WESTMEATH GAA
The Westmeath County Board is the governing body for the GAA in Co. Westmeath, having its headquarters at TEG Cusack Park, Friars Mill Road, Mullingar. Major progress has been made on the field of play in recent years, with the Westmeath Senior hurlers now competing in Division 1 of the National Hurling League (a status which has been retained for the 2025 season) and the footballers competing in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League. This most recent progress has been allied to recent success of All Ireland titles in Minor and Under 21 football, the first ever Leinster Senior football title in 2004, and numerous hurling successes including three Christy Ring Cups, and a Joe McDonagh Cup win in 2021.
The County Camogie team has been equally successful having moved through the ranks winning All-Ireland Junior B (2006), Junior A (2012), Junior (2017) and Intermediate (2019), and National League (2023) titles, as well as a host of juvenile championships.Westmeath Ladies Footballers have also been very successful lately with All-Ireland Intermediate championships being annexed in 2011 and 2021. The County Camogie team has been equally successful having moved through the ranks winning All-Ireland Junior B (2006), Junior A (2012), Junior (2017) and Intermediate (2021) titles, as well as a host of juvenile championships.
Off the field it became one of the first GAA County Boards to include representatives of the Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic Football Association as members of its Management Committee.
Cusack Park was acquired on behalf of Westmeath GAA in the early 1930s and was opened in 1934. On the day of the official opening a football match between Kerry and Dublin was played and the ball was dropped from an aeroplane to start the game! In 1938 the All-Ireland Senior Football semi-final between Galway and Monaghan was played in Cusack Park, and that game was the first commentary for RTÉ by the legendary Micheál
O’Hehir.
Approximately 30 years ago, in the mid-1990s Cusack Park was upgraded with the construction of a new spectator stand, with seating capacity for approx. 2,500, with approx. 900 of the seats covered by the stand roof. Three new concrete terraces, with barriers were also constructed. In the past couple of years TEG Cusack Park has been upgraded with all stand seats, both covered and uncovered, replaced, and new Ball stop nets, at a height of 16m installed.
As the largest sporting and cultural organisation in the county, Westmeath GAA reaches out to hundreds of youth and adult members on a daily basis. There are more than 14,000 members (almost 16% of the population of Westmeath) in 47 GAA clubs (32 football and 15 hurling) in the county. Additionally, there are 29 Ladies Gaelic Football clubs, and 15 Camogie clubs, in Westmeath. Between all three organisations and four sports there are
more than 20 teams representing the county across all ages and grades.
The purpose of the Win a Home in Spain draw is to help fund the purchase of c48 acres of land on the outskirts of the town of Mullingar. It is planned to develop a Training Centre on this land consisting of six floodlit playing pitches, skills wall, dressing rooms, ancillary service rooms necessary for high-performance sports, car park and access roadway. This Training Centre will be used by all County teams, hurling, football, LGFA and Camogie and it is
expected that, once the development is completed, it will become the “home” for all Westmeath squads, and serve the needs of girls and boys, women and men, involved on those teams. Additionally, it is anticipated that all schools and colleges in the county will have access to the facility for their GAA, LGFA and Camogie teams. The overall development will be phased but, at this stage, it is expected that it will cost in the region of
€15m-€20m, and this draw is the first major fundraiser aimed towards raising the necessary finance.
