Paul Shefflin genuinely counted as one of those characters who brought people together 

Friends and former teammates remember the late Paul Shefflin who died suddenly on Friday afternoon

Ballyhale’s Paul Shefflin celebrates after the 2014 Leinster Club SHC final win over Kilcormac/Killoughey

Last Friday will go down as a truly awful moment for the parish of Ballyhale, for Ballyhale Shamrocks GAA Club, for so many people across so many contexts.

Paul Shefflin passed away, long before his time. He would have been 42 on June 30. First and foremost, the tragic loss falls to Aoife Shefflin, Paul’s wife, and their four children, Béibhinn, Odhran, Keelan and Ronan. Then to Henry Sr and Mai, Paul’s parents, and his six brothers and sisters. Words seem inadequate at the moment.

No need for embellishment, though, where Paul Shefflin is concerned. He simply was universally popular and respected and enjoyed. Inside or outside Ballyhale, the verdict returned the same. This man genuinely counted as one of those characters who brought people together, easing any company he joined.

“Just stuck in the middle of everything,” says John Drennan. “Always had that smile on his face, and always up for mischief. I think the only time Paul got really serious was when he was hurling a match. He was competitive out.

“But he also was a great man always to lighten the mood in the dressing room, when it needed to be lightened. Paul could read people, could read situations. He was rarely surprised by too much.” 

Three years older, Drennan soldiered for years with his close friend. He does not hide profound shock: “I must have spent hours crying after hearing the news. Hours… It’s just unreal to think someone so full of life is gone. It’s an enormous blow for the whole parish. Paul was just getting started with juvenile hurling, juvenile camogie, juvenile soccer. He would probably have given another 15 or 20 years at it.

“The loss is not just to his own children, or to his own family, although that’s the massive thing, by far. Paul was generous. Generous with his time and generous with his coaching. There’ll be a parish void, no doubt about it.” 

Paul Shefflin attended St Kieran’s College after St Patrick’s NS in Ballyhale. He hurled with St Kieran’s and captained the Kilkenny minors in 1998’s All-Ireland final loss to Cork. Then he progressed to the county’s U21 side. Study at WIT left him part of 2000’s Fitzgibbon Cup-winning panel alongside older brother Henry.

Enda Everard was likewise on that WIT panel. “Myself and Paul just hit it off,” he smiles. “Then again, Paul hit it off with everyone he met. He became part of a very tight group that included Henry, Éamonn Corcoran, Andy Moloney, Leigh O’Brien, Alan Geoghegan and a fair few others. Ever since we left WIT in the early 2000s, we would always meet up once or twice a year for a night away. It just won’t be the same now…” 

A Moyne-Templetuohy clubman, Everard relished the Kilkenny-Tipperary rivalry that intensified from 2008 onwards. As he details: “Paul was probably the best of the Kilkenny lads to hop a ball about Tipp. We certainly replayed a fair few controversial incidents over the years! But the truth of it is that the Kilkenny fellas and the Tipperary fellas find it easy to get on, behind the scenes. We have a right lot in common.” 

He continues: “That old WIT group of us is now men in their early to mid forties. You don’t expect to have to face something like this for maybe another 20 years. Or more, hopefully. Paul kind of was the glue in the group, in touch with everyone the whole time. There’ve been a lot of tears, and there are more to come.” 

Paul Shefflin proved a highly accomplished hurler with Ballyhale Shamrocks. Having landed a Minor A title in 1997, he won six Senior titles (2006-09, 2012, 2014) and three Club All Irelands (2007, 2010, 2015). 

He did not enjoy the slog of heavy training, churning in winter mud, but did the work without complaint, because he wanted to hurl with the Shamrocks, with Henry.

I was involved for several seasons with the Shamrocks’ Senior management. A lot of things go unsaid in that sort of set up but we always wanted to see Paul doing well because he went about his preparation with implacable honesty.

The 2014 season counted as a particularly satisfying one, with Paul enlivened by a switch from right corner back to right half back. The previous season had been difficult. But he ended up, during the seven game campaign that led to victory over Kilmallock in 2015’s All Ireland Final, the club’s most consistent performer. His marking job on Clara’s Liam Ryan in 2014’s Senior Final was crucial and perfectly done.

And he kept going. The same man hurled on until 2019, finishing up at Junior C, an especially popular figure with young players starting off. He was the soul of encouragement.

Not even Ballyhale is all hurling. A slice of the friendship between John Drennan and Paul Shefflin lay in shared support for Liverpool FC. “We had a lot of brilliant trips to Anfield,” Drennan recalls. “Paul loved going out in Liverpool. Loved the city after a big game. He’d be over talking to home fans, and immediately on great terms with a whole bunch of strangers.

“The sort of person Paul was, you could bring him absolutely anywhere.”