A special event to commemorate Kilbeggan Shamrocks' winning of the 1959 Westmeath junior football and hurling championships will take place in Locke's Distillery, Kilbeggan on Sunday, March 7 next.

The unique double holds a special place in the annals of the Kilbeggan Shamrocks club which has been in existence for 121 years. Now, a year later than planned, the 50th anniversary of those wonderful successes will be marked when surviving and deceased members of both teams will be honoured.

The guests of honour will be provided with a free tour of Locke's Distillery Museum at 2pm before the main event gets underway at 3pm. The great battles of 1959 will be fondly recalled in both words and song, while a framed photograph of the winning junior football and hurling championship teams will be presented to surviving members and families of deceased members. Refreshments will also be provided. Admission is EUR10.

The event will also honour the Kilbeggan Boys' National School team which won the Comortas na mBunscol football title in 1954. A number of players from that team went on to feature in the junior successes of five years later.

The junior football and hurling championships were annexed within a fortnight of each another in 1959, with 13 players figuring in both successes.

The hurling championship was the first title to come to the banks of the Brosna on September 20 when Glenidan were overwhelmed on a 7-7 to 4-4 scoreline. A brace of early goals from Paddy Gorry set the tone for the afternoon and Jack McCormack had added a third before Glenidan opened their account. When Gorry completed his hat-trick after the restart, the game was ended as a contest.

After drawing the junior football final with Mullingar Shamrocks on September 13, Kilbeggan ran out comfortable 3-4 to 0-4 winners in the replay on October 4 to complete a famous double. The dominance enjoyed by county star Ned 'Dinger' Bruer and Jim Grehan at midfield ensured a constant supply of possession to the Kilbeggan forwards with PJ Smith, Paddy Gorry and Des Kelliher all among the goals.

All sponsorship for the event is welcome. For further information, contact Stan McCormack on 087-9089674 or email [email protected]

The organising committee is: Stan McCormack, Dan Scally, Frank Keoghan, Kitty Flynn, Randal Scally, Frank Ryan, Anne Carton, Donal Fox and John O'Brien.

The surviving members of the 1959 Kilbeggan junior hurling and football teams are: J Lynagh, S Craig, N Rooney, P Clavin, P Keegan, V Ryan, M Moran, J Grehan, D Kelliher, M Guilfoyle, L Wyer, JJ Sheerin, S Stokes, W Corcoran, B McCormack.

The deceased members were: J McCormack, PJ Carton, M Craig, J Ryan, T McCormack, PJ Smith, E Bruer, P Wyer, P Gorry, P Carton, C Dunne, J Quinn, P Quinn, T Dunican. Tweet

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