St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

A thrilling contest between St Brendan’s PS / Gaelscoil na Laochra and St Rynaghs Banagher ended in victory for Birr earlier today.
This was the sixth match since easter for the panel of 29 boys with all boys involved in games leading to the final so well done to all the boys involved.
The pitch at St Brendan’s Park was in excellent condition as both sides lined up behind the piper to be cheered on by a large crowd in the stand.
Both sides were matched well and referee Kieran Shannon let the game flow well.
Rynaghs took the lead and this was answered by a free from Ryan Legace ( won by Cathal Mooney who was lively in the forward line)
Rynaghs scored a brace of points but the back line of Darragh Hand and Jamie o hIarnain were hurling well. In front of them Jack Carroll, Lorcan MacEoin and Billy Carroll were clearing an amount of ball and supplying the forwards. The boys picked up a great goal from Tadhg O Gradaigh and point from full forward Harry Watkins along with a brace of points from Ryan Legace – the latter a super score off the left wing on the run. Half time St.B / GnaL were leading 1-4 ( 6) to 0-4 ( 4) .💪
Pause for Jaffa Cakes / drink / jellies and team talk from Mr Kennedy- focus – heart – workrate- win!
Second half began with the same tempo as the first with Rynaghs scoring a free to be answered by a Ryan Legace free. Midfield of Michael Conneely and Ryan Kelly were working for everything and suppling good ball in. Ryan L scored and goal and then the score of the game with a gorgeous sideline cut from the 45 that sailed over the black spot. He followed that with another point from a Harry Watkins assist. The boys were leading 2-7 to 0-5. Then Rynaghs came storming back with 3 goals over 8 minutes only broken by a super Joey Canham point from play. Birr led 2-8 ( 12) to 3-5 ( 11) with only a point in it. Keeper Sam Cleare was finding his men with the puckouts and calmed the game down.
Sub Yi Xuan Yang came on to steady the back line and another sub Justin Touhy scored a great point on the run from wing forward. Rynaghs had a goal chance and then the joint captains took charge with a clearance from the magnificent Lorcan MacEoin to the star man Ryan Legace to put the ball over to finish with a personal tally of 1-7 🙌🙌
Ref blew the final whistle on final score of 2-10 ( 14) to 3-5 ( 11) and the supporters and panel invaded the pitch to celebrate.
Joint captains accepted the Fr Vaughan cup from Mr Jonathon Dunne to huge applause. Ryan thanked Birr GAA, ref , Cumann na mbunscoil, Rynaghs for a great game and the coaches Mr Kennedy , Mr Crofton, Mr Gorman and the other staff who have supported this season.
The lads then took the cup back to the school via a stop to Pilkingtons shop on the way where they proudly displayed the cup to Birr and Offaly legend Johnny Pilkington ( who kindly sponsored them an ice-cream too ). 😎
We look forward now to the rest of the in-school hurling leagues and medal presentation ceremony in coming weeks. Biorra Abu !! Birr Gaa Gaelscoil na Laochra

24 boys from 5th and 6th represented our school today in Tullamore for FAI Offaly 5 aside competition. The boys were delighted to wear the school jersey with pride and had a very enjoyable day.Thanks to Mr Cunningham and Ms Grace for travelling with the team.

Gaelic Football
A great season for our schools Gaelic Football team 22/23. The boys really bought into the idea of playing the game for September and October and we had huge numbers 40+ playing. We had lunchtime football each day on the top field and then training Mondays after school and Fridays in school. As other schools preferred the one day blitz option we organised challenge matches with Banagher and Corville so all boys got good game time. We were delighted to once again link with Gaelscoil na Laochra and the 4 boys involved fitted in really well with the panel and were a credit to their school.
The blitz day was held in terrible conditions in Faithful fields and Mr Kennedy / Mr Gorman took a panel of 22 on the day. They defeated Crinkill / Dromakeenan and Shinrone then losing a tight match to Banagher to reach the top 2 and be in the finals day.
The final was a great occasion in St Brendans Park in lovely sunshine on 20th October. We started well with a goal but Banagher played well to lead at half time by 5 points. The boys tried the second half and pulled it back to 2 points at one stage but banagher pulled away to win by 6 points—Final score 4-8 to 1-8.
Thanks to Mr Kennedy for his passion and dedication to the team– the school staff who supported the team at training , various matches and attended in great numbers at the final and to the great parents for support as each match too. GAA IN OUR DNA— Biorra abu !

Cross Country Trials 2022
3rd Class:
1. Andrew Plunkett
2. Jayden Deane
3. Luke Obrien
4. Joey Ward
5. Erikas Ciparis

4th Class:
1. Joey Canham
2. Brooklyn Fitzsimons
3. Jack Gleeson
4. Lewis Byrne
5. Jayden Guinan

5th Class:
1. John Plunkett
2. Nataniel Szoma
3. Jack Abbott
4. Callum Rock
5. Cillian McAteer

6th Class:
1. Yi Yan Xang
2. Robert McDonagh
3. Ben Swanepoel
4. Hugh Plunkett
5. Fionn Whelehan

Champions !!!!!!!!!!
St Brendan’s PS Birr and Gaelscoil Na Laochra Biorra Congratulations to the boys ( All 29 of them ) who played an amazing game to beat a strong and skilful Rath NS team in Offaly Cumann Na Mbunscoil Division A final – Great start and super performances from our 6th class leaders to lead at half time 2-5 to 0-4 The boys kicked on in second half to put their bodies on the line and deny Rath any momentum . Goals win matches and second half provided these to come out on top in final score 7-8 to 2-9 🏴🏳️🏴🏳️🏴🏳️🏴
Joint captains Robert Landy and Barry Bennett raised the cup to great cheers !⭐️⭐️ Well done to Mr Kennedy ( coach ) 💪and Ms Pilkington / Mr Crofton and all the staff who support and promote school hurling along with the excellent groundwork being done on a weekly basis by GDO Adrian Clancy 👏
Thanks to staff /Parents Association St. Brendan’s Boys School, Birr, Birrand all the younger boys for the amazing support at St Brendan’s Park Birr on a gorgeous pitch by Birr Gaa- Thanks to Declan Cooke for his excellent refereeing and to Declan Ward and his fantastic committee of volunteers at Cumann Na Mbunscoil Offaly 🙏🙏
Biorra Abu !!

St Brendan’s PS / Gaelscoil Na Laochra hurling team 2022 !
Boys played their first championship match earlier today v Rath NS – competitive game in tough conditions with Rath coming out on top – great to see a panel of 29 boys travelling out – boys need to kick on now and get the hours in with school / club and ball work at home

2nd class – Unstoppable!!! ❤️❤️

Thanks to Gravity Dance Academy for our final dance session with Lisa – huge thanks to Offaly Arts for their support with this programme. Today we welcomed a little boy to 2nd class ( dancing in video) who has fled the war in Ukraine – What a lovely way to welcome him to Ireland / Offaly /Birr / St Brendan’s PS – Let’s dance not fight in our world ❤️💪 🇺🇦

Last week we were honoured to welcome some members of the victorious Birr intermediate hurling team to the school. Traditionally there would be a big whole school welcome for a county win but COVID safety meant a small outdoor gathering with 5th and 6th class bubbles . captain Mick Mulrooney and coach Johnny Kelly along with players told the boys about the great win and the importance of working hard to achieve these days – there were many tough days and great sacrifice which led to this point so we hope the boys will get inspiration for this visit. It was heartening to hear how these men fondly remember starting their hurling at school and of the friends they still have from playing the game together – our boys were encouraged to make the most of the excellent school coaching now with Adrian Clancy- the boys got some lovely photos with the cup and some hurls signed and please God the next time Birr come back with a county title we will lift the roof off the hall with a welcome 🙏

Delighted and honoured to welcome back Past pupil and rising rugby star Ronan Loughnane back to our school. Ronan proudly presented the school with his Ireland u20 jersey – Ronan spoke with some classes and the boys loved to hear about how hard work and self belief are the key ingredients in following your dream – a young Ronan ( pictured ) was at the school back in 2013 when another famous past pupil Peter Dooley presented the school with his Ireland u20 jersey – young Ronan returned home and told his dad Barry that some day he would have an Ireland rugby jersey on the school wall beside Peters – inspirational stuff !!
We wish Ronan well in his exciting career and we hope that he continues to work hard towards the goal of a full international cap – boys of Birr – dream big ! Denis R @BirrRugby

The sunny weather 🌞and being back at school with friends in senior infants – Magic !! 😎