Patrick Collins (born 1942) is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

referee and

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

administrator. Born in

Athboy Athboy () is a small agricultural town located in County Meath. The town is located on the ''Yellow Ford River'', in wooded country near the County Westmeath border. It is around 15 km west of Navan and 50 km north-west of Dublin. T ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, Collins refereed the All-Ireland SFC finals of

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. A 2014 article in Hoganstand.com noted that he is regarded as "one of the top football referees of all time".

Páidí Ó Sé Páidí Ó Sé (; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is widel ...

appointed him as a selector when he was made

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the

Westmeath senior football team The Westmeath county football team represents Westmeath in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Westmeath GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the Al ...

in 2003, by which time Collins had long served as secretary of the Westmeath County Board. Collins remained involved with the Westmeath senior team under Ó Sé's successor as manager

Tomás Ó Flatharta Tomás Ó Flatharta is a Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager who is originally from County Kerry. He has managed three county teams: Westmeath county football team, Westmeath, Galway county football team, Galway and Laois county foo ...

, appointed in 2005. Collins was also county secretary in 2000 when manager

Brendan Lowry Brendan Lowry (born 11 July 1959) is an Irish people, Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Ferbane GAA, Ferbane and for the Offaly county football team, Offaly senior county team from 1981 until 1992. He attended St Josep ...

received a controversial six-month ban which was later lifted. In 2022,

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named him among "five of the best football referees".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Paddy 1942 births Living people All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final referees Gaelic football referees Gaelic football selectors Secretaries of county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association Westmeath County Board administrators Westmeath county football team