Henry Shefflin

Henry Shefflin (born 11 January 1979) is an Irish hurling manager and former player who is the current manager of the Galway senior hurling team.

In his playing career he was nicknamed "King Henry" because of his directive style, dominance, competitive spirit, and leadership on the field.

John Shefflin won an All-Ireland winners' medal in the minor grade in 1990, while Tommy Shefflin won an All-Ireland winners' medal in the under-21 grade that same year.

A younger brother, Paul Shefflin, also won Leinster minor medals in the late 1990s.

Shefflin later attended St Kieran's College in Kilkenny, before studying electronics at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT).

Shefflin later changed course and decided to study both business studies and financial services.

Shefflin currently works with New Holland Finance, a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland.

His main area of responsibility is in the agri-business side of matters, handling the finance for all the New Holland tractor sales in the locality.

His region of responsibility takes in the south-east of the country, including Tipperary, Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow and Kildare.

He joined the Ballyhale Shamrocks senior team as a goalkeeper at the age of 17 in 1996 and spent the next 21 years as one of the club's key outfield players.

He is one of only a handful of men to have won the All-Ireland Club Championship as a player and as a manager.

Shefflin's association with Kilkenny began as a member of the minor team in 1996.

In 1996 he won his sole Leinster medal as Good Counsel College were narrowly defeated by 1–7 to 1–6.

St Colman's College provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland decider.

He progressed through the under-21 and intermediate ranks before making his senior debut in 1999.

He is the only player to win 'hurler of the year' three times, in 2002, 2006, and 2012.

He remains the only player to have won three Hurler of the Year awards (2002, 2006 and 2012), while he also claimed 11 All-Stars.

His 16-season senior career saw him make a record 71 championship appearances for Kilkenny.

He is also the all-time leading scorer for Kilkenny with 27–484 which itself was a national record until surpassed by Joe Canning in 2021.

Shefflin was named as RTÉ Sports Person of the Year in 2006 and has been repeatedly named on teams of the greatest players of all time, including the Etihad 125 Dream Team in 2009.

Shefflin was born at the Regional Hospital Cork to Henry and Mae Shefflin (née Fitzgerald).

One of a family of four boys and three girls, he was born into a household that had a strong sporting background, particularly in the game of hurling.

Shefflin was educated at St Patrick's national school in Ballyhale where his hurling skills were first noted and honed by the local headmaster, Joe Dunphy.

As a child he saw his two older brothers line out with the Kilkenny hurlers at various grades.

Shefflin captained Kilkenny on several occasions, particularly in the 2007 season when he captained the team to All-Ireland honours.

Shefflin also has many personal achievements.

On 30 March 2007, Shefflin married Deirdre O'Sullivan, a native of Callan, County Kilkenny and a camogie player of note in her own right.

Just over a year later in April 2008 the Shefflins celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter named Sadhbh.

On 30 October 2009 Henry Michael Shefflin, the couple's second child and first son, was born.

A third child, Siún, was born in March 2011, while the Shefflin's youngest boy, Freddie, was born in April 2014.

During his schooling at St Kieran's College in Kilkenny, Shefflin established himself as a key member of the senior hurling team.

Shefflin brought his 18-season association with the black and amber jersey to an end when he announced his inter-county retirement on 25 March 2015.

Shefflin is one of the most decorated players of all time.

During his time with Kilkenny, he won 10 All-Ireland Championship titles – more than any other player in history, 13 Leinster Championship titles, six National Hurling League titles, and six Walsh Cup titles.

Kilkenny, Cork, Tipperary and Limerick are the only teams in hurling history to have won more All-Ireland titles than Shefflin.

Cian Lynch is the only other player to win the title more than once, winning it in 2018 and 2021.

He is widely regarded as the best player in the history of the game.

A versatile forward who started out in the corner, Shefflin made his name in more commanding positions as a centre or full-forward.

He is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, with many former players, commentators and fans rating him as the number one player of all time.

Raised in Ballyhale, County Kilkenny, Shefflin served an obligatory but underrated hurling apprenticeship at St Kieran's College.