Joseph Patrick Hennessy (born 17 January 1956) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Kilkenny senior team.
He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first linked up with the Kilkenny minor team before later joining the under-21 side.
[2] As a member of the Leinster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions Hennessy won one Railway Cup medal.
[3] Hennessy first played for the James Stephens senior team in 1974 and was a regular member of the starting fifteen the following year when the club made a breakthrough.
A hat-trick of goals by John McCormack, together with a ten-point haul from Billy Walton, saw James Stephens fight back from seven points down to record a 3–13 to 3–8 victory.
The game was a close, exciting affair played on a wet day, however, at the full-time whistle Kilkenny were the champions by 4–5 to 3–7.
Kilkenny 'keeper Kevin Fennelly brought off two brilliant saves from Con Brassil and Finbarr Delaney in the closing stages to secure a 5–13 to 2–19 victory.
On 3 September 1978 Kilkenny faced Cork in the All-Ireland decider, as the Rebels were bidding to become the first team in over twenty years to secure a third championship in succession.
The game was far from the classic that was expected, with the decisive score coming from Jimmy Barry-Murphy whose low shot towards goal deceived Noel Skehan and trickled over the line.
Bad weather and an unofficial train drivers' strike resulted in the lowest attendance at a final in over twenty years.
The bad weather also affected the hurling with Kilkenny scoring two freak goals as Galway 'keeper Séamus Shinnors had a nightmare of a game.
A Liam "Chunky" O’Brien 70-yard free went all the way to the net in the first half, while with just three minutes remaining a 45-yard shot from Mick Brennan was helped by the wind and dipped under the crossbar.
After a fallow two-year period, Kilkenny bounced back in 1982 with Hennessy winning his first National Hurling League medal following a 2–14 to 1–11 defeat of Wexford.
The Cats were rank outsiders on the day, however, a brilliant save by Noel Skehan was followed by two quick goals by Christy Heffernan just before the interval.
Éamonn O'Donoghue pegged a goal back for Cork, however, Ger Fennelly added a third for Kilkenny who secured a 3–18 to 1–13 victory.
Billy Fitzpatrick was the star with ten points, giving Kilkenny a 2–14 to 1–9 lead with seventeen minutes left, however, they failed to score for the remainder of the game.