A brief history of Coole G.A.A. Club

In 1974 Fr. Jimmy O"Connor came to the parish of Coole. It soon became known that Jimmy was a Gaelic footballer and had played for his home club Rosemount.A parishioner, Mick Halton (R.I.P.) a noted footballer in his day approached Jimmy with a view to forming a G.A.A. club. Jimmy set about organising a committee. The main men were Mick Halton, Charlie Reilly (R.I.P.), Jimmy Dalton and Mel Dunleavy.Paddy O"Connor came on board some time later. In 1975 Coole fielded a team in the Westmeath Junior Championship. Paddy O"Connor was the team manager from 1975 until 1981 when the team went out of existence.During this period we played some well established clubs and won a fair share of matches. On November 12th, 1978, our big break-through came in Castletown-Geoghegan when we played Moyvore in a League final and beat them 2-5 to 0-5. On Saturday night, October 25th, 2008, we had a very enjoyable re-union in Meehan"s Bar in Coole. Music was by Sean Gaffney, and food was supplied by Maura and Donal Meehan. Many thanks to the Meehan family for hosting this event. It was great so see all the old team mates together again celebrating thirty years of Coole G.A.A.We are planning to play Moyvore in the near future and raise funds for a local charity. So boys, root out the old boots and togs and be prepared for the call. If anyone has any old photos or match reports from that era concerning Coole G.A.A., we would dearly love to hear from you.