Jenny McNamee was the toast of Westmeath on April 26 2008 when she became the Lake County's latest All-Ireland Scor champion. The county's other three All-Ireland final acts also gave excellent accounts of themselves on another unforgettable night for Westmeath Scor. The 2008 All-Ireland Scor Sinsear finals in the INEC, Killarney produced yet another Westmeath winner in Jenny McNamee, who became the third Lake County act to win the Solo Singing competition. While Westmeath failed to match the unprecedented success of 12 months earlier when Mary O'Donovan from Mullingar Shamrocks and the Moate All-Whites Ballad Group savoured All-Ireland glory, it was still a marvellous night for the county and for The Downs club, in particular, which has such a proud tradition in Scor. This latest success was a fantastic achievement for Jenny, who joins her club colleague Anne Smyth who, on the same day 30 years earlier, brought the same honour back to the Lake County. Jenny also followed in the footsteps of St. Oliver Plunkett's Fionnuala Brunton, who was triumphant in 1989. Jenny's win gave Westmeath its 10th All-Ireland title in Scor Sinsear, which puts the county in joint 13th place with neighbours Offaly on the All-Ireland roll of honour. And having been unlucky to lose out in 2006, the success was no more than the talented young lady from The Downs deserved. Jenny was just one of many hopefuls who made it through to the Scor county finals in The Downs GAA Centre on March 1. Eight county titles, as well as the right to represent Westmeath on the provincial stage, were up for grabs and the packed audience was treated to a superb night's entertainment of song, dance, music and storytelling. At the end of it, there were very few patrons who didn't agree with the verdicts of the adjudicators - drawn from Armagh, Cavan and Sligo - with Mullingar Shamrocks, The Downs, St. Joseph's, Moate All-Whites, Ballycomoyle and Bunbrosna sharing the honours between them. As usual, the first discipline of the night was Figure Dancing with Mullingar Shamrocks putting their long-held title on the line against acts from Ballymore, St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge and the host club. The question on everyone's lips was: 'Could Shamrocks win a remarkable 12th county title on the trot?' and the answer was a very definite 'yes'. Representing the Springfield-based club were Janette McClellan, Mary Jo Geraghty, Una Fagan, Mary Doolin, Sheena Marie Martin, Geraldine Cornally, Katie Connolly and Sinead Burrows. In the Solo Singing category, Jenny McNamee won back the title she had previously held in 2005 and 2006. It was the beginning of a wonderful adventure for The Downs girl whose performance was adjudged to be better than those of Pius Kirby (Ballinagore), Michelle Kenny (St. Joseph's) and Padraic Keena (Ballymore). Interestingly, the reigning champion Edel Martin didn't take part, instead opting to concentrate all her efforts on the Moate All-Whites Ballad Group act. Bunbrosna regained their Instrumental Music crown with another great performance to dethrone Ballymore. Whereas Bun were the only competitors in this discipline a few years ago, it is now extremely competitive and last year's county finals witnessed four top class acts from Bunbrosna, Ballymore, St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge. However, when the scoresheets were handed up, Bun - represented by Leona Kelly, Sharon Kelly, Tom Kelly, Lorraine Glynn and Emma McCormack - were declared the winners. With reigning All-Ireland champion Mary O'Donovan not participating, the Recitation/Storytelling competition was a wide-open affair. Breda Slevin from Maryland was first to go on stage, and she was followed by former winner Catherine Daly from Ballycomoyle, Pius Kirby from Ballinagore and St. Joseph's Hugo Slevin. Reciting an extract from John B. Keane's 'The Field', the young Horseleap man had the packed arena spellbound and it came as no surprise to anyone when he was given the verdict. The Ballad Group competition was one of the most eagerly-awaited of the night, and it lived up to all expectations with reigning All-Ireland champions Moate All-Whites retaining their county title in a thriller. Mullingar Shamrocks were first to perform and had several members of their 2006 Scor na nOg winners in their group. Then came Ballymore and Ballycomoyle before the All-Ireland holders took to the stage. The group - comprising Louise Heavin, Una Walsh, Edel Martin, Tina Gillivan and Ronnie Minnock - duly produced another first class performance which found favour with the judges, and were crowned county champions for a fourth year running. St. Joseph's continued their phenomenal run in Question Time, winning an eighth county title in 11 years. The former All-Ireland kingpins, whose quiz team included Aidan Walsh, Dick Stokes and newcomer Enda Seery, ran out convincing winners over The Downs, St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge and Mullingar Shamrocks, the latter having been dealt a major blow with the late withdrawal of former 'Know Your Sport' winner Tom Hunt. History was made in the Novelty Act competition where Ballycomoyle won their first ever county title. Competing in Scor for only a few short years, the tiny North Westmeath club gave a brilliant account of themselves to overcome reigning Leinster champions Mullingar Shamrocks, The Downs and Castledaly. The winning group was made up of Grainne Healy, Doreen Farrelly, Catherine Daly, Neville Jessop and Anna Marie McKenna. The Set Dancing competition, which was the final one of the night, saw Bunbrosna retain their title at the expense of The Downs and St. Joseph's. Bun and The Downs have had many great battles in this discipline down the years, but on this occasion it was the Longford-border club - represented by Kenny Murphy, Christopher McCormack, Seamus Moran, Bobby Wilson, Sandra Eades, Veronica Seery, Ruth Seery and Elaine O'Reilly - who came out on top. The last trophy to be awarded on the night was the prestigious Eugene Doherty Memorial Cup for Club of the Year, and the 2008 winners were The Downs who have long been one of Westmeath Scor's most active and successful units. A special presentation was also made to local man Matt Carley who carried out his Fear an Ti duties in such an efficient and professional manner. The eight winners competed in the Leinster semi-finals which took place in the Ballymore Community Centre a week later and was compered by former county board chairman and avid Scor enthusiast Seamus O Faolain. It is a measure of how high standards are that all eight acts advanced to the provincial final. Hundreds of Westmeath Scor followers returned to Ballymore in late March for the provincial finals. As in 2007, four of the Westmeath acts were successful with Mullingar Shamrocks claiming the Figure Dancing title, Jenny McNamee winning the Solo Singing, Moate All-Whites retaining their Ballad Group crown and Bunbrosna triumphing in Set Dancing. A large Westmeath contingent also made the long journey to Killarney to cheer on the four acts in their bid for All-Ireland glory. The first Westmeath act to go on stage was the Mullingar Shamrocks Figure Dancers. Despite giving a brilliant performance, they were edged out by St. Enda's from Tyrone. Amazingly, St. Enda's also deprived the Moate Ballad Group of back-to-back All-Ireland successes. Bunbrosna, who were attempting to win their first Set Dancing title since 2000, were forced to give second best to local club Spa, who made Scor history by winning the title for the fifth year in succession. But Jenny McNamee ensured Westmeath didn't leave the Kingdom empty-handed by giving the performance of her life to win Solo Singing competition. Jenny is undoubtedly one of the finest talents to have emerged on the Scor scene in recent years and it would be no surprise to see her taste further All-Ireland glory in years to come. Tweet

Most Read Stories