Heroes of '99 and '04 honoured

Westmeath Examiner Community and Sports Awards

The history making Westmeath team who won the All Ireland U21 Football Championship in 1999 and the team who won the Leinster Football Championship were honoured at the Westmeath Examiner Community and Sports Awards in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday Evening.

Captain David O’Shaughnessy and trainer Tomás Ó Flatharta represented the Westmeath team that sent fans into raptures on July 24, 2004 when they defeated Laois to claim the county’s first and to date only Leinster Senior Football title.

After a narrow victory over Offaly in Croke Park in the first round of the Leinster Championship, momentum steadily built with victories over Dublin and Wexford, before Westmeath saw off the challenge of a strong Laois side after a replay.

Captain David O’Shaughnessy said that the team was well balanced and knew that on their day they were a match for any team in the country.

“In John Keane, for example, we had an All Star corner back who could mark anyone in the country. That gave us real confidence going into big games and we had great players all over the pitch,” he remarked.

The team, of course, was managed by the late, great Páidí Ó Sé, the eight-time All Ireland SFC winner from Kerry, who recruited his fellow county man Tomás Ó Flatharta to train the team.

Páidí “had no time for the league”, Tomás said, and the team retained their Division 1 status with a somewhat fortunate win over Mayo in Cusack Park.

Tomás, who succeeded Ó Sé as manager in 2005, said that when it came to getting the team battle-ready for the championship, Páidí told him that his job as coach “was to prepare them from the neck down” and he’d look after from the neck up.

History shows that both men kept their side of the bargain.

When asked by master of ceremonies Frank Mulrennan if Westmeath can return to the top of the football tree in Leinster, Tomás said that it is possible but will take a lot of work, starting at underage level.

Praising Westmeath fans for their passion for the game, Tomás said he would love to see a Westmeath team replicate the success of the now legendary 2004 team.

U21 team

Captain Aidan Canning and manager Luke Dempsey represented the U21 team who defeated Kerry in the All-Ireland final in Limerick.

Reminiscing of one of Westmeath GAA’s most memorable of days during a “golden era” that began with the minor footballers defeating Derry in the 1995 All-Ireland final, manager Dempsey said that his charges had come through a gruelling path to the final and were well primed to take on a Kerry team managed by Jack O’Connor and featuring a host of future senior All-Ireland champions, including Tomás Ó Sé, Paul Galvin and Tadhg Kennelly.

Noting that the Kerry team were “huge favourites” after comprehensively defeating Roscommon in the semi-final, Luke said that Westmeath were quietly confident that they could spring a surprise victory.

“It suited us to go in as complete underdogs. Little did they know that we had a ferocious path to the final: two matches against Laois, who were star-studded themselves, in the Leinster final; previous to that two matches, including extra time, against Kildare.

“At that stage we were battle-hardened and had a really, really good team.”

The team were led by Aidan Canning and the St Loman’s man told MC Frank Mulrennan that one of his abiding memories of the final in the Gaelic Grounds was the large crowd that made the journey down from Westmeath.

“When we got to Limerick we realised that it was kind of going to be a like a home match for us, because there weren’t too many Kerry people there. It was full of Westmeath people.

“Kerry were supposed to go out to the field after us but we waited and let them go out first. We wanted them to hear the roar of the crowd when we came on. It was phenomenal. The support we had all year was great, it just captured people’s imagination.

“It was probably midnight before we got to Mullingar on the bus and the crowd that was there to meet us... It was special.”

It may be a quarter of a century since that famous victory in Limerick, but a strong bond still exists among the members of the panel and their mentors, Aidan says.

“Football back then was probably a little less serious than it is now. That probably helped us. Led by Luke, there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere. There is a really tight bond among the players. We are having a get together in Tyrrellspass in October. Lads are coming back from England and America. Everyone is coming. There are families are coming. The lads are keen to get back.”

Aidan said ties that bind the squad are still strong today and that they are all looking forward to meeting up for a reunion next month.

Both Aidan and Luke paid tribute to the late Enda Mulvihill, a member of 1999 panel, who passed away in 2022 at the young age of 43. Luke also remembered two of his backroom team, Paddy McCormack from Bunbrosna and Moate’s Sean Heavin, who have passed away in recent years.