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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Vincent Whelan

Kilkenny hurling stars including TJ Reid visit Conor McGregor's pub The Black Forge

A few of Kilkenny's star hurlers paid a visit to Conor McGregor's pub and even tried on his UFC belt while still up in Dublin.

The likes of TJ and Richie Reid have been taking a few days to recover after coming up just short against Limerick in Sunday's thrilling All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

They pushed the three-in-a-row champions harder than most expected in exhausting conditions so it's nice to see them unwind for a few days after months of toil before going back to normal life.

And like many people both Irish and international now do when in the capital, they took in the UFC megastar's most well-known establishment.

Richie, Conor Fogarty and Walter Walsh were also in attendance (Instagram)
Walter Walsh (Instagram)
Fogarty with the belt (Instagram)

Somewhat surprisingly given how they had a pretty successful year overall, the main talk around Kilkenny since Sunday is that Brian Cody may now choose to bring his 24-year tenure to a close.

A well-placed Kilkenny source indicated that a statement could be issued in the coming days, bringing down the curtain on the most successful managerial reign in GAA history.

Cody turned 68 last week and though last Sunday represented the third All-Ireland final defeat since he won his 11th and most recent title in 2015, the nature of their performance leaves the team well placed to kick on from here and so would be a reasonably positive note for him to bow out on.

Former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity commented earlier this week that he had learned that Cody initially intended to depart after last year’s Championship only to decide to stay on for the 2022 season.

Departing in the immediate aftermath of an All-Ireland final loss would seem a very un-Cody like manoeuvre, however, with the James Stephens man usually waiting until October or November to confirm his intentions for the following year, regardless of whether the Liam MacCarthy Cup had been secured or not.

Speaking to the crowd at the Kilkenny team’s homecoming in Nowlan Park on Monday evening, Cody said: “The real story is that Kilkenny haven’t gone away and Kilkenny never will go away. Winning the Liam MacCarthy will happen for this great team soon and in the meantime Kilkenny is still the capital of hurling.”

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