Belfast hurler invited Kilkenny’s TJ Reid to wedding after stag do pitch invasion

Aaron Maguire plays for Bredagh GAC and, much like Ballyhale Shamrocks star TJ, takes the frees for his club.

His friends decided to kit him out in full Kilkenny GAA gear for the his stag do on Sunday, and Aaron managed to sneak onto the pitch for a photograph with Reid after the Cats’ Leinster senior hurling championship win.

“I woke up that morning and had [Kilkenny] shorts and socks laid out in front of me at the hotel in Dublin. My friends thought it was hilarious,” Aaron told the Belfast Telegraph.

After he got onto the pitch as the Kilkenny players celebrated their county’s 75th provincial title, Reid came across to grab a photograph with him, with teammate Shane Walsh capturing the moment.

“TJ came across and said my get-up was class. He wished me well for the wedding when I explained I was on my stag. He couldn’t have been nicer about it,” Aaron said.

“Shane Walsh came and took the photo. It was surreal for a fella from Belfast to ask someone who had just won a Leinster final if he would mind taking a photo”

Aaron did not just have to wear the full yellow and black stripes in Croke Park.

“Anywhere we went all day, I wasn’t allowed to take the helmet off the entire time,” he said.

“I think fans found it funnier when they found out that I wasn’t actually from Kilkenny, but I’ll have to have a soft spot for them from now on.”

TJ shared the shared the photograph on his Instagram page, which has more than 50,000 followers, after which the story went viral.

Aaron said: “I didn’t expect it to blow up so much.

“It’s definitely a stag I’ll always remember for sure.

“I had people from Boston and the Middle East sending me the posts asking if I’ve seen it. I had to tell them, ‘That’s me’.

“It’ll make it into the best man’s speech, I’m sure.

“TJ asked me if I was all set for the wedding, and I asked if he wanted to come along.

“He said he would get back to me about that.”

Aaron lives in Bellaghy, the hometown of his fiancee, Amy, but still travels to Belfast for hurling training with Bredagh.

The couple are to be married in September.

Aaron joked that Amy had “big shoes to fill” for any future hen party.

TJ scored nine points in his side’s thrilling battle against Galway on Sunday.

He made history last month by becoming the first hurler to break the 600-point barrier in the senior championship.

Aaron said he hoped that some of the record-breaker’s success rubbed off on him.

He added: “I’m expecting big things at the next Bredagh vs East Belfast GAA match.”