Westmeath GAA
:For more details of Westmeath GAA see Westmeath Senior Club Football Championship or Westmeath Senior Club Hurling Championship.
| File:Westmeath2.gif | |
| Irish: | An Iarmhí |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): | The Lake County |
| Province: | Leinster |
| Ground(s): | Cusack Park, Mullingar |
| County colours: | Maroon and white |
| County teams | |
| NFL: | Division 1 |
| NHL: | Division 2 |
| Football Championship: | Sam Maguire Cup |
| Hurling Championship: | Christy Ring Cup |
| Ladies' Gaelic football: | Brendan Martin Cup |
| Camogie: | O'Duffy Cup |
The Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae na hIarmhí) or Westmeath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Westmeath. The county board is also responsible for the Westmeath inter-county football, hurling, camogie and ladies football teams.
History
Westmeath's history is one of a small downtrodden county which as very recently risen to the top of Gaelic Football. 2004 marked the pinnacle of resurance in the county's fortunes which had its roots in the 1995 All-Ireland Minor title that the county won with manager Luke Dempsey. Dempsey then went on to lead an almost completelty different team to the 1999 All-Ireland U21 Final against Kerry in Limerick.
Many expected Westmeath to reach for senior honours with the players from these teams and in 2001 the team went on an All-Ireland journey through an unheralded 9 games including a memorable extra time win over hotly fancied Mayo in Roscommon,this team was inspired by Ger Heavin who was playing probably the best football of his life in his twilight years of his inter-county career, Dessie Dolan who was fulfilling the promise that he had shown as an under age player, Rory O Connell who was starting to become one of he best midfielders in the country and backboned by Damien Healy and David Mitchell with other players to star from time to time including Martin Flanaghan, Fergal Wilson, Paul Conway, David O Shaughnessy and Fergal Murray a player that had played in both the minor and U21 successes, until finally and painfully losing out to Meath in an All-Ireland Quarter Final Replay despite being 9 points clear of Meath at half time in the original game. Disappointing 2002 and 2003 seasons followed and Westmeath parted terms with Dempsey.
In a shocking development [Kerry GAA|Kerry]] footballing legend Paidi Ó Sé was parachuted in to manage the senior team some months later after he had been removed from the Kerry Senior team management. In the following year of 2004 Westmeath won their first ever senior title with a replayed victory over Laois (having previously beaten Wexford, Dublin and Offaly). However the team tamely excited their second All-Ireland Quarter Final - losing to Derry.
Ó Sé quit Westmeath at the end of a very poor 2005 season and was replaced by his assistant Tomas Ó Flathara (sp?). After a poor league campaign, in which they were quite lucky to be promoted from Division 2, the team was easily knocked out of the Leinster Championship in the first round by Offaly and another bad year beckoned.
However wins over London, Limerick, Sligo and then a historic defeat of Galway in Pearse Park in Salthill set up a third All-Ireland Quarter Final for the team in six years - this time against Dublin.
Westmeath didn't live up to expectations in the Quarter Final meeting against Dublin and lost by a massive 10 points. Dublin, one of the favourites for the Senior Title in 2006, were beaten by Mayo in the Semi-final.
Stalwart performances from Gary Connaughton and Damien Healy in particular, couldn't help the teams exit from the Championship. Dessie Dolan had a terrible day and missed some points that he would usually hit every time.
Although Westmeath had never previously won a Senior Provincial Championship prior to 2004 they did compete in an All-Ireland semi-final. Athlone T P O'Connors, who represented Westmeath in the 1890 Leinster Championship, entered the 1891 All-Ireland semi-final as Connacht champions, representing Roscommon! They walked off the field when Dublin were leading 1-7 to 1-0, claiming one of the Dubliners had struck an Athlone player. Another generation of Westmeath players took part in the first week-night fixture in the GAA championship: on June 20 1935 they played Meath in Kells and lost by 2-7 to 0-9. The footballers won the 1929 junior championship, lost to Dublin by ten points in 1960 and then beat Dublin to reach the 1931 Leinster final. They beat Carlow, Laois and Offaly to go into a 1949 final against Meath, but were well beaten on both occasions. Twenty years later they reached the National Football League semi-final. Westmeath beat Dublin again in the 1967 Championship and the 1984 Centenary Cup campaign and qualified for their second League semi-final in 1994.
Honours
- All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1
- 1929
- All-Ireland U-21 Football Championships: 1
- 1999
- All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 1
- 1995
- Leinster Senior Football Championships: 1
- 2004
- Leinster Under 21 Football Championships': 2
- 1999, 2000
- Leinster Minor Football Championships: 5
- 1939, 1952, 1963, 1995, 2001
Westmeath's hurlers' best performance was a run in the mid 1930s, when they won the Leinster League twice in succession, the Junior Championship in 1936, and beat Laois to qualify for the 1937 Leinster Senior final. They played in the first division of the National Hurling League in 1985-86, and were the only team to beat Galway in an 18-month period. This team included the 3 Kilcoyne brothers and produced an All Star award for David who was the team's free taker and top scorer in 1986. The first All Star award for any Westmeath player in Hurling or football.
Honours
- Christy Ring Cup 2005
- All-Ireland Senior "B" Hurling Championships: 3
- 1975, 1985, 1991
- All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1
- 1936
Mary Henry won the camogie All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship in 2006, the first Westmeath woman to win it.