Henry Shefflin’s book was launched at The Hub, in Kilkenny last night and, by all accounts, it was a super affair.
The Cats legend shared some of his finest memories from his hugely successful career, answered questions from a rapt audience and shared a number of humorous and fascinating anecdotes.
Former Waterford hurler Ken McGrath was on hand to help Shefflin mark the occasion and share some stories of their on-pitch rivalry.
Sitting near to Shefflin on the venue’s stage, he joked, “This is as close as I have got to him.”
However, as host Brendan Hennessy turned the conversation to a trip to New York in 2001 – when Shefflin turned out for the Déise in a challenge match – McGrath briefly lost the run of himself with an ill-judged attempt at a joke.
Hennessy: In 2001, the two of you had a lucky escape. Tell the people of Kilkenny… You were in New York?
McGrath: Yeah. We were over for 9/11.
Hennessy: You weren’t over for 9/11. You were there when it happened. The gardaí will take you away if you say you were over for 9/11. They’ll think you were involved.
McGrath: I had a big beard at the time… No, I suppose it’s the one regret I’ve always had. I probably should have left him down in the Twin Towers. We might have won a few All Irelands.
In McGrath’s defence, he quickly followed up his comments by stating that he was not ‘trying to make a mockery’ of the terrorist attacks that rocked the city and said that it was something that he hoped “we would never see again”.
You can listen to the full audio, which also features contributions from Tommy Walsh, Eamonn Corcoran and JJ Delaney, courtesy of KCLR FM, here:
