'My nickname stuck' - People stunned as Hector reveals real first name on 2 Johnnies
Hector Ó hEochagáin has revealed that 'Hector' is actually a nickname he was given in school and that 'it's mad' when someone mentions his real name
Irish language legend Hector Ó hEochagáin has revealed that Hector isn't actually is real name and is in fact a childhood nickname that stuck.
The television and podcast personality was speaking on the 2 Johnnies podcast when he revealed the story of his name, leaving his hosts and listeners shocked.
"Not a lot of people know that," Johnny B said as he responded with bemusement when Hector explained that he had lots of nicknames growing up before "one stuck."
Hector explained that he got the nickname while messing down the back of class in school.
"We were doing Latin in first year [of school], Kelloggs had these reflectors on the bikes and Jody Schecktor was Formula One, and we were doing Hector the Protector in Latin, and were all there at the back of Latin class, 'Schecktor, there's Hector the Protector.'"
"And then they started calling me Hector, and it stuck," he said, before revealed his real name is Shane, a name he feels totally disconnected from now.
When Johnny B said, so your name was Shane Keoghan, before Hector said: "It's mad when you say that name now to me because I feel like I'm eight, because from the age of 11, it was all different for me."
He also explained that he adopted the Irish version of his surname when he was 14 after asking his mother if he could because he was "mad into" Irish.
Listeners were shocked by the revelation with one commenting: "Tá mo mheon blown (my mind is blown)."
A second said, "that was like finding out wrestling wasn’t real," while a third added, "what a fabulous story, never knew that. Hector should have went for president."