'Maroon and White' profiles Paddy Cole, the Mullingar Shamrocks great who was one of biggest names in Westmeath GAA during the 1960s. Nowadays, Paddy Cole may be one of Ireland's best known musicians but for many years, there was only one Paddy Cole in the eyes of Westmeath football supporters. A Railway Cup player with Leinster, Paddy was recognised as one of the country's finest corner backs during the 1960s, although his versatility meant that he could perform equally as well in midfield or attack. Son of professional heavyweight boxer Chris Cole who was a native of Tyrrellspass, Paddy was born and reared in Mullingar. Paddy grew up only a kick of a football away from the Green Bridge, living directly across the street from his greatest influence, the late Mick Reynolds. A coachbuilder by trade, Reynolds was a real driving force behind Mullingar Shamrocks at that time, both on and off the pitch. Paddy recalls: "The best thing that could have ever happened to me was Mick taking me under his wing. Alongside Jimmy Bennett, he oversaw all our successes from underage right through to senior. Mick was also involved in purchasing the Springfield pitch in the early 1960s and served many years on the county board." After garnering practically every medal that was available to him at underage level, Cole graduated to the Shamrocks junior team. On a number of occasions, Shamrocks had been offered a place in the senior ranks but according to Paddy, "we wanted to earn the right to be up there first." In 1962, that's exactly what they did, bringing a junior championship to Shamrocks for the first time in 30 years. The team which Reynolds and Bennett had built quickly adapted to life in the senior grade. Within two years, they were crowned county champions, defeating St. Mary's by 0-8 to 1-3 in the final to end the longest senior championship famine in the club's history. In 1966, Shamrocks regained the senior championship, easily overcoming Maryland by 5-10 to 1-5 in the decider. Indeed, it was an extremely busy time for many of the Mullingar players, including Paddy. In 1962, the Shamrocks contingent backboned Pearse's senior hurling championship triumph over Raharney. They also unsuccessfully contested the senior hurling finals of 1966 and '67. Cole's performances earned him a call-up to the Westmeath hurling team during this time. "There were many great players involved with both Shamrocks and Pearse's back then," he recalls. "Kevin Higgins, Frankie and Colm Connaughton, Terry, Jimmy and Dan O'Dowd and Tony 'Scout' Keegan are just some which spring to mind. Both football and hurling were really going well in Mullingar during those days." Cole was to play adult football for Shamrocks for 21 years in all, retiring in 1983. When Shamrocks returned to the county final in 1979 (Athlone defeated them), he was player/manager. Two of his brothers, Michael and Tommy, were also part of that team. Despite his great underage pedigree with Shamrocks, Paddy never represented Westmeath at minor or under 21 level. He did play junior, though, and made his senior inter-county debut as an 18-year-old against Mayo in the National League. Paddy played senior football for Westmeath for 12 years, yet the only piece of silverware he has to show for it is an O'Byrne Cup medal, won in 1964. He recalls the tremendous optimism which existed in the county in the years following the All-Ireland minor final of 1963. He also looks back on the 1969 National League semi-final defeat to Kerry and how Westmeath had promised so much that day but never subsequently delivered. "There was a great buzz of expectancy among Westmeath supporters throughout the 1960s. Brendan Quinn, who had trained Dublin to win the All-Ireland in 1963, took over the team and we seemed to be getting ourselves very well organised. "After the great performance against Kerry at Croke Park in '69, we all thought it would be the start of something big. We had marvellous players like Dom Murtagh, Mick Carley and TJ Finneran at our disposal but, for some reason, we never quite managed to make the all-important breakthrough." Brendan Quinn regularly switched Cole from defence to attack during those years of promise. In the aforementioned showdown with Kerry, he lined out at full forward and scored one of Westmeath's two goals. So big an impression did Paddy make for Westmeath that he was called onto the Leinster team in 1968. He was one of two Westmeath players (the other being Des Dolan) to make the starting team for that year's Railway Cup final against Ulster. Despite playing an excellent game against Cavan's Charlie Gallagher, right corner back Paddy was unable to prevent Leinster from succumbing to defeat. Following his retirement from the inter-county scene, Cole served a term as county selector. He still maintains a keen interest in Westmeath GAA and has remained a staunch supporter of his beloved Mullingar Shamrocks. Recently, Shamrocks held a function in the Bloomfield House Hotel to honour the county championship winning teams of 1964 and '66. The event provided Paddy with an opportunity to meet up with his old team-mates, some of whom he hadn't seen in many years. Speaking at the function, Cole recalled the wonderful camaraderie among the players and how it was such a factor in their success. Among the other Shamrocks greats who addressed the gathering were Pat McCormack, Jimmy and Terry O'Dowd and Tommy Lennon, who has been actively involved with the club for the past 40 years. Tweet

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