Liam Blanchfield (born 18 November 1996) is an Irish hurler who plays for Kilkenny Senior Championship club Bennettsbridge and at inter-county level with the

Kilkenny senior hurling team The Kilkenny county hurling team represents County Kilkenny, Kilkenny in hurling and is governed by Kilkenny GAA, the County board (Gaelic games), county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inte ...

. He usually lines out as a left wing-forward.

Playing career

St. Kieran's College

Blanchfield first came to prominence as a hurler with St. Kieran's College in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

. Having played in every grade as a hurler, he was eventually called up the college's senior team. On 9 March 2014, Blanchfield scored a point when St. Kieran's College suffered a 2–13 to 0–13 defeat by Kilkenny CBS in the Leinster final. On 5 April 2014, he was switched to centre-forward for the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny CBS and collected a winners' medal following the 2–16 to 0–13 victory. On 28 February 2015, Blanchfield won a Leinster Championship medal when St. Kieran's College defeated St. Peter's College by 1–14 to 1–06 in the final. He was selected at right wing-forward by spent much of the game at centre-forward when St. Kieran's College faced Thurles CBS in the All-Ireland final. Blanchfield scored a point from play and collected a second successive All-Ireland medal following the 1–15 to 1–12 victory.

Bennettsbridge

Blanchfield joined the Bennettsbridge club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels and enjoyed championship success in the minor grade. He eventually joined the club's top adult team in the Kilkenny Junior Championship. On 4 November 2012, Blanchfield was just 15-years-old when he lined out at right corner-forward when Bennettsbridge qualified for the Kilkenny Junior Championship final. He scored a point from play but ended on the losing side following a 3–12 to 0–10 defeat by Thomastown. Bennettsbridge qualified for a second successive Kilkenny Junior Championship final on 20 October 2013, with Blanchfield lining out at right wing-forward. He scored a point from play in the 2–16 to 1–18 defeat by Lisdowney. On 9 November 2014, Cleere won a Kilkenny Junior Championship medal after scoring 1-01 from right corner-forward in a 1–17 to 1–07 defeat of

Mooncoin Mooncoin () is an urban area (Ireland), urban area in County Kilkenny, in Ireland. The population was 1,175 in 2016. Historically part of the Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic kingdom of Osraige, today it is in the far south of the counties of Ireland, cou ...

in the final. He retained his position at right corner-forward for the Leinster final on 6 December 2014 and ended the game with a winners' medal after the 1–20 to 0–03 defeat of

Shamrocks Shamrocks is a solitaire game akin to La Belle Lucie. The object is the same as the latter: move the cards into the foundations. Rules The game is laid out as in La Belle Lucie: seventeen piles of three cards are placed on the table with one car ...

. Bennettsbridge subsequently qualified for an All-Ireland final meeting with Fullen Gaels on 15 February 2015. Blanchfield collected a winners' medal after scoring 1-01 from play in the 2–17 to 2–14 victory. On 18 October 2015, Blanchfield lined out in the forwards when Bennettsbridge drew 0–20 to 3–11 with St Patrick's Ballyragget in the Kilkenny Intermediate Championship final. He was again included on the starting fifteen for the replay on 24 October 2015 and collected a winners' medal after a 1–16 to 1–14 victory. Blanchfield won a Leinster Championship medal on 21 November 2015 after scoring two points from right corner-forward in a 1–14 to 0–13 defeat of Kiltale in the final. On 7 February 2016, he was again selected at right corner-forward for the All-Ireland final against Abbeyknockmoy. He ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1–17 to 1–14 victory. On 28 October 2018, Blanchfield lined out at centre-forward when Bennettsbridge faced

Ballyhale Shamrocks Ballyhale Shamrocks is a Gaelic games club located in the parish of Ballyhale in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a member of the Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Founded in 1972, the club was a amalgamation of three team ...

in the Kilkenny Senior Championship final. He scored a point from play but ended on the losing side following a 2–20 to 2–17 defeat.

Kilkenny

Minor and under-21

Blanchfield first played for

as a member of the minor team during the 2013 Leinster Championship. On 7 July 2013, he won a Leinster Championship medal after scoring two points from right wing-forward in Kilkenny's 1–18 to 0–08 defeat of

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

in the final. On 6 July 2014, Blanchfield won a second successive Leinster Championship medal after scoring 2-03 from full-forward in Kilkenny's 2–19 to 2–10 defeat of

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 ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. On 7 September 2014, he was again at full-forward when Kilkenny faced

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in the All-Ireland final. Blanchfield ended the game with a winners' medal after scoring two points in the 2–17 to 0–19 victory. Blanchfield progressed onto the Kilkenny under-21 team during the 2015 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 2 June 2015 when he lined out at left wing-forward in Kilkenny's 4–12 to 2–16 defeat of Dublin in the quarter-final. On 8 July 2015, Blanchfield was again at left wing-forward when Kilkenny suffered a 4–17 to 1–09 defeat by

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

in the Leinster final. On 5 July 2017, Blanchfield won a Leinster Championship medal after scoring a point from full-forward in 0–30 to 1–15 defeat of Wexford in the final. On 9 September 2017, he was again at full-forward for Kilkenny's 0–17 to 0–11 defeat by Limerick in the All-Ireland final.

Senior

Blanchfield was drafted onto the Kilkenny senior team during the 2016 National League. He made his first appearance for the team on 3 April 2016 when he lined out at right corner-forward in a 6–20 to 0–14 defeat of

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

. Blanchfield made his Leinster Championship debut on 11 June 2016 when he came on as a 51st-minute substitute for Eoin Larkin in a 1–25 to 0–16 defeat of Dublin. On 3 July 2016, he was an unused substitute when Kilkenny defeated

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

by 1–26 to 0–22 to win the Leinster Championship. Blanchfield was back on the starting fifteen when he was selected at left corner-forward for the All-Ireland final against Tipperary on 4 September 2016. He was held scoreless throughout and ended the game on the losing side following a 2–29 to 2–20 defeat. On 8 April 2018, Blanchfield was named on the substitutes' bench when Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the National League final. He was introduced as a substitute for Alan Murphy and collected a winners' medal following the 2–23 to 2–17 victory. Blanchfield was again selected on the substitutes' bench when Kilkenny faced Galway in the Leinster final on 1 July 2018. He came on as a substitute for Martin Keoghan in the 0-18 apiece draw. He again made an appearance as a substitute in the replay a week later, however, Kilkenny suffered a 1–28 to 3–15 defeat. On 30 June 2019, Blanchfield was an unused substitute when Kilkenny suffered a 1–23 to 0–23 defeat by Wexford in the Leinster final. On 18 August 2019, he was again listed amongst the substitutes when Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. Blanchfield remained on the bench for the 3–25 to 0–20 defeat.

Career statistics

Honours

;St. Kieran's College * All-Ireland Colleges Senior Hurling Championship (2):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Post-Primary Schools Senior A Hurling Championship, is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is the highest inter-schools hurling competition in the ...

(1): 2015 ;Bennettsbridge * All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (1): 2016 * Leinster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (1): 2015 *

Kilkenny Intermediate Hurling Championship The Kilkenny Intermediate Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Michael Lyng Motors Intermediate Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Kilkenny IHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny ...

(1): 2015 * All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Championship (1): 2015 *

Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Junior Club Championship) is an annual hurling comp ...

(1): 2014 * Kilkenny Junior Hurling Championship (1): 2014 *Kilkenny Minor Hurling Championship (1): 2011 ;Kilkenny *

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hur ...

(1):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

(1):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Leinster Under-21 Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Under-20 Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the oneills.com Leinster GAA Under-20 Hurling Championship), is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic ...

(1):

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor Championship) is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Associ ...

(1):

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Electric Ireland Leinster GAA Hurling Minor Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic ...

(2):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchfield, Liam 1996 births Living people Bennettsbridge hurlers Kilkenny inter-county hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen