Club History

Weston Hockey Club was founded at the Tara Co-Op, close to Weston airport in 1947. The club was originally called Weston Hockey and Lawn Tennis Club. Tennis was played during the summer up until the mid-1960s. In February 1951, Weston pavilion was opened by Fr. Bell and club chairman Mr. Michael Lynam. Weston had a thriving social scene with many dances taking place in the pavilion. At the 1960 Christmas party, Santa Claus arrived by helicopter to give presents to the member's children.

On the hockey front, Weston won the Minor cup in the late 1940s and the success carried on into the 1950s. In 1957, Weston won the Intermediate cup and the Intermediate B section, losing the Intermediate League play-off against the Air Corps in extra time. They also reached the semi-finals of the Irish Junior Cup in Leinster. In 1958, Weston again won the Intermediate Cup beating Lorraine 1 - 0 in the final. Weston’s cause was not helped when Michael Lynam retired with a knee injury after ten minutes and as substitutes were not permitted at the time Weston had to play on with ten men. The game went to extra time and Brenda O’Hare scored the winner in the final few minutes. Weston also won the Intermediate League, beating the Air Corps one nil with a goal from Frank Duke in the St. Patrick’s Day final. The men’s second team also won the Leinster Junior Cup beating Aer Lingus in the play-off final with Louis Eiffe scoring the only goal. In 1959, the first team reached the semi-final of the Irish Junior cup Leinster section and had a credible top-half finish in the middle A league to which they had just been promoted. The second team finished third in their section of the intermediate league and reached the semi-final of the intermediate cup.

The 1960s began brightly for the Club with the men reaching the final of the Irish Junior Cup in Leinster. Weston took the lead after twenty minutes when Sean Corry scored, however, Pembroke equalised and won the replay three nil. The ladies' section expanded to three teams playing in the Intermediate A, Middle A and Minor divisions. In April 1965, Weston defeated Pembroke by 1-0 in the final of the Intermediate League after extra time. In 1967, both the men's first and second team reached their league play-off finals with the first XI losing the Middle 'B' Play-Off to Corinthians and the second XI losing the Minor League play-off to Monkstown. The ladies' team reached the final of the Minor cup and unfortunately lost to Railway Union. 1968 saw the men's first team reach the final of the Middle A league losing to Lorraine and the Railway Cup final losing to Three Rock Rovers. The ladies' first team reached the semi-final of the Junior Cup.

Unfortunately, this success could not be carried out into the 1970s and one of the few highlights of the early part of the decade was Willy Heffernan's appearance in the Leinster Junior Inter- provincial side that played against Ulster in April 1973 and future member Niall Van Lonkhuyzen’s appearance for Connacht in 1975. The men's first team reached the semi-final of the Railway cup, losing 1 - 0 to Aer Lingus in the same year.

In April 1980, the men's second team won the Leinster Junior cup beating Pembroke Wanderers one nil in the final. In 1981, the club began playing their games on the all-weather pitch in Coolmine, unfortunately, it proved to be a bad year for the club with the men's and women's first teams being relegated from their respective divisions. In 1984, the men’s second team won promotion to the Junior A division. It was not until 1988 that Weston won their next trophy when the men's third team won the Minor C league, the men's first team finished runners up in the Intermediate B league to achieve promotion.

In 1993, the men's first team finished runners-up in Division 3. In the 1993/94 season, the club moved to the Dominican convent on the Navan road. This year also saw Weston make its debut in the Irish Senior cup with an away match against Portadown. Unfortunately, their inexperience at this level showed and they lost four nil. The 1994/1995 season again saw Weston move when they played the second half of the season in the King's Hospital, Lucan. The men's first team won promotion back to division 2 having been demoted the previous year. The 1995/96 season saw the club play all of their home matches in King's Hospital with the senior sides playing on the new Astroturf pitch. In the late 1990s, the club ended its nomadic existence and moved to its new all-weather pitch in Lucan, although the senior matches where still played on the Astroturf pitch in King’s Hospital.

The 2000s has been one of the most successful periods of the club's history both on and off the pitch. The decade began with Shane O’Hare captaining the men's first team to win the Neville Davin Cup. The ladies ended a fifty-year wait for a trophy when Helen Dennis led the women's second team to the division 9/10 cup final beating Aer Lingus one nil in the final with the goal coming from Anne-Marie Jarvis. In 2004, the men's third team, having been promoted three times in the past five years won division 8 and narrowly lost out on the league and cup double when they lost the minor cup final to Suttonian’s HC. In 2005, Weston won their first national title when the ladies' first team defeated Moyne Thurles on penalties in the May Costley cup in a thrilling final in the National Hockey Centre in Belfield. The team was captained by Margaret Ryan and coached by Shane O’Hare. The men's third team captained by Ivan Walpole reached the Junior Cup Final in 2005 and 2006 before beating Avoca in the 2007 final. Ivan Walpole also captained the men's fourth team to victory in the minor cup final. In 2005, the men's second team, under Pat Ennis, reached the quarter final of the Irish Junior Cup loosing to the eventual winners, Annadale. As well as cup success, the club has steadily moved up the leagues with the men's second team winning promotion on several occasions and now playing in Division

4. The men's third team has also moved up the leagues and they are still in with a chance of winning division 6 under captain Paul Kennedy. They also reached the semi-final of the Intermediate cup, loosing to St. Brendan’s Phoenix Park by a “golden Goal”. The ladies' teams have also moved up the leagues with the ladies third's now playing in Division 11 and Mairéad D’Arcy leading the first team to Division 4, the highest level the women's section of the club have played at.

In 2009/2010, our men's first team, coached by Alan Browne won Division 2 and gained promotion into Division One. In 2010/2011, the ladies' second team,coached by Enda Tucker, were the winners of Division 8 in the Leinster League without losing a match for the entire season.

Off the field the club, continued to improve its facilities. In 2004, international standard flood lights were installed at the pitch in Lucan and this was followed with the opening of its clubhouse (which is shared with Hillcrest United and Lucan Harriers).

In 2005, the club started its junior section with training on Sunday mornings. This has gone from strength to strength and now has more than 150 members. As well as training, the juniors play in a variety of league matches and tournaments.

Astroturf Pitch

After many years and a lot of hard work, our astro-turf pitch was officially opened by the Mayor of South County Dublin, Mr Eamonn Maloney in the presence of Minister Mary Harney TD on Sunday 13th May 2007. This is the first time in many years that all the teams in the club will have the same home pitch and this gives us a great base to build on the successes of recent years. It should also enhance the social aspects of the club which are as important as the hockey.

Weston HC has gone from strength to strength with over 300 members. We have both senior and youth sections participating in league, cup matches and tournaments.

Weston Hockey Club

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Weston Hockey Club