John Bennett (hurler)

John Bennett (born 1934 in Blackrock, County Cork) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1960 until 1968.

John Bennett was born in Blackrock just outside Cork in 1934. From an early age he showed great talent as a hurler and he later played club hurling with the famed Blackrock side. With “the Rockies” Bennett won Cork SHC titles in 1956 and 1961. In spite of never playing minor hurling with Cork, Bennett played on the senior team in the 1950s and 1960s, however, it was a barren era for Cork hurling. Between 1957 and 1965 Cork played in five Munster finals but were trounced on all five occasions. In 1966 the barren spell was broken when Cork won a Munster title for the first time in a decade. It was Bennett’s first, and only, Munster title. This was later converted into an All-Ireland medal^[1] following victory over Kilkenny. Cork were beaten in the first-round of the Munster championship in 1967 and Bennett retired from inter-county hurling. John Bennett is also known for his beautiful tenor voice and has recorded and released albums of famous Irish songs and ballads. He recently recorded an album full of famous Cork songs to commemorate Cork being the culture capital in 2006. John has also released a beautiful album called songs of yesteryear which contains some fine Irish ballads. His son John Paul is also an accomplished musician and has accompanied his father many times on piano.

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