Offaly GAA is in mourning following the passing of Johnny Flaherty after a short illness.

Regarded as one of the county’s greatest ever hurlers, the 74-year-old Kinnitty man achieved hero status when his late hand-passed goal against Galway secured Offaly’s first All-Ireland SHC title in 1981. Despite being in the twilight of his career, he also bagged two goals when Offaly defeated Kilkenny to win their maiden Leinster SHC title barely 12 months earlier.

Flaherty made his Offaly senior debut in 1966, but then spent many years in the US before returning home in 1978 and winning back-to-back Sean Robbins Cups with his beloved Kinnitty in ’78 and ’79. A wizard of a corner forward, he was named Offaly Hurler of the Year in 1979 and 1981, won an All-Star in 1981, and was also included on Offaly’s Hurling Team of the Millennium.

Paying tribute to Johnny, who was predeceased by his wife Margaret and is survived by his daughters Shauna and Claire, Offaly GAA said that he “will forever be immortalised in Offaly GAA for his late goal in the 1981 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final, which brought the Liam MacCarthy Cup to the Faithful County for the first time ever.

“Johnny hand-passed the ball to the net at the Canal End goal in Croke Park in the closing stages of an epic duel against Galway. It is still one of the most cherished moments in Offaly GAA history.

“But his contribution hurling was far greater than that one memorable score. One of the county’s longest serving players of all time, he was inducted into the Offaly GAA Hall of Fame in 2014 and also enjoyed great success with his club, Kinnitty.

“In the mid-1970s, like so many young men of that era, emigration beckoned for Johnny and Offaly lost one of its brightest prospects. But Johnny’s return to his native land in the late 1970s coincided with not alone the greatest era in Kinnitty’s proud history, but also marked the start of Offaly’s emergence as a hurling power.

“His two goals against Kilkenny as Offaly won the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship title for the first time in 1980 epitomised his class at the top level.

“1981 was to be a truly special year in the career of Johnny Flaherty and Offaly, when he took the hand pass from Brendan Bermingham and palmed the winning goal in the All-Ireland final, thus ensuring his name would be forever enshrined in GAA folklore.”

 

Offaly GAA is mourning the death of hurling legend, Johnny Flaherty.

A hero for Offaly and his Club, @KinnittyGaa, Johnny scored the winning goal in the 1981 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final.

May he rest in peace.

Please open link for full tribute:https://t.co/Zlr1bn1bUw pic.twitter.com/DahZVLMMS2

— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) December 20, 2023

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