Quiz master Willie reaches 200
Regan Kelly
Former St Colman’s NS teacher and one of Westmeath’s most best known quiz-masters, Willie Geraghty, hosted his 200th quiz in John Daly’s pub on Wednesday, July 30.
Willie has been doing quizzes for a long time, starting in 2014 in what is now Gilleran’s Bar on Harbour Street.
Willie said: “It was something that I always had an interest in, and there was a demand for it, I just kept going with it and haven’t stopped.”
For a Wednesday evening, Dalys was busy, and almost everyone there took part in the quiz.
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Aisling Monaghan, Annie O’Connor and Mike Patterson in Daly’s.Image 2 of 13
Richard Stephens and Stephen Hill from Mullingar.Image 3 of 13
Eleanor Gigby, Willie Geraghty, Cipriann Torj and Diana Costa at the quiz last Wednesday evening.Image 4 of 13
Clare Burke, Gillian McGurran and Ciara Newman at the quiz.Image 5 of 13
Stephen Quigley, Saoirse McNamee. Tracy Monaghan and Aaron Daly from Mullingar.Image 6 of 13
Leah Aughey from Killucan and Ciara Lynch from Mullingar.Image 7 of 13
Scott Dempsey, Peter Beirne and Jake Dempsey in Mullingar.Image 8 of 13
Suzanne and John Staunton from Kinnegad.Image 9 of 13
Mirabel Poder, John Macken and Sara Baulino from Daly’s.Image 10 of 13
Cliona Smith, Orlaith Cox and Anna Speller at Wednesday’s quiz.Image 11 of 13
Alice O’Mahoney, Fionn Gallagher and Emily Geraghty from Kinnegad.Image 12 of 13
Owen O’Grady, Florence Smith and Jen O’Brien took part in the table quiz.Image 13 of 13
Samah Sharif, Maro Babiker and Caro O’Rourke at the anniversary quiz night.To ease the pressure on Willie, some new quiz masters were introduced for the evening, going by the name of ‘Eurotrash’.
Willie said the quizzes are getting more popular: “Just look out there, it’s jammed, we had 35 teams here for the 100th quiz, we had 32 last week, I mean it’s mad.
“Of course, the fact that colleges are finished probably makes a difference, but there are a solid eight or nine teams that are here all the time.”
Willie had a health scare some years ago, which, along with a lot of other things, disrupted his ability to host the quiz.
While he was out, ‘Eurotrash’ took over in his absence, and he decided to keep them involved when he got back to it.
“You know, when you get out of the hospital and you aren’t still fully right, but I came back and the lads did a great job, so I decided to keep them.
“At first I wasn’t going to, but I said, why not, it’s their quiz as well as mine, and they all do it in their way.”
Asked what his plans for the future were, Willie said: “We will do another 100 quizzes, no doubt!”