Legendary Galway hurler Tony Keady dies at the age of 53

Legendary Galway hurler Tony Keady has passed away at the age of 53.

Tony Keady, the former Hurler of the Year, has died at the age of 53. The Galway GAA County Board confirmed the news on Thursday morning. Keady was an All-Ireland winner with Galway in 1988 and was at Croke Park last weekend to see the Tribesmen beat Tipperary and reach this year's final in September. Keady was only the third Galway hurler in history to be named Hurler of the Year - after Joe Connolly in 1980 and Joe Cooney in 1987. "It’s hard to believe, I was talking to him before the match outside Croke Park last Sunday," said RTÉ hurling analyst Cyril Farrell. "He was in great form and always out for the craic. He never missed a match, he was a great family man. "He came in to me as a young lad and was a brilliant hurler and a brilliant player. The bigger the occasion the better he played. "He believed if there was 70,000 in Croke Park then they came to see him playing. He’d say ‘this is what we’re training for'. "He was a free spirit, it’s hard to believe it, he was in great form and you talk about fitness – he was as fit as a fiddle," Farrell added. Keady, who lived in Frenchfort in Oranmore, is survived by his wife Margaret and their four young children.