Kilkenny legend Henry Shefflin has announced his retirement from inter-county hurling, aged 36. He will continue to play with his club, Ballyhale Shamrocks.

Long-recognised as one of the finest hurlers in history, Shefflin retires with 10 All-Ireland titles, 13 Leinster SHC titles, six national league titles and 11 All Star awards.

Shefflin was named Hurler of the Year on three occasions.

The Ballyhale Shamrocks player made his inter-county debut with the Cats in 1999 and has been part of Kilkenny’s glittering period since then.

After a string of serious injuries, Shefflin came back to help Brian Cody’s side clinch the Liam MacCarthy Cup again last September.

Shefflin was introduced in the final quarter of last year’s win, providing a lift to Kilkenny as they tried to see off the determined challenge of Tipp.

He won his third All-Ireland club SHC title with Ballyhale Shamrocks on St Patrick’s Day, scoring two points as Ballyhale dispatched Limerick side Kilmallock.

After the game he said he could not put off for any longer a decision about his future.

A product of St Kieran’s school in Kilkenny, which has produced many of the county’s finest hurlers over the years, Shefflin was also a decorated colleges player, who won two Fitzgibbon Cup titles with Waterford IT.

He burst on to the inter-county scene in 1999, and although Kilkenny were pipped by Cork in that year’s All-Ireland final, Shefflin scored five points in a memorable display

A year later, he was part of the Cats team that thumped Offaly 5-15 to 1-14, scoring 2-02 as Kilkenny dominated. In 2002 he was again top-scorer for Kilkenny with 1-07 when they beat Clare in the final.