Peter Blanchfield (18 October 1910 – 11 November 1959) was an Irish sportsperson. He played

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with his local club James Stephens and was a member of the

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

senior inter-county team from 1935 until 1945.

Playing career

Club

Blanchfield played his club

with the famous James Stephens club in

and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county title in 1935. It was the club's first ever victory in a county final. Blanchfield added a second county medal to his collection in 1937.

Inter-county

Blanchfield first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with

in 1935. That year he collected his first

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

title following a victory over

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) 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 medie ...

. The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Blanchfield's take on Limerick for the second time in three years. Once again the match was a close one, however, Kilkenny clung on and won by a single point – 2-5 to 2-4. It was Blanchfield's first All-Ireland medal. In 1936 Blanchfield added a second Leinster medal to his collection before lining out in a second consecutive All-Ireland final. Once again, the two outstanding teams of the decade, Kilkenny and Limerick, were paired together in the championship decider. Limerick were coming into their prime at this stage and gained revenge for the defeats of 1933 and 1935 by trouncing ‘the Cats’ on a score line of 5-6 to 1-5. Kilkenny bounced back in 1937 with Blanchfield collecting a third Leinster winners' title. The All-Ireland final pitted Kilkenny against

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

in the unusual venue of FitzGerald Stadium in Killarney. ‘The Cats’ were definitely on a downward spiral by this stage as they were walloped by 3-11 to 0-3. In 1939 ‘the Cats’ reclaimed their provincial crown with a victory over reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin. It was Blanchfield's fourth provincial medal of the decade. The subsequent All-Ireland final against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

has gone down in history as the famous ‘thunder and lightning’ final when a huge downpour interrupted play. In the end victory went to Kilkenny by a single point. It was not the last time that ‘the Cats’ would defeat ‘the Rebels’ by a single point in a final. It was Blanchfield's second All-Ireland medal. In 1940 Blanchfield added a fifth Leinster medal to his collection after another defeat of Dublin. The All-Ireland final saw Kilkenny and Limerick, the two dominant team of the last decade, take to the field for one final game. Kilkenny had peaked in the final the year before while Limerick were now reaching their prime. A 3-7 to 1-7 defeat for Kilkenny resulted in Blanchfield ending up on the losing side for the third time. An outbreak of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

in the county hampered Kilkenny’s championship hopes for the next few seasons. In spite of this the team bounced back in 1943 with Blanchfield adding a sixth Leinster medal to his already impressive collection. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final provided what was regarded as the time as the biggest shock in the history of the championship. Antrim had defeated Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final in, what was described as, a fluke. Antrim proved that their victory was far from lucky as they defeated Blanchfield's side in the subsequent semi-final. Two years later in 1945 Blanchfield won his seventh and final Leinster medal before lining out in his final All-Ireland final. Tipperary provided the opposition on that occasion. Almost 70,000 people packed into

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

to witness a classic encounter, with 5,000 more fans being locked out of the stadium. Tipp took the lead at half-time, however, Kilkenny fought back with three second-half goals. In spite of this Tipp held on to win the game by 5-6 to 3-6. Blanchfield retired from inter-county hurling after this defeat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchfield, Peter 1910 births 1959 deaths All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners Irish postmen James Stephens hurlers Kilkenny inter-county hurlers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers