William J. Abernethy (1929 – 21 October 1980) was an Irish hurler who played as a right corner-forward for the

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

senior team. Abernethy made his first appearance for the team during the 1951-52 National Hurling League and was a sometimes regular member of the starting fifteen until he left the panel after the 1952 championship. During that time he won one

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medal on the field of play and one

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

medal as a non-playing substitute. At club level Abernethy was a one-time county junior championship medalist with

Castlemartyr Castlemartyr (, formerly anglicised as ''Ballymarter'' or ''Ballymartyr'') is a large village in County Cork, Ireland. It is around east of Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Irel ...

Playing career

Club

Abernethy played his club hurling with

. In 1951 Castlemartyr captured their second divisional junior title in succession. Having failed in the county series the previous year, Abernethy's side subsequently qualified for the county championship decider. A 6-5 to 2-7 defeat of

Cloughduv Cloghduv or Cloghduff ( ; ) is a village in County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, it had a population of 440 people. The main industry is agriculture, although it is also a commuter village for Cork City. Cloughduv is part of the Dáil ...

gave Abernethy a junior championship medal.

Inter-county

Abernethy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor hurling team. He played in the underage grade for two seasons in 1946 and 1947, however, Cork exited the championship in both years without any success. In 1952 Abernethy joined the Cork senior team for the championship. He was an unused some for Cork's opening three championship games but was included on the starting fifteen for the All-Ireland showdown with

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Dublin were outclassed by Cork on that occasion. In spite of only leading by three points at half-time Cork won by 2-14 to 0-7 and Abernethy picked up an

medal. His inter-county career ended shortly afterwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernethy, Liam 1929 births 1980 deaths Castlemartyr hurlers Cork inter-county hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners 20th-century Irish sportsmen