Billy Mackessy

Infobox GAA dualplayer
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = William ‘Billy’ Mackessy
irish = "Liam Ó Macasa"
fullname = William Mackessy
placeofbirth = Blackrock
countryofbirth = County Cork
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
height =
nickname =
county = Cork
province = Munster
club = Blackrock
clpositionh = Forward
clpositionf = Forward
clubs = Blackrock
clyears = 1901-1912
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Cork
icpositionh = Forward
icpositionf= Forward
icyears = (H) 1903-1912
(F) 1901-1911
icapps(points) =
icprovincef = 3
icprovinceh=3
icallirelandh= 1
icallirelandf =1
allstarsf=
allstarsh=
clupdate =
icupdate =

William ‘Billy’ Mackessy was an Irish sportsperson. A dual player with his local club Blackrock he played both hurling and Gaelic football with the Cork senior inter-county teams from 1901 until 1912.

Playing career

Club

Mackessy played his club hurling and Gaelic football with Blackrock and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county hurling title in 1903 and added a second county medal to his collection in 1908. Mackessy finished off his club hurling career by capturing a four-in-a-row in 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913.

Inter-county

Mackessy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork football team in 1901. That year he won his first Munster as Cork defeated Limerick in the provincial decider by 1-9 to 1-6. Cork later trounced Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final before lining out against Dublin in the ‘home’ All-Ireland final. The game was a low-scoring affair with ‘the Dubs’ winning by 1-2 to 0-4.

Two years later in 1903 Mackessy was a member of the Cork hurling team. That year he added a Munster hurling title to his collection as Cork trounced Waterford in the provincial final. Mackessy’s side later got a walkover from Galway allowing the team to advance to the ‘home’ All-Ireland final with Kilkenny. That game turned into a rout as ‘the Rebels’ won easily by 8-9 to 0-8. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw London provide the opposition. Once again that game turned into a rout as Cork won by 3-16 to 1-1. It was Mackessy’s first All-Ireland hurling medal.

Two years later in 1905 Cork were still the kingpins of Munster hurling. Mackessy captured a second provincial hurling medal that year as Cork walloped Limerick by 7-12 to 1-4. For the second year in-a-row Kilkenny later took on Cork in the All-Ireland final. Cork won the game by 5-10 to 3-13; however, the game had to be replayed for a number of reasons. Firstly, Cork goalkeeper Daniel McCarthy was a British army reservist and, secondly, Kilkenny’s Matt Gargan had played with Waterford before playing for Kilkenny. The replay produced another high-scoring, however, Kilkenny won the game by 7-7 to 2-9.

In 1906 Mackessy was back with the Cork football team. He collected a second Munster football medal that year as Cork defeated Kerry by 1-10 to 0-3. Cork subsequently qualified for the All-Ireland final and, once again, Dublin provided the opposition. Mackessy’s side took the lead at half-time, however, ‘the Dubs’ fought back to win the game on a low score line of 0-5 to 0-4.

Cork made it two Munster football titles in-a-row in 1907 as Cork had a nine-point victory over Tipperary. For the second year in-a-row Cork later played Dublin in the All-Ireland final. The game was delayed due to the fact that the train carrying the Dublin team to the match location in Tipperary was delayed. In spite of this Dublin still won the game by 0-6 to 0-2. It was Mackessy’s third defeat in an All-Ireland football final.

In 1911 Cork won another Munster football title, however, Mackessy was not on the team. He returned to the Cork set up for the subsequent All-Ireland final. Antrim provided the opposition on that occasion as an Ulster team contested their first final. Antrim got off to a good start and scored the first goal, however, Cork replied with a goal. Mackessy scored a goal at the start of the second-half and added two more over the course of the thirty minutes. Cork won the game by 6-6 to 1-2 giving Mackessy an All-Ireland medal and the honour of becoming the second dual player to have All-Ireland medals in both codes.

In 1912 Mackessy was back with the Cork hurling team. That year he captured a third Munster hurling medal as Tipperary fell in the provincial final. Kilkenny provided the opposition on that occasion in a low-scoring but close All-Ireland final. A 2-1 to 1-3 scor eline gave 'the Cats' the victory.

Teams

External links

* [http://www.hoganstand.com/Cork/Profile.aspx Cork GAA honours]