IT’S ANOTHER BUSY weekend for the McCartan siblings of Westmeath.
With four Leinster football championship medals secured, the focus now turns to their respective All-Ireland series and two big games in their local town of Mullingar.
Brothers Sam and Danny will take to Cusack Park first on Saturday evening, with Cavan coming to town and a full house expected as Mark McHugh’s side return to action.
Less than 24 hours later, sisters Lara and Lucy follow in their footsteps as the Westmeath ladies’ football team welcome Monaghan to the Midlands.
“We’re hugely looking forward to it,” Lara, the youngest of the four, tells The 42.
“The lads, I think they actually sold out Cusack Park, there’s people in work fighting over tickets, asking me if I have any spares! The atmosphere will be great for a good start to the weekend.
“We have our match in Cusack as well on Sunday, so hopefully all the energy stays. It’s just brilliant for us both to be competing in our championships.”
Whatever happens from here, the weekend of 16-17 May 2026 will live long in the memory of the McCartan family.
It all kicked off in Newbridge on the Saturday afternoon, when Lara and Lucy both played the full game as Westmeath beat Wexford to retain their Leinster intermediate title.
Sam and Danny watched on, before the roles reversed at Croke Park on the Sunday.
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The Midlanders enjoyed a stunning Leinster senior success, 22 years after their first, following an extra-time win over Dublin. Sam played the full game and, like Lucy the previous day, chipped in on the scoresheet, while Danny was among the substitutes after featuring against Meath and Kildare.
Marty Morrissey and the RTÉ cameras arrived to the home house in the build-up, drawing “some sneers” at training, but it all ended in a rather unique double.
“It was huge for our family,” says Lara.
“We went into the weekend trying to forget about all the media, there was a lot of focus on both of the teams being in the final, so we kind of had to focus on the football and keep our heads on our shoulders.
“You’d think once we had won our final, we’d be happy out, but the nerves we felt in Croke Park… we were greedy enough, we wanted both of them!”
And they got them, the celebrations running from the Hogan Stand to Kinnegad and across the river into the Lake County.
“The last time I saw Mullingar so packed was the Fleadh,” she laughs.
– Ties that bind –
The McCartans’ father Pat jokes that the football comes from his side of the family because of the famous surname, but his wife Frances is the daughter of Galway great Seán Purcell.
The late Purcell led Galway to All-Ireland glory in 1956, himself and Frank Stockwell fondly known as the ‘Terrible Twins’ for their telepathic partnership.
The Carrs are their first cousins, with Vicky joining Lara and Lucy on the Westmeath ladies panel. “Also from my mam’s side, you see where the football comes from!”
The tradition runs deep, as does the pride. Pat and Frances kick every ball with both county teams, and with the St Loman’s club. It has been some journey.
“The amount of hours’ driving that my parents did, they couldn’t help but be basically on the team. They are such a big part of our careers in sport and everything, they’re delighted for us.”
For Lara, the baby of the house, it has been somewhat surreal.
“I feel like any youngest child would say that you’re always going to look up to your siblings in basically every aspect of your life, but football was one of those where you could look up to them while also standing right beside them,” she explains.
“When I was younger, I went to all of Lucy’s matches, went to Sam and Danny’s matches, but then just being able to call myself Lucy’s teammate, and obviously watch my brothers playing together…
“I’d say Danny is the same. Being able to look up to them while being their teammate is just a crazy kind of experience.”
It can be all-consuming too, with football dominating the conversation from around the table to sharing car journeys to training, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’d have all the intention of talking about work or college or whatever, but everything always ends up about football: someone involved in football, something that happened at training, something someone said in the dressing room, it always ends up there,” says Lara.
“Sam talked about it in another interview, how having a brother on the team is so great, because you talk about everything, you analyse the training, you talk about what happened at training, all the way. It’s the same with me and Lucy. Full of chat!”
That’s sure to continue through what the McCartan siblings and Westmeath hope transpires to be a long summer, with many more busy weekends ahead.
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'Huge for our family' – Westmeath's McCartan siblings aim to build on Leinster glories
IT’S ANOTHER BUSY weekend for the McCartan siblings of Westmeath.
With four Leinster football championship medals secured, the focus now turns to their respective All-Ireland series and two big games in their local town of Mullingar.
Brothers Sam and Danny will take to Cusack Park first on Saturday evening, with Cavan coming to town and a full house expected as Mark McHugh’s side return to action.
Less than 24 hours later, sisters Lara and Lucy follow in their footsteps as the Westmeath ladies’ football team welcome Monaghan to the Midlands.
“We’re hugely looking forward to it,” Lara, the youngest of the four, tells The 42.
“The lads, I think they actually sold out Cusack Park, there’s people in work fighting over tickets, asking me if I have any spares! The atmosphere will be great for a good start to the weekend.
“We have our match in Cusack as well on Sunday, so hopefully all the energy stays. It’s just brilliant for us both to be competing in our championships.”
Whatever happens from here, the weekend of 16-17 May 2026 will live long in the memory of the McCartan family.
It all kicked off in Newbridge on the Saturday afternoon, when Lara and Lucy both played the full game as Westmeath beat Wexford to retain their Leinster intermediate title.
Sam and Danny watched on, before the roles reversed at Croke Park on the Sunday.
The Midlanders enjoyed a stunning Leinster senior success, 22 years after their first, following an extra-time win over Dublin. Sam played the full game and, like Lucy the previous day, chipped in on the scoresheet, while Danny was among the substitutes after featuring against Meath and Kildare.
Marty Morrissey and the RTÉ cameras arrived to the home house in the build-up, drawing “some sneers” at training, but it all ended in a rather unique double.
“It was huge for our family,” says Lara.
“We went into the weekend trying to forget about all the media, there was a lot of focus on both of the teams being in the final, so we kind of had to focus on the football and keep our heads on our shoulders.
“You’d think once we had won our final, we’d be happy out, but the nerves we felt in Croke Park… we were greedy enough, we wanted both of them!”
And they got them, the celebrations running from the Hogan Stand to Kinnegad and across the river into the Lake County.
“The last time I saw Mullingar so packed was the Fleadh,” she laughs.
– Ties that bind –
The McCartans’ father Pat jokes that the football comes from his side of the family because of the famous surname, but his wife Frances is the daughter of Galway great Seán Purcell.
The late Purcell led Galway to All-Ireland glory in 1956, himself and Frank Stockwell fondly known as the ‘Terrible Twins’ for their telepathic partnership.
The Carrs are their first cousins, with Vicky joining Lara and Lucy on the Westmeath ladies panel. “Also from my mam’s side, you see where the football comes from!”
The tradition runs deep, as does the pride. Pat and Frances kick every ball with both county teams, and with the St Loman’s club. It has been some journey.
For Lara, the baby of the house, it has been somewhat surreal.
“I feel like any youngest child would say that you’re always going to look up to your siblings in basically every aspect of your life, but football was one of those where you could look up to them while also standing right beside them,” she explains.
“When I was younger, I went to all of Lucy’s matches, went to Sam and Danny’s matches, but then just being able to call myself Lucy’s teammate, and obviously watch my brothers playing together…
It can be all-consuming too, with football dominating the conversation from around the table to sharing car journeys to training, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’d have all the intention of talking about work or college or whatever, but everything always ends up about football: someone involved in football, something that happened at training, something someone said in the dressing room, it always ends up there,” says Lara.
“Sam talked about it in another interview, how having a brother on the team is so great, because you talk about everything, you analyse the training, you talk about what happened at training, all the way. It’s the same with me and Lucy. Full of chat!”
That’s sure to continue through what the McCartan siblings and Westmeath hope transpires to be a long summer, with many more busy weekends ahead.
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fantastic four GAA