In St Patrick’s all of our staff and pupils are acutely aware of the hugely important role sporting participation has in the development of a child. To this end we endeavour to promote the active engagement by all our students in as many sports as possible.
We have a fine array of past pupils who have gone onto great success on the sports fields of Ireland and elsewhere. These include All Ireland senior hurling winners Sean Og Farrell and Cillian Farrell and All Ireland minor hurling winner and Leinster senior football winning captain Finbarr Cullen. In more recent years Lee Pearson and Briain Nolan, both of whom won All Ireland U20 football titles with Offaly have passed through our doors. But it’s not only GAA superstars who have studied in our school – current Ipswich Town professional footballer Edwin Agbaje and current Leinster and Ireland U18 rugby player Paidi Farrell are past pupils.
With Edenderry’s proud GAA history linked to our school we are proud to participate in both Offaly Cumann na mBunscol hurling and football championships. Our football team plays it’s championship during Term 1 and is managed by Mr Ryan, Ms Brady and Ms Byrne and we have won numerous championships in Group A which is the top tier of Offaly primary school football. Our school hurling team participates in it’s championship over Term 2 and Term 3 and is managed by Mr Ryan. Coupled with this all our students receive football and hurling coaching from Edenderry GAA GPO Mairead Daly.
In co-operation with Edenderry and Leinster RFC we are delighted to offer our a students coaching sessions in tag rugby which proves hugely popular with all our students
Aquatics is also high on our list of priorities and our students avail of a 5 week swimming programme in Edenderry swimming pool.
Our school soccer team has gone from strength to strength in recent years and it’s popularity is such that we now enter three teams into the FAI primary schools soccer competition.
Over recent years we have had amazing success with our athletics team including wins at the Offaly Cross Country Championships, Offaly Track and Field Championships (Colin Dunne Cup) and the Offaly Sportshall Championships. We have also tasted national success in Athlone IT at the All Ireland Intercultural Championships and All Ireland Track and Field. These teams are ably taken care of by Mrs Colleary and Mr Ryan
Our basketball team has been formed this year and is proving to be a great success with huge numbers attending to training and this team is looked after by Ms Brady and Mrs Loughlin
And one of the highlights of the year is our now famous Sports Day which takes place during Term 3. All the children take part in a huge variety of races ranging from Sack Races to Find the Slipper to Obstacle Races.
Cleary here in St Patrick’s we love our sports!!
