Celebrating Westmeath's fifth football All-Star

Multyfarnham, with an estimated population of 490 people, had to work hard to turn their fortunes around and they are now well established as an intermediate club in Westmeath. This year, they pushed intermediate finalists Shandonagh very close when they sides met in the championship. It ended 3-15 to 0-23 in Shandonagh's favour, with Ronan Wallace very impressive, scoring 0-14, including six two-pointers, four of which were from frees.

It wasn't always the case. They would readily acknowledge the challenge they faced to turn things around and come from losing games by 40 points at one stage to reaching an All-Ireland Junior Football final in 2018.

Multyfarnham won the Westmeath Junior Football Championship title in 2017, overcoming Ballynacargy in a replay. It was the club’s first adult title in 61 years.

Winning the Westmeath JFC was a realistic goal, they had come close in the previous three years losing finals in 2014 and 2015 along with reaching a semi-final in 2016. They went on to win a Leinster title and then defeated Lahardane McHale’s of Mayo by 1-14 to 2-9 to reach the All-Ireland Club Junior final in Croke Park.

It ended in defeat against Cork’s Knocknagree in the AIB All-Ireland Junior Football Championship final, but it was certainly a landmark season for Multyfarnham as they announced their arrival on the Westmeath club scene.

“There was so much heartbreak, and finally, we got over the line. The hurt of losing drove us on. Lads are a lot older now and more experienced and our young lads are standing up this year and that’s what’s got us this far,” said Ronan Wallace ahead of the All-Ireland JFC final.

“We just keep working, the tight games are standing to us, like. In the Lahardane game, we were down by four points, we went up by four, it came back to a draw game. It was crazy stuff, and we kicked on in injury time.

“Even in the drawn Westmeath final, we were down by eight points after 15 minutes. Then we went three up, three down and eventually we drew it.”

In the All-Ireland final, the Cork side, Knocknagree were 3-13 to 3-9 winners after they built up a big lead of 2-8 to 0-5 by half-time. Multyfarnham showed their qualities in the second half and which they came up short, they had enjoyed their best ever season.

Wallace credited the people involved with the club's underage players for transforming Multy's fortunes: "It’s one of the best underage systems I’ve ever seen. The work that goes in, it’s unbelievable. There are teams going from under-5s and sixes to junior. They’re getting solid numbers, like 20s and 30s there. It’s unreal for a rural area. A lot of it is to do with the parents and other lads from Multy, they have the best interests of the club at heart."

Wallace was part of the U14 side who won a Division 3 title under that revival and it later transferred into success at adult level. The club is now well placed and have developed fine facilities to help maintain their position.

Scorers for Multyfarnham against Knocknagree were: Mark Fallon 2-0, Max Brady 0-6 (4f), David Wallace 1-0, Emmet Feerick 0-1, Ronan Wallace 0-1, Karl Daly 0-1 (own point).

The Multyfarnham team who played in the All-Ireland JFC final in Croke Park was: Henry Reilly; Stephen Paul Heavin, James Greene; Tommy McGivney, Ronan Wallace, Sean Rock; Brian McLoughlin, Anthony McGivney; Mark Reynolds, Daniel Loughrey, Ciaran Madden; Ian McGovern, Max Brady, David Wallace. Subs: Mark Fallon for Tommy McGivney (ht), Adam Loughrey for Brian McLoughlin (41), Emmet Feerick for Max Brady (54), Ger Feerick for Ciaran Madden (54), David Kelly for Daniel Loughrey (65).

The Multyfarnham team that won the U14 football Div 3 title which help start a revival in the club was:

Craig Sweeney, Oisín Dolan, Stephen Donoghue, Keith Maxwell, James Greene, Ronan Wallace, Ciaran McGovern, Ian McGovern, Pauric Moran, Mark Reynolds, Daniel Loughrey, Keith Reid, Peter Murtagh, Robert Lohan, Patrick Mooney. Subs used: Colm Hogan, Adam Loughrey, Eoin Weir, Ross Coughlan, Jamie Finnan.

'All-Star award has got the club buzzing again' - David Kelly

Multyfarnham GAA chairman David Kelly believes the club's decision to place a renewed emphasis on underage development has been central to its remarkable rise, culminating in Ronan Wallace becoming the first player in the club's history to receive a football All-Star award. For a small rural club, it is an achievement of enormous significance, with Kelly reflecting on how far Multyfarnham have come from struggling to field teams at junior level to producing one of Westmeath's leading footballers.

“We are a very proud club. A first-ever All-Star for Multyfarnham GAA and it's just unbelievable, really,” he remarked.

“He was captain of Westmeath winning the Leinster and has now added an All-Star. It's a major achievement,” he observed.

“There's great buzz going around the club. Everyone's interacting and it's after bringing the place to life again now when the season is over, really, for most of our teams. It's really after getting the groups buzzing again.”

However, for Kelly, the achievement is also a reflection of the work undertaken at underage level over the past 15 years, with Wallace's generation helping transform the fortunes of Multyfarnham.

“When you look at it about 15 years ago, we were probably the worst team in Westmeath at junior level by about 30 or 40 points. When you see where the club is after coming to now, and that's all because of Ronan Wallace's generation,” he remarked.

“We focused on the underage and my father, Seán Kelly, would have been a big part of starting that off with the club all those years ago. His group really has shone through and led the club to where it is now. Paddy Wallace, who is now Westmeath chairman, the late Mick Feerick and Gary Loughrey were also key men involved. It's unbelievable how we have progressed,” he observed.

“We put in a huge focus on our underage because we said where we were going at the time, we were struggling to field at any level. We were relying on players to come out from Mullingar to field teams. There were some games we couldn't even field teams,” he remarked.

“We said we'd go back to basics and we'd start off with the U6, U8 and U10s and we'd grow it from there,” he added.

Wallace was part of one of the first Multyfarnham teams to enjoy underage championship success.

“Ronan was on one of the first teams to win an underage title at U14 level. We never won anything at underage until we put that focus on,” Kelly observed.

“For a few years we used to be in amalgamations. That really was the starting point.”

Wallace went on to excel with the county.

“Jack Cooney gave him the opening and he claimed a starting place. He won the Tailteann Cup in 2022 and he's just excelled from there,” noted Kelly.

Wallace has become an outstanding ambassador for Multyfarnham, his influence particularly evident among the club's younger members: “We had the fundraiser 5k for the Westmeath players on Monday. You could see all the underage there – nine, 10, 11, 12-year-olds. They ran with him for the whole 5k. To see players of that age so interested, it was unbelievable,” he remarked.

“Ronan came home in the first crew or the second crew. He had a lot of young players around him who wanted to be there. He's always surrounded by young players everywhere he goes. They all look up to him,” he observed.

For a club of Multyfarnham's size, Kelly knows that the significance of Wallace's achievement should not be underestimated.

“It's unbelievable now. It's history. You can't take these things for granted because you never know when they might come again. For a small rural club, it's an unbelievable achievement,” he remarked.

The club currently has approximately 130 members and continues to grow, with the success of Westmeath's season providing further memorable moments for the village.

“We're growing, obviously, as a club. It's just unbelievable how the buzz is after setting off,” Kelly observed.

He also recalled the scenes surrounding Westmeath's homecoming following their success, when the team returned with the Delaney Cup and RTÉ were present to capture the celebrations.

“Even the homecoming this year when the Westmeath team came out with the Delaney Cup and RTÉ were out there, Ronan Wallace getting off the bus with the Cup was another proud moment. The club has really seen unbelievable scenes in the village this year following Westmeath's success,” he remarked.

For the club, Wallace's All-Star is not just a historic individual honour, but an endorsement of the long-term investment made in developing young players. They can all walk taller now.