The Westmeath county hurling team represents

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

in hurling and is governed by

Westmeath GAA The Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, 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 W ...

, the county board of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

. The team competes in the Joe McDonagh Cup and the National Hurling League. Westmeath's home ground is Cusack Park,

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...

. The team's manager is Joe Fortune. The team has never won the Leinster Senior Championship, the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League. The team is nicknamed the Lake men.

History

The Westmeath hurlers experienced a successful period in the mid-1930s, when they won the Leinster League twice in succession, the Junior Championship in 1936, and beat

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

to qualify for the 1937 Leinster Senior final. Rickards town's John 'Jobber' McGrath, who played for the county in the 1950s and 1960s, is regarded as Westmeath's greatest hurler, and as one of the greatest players never to have won an All-Ireland senior hurling title. Westmeath played in the first division of the National Hurling League in 1985–86 and were the only team to beat

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

in an 18-month period. This team included the three 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. In 2005, the county won the first Christy Ring Cup and thereby gained promotion to the 2006 Liam McCarthy Championship. In 2006, they beat

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in the first round of the

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hurl ...

before losing the semi final to Kilkenny in

by 14 points. They then lost to

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

and, disappointingly,

before tamely losing a relegation playoff against

on a scorching July day in

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

. Despite progress made in 2006, the GAA condemned the county's hurlers to the Christy Ring Cup - this time without the prospect of promotion. Further rule changes and a Christy Ring win in 2010 allowed Westmeath back into the 2011 Liam McCarthy. Further progress came on 20 April 2008 with victory in the NHL (Division 2), winning the final against Carlow. That day also saw their footballing counterparts move into Division 1 of the NFL also, with a win over Dublin. In 2015, the Westmeath minor hurlers surprised heavy favorites

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

by two points in the Leinster quarter-final, the win has been regarded by the manager as the 'biggest result in history of Westmeath hurling'. The senior hurlers beat Carlow by two points in the Leinster Qualifier group and extended their winning run beating favorites, Antrim 1–21 to 0–7. A famous victory over near rivals

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in h ...

was achieved in May 2016 in the Leinster Championship. Westmeath led by some distance for the entire game before winning 2–21 to 1–10. In September 2019, Westmeath announced Shane O'Brien as new manager after Joe Quaid's departure.

Current panel

^INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
^RET Player has since retired from the county team.
^WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Current management team

:''Ratified on 23 September 2021:'' *

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

: Joe Fortune

Managerial history

* Michael Ryan: 2014–2018 * Joe Quaid: 2018–2019 * Shane O'Brien: 2019–2021 * Joe Fortune: 2021–

Players

Notable players

Captaincy

* Cormac Boyle: 2021

All Stars

Westmeath has 1 All Star. 1986: David Kilcoyne

Honours

National

* All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship **Quarter-finalists (1):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

**Preliminary quarter-finalists (2):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship ** Winners (3):

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker ...

** Winners (1): 1936 * Joe McDonagh Cup ** Winners (1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

** Runners-up (2):

* Christy Ring Cup ** Winners (3): 2005, 2007, 2010 ** Runners-up (1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* National Hurling League Division 2A ** Winners (3):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* National Hurling League Division 2 ** Winners (1):

All Ireland Minor B Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Minor B Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association for the youngest competitors (under-18) in Ireland. It is sponsored by the Electricity Supply Board and therefore offici ...

** Winners (2): 1999, 2010 *

All-Ireland Under-21 B Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Under-20 (previously Under-21) B Championship, the second tier competition in hurling is an annual series of games for male players under the age of 20 and is organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaeli ...

** Winners (2): 2000, 2003

Provincial

** Runners-up (1): 1937 *

Leinster Junior Hurling Championship The Leinster Junior Hurling Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Hurling played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council. The winners of the Leinster Junior Hu ...

** Winners (3): 1912, 1936, 1963 * Walsh Cup ** Winners (1): 1982 *

Kehoe Cup The Kehoe Cup ( ; ga, Corn Mhic Eochaidh) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA) since 1977 for second- and third-tier inter-county teams in the province of Leinster in Irel ...

** Winners (9): 1993, 1996, 1998, 2004,

, 2009, 2010,

Westmeath beat Antrim in Kehoe Cup final shoot-out
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The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewpoint, though it als ...

References

{{GAA National Leagues County hurling teams