DJ Carey was Kilkenny's greatest - now this sorrowful, awful travesty unfolds

In 2017, the Kilkenny People, with the assistance of an esteemed panel of sportswriters and GAA cogniscenti, and the public, put together a list of the 25 greatest hurlers of all time.

There was no argument; how could there be? Ranked at number one — ahead of luminaries like TJ Reid, Henry Shefflin, Eddie Keher, and Lory Meagher — was Denis Joseph Carey.

“Carey was a phenonmenon,” notes the write-up. “Called ‘the Dodger’ from an early age because of his ability to dance through tackles, the Gowran man was the heartbeat of modern hurling. He inspired a generation of hurlers and was loved like no other hurler of his time.

“Here was a superstar, a huge crowd-puller. Fans flocked for his autograph at the pre All-Ireland meet and greets, and the line at Carey’s table was by far the longest.”

Hurler of the Year twice, nine All Stars, 34 championship goals. Quite the record. He was regarded by many as Kilkenny’s greatest sportsperson. He still may be, to be fair.
His arrival on the scene in the 1990s, helping Kilkenny to many All-Ireland glories, brought him legendary status well beyond the hurling field. Everybody in Ireland knew who DJ Carey was, even if they had never watched a minute of hurling. It's all gone now.

He was a GAA rockstar, a demi-god whose name appeared everywhere —beyond the sports pages, he was in the gossip columns, in the tabloids, more akin to a Premier League footballer at the time, rather than his fellow amateur athletes.
His exploits on the pitch, his contributions to Kilkenny’s great haul of silverware and place in the history books, will not be erased, but his reputation has been forever tarnished.

DJ Carey's star has now fallen, and those who love and treasure black and amber are sadly diminished by it. When people think of his name, or google him, it will not be his silky skills and stunning goals that first come up, it will be his fraud and deception, for heinously conning innocent people out of money with a cock-and-bull story about having cancer.
READ: Kilkenny hurling legend DJ Carey pleads guilty, admits deception

Cancer touches all of our lives in some way, whether it is ourselves or our loved ones who suffer. It is a terrible illness that takes and destroys lives; those who suffer with it deserve our help, sympathy and support. DJ has pleaded guilty to the charges now.

It is natural that we want to help the people who are carrying the burden of the illness. To exploit that natural, innate goodness in people —their generosity and willingness to help out a fellow human being in need —is patently despicable.
When word first emerged that the ‘major GAA star’ arrested for questioning was DJ, many people refused to believe it; perhaps some still have difficulty accepting it.

When he was named and charged, this newspaper received correspondence insisting that we must have had wrong, or it couldn’t be true, or would we not just leave poor DJ alone? Back your local legend. As Kilkenny's local newspaper, what do you do?

Now, he has admitted his great deception, and will be sentenced accordingly for these awful crimes in October. His guilty plea spares us a lengthy trial in which more than a dozen witnesses were due to give evidence, taking the stand to reveal how they were in turn duped by the Dodger. But the details of some of their stories have already come out - and it is nasty, lurid, and unpalatable stuff. It makes for sorry reading.

DJ’s reputation now lies in tatters and, sadly, a golden era for Kilkenny hurling has lost a little of its lustre.