Weston Hockey Club Provides Hockey for both Senior & Junior Players based in Esker, Lucan. Co Dublin.

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 and tennis was played during the summer up until the mid 1960’s. 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 Clause arrived by helicopter to give presents to the members children.

On the hockey front the clubs Weston won the Minor cup in the late 1940’s and the success carried on into the 950’s. In 1957 Weston won the Intermediate cup and the Intermediate B division, loosing the Intermediate League play off against the Air Corps in extra time. They also reached the semi finals of the Irish Junior Cup Leinster section. In 1958, Weston again won the Intermediate Cup beating Lorraine 1 nil in the final. Weston’s cause was not help when Michael Lynam retired with a knee injury after ten minutes, and as substitutes where 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 1 nil with a gaol from Frank Duke in the St. Patrick’s day final. The men’s seconds also win the Leinster Junior Cup beating Aer Lingus in the playoff 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 which they had just been promoted to. The second team finished third in their section of the intermediate league and reached the semi final of the intermediate cup.

The 1960’s began brightly for the Club reaching the final of the Irish Junior Cup Leinster section. Weston took the lead after 20 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 mens first and second team reached their league playoff finals with the firsts loosing the Middle 'B' Play-Off to Corinthians and the seconds loosing the Minor League playoff to Monkstown. The Ladies team reached the final of the Minor cup and unfortunately lost to Railway Union. 1968 saw the mens firsts reach the final of the Middle A league loosing to Lorraine and the Railway Cup final loosing to Three Rock Rovers. The Ladies firsts reached the semi final of the Junior Cup.

Unfortunately this success couldn’t be carried out into the 1970’s and one of the few highlights of the early part of the decade was Willy Heffernans 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 mens firsts reached the semi final of the Railway cup, loosing 1 nil to Aer Lingus in the same year.

In April 1980 the mens seconds 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 mens and womens first teams being relegated from their respective divisions. In 1984 the mens seconds won promotion to the Junior A division. It was not until 1988 that Weston won their next trophy when the mens thirds won the Minor C league, the mens firsts finished runners up in the Intermediate B league to achieve promotion.

In 1993 the mens firsts finished runners up in Division 3. In the 1993/94 season the club moved to the Dominican convent on the Navin road. This year also saw Weston make it’s 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 the move when they played the second half of the season in the Kings Hospital, Lucan. The mens firsts 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 Kings Hospital with the senior sides playing on the new Astroturf pitch. In the late 199’s the club ended it’s nomadic existence and moved to it’s new all weather pitch in Lucan, although the senior matches where still played on the Astroturf pitch in Kings Hospital.

The 2000’s has been one of the most successful periods of the clubs history both on and off the pitch. The decade began with Shane O’Hare captaining the mens firsts to win the Nevil Davin Cup. The Ladies ended a 50 year wait for a trophy when Helen Dennis led the womens seconds 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 mens thirds, having been promoted three times in the past 5 years won division 8 and narrowly lost out on the league and cup double when they lost the minor cup final to Suttonians. In 2005 Weston won their first national title when the ladies firsts 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 mens thirds 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 mens fourths to victory in the minor cup final. In 2005 the mens seconds 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 mens seconds winning promotion on several occasions and now playing in Division 4. The mens thirds have also moved up the leagues and they are still in with a chance of wining division 6 under captain Paul Kennedy. They also reached the semi final of the Intermediate cup, loosing to St. Brendans Phoenix Park by a “golden Goal”. The ladies teams have also moved up the leagues with the ladies thirds now playing in division 11 and Mairead D’Arcy leading the firsts to division 4, the highest level the womens section of the club have played at.

Off the field the club continued to improve it’s facilities, in 2004 international standard flood lights where installed at the pitch in Lucan and this was followed with the opening of it’s 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 100 members. As well as training the juniors play in a variety of league matches and tournaments.

Astroturf Pitch

After Many years and alot of hard work, our Astroturf pitch was offically 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 has gone from Strength to Strength with over 300 members. We have both Senior & Junior Section, involving League, Cup Matches and Tournaments. All efforts will be made to make this an informative and reliable source of information. But that won't happen successfully without the assistance of club members.

Many local clubs can take advantage of the flood lights and use the pitch for winter training. See our Contact Page for hiring out of Pitch.

For those of you interested in joining the club, Go to Contact Us Page for all details

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