The following came from Gerry Madden, St Senan’s AC in relation to Kilkenny’s ‘tour de fource’ – too good I thought not to be given a bit
of prominence:
“Music fans will be familiar with Davy ‘Mursheen’ Walsh of Smartscastle, however not many realised that the bold Mursheen holds the unique distinction of having once hurled on Henry Shefflin’s mother, the former May Fitzgerald of Knockbrock. The strange tale was related on radio last week, where he gave a stirring account of a hurling match in Mullally’s Field at the back of the Shanty. By all accounts May, like King Henry was no mean wielder of the camán and Davy omitted to tell that she scored 3-10 off him that day. She also left him with a limp more pronounced than Hopalong Cassidy.
”On the same show Davy gave a rendition of his latest ballad, commemorating the Four in a Row team, all 118 verses of it, which prompted the presenter to observe that if he didn’t finish soon, it could well be five.”
This reminded Gerry of “my own claim to fame of having once played in a charity camogie match against a Kilkenny selection. With the men wearing skirts and struggling in Wellington boots, that didn’t stop the Black & Amber lassies from attempting to assassinate us. My favourite recollection is of our full-forward, a diminutive man called Milo running through with the ball, when a buxom blonde full back pulled across him with venom, which drove his wig 20 feet in the air and he hit the deck like a stone. Poor Milo still has nightmares about it.
”Finally the infamous penalty in the recent All Ireland might have been a close call but there’s no doubting Marley Irish’s umpiring decisions. When the Slieverue goalkeeper swept the ball over her own endline, Marley without hesitation signalled ‘wide’, which prompted Bill Lacey to remark that it wasn’t a white flag she should have, ‘twas a white stick and a labrador.’ Ah that’s a bit harsh now Bill!!”
See The Munster Express newspaper for the rest of Jamie’s Fullback page.
