The students at Errill NS pulled out all the stops on Friday morning to welcome the Joe McDonagh Cup which was brought to the school by Laois hurling captain Paddy Purcell and his Rathdowney-Errill and Laois team-mates Ross King and Mark Kavanagh.
For Purcell it was a momentous day as he brought the trophy back to the school he went to himself.
Principal Tony Lawlor and the students in the small school were in mighty form on what was a glorious September morning.
Fittingly the students sang Lovely Laois and on a really joyous occasions the school was decked out in blue and white bunting for the occasion.
Unsurprisingly the players were mobbed for autographs and photographs and there was ice cream all round.
Among the photos we got was a great one of school secretary Mary Nolan with the cup and her four grand-children who are all current students.
Laois won the Joe McDonagh Cup back in June and then shocked Dublin in the All Ireland Qualifiers before putting up a great performance against eventual champions Tipperary in the All Ireland quarter-finals.
Paddy Purcell, who is from Errill, captained Laois while a number of Rathdowney-Errill players were involved with the side including today’s visitors Mark Kavanagh and Ross King as well as Jack Kelly and Eric Killeen.
And after a hectic morning in Errill the cup and the players were off to the nearby Rathdowney school where there in line for a similar welcome.
All concerned will be hoping that there will be another trophy to visit the schools in a couple of weeks.
Rathdowney-Errill are in the Laois SHC semi-final in two weeks’ time and will be hoping to get their hands on the Bob O’Keeffe Cup once more for the first time since 2014.
Our photographer Julie Anne Miller was in Errill this morning where she captured a selection of great images.
You can check them all out below.
