Liam Abernethy

Fr. Liam "Billy" Abernethy (born 1929) was an Irish hurler who played as a right corner-forward for the Cork 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 medal on the field of play and one Munster medal as a non-playing substitute.
At club level Abernethy was a one-time county junior championship medalist with Castlemartyr.

Playing career

Club

Abernethy played his club hurling with Castlemartyr and enjoyed much success.

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 gave Abernethy a coveted 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 surprisingly included on the starting fifteen for the All-Ireland showdown with Dublin. The Metropolitans were completely 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 a coveted All-Ireland medal. His inter-county career ended shortly afterwards.