The Westmeath VS senior football team of 1965 who won the Leinster title. Back row, from left: Seamus Kenny, Frank Kearney, Niall O’Brien, Jimmy Jackson, Oliver McManus, Christy Dunne, Charlie Tone, Liam Mulligan, Oliver Flynn. Front row, from left: Sean Magee, A.N Other, Gerry Quinn, Pascal Brennan, Brian O’Loughlin, A.N Other, Tim Buckley and Liam Maher.

Reunion planned for Westmeath VS side

Damien Maher

Published: Fri 25 Jul 2025, 3:32 PM

Last updated: Fri 25 Jul 2025, 4:04 PM

The Westmeath Vocational Schools senior football side of 1965 produced some outstanding performance and went on to defeat Dublin City by 1-9 to 2-2 in the Leinster final in Cusack Park, Mullingar that year.

The goal came from Tim Buckley of Moate All Whites in that final and while the Dublin side made some frequent scoring bursts, a more consistent Westmeath VS outfit took the honours. Tyrrellspass man Liam Maher played at wing forward on the successful side, scoring 0-1 in that Leinster final triumph.

Sadly the Westmeath players never got the recognition they deserved and Liam recalls how their Leinster medals were actually handed out during a class at school some time after the final.

It was an outstanding achievement as all teams were playing at the same elite level back then, with no competitions for weaker teams. Therefore, in order to be successful, the Westmeath side had to topple the very elite of the game at the time.

Westmeath VS went on to tackle Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final and lost by a solitary point after extra-time.

In order to acknowledge the Leinster victory, Liam Maher and some of his former colleagues are planning a reunion in The Barn, Tyrrellspass in August. Before then, they are hoping to jog people’s memories and that some readers will be able to confirm all of the players in the team photo - they are very close to confirming the full list but would like whatever knowledge is available in that regard.