Westmeath GAA is considered the greatest player to ever play hurling for Westmeath, and as one of the greatest players never to have won an All-Ireland senior hurling title. In 2015 the Westmeath minor hurlers surprised heavy favourites Wexford by two points in the Leinster quarter-final, the win has been regarded by the manager as the 'biggest result in history of Westmeath hurling'. The senior hurlers beat Carlow by 2 points in the Leinster Qualifier group and extended their winning run beating favourites, Antrim 1-21 to 0-7. The hurlers currently play in the third tier of the National Hurling League while the
2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship four matches, with Carlow confirming their place on 9 June after beating Westmeath. The top two teams at the end of the round-robin, Westmeath and Carlow, faced each other in the final on 1 July 2018. The game, which took place in Croke Park, saw Carlow emerge victorious by a margin of five points to claim the inaugural Joe McDonagh Cup title. As a Leinster county, Carlow were automatically promoted to the Leinster championship for 2019, taking the place of Offaly. The preliminary quarter-finals saw the third-placed teams from the two provincial round-robins play the two teams who competed in