He played hurling with his local club Slieverue and was a member of the Kilkenny senior inter-county team from 1949 until 1960.
Buggy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Kilkenny senior team in the late 1940s.
Three years later in 1953 Buggy won a second Leinster medal; however, Kilkenny were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The following year he won a fourth Leinster title before being later beaten by Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Buggy was officially nominated as the Kilkenny candidate for president of the GAA in January 1981.
Very proud of his native roots, Buggy was vociferous in the campaign to keep Slieverue in County Kilkenny amid moves to have it incorporated into the expanding City of Waterford as a suburb on the northern bank of the river Suir.