VICKY CARR
WESTMEATH
By Daire Walsh
Vicky Carr is thrilled to find herself on familiar terrain this afternoon as her Westmeath side take on Laois in a tantalising Leinster LGFA Intermediate Championship final.
As part of a double header with a provincial junior showpiece between Louth and Carlow, the Lake County will take on their O’Moore rivals at TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar today. Not only is this ground the headquarters of Westmeath GAA, it is also a stone’s throw from Carr’s home club of St Loman’s.
Because the Westmeath ladies often play their home games at alternative venues in the county, Carr is relishing the prospect of taking on Laois at Cusack Park.
“When we found out that the match was going to be on in Cusack, I think there was a great excitement and a great buzz. Even more so when we heard it was going to be a home game for us. I think it will be a great occasion and it will be a great day for Ladies Gaelic football, I think,” Carr acknowledged.
“We haven’t really played much in Cusack this year. We’ve been more out in Ballynacargy, but it’s always a great occasion when you do get to play in Cusack Park. We played our county final there last year and there has been more ladies games on there.”
Coming into their latest provincial championship campaign, Westmeath were in a confident mood as a result of retaining their status in Division Two of the Lidl National Football League. Despite picking up just one point in their opening five games, the Lake County avoided relegation courtesy of back-to-back four-point wins at the expense of Roscommon and Monaghan.
Carr was particularly influential in these games as she chipped in with a brace of points against Roscommon, before adding 0-3 in their duel with Monaghan.
When you consider four of the seven teams they faced are currently operating in the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship, staying up in Division Two for another year is no mean feat for Frank Browne’s side. This offered them a sound footing coming into the Leinster intermediate championship – which began with a semi-final triumph over Wexford – and Carr hopes it will stand them in good stead when they embark on the All-Ireland series later this summer.
“We had a tough league campaign at the start. We were playing against some of the top teams like Galway and Cork. They were tough games, but it was good to get them. I think it prepared us well for the end of the league. We lost our first few games and we knew coming towards the end of the league that we had to win our last two games to stay up.
“I think having those hard games at the start of the league probably did benefit us in the long run. I think it’s great to have had those games and to have gotten those games under their belt now going to play the likes of Laois.”
When it comes to navigating her way through the adult grade of inter-county football, Carr has never had far to go for advice. An All Star winner in 1991, her father Tommy originally lined out in the colours of Tipperary – for whom his brother Declan was an All-Ireland winning hurling captain – before representing Dublin for the best part of a decade.
He went on to manage the Sky Blues, Roscommon and Cavan in the men’s game, but he was also amongst the backroom team when a Westmeath ladies side featuring his daughter won the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship crown in 2021.
Also on that team was Carr’s first cousin Lucy McCartan, who is part of the current Westmeath set-up along with her younger sister Lara.
This only offers a small window into the Carr family tree, however, as Vicky’s mother Mary is the daughter of Galway football legend Sean Purcell. Additionally, Purcell was the first cousin of John Kilkenny – the father of Dublin football stalwart Ciaran Kilkenny.
“He [Tommy] is always there to give me a bit of advice in matches and in training. It’s brilliant to have him there. He was involved the year we won the intermediate All-Ireland against Wexford, so that was really special for us and it’s one we look back on fondly. He still comes to all of our games and is a great support for us,” Carr added.
“There is definitely a lot of football in the family and a lot of sporting genes. I get to play now at the moment with Lucy and Lara, and they’re both from the St Loman’s club as well. We’ve grown up playing together. I played with Lucy for a few years and it’s only in the past year or two that Lara has joined the senior panel.”