'We Are Westmeath' podcast features Leinster winning captain
Westmeath’s 2004 Leinster winning captain David O'Shaughnessy was a special guest on this week’s 'We Are Westmeath' podcast.
O’Shaughnessy spoke of his pride in captaining Westmeath to Leinster glory after years of hurt, and how the lessons learned from the drawn final against Laois carried his side over the line in the replay.
The Garrycastle man also recalled his club's impressive march to Leinster title success in 2011. Garrycastle went on to reach the 2012 All-Ireland club final (defeating neighbours St Brigid's of Roscommon in the semi-final), with Anthony Cunningham’s charges suffering final heartbreak at the hands of Crossmaglen Rangers after a replay.
Four time All-Ireland final referee Barry Kelly spoke on the podcast about his experiences of refereeing hurling deciders and the Westmeath official looked ahead to this Sunday’s All-Ireland final between Galway and Limerick.
Recently launched, the 'We Are Westmeath' podcast is already proving popular with supporters in the Lake County, with in-depth analysis provided on all things Westmeath GAA. Presented by Conor McKenna, the podcast has already featured high profile guests such as Alan Mangan, Brendan Murtagh, John Shaw, Adrian Moran, Ned Moore and Lauralee Walsh.
The aim of the podcast is to keep supporters in the Lake County up to date on all things GAA across all codes. 'We Are Westmeath' has received the backing of the GAA contingent in the county, with high profile names across Gaelic football, hurling, ladies football and camogie all appearing at various stages.
Westmeath legends Gary Connaughton and Damien Gavin recently took part in the podcast to recall the glory days of Westmeath football, including an insight from Connaughton on Kevin Fitzpatrick's late miss in the 2004 Leinster final replay and the euphoria when hearing the full-time whistle shortly afterwards. Connaughton also described working with the legendary Páidí Ó Sé and life after the 2004 Delaney Cup success.
Rochfortbridge native Gavin spoke about captaining Westmeath to an All-Ireland minor title in 1995. He provided an insight into working with the Senior team as a selector in 2018, along with managing the Westmeath U-20s.
Anyone interested in 'We Are Westmeath' can contact the host directly at conormckenna1998@gmail.com - below is a link to this week's episode and anyone interested can subscribe on iTunes, Castbox or Soundcloud.
https://soundcloud.com/user-117322367/episode-6-exclusive-interview-with-david-oshaughnessy-hurling-final-preview-with-barry-kelly