Richard Noel Skehan (born 6 December 1944) is an Irish former hurler who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.
As a member of the Leinster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions Skehan won four Railway Cup medals.
His uncle, Dan Kennedy, and his first cousin, Ollie Walsh, also enjoyed All-Ireland success with Kilkenny.
A double scores 4-8 to 2-4 victory avenged the previous year's defeat and gave Skehan a second championship medal.
Goals were key in the 3–6 to 0–9 victory with Skehan, who kept a clean sheet, winning an All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship medal.
In 1963 Skehan joined the Kilkenny senior hurling panel as understudy to his first cousin and legendary goalkeeper Ollie Walsh.
He remained on the bench for provincial decider, however, Skehan did collect a Leinster medal as a non-playing substitute following a 2–10 to 0–9 defeat of Dublin.
A six-month suspension for regular 'keeper Ollie Walsh resulted in Skehan being retained, however, Wexford put an end to Kilkenny's hopes of securing the title in 1968.
He won his first Leinster medal on the field of play, his seventh over all, following a 3-16 to 1-14 defeat of Wexford in a replay of the provincial decider.
Kilkenny's great scoring threat, Eddie Keher, was deployed closer to goal and finished the game with 2–9.
[12][13] Not only did Skehan collect his first All-Ireland medal on the field of play but he also had the honour of lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
The game hung in the balance for the first-half, however, eight minutes after the restart Mossie Dowling got a vital goal for Limerick.
The Munster champions stormed to a five-point lead in the first eleven minutes, however, a converted penalty by Eddie Keher, supplemented by further goals from Mick Brennan and Pat Delaney gave Kilkenny a 3–19 to 1–13 victory.
On 7 September 1975, Skehan lined out in his fourth successive All-Ireland final, with surprise semi-final winners Galway providing the opposition.
Bad weather and an unofficial train drivers’ strike resulted in the lowest attendance at a final in over twenty years.
The bad weather also affected the hurling with Kilkenny scoring two freak goals as Galway ‘keeper Séamus Shinnors had a nightmare of a game.
A Liam “Chunky” O’Brien 70-yard free went all the way to the net in the first half, while with just three minutes remaining a 45-yard shot from Mick Brennan was helped by the wind and dipped under the crossbar.
[21] After a fallow two-year period, Kilkenny bounced back in 1982 with Skehan winning a second league medal following a 2-14 to 1-11 defeat of Wexford.
He later added a seventh Leinster medal to his collection following a 1-11 to 0-12 defeat of three-in-a-row hopefuls and reigning All-Ireland champions Offaly.
The Cats were rank outsiders on the day, however, a brilliant save by Skehan was followed by two quick goals by Christy Heffernan just before the interval.
Éamonn O'Donoghue pegged a goal back for Cork, however, Ger Fennelly added a third for Kilkenny who secured a 3-18 to 1-13 victory.
Billy Fitzpatrick was the star with ten points, giving Kilkenny a 2-14 to 1-9 lead with seventeen minutes left, however, they failed to score for the remainder of the game.
A stunning comeback by Cork just fell short and Skehan collected a sixth All-Ireland medal following a 2-14 to 2-12 victory.
It was a record-breaking ninth winners' medal, including his three won as a non-playing substitute, while he finished off the year by winning a seventh All-Star.
After failing in their bid for a third successive All-Ireland in 1984, Skehan decided to retire from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1984-85 league.
[23] In 1991 Skehan joined the management team of the Kilkenny junior hurlers as coach-trainer in succession to Ollie Walsh.
In retirement from playing Skehan, as well as maintaining a keen interest in the game, has also come to be regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time.
Following Kevin Fennelly's departure as manager of the Kilkenny senior team at the end of 1998, Skehan was one of the names mentioned as a possible successor.
Skehan was one of Kilkenny's best prospects for the goalkeeping position on the Team of the Millennium, however, he faced still opposition from such legends as his fellow county man Ollie Walsh, Cork's Ger Cunningham and Wexford's Art Foley.