Kilkenny coach who promoted ‘thinking man’s hurling’

Msgr Tommy Maher, who has died aged 92, was one of the most significant figures in the history of hurling.

In fact, it is not overdoing it to say that there has been no more significant figure in the evolution of the sport during the past half-century, for although Kilkenny won seven All Ireland titles under his guidance, there was far more to the Gowran man’s legacy than the mere accumulation of silverware.

The emphasis he placed on the skills of the game and his ability to direct his charges to play thinking man’s hurling lived on after him.

In addition, each of Kilkenny's All Ireland-winning managers since the monsignor's retirement in 1978 were men who wore the black and amber under him: Pat Henderson, Eddie Keher, Ollie Walsh and, of course, Brian Cody.

By a sublime symmetry he died on the day Henry Shefflin announced his retirement from intercounty hurling, two giants of very different generations vacating the stage simultaneously.

The then Fr Maher took over as coach - a novel term at the time - in 1957 at a time when Kilkenny hurling was in the doldrums. The county had won only one All Ireland since 1939. In his 21 years at the helm they would bring home the MacCarthy Cup on seven occasions. Where would Kilkenny hurling stand today had it not been blessed with a visionary like Tommy Maher? It is an interesting, albeit unanswerable, question.

Skills of the game

The Maher credo was, like the man himself, uncomplicated. In his view there was no substitute for the skills of the game. The key to success wasn’t fitness or even tactics but technique. Practise the skills and practise them properly.

While he was a fan of the handpass as a way of getting out of tight corners, he never ceased to remind his players that “the ball travels faster than any man”. The simplest solution was usually the best. It was no coincidence that Fr Maher was a maths teacher.

While noting his contribution to his native county it is also important to emphasise his contribution to hurling nationally. Along with Donie Nealon and Des Ferguson he was one of the midwives of the seminal Gormanston coaching course of the 1960s. Over time the seeds that were sown there produced a harvest that led to the breakthroughs made by Galway and Offaly in the 1980s and even Clare’s rise in the 1990s.

Fr Maher was all the more remarkable a man for not being obviously remarkable. On the one hand he was a teacher, an educator, a mathematician and an analyst.

Son of the soil

On the other hand he was a humble man, a man of God, a believer in the virtues of hard work and a son of the soil, never happier than when he was out in the fields on the family farm in Whitepark, Gowran.

The youngest of 11 children, he was orphaned at the age of five. After his secondary schooling at St Kieran’s College he studied for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and was ordained in 1948.

His first posting was as chaplain at Sion Hill convent in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Thereafter he served as a curate in Crumlin before returning to St Kieran’s in 1953 as junior dean and professor of maths. He was appointed president of the college in 1973 and oversaw its bicentenary celebrations in 1982, moving to Mullinavat as parish priest the following year. He came to love the south Kilkenny parish, where he is buried, and where he was a much loved pastor. He became ill in 1999 and retired from his ministry in 2002.

His biography, The Godfather of Modern Hurling by Enda McEvoy, was published in 2012 and sparked new interest in the life and influence of a man unknown to most GAA fans under the age of 40.

He is survived by nine nieces and nephews.