William Buckley (hurler)

William Buckley
Personal information
Native name
Liam Ó Buachalla (Irish)
NicknameBucks
Born2004 (age 21–22)
Cork, Ireland
OccupationStudent
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Sport
SportHurling
PositionLeft wing-forward
Clubs*
Years Club Apps (scores)
2022–present
2022–present
 St Finbarr's (SH)
St Finbarr's (SF)		 20 (4–33)
18 (1–19)
Club titles
  Football Hurling
Cork titles 1 1
College
Years College
2022–present
 University College Cork
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles 0
Inter-county**
Years County Apps (scores)
2025–present
 Cork 7 (0-19)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 1
All-Irelands 0
NHL 1
All Stars 0
* club appearances and scores correct as of 22:10, 11 February 2026.
**Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 20:10, 5 July 2026.

William Buckley (born 2004) is an Irish hurler. At club level he plays with St Finbarr's and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team.

Early life

Born and raised in Cork, Buckley played hurling and Gaelic football during his time as a student at St Francis College in Rochestown. He progressed through the various competitions and won an All-Ireland PPS SBHC title in 2022, following a 0-17 to 0-09 win over Coláiste Bhaile Chláir in the final.[1] Buckley later lined out with University College Cork, firstly with the freshers' team in 2023, before later lining out on the Fitzgibbon Cup team.[2][3]

Club career

At club level, Buckley first played for St Finbarr's as a dual player at juvenile and underage levels. He won a Rebel Óg Premier 1 MHC after a defeat of Sarsfields in 2020, before adding a Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC title to his collection in 2021.[4][5]

Buckley made his St Finabrr's senior debut in both codes in 2022.[6] He ended the season with a Cork PSHC medal, after coming on as a substitute and scoring 0-02 in the 2-14 to 1-07 win over Blackrock in the final.[7]

Three years later in 2025, Buckley won a Cork PSFC after lining out at wing-forward in the 1-14 to 1-13 win over Nemo Rangers in the final.[8] He was again at wing-forward for the subsequent one-point defeat by Dingle in the 2025 Munster Club SFC final.[9]

Inter-county career

Buckley first appeared on the inter-county scene for Cork as a member of the minor team in 2020.[10] He was still eligible for the minor grade the following year and scored three points from play from wing-forward in the 1–23 to 0–12 defeat of Galway in the 2021 All-Ireland MHC final.[11] Buckley later progressed to the under-20 team and added an All-Ireland U20HC title to his collection after lining out at wing-forward in the 2–22 to 3–13 defeat of Offaly in the 2023 All-Ireland U20 final.[12]

Buckley was part of Cork's senior team pre-season training panel in early 2025, but was not retained as part of the 37-man panel for their successful 2025 National Hurling League campaign.[13][14] He was recalled to the panel during the 2025 Munster SHC and was an extended panel member for Cork's penalty shootout defeat of Limerick in the 2025 Munster SHC final.[15] Buckley was also part of the extended panel for Cork's 3–27 to 1–18 defeat by Tipperary in he 2025 All-Ireland SHC final.[16]

Buckley was again included on the panel for the 2026 National Hurling League.[17] He made a number of appearances throughout the campaign, including the 1–27 to 1–21 defeat by Limerick in the final.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 November 2025.
Team Year Cork PSHC Munster All-Ireland Total Cork PSFC Munster All-Ireland Total
AppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScore
St Finbarr's 2022 60-0810-00—70-0800-00——00-00
2023 51-04——51-0440-04——40-04
2024 32-06——32-0650-03——50-03
2025 51-15——51-1561-0830-04—91-12
Career total 194-3310-00—204-33151-1530-04—181-19

Inter-county

Minor and under-20

Team Year Munster All-Ireland Total
AppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScore
Cork (MH) 2020 20-02—20-02
2021 20-0810-0330-11
Total 40-1010-0350-13
Cork (U20) Year Munster All-Ireland Total
AppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScore
2024 50-1010-0460-14
2025 60-28—60-28
Total 110-3810-04120-42

Senior

As of 4 July 2026
Team Year National League Munster All-Ireland Total
DivisionAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScoreAppsScore
Cork 2025 Division 1A 00-0000-0000-0000-00
2026 51-1350-1720-02121-32
Career total 51-1350-1720-02121-32

Honours

St Francis College
St Finbarr's
Cork

References

  1. ↑ "Late power surge clinches All-Ireland Colleges Hurling title for Cork's Rochestown". Irish Examiner. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "UCC push past MTU Cork in fiery Freshers Hurling clash with two early red cards". Echo Live. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Fitzgibbon Cup: UCC exit competition as holders UL pull away in second half". Echo Live. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  4. ↑ "Jack Cahalane cracker helps St Finbarr's to Cork minor hurling glory". Irish Examiner. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  5. ↑ "Rebel Óg Minor Football: St Finbarr's land Premier 1 title after a thriller with St Michael's". Echo Live. 18 October 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Premier SHC: Jack Doyle's late leveller means Charleville draw with St Finbarr's". Echo Live. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  7. ↑ Hurley, Denis (16 October 2022). "St Finbarr's end 29-wait for Cork county hurling title against Blackrock". Echo Live. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Cillian Myers-Murray's late point steers St Finbarr's past Nemo after a cracking final". Echo Live. 26 October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  9. ↑ "Daingean Uí Chúis edge St Finbarr's to claim a first Munster club title after late drama in Thurles". RTÉ Sport. 8 December 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Ben Cunningham leads the way as Cork minors clear Clare hurdle". Irish Examiner. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  11. ↑ "Cork power to first minor title in 20 years with emphatic win over Galway". The 42. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Cork v Offaly: All-Ireland U20 hurling glory for Rebels". Echo Live. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "Cork v Offaly: All-Ireland U20 hurling glory for Rebels". Echo Live. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  14. ↑ Fogarty, John (6 April 2025). "Páirc party as Cork cruise past Tipperary to claim first Hurling League title since 1998". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  15. ↑ "Cork v Limerick: Rebels triumph on penalties to take Munster title". Echo Live. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  16. ↑ "All-Ireland SHC final: Tipperary take the title as Cork flounder in second half". Echo Live. 20 July 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Cork name 36-man squad for Allianz Hurling League". Echo Live. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Allianz HL D1A Final: Limerick get job done against Cork". GAA website. 5 April 2026. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.