Ger Henderson

Background

Ger Henderson was born in Johnstown, County Kilkenny in 1954.

Education

He was educated locally at Johnstown national school where his interest in hurling first began.

Career

He played hurling with the Kilkenny senior inter-county team in the 1970s and 1980s. Club

Henderson played his club hurling with the local Fenians club in Johnstown where he enjoyed much success. Inter-county

He later joined the county’s under-21 side, winning back-to-back All-Ireland titles in 1974 and 1975.

Unfortunately, Kilkenny were later defeated by Cork in the All-Ireland final.

Three years later, Kilkenny had a hugely successful season. In 1983, Henderson captured another quartet of National League, Leinster, All-Ireland and All-Star honours.

The following few years saw Kilkenny’s hurling fortunes take a downturn. Kilkenny were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland final.

Achievements

• He was too young to play senior hurling when the club triumphed winning county championship titles in the early 1970s, however, he did win county title and a Leinster club title in 1974. By 1972, Henderson was a key player when the Kilkenny minor hurling team won the All-Ireland title. In 1976, he tasted his first senior hurling success when he won a National Hurling League medal. Two years later, in 1978, Henderson had taken over from his brother Pat as centre-back on the team, and he won his first Leinster title that year. In spite of this, Henderson’s championship performance earned him his first All-Star award. In 1979, Henderson captured a second Leinster title before later collecting his first All-Ireland following a win over Galway. Once again he was presented with an All-Star award, as well as claiming the Texaco Hurler of the Year award. Henderson won a second National League and a third Leinster medal, before winning a second All-Ireland medal following a win over Cork. Once again, his excellent performance at centre-back earned him his third All-Star award. In spite of this, Henderson won a fourth National League in 1986, before adding a fifth Leinster title in 1987.

Membership

By this stage, Henderson was also a member of the Kilkenny senior hurling panel.