” says Eddie Brennan, the footballer. “It can be a bit annoying sometimes when people get us confused but it’s not the end of the world.
“I play both hurling and football but I don’t think the other Eddie Brennan every played football.
“I’ve been playing football all my life. My father was a good footballer and my uncle is now training the team.
“People might laugh at Kilkenny football and take the piss but I think it is an honour to represent your county.”
But as always with Kilkenny GAA the talks inevitably swings back around to hurling.
And Brennan admits he has come close to joining his namesake on big game days. “I played with the Underdogs a few years and had a few trials with the senior team. I never played hurling with Kilkenny.
“I was brought in after the Leinster championship two years ago but maybe fitness caught me in the end.”
And his position? “Full forward or half forward, I’d play anywhere in the forwards.” A bit like you know who.
He knows the other Eddie to say hello but there the connections end.
They live on opposite sides of the county but in sporting terms they exist in parallel worlds.
“I have played football since I was a youngster with Erin’s Own/Castlecomer. We worked our way from junior and won our first senior title a few years ago.
“A lot of fellows were playing football as it was a good way to get fit. I think another reason was that we were getting more successful with the football than the hurling.”
By his late teens he made the county side just at a time when Kilkenny football was plummeting to an all time low.
“I started off when I was 18 and 19 and then it faded away because we were getting awful hammerings’, he recalls. “Then the uncle took over. Back then there used to be only eight lads out training with the county team. Nobody really cared. This year we have 40 lads out training three nights a week. The craic is good, we are getting more football and we are getting fitter.”
The players and new manager Tom Brennan aren’t the only ones doing their part in this rebirth.
“The County Board are looking after us very well,” said Brennan. “A few years ago you’d just get the togs and socks on match day. Now we get all the gear, the whole thing. We should be looked after the same as the hurlers. They may be more successful but we train just as hard as they do.”
This month’s return to the National Football League after an eight years absence failed to reflect such developments.
Kilkenny hit 1-5 in their first NFL outing since 1999. The problem was that Tipperary rammed home 4-20.
On Saturday Antrim hit them for 2-25 at Casement Park. It was something of a personal triumph for Brennan though scoring all but one of his side’s six points.
“It is hard to keep your heads up,” admitted Brennan after that first loss.
“We didn’t expect to win against Tipperary but we were hoping to put up a better score. We were all really disappointed after the game.”
So why do it? Why train three nights a week in the misery of January when the only light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train? Why be a Kilkenny footballer?
“That’s the joys of playing sport,” explains Brennan.
“As I said it is an honour to play for your county. A lot of people can’t play — they don’t have the ability or the gift or the will.
“You have a short enough career before you quit so I want to make the most of it.
“Our aim is to put up bigger scores, get a result along the line, build for the future, enjoy ourselves and do the county proud.”
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