For many years now, Ollie Gallagher has been known to Westmeath fans as the "video man". But what younger supporters might not be aware is that Ollie was a GAA star in his own right throughout the 1970s when he was the county's top hurling goalkeeper. It's easy to forget that long before Ollie Gallagher picked up a video camera and started recording GAA matches, he was regarded as one of the best hurling goalkeepers in Leinster and his services were even sought by Galway at one stage. Ollie has been videoing club, county and colleges matches for many years and at this stage, there is hardly a house in Westmeath that doesn't have a copy of at least one of his video productions. Ollie's early recordings were accompanied by commentary from the late Johnny Garvin from Castletown-Geoghegan. More recently, Michael O'Sullivan and Ollie's son Stephen have both provided match commentary. Stephen has followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a goalkeeper, and has excelled for the St. Loman's and UCD footballers in recent times. Last year, the 21-year-old won a Dublin SFC medal with UCD and his performances earned him inclusion on the Blue Stars team that played Dublin in their annual challenge match over the Christmas period. Stephen has also represented Westmeath at minor and under 21 level, but Ollie admits that it is difficult for him to break into the senior set-up at present with twice All-Star nominated Gary Connaughton occupying the number one jersey and 1999 All-Ireland under 21 winner Cathal Mullin acting as cover. The eldest of three brothers, Ollie grew up in Dalystown, which is situated on the main Mullingar-Kilbeggan road. His love from hurling was instilled in him by Eamonn Moynihan, who taught Ollie in Gainstown National School. Ollie's brothers Henry, Danny and Eamonn all played hurling, with the latter also going on to represent his county with distinction. Eamonn has since made quite an impact in club management - he steered Raharney to their first SHC title win in 12 years last October and was also in charge of the Killucan team that reached the SFC semi-final - and was recently appointed a county football selector. One of Ollie's first successes was a minor hurling championship he won in the colours of Clann Braonain, who picked their players from the Tyrrellspass, Rochfortbridge and Dalystown areas. Around the same time, St. Brigid's - then a fledgling hurling club - were beginning to find their feet at senior level. Ollie was part of the under 21 championship winning teams of 1966 and '67, and he was also aboard when the Dalystown club beat Castletown-Geoghegan to capture their first senior championship in '68. Brigid's were beaten at the semi-final stage in 1969, but bounced back to win a three-in-a-row of titles between 1970 and '72. They defeated Castletown-Geoghegan in the '70 final, Raharney in '71 and Castlepollard in '72 when Gallagher was captain. "It was a great time to be involved with the club," Ollie fondly remembers. "We had some great players like the Gavins, Bradleys and Colgans. Paddy Gavin was chairman of St. Brigid's at the time and I would regard him as the driving force behind our success. He looked after us very well." Gallagher won an All-Ireland 'B' under 21 hurling medal with Westmeath before graduating to the senior side in 1969. He made his National League debut on October 26 of that year against Mayo in Athlone when Westmeath ran out easy winners by 8-15 to 2-3. Ollie took over the county goalkeeping duties from Frank Jackson which was somewhat ironic as another Castletown-Geoghegan man, the late Jimmy Dalton, had been his idol when he was growing up. "I followed Castletown-Geoghegan as a youngster because St. Brigid's hadn't got a senior team at the time. I liked their style of hurling and their goalkeeper Jimmy Dalton was the player I most admired. It just so happened that another Castletown man, Frank Jackson, was coming towards the end of his playing career when I was first called into the Westmeath panel," he explains. Ollie, whose height was often utilized out the field by his club, was a virtual ever present between the sticks for Westmeath throughout the 1970s. He made his Leinster championship debut against Dublin in 1970 at Tullamore when the Metropolitans emerged as 0-16 to 3-5 winners. Westmeath regularly beat the likes of Kildare, Wicklow and Down in the championship campaigns which followed, but Ollie didn't taste success until 1975 when Westmeath recorded wins over Down, Antrim, Kerry and London (after a replay) to claim the All-Ireland 'B' title. They were subsequently beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final in Athlone, and afterwards Ollie was asked if he'd be interested in joining the Tribesmen, who were crowned All-Ireland champions five years later. "Galway approached me with a view to me transferring to them, and I actually played a few club games down there in an unofficial capacity afterwards. But I was happy to stay where I was and have no regrets, even though Galway went on to win the Liam McCarthy Cup in 1980. "That time we travelled to a lot of matches on the bike and togged out behind a ditch, and I was happy to do that." he says. In the 1976 Leinster championship, Westmeath beat Offaly by 1-14 to 1-11 at Croke Park before losing to Kilkenny in the next round. Within five years of that defeat, however, Offaly had won two Leinster titles and an All-Ireland, leading Ollie to ponder what might have been for the Lake County. "Whereas they went on to win the All-Ireland, we seemed to go in the opposite direction. Damien Martin, Pat Delaney, Padraig Horan, Joachim Kelly and Pat Carroll were playing for Offaly that day. The likes of Mickey Fagan, Johnny Cleary, Willie Shanley, Pat Bradley and Mick Cosgrave were every bit as good as them, but it didn't happen for us for whatever reason. Offaly showed afterwards what can be achieved when a team is prepared to put in the work and effort." Following his retirement from the inter-county scene in 1979, Ollie took up athletics and took part in 12 marathons. "I took up the running for enjoyment and to keep fit," he recalls. The Mullingar resident trained St. Brigid's underage teams and the St. Loman's senior side before taking up a new position behind the lens of the video recorder. He has captured all of Westmeath's finest victories over the past decade or so and is looking forward to many more great days in 2007. "I'm fairly confident that the hurlers will bounce back after last year's disappointment. People like Matty Conaty are doing trojan work behind the scenes and I'm sure the players will respond to that. "The footballers did well to reach the All-Ireland quarter-final last year, but I think it will be difficult for them to repeat that this year. When they won the Leinster title three years ago, they were a big, strong team, but the present team is still developing and doesn't yet have that physicality," he concludes. Tweet

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