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From the Archives – Our selection of Laois’s Top 25 tweeters, 2021 edition

By
LaoisToday Reporter
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This piece was originally published on LaoisToday in January 2021.

In the early days of LaoisToday back in 2017, we picked out Laois’s Top 25 tweeters.

A year later, in the spring of 2018, we updated it. 

We’ve meant to do it numerous times since but it went beyond us in 2019 and then the pandemic hit in 2020.

It is, as all these things are, quite a subjective list but there is a hierarchy in place and we stand over our selections at this time.

The criteria doesn’t depend on how often you tweet, or how many followers you have. Rather it’s your ability to entertain, inform and engage.

After much deliberation and plenty of chopping and changing we’re happy with what we’ve settled on.

25 – Clíodhna Nic Gearailt

The young Portlaoise woman has plenty of good-humoured takes, many of which really hit a chord with her audience.

24 – Fr Paddy Byrne

We’re big fans of Fr Paddy Byrne here in LaoisToday and his weekly column is often a well-considered, thought-provoking piece. And he is similar on Twitter as one of the Catholic church’s most active social media users. Well worth a follow.

23 – Laois GAA Bible

Did you ever wonder, how often the Laois footballers have been ahead of Wexford in the O’Byrne Cup? Or what has been the third highest scoring second half involving the Laois hurlers? The Laois GAA Bible account will inform you and as the full stats of Laois’s main county teams emerge, no doubt Eoin Culliton, the Mountmellick man behind this account, will have many brilliant gems of info to share.

22 – Louise Troy 

The Heath native shot to social media fame with her tweet in relation to the Portlaoise cycle lane that more resembled an obstacle course. A barrister by trade, she comments on a wide range of issues – from legal to political, social to sporting. A new entry but a very worthy one.

21 – Gary Walsh

The Ballylinan man and Laois footballer has been a marked man on Twitter ever since an infamous tweet in the spring of 2018. The mantra of ‘once bitten, twice shy’ has probably toned down some of his social media commentary but he’s still able to excellently capture the mood of a certain audience from time to time.

20 – Aedin Dunne

A strong sports tweeter, Aedin is guaranteed to have numerous witty takes on a wide range of topics – from US politics to Irish nurses and her love of all things Portlaoise.

19 – Brian Moss

The Midlands 103 man and a friend of LaoisToday is another active entertaining Tweeter and though some of his jokes are, eh, questionable, he’ll definitely give you a good laugh on a regular basis.

18 – Megan Shiel

We may just have found Laois’s only soccer mad Tottenham Hotspur supporter.

Raheen’s Megan Shiel is up next on our list. A huge Spurs supporter, she can be found watching and Tweeting about any Premier League game – with her takes on events usually pretty on the money.

17 – Shane Keegan

Is there anything this lad can’t do? Full-time coach with Dundalk FC, Rathdowney-Errill hurling manager, podcast host. His views on Twitter make him a must-follow too.

16 – John Whelan

Our man John Whelan has a number of Twitter profiles with his own personal one the most active but his Vanhalla travel blog and accompanying Twitter account is well worth following for wit, wisdom and insights on a wide range of travel spots, particularly for those that have – or are thinking of getting – a camper van.

15 – Sarah Cullen

A digital marketing executive with Laois company VIMAR, Sarah is one of one the Twitter originals – joining the platform 11 years ago.

Her tweets are wide ranging and her current series on trying to read 50 books in one year is worth keeping an eye on.

14 – Bruce Thompson

There’s a considerable number of entertaining farm related Twitter accounts in Laois with Bruce Thompson’s dairy observations and his dung beetle project on his Ballyfin farm making for very interesting content.

 

13 – Rachel Eustace

Up next on our list is Rachel Eustace who has amassed more than 7,000 followers.

She describes herself as a Grey’s Anatomy loving, content creating, English graduate – and you can be guaranteed a laugh, or indeed a serious tweet too, if you follow her.

12 – Pat O’Connell

Inter-county umpire, Courtwood man, parkrun enthusiast and another entertaining tweeter who bizarrely even managed to get himself blocked by Laois GAA.

11 – Francie Gorman

Quickly rising up the ranks of the IFA, Francie Gorman’s Twitter account is a mixture of tweets from his farm in Ballinakill, his sporting opinions and some really good perils of wisdom.

10 – Sheelagh Coyle

Sheelagh Coyle’s profile tells of her wide and varied interests: “Westmeath woman in Laois, retired teacher, mother/grandmother, cancer survivor, writer, reader, amateur actor, @The_Rock_GAA supporter.”

And her tweets live up to the profile. A rock of sense in a Twitter world where a voice of reason is needed every so often.

9 – Adrian Kavanagh

We’ve long been an avid follower of Adrian Kavanagh’s Twitter account. The Raheen man, who is a lecturer in NUI Maynooth and a regular contributor to various national media, is an absolute experts on all sorts of political elections. Produces some gems on Twitter.

8 – Peter Farrell

St Joseph’s GAA man and RTE reporter, he’s another who’ll comment on everything from politics, to Covid stats to Junior C football. Something for everyone there!

7 – Siun Lennon

Irish Independent Audience Editor Siun Lennon brings some national appeal to our list.

Her takes on events in life are usually humours and as PRO of Rosenallis GAA too, she’s often known to chime in with a quick quip on any sporting event.

6 – Paul Hyland

Another great Laois Twitter account mostly dedicated to the workings of his dairy farm in Clough. A self-styled Ag Science teacher, his good-humoured takes on home schooling make for some great entertainment.

5 – Brian Flannery

A Mayo man but Laois by marriage and a trainee GP that can comment on anything from rugby matches to the Covid vaccine programme and is more than able to hold his own while calling out some of Twitter’s more toxic elements. Can be entertaining as well as serious. A great addition to the Laois Twitter space.

4 – Rory McEvoy

Founder of Quiz Wizards, Rory McEvoy grabs the second spot in our top five.

Prior to Covid, his life saw him move frequently between Manhattan and Laois as his company went from strength to strength. Always a positive voice on Twitter, Rory is worth a follow because there are not too many positive people out there anymore.

3 – Colm Parkinson

No list of Laois Twitter accounts would be complete without former Laois footballer and media personality Colm ‘Woolly’ Parkinson. While his takes on the Coronavirus restrictions can be tiresome, he continues to be incredibly witty, completely free of political correctness, never far from controversy and host of arguably the best GAA show in the country.

2 – Gearoidin McEvoy

Consistently producing good Twitter content on a wide variety of topics, the Timahoe woman has zero tolerance for bullshit, has turned her hand to designing face masks and also contributes to an Irish language podcast.

1 – Mary Phelan 

A Camross woman marooned in London, Mary Phelan is at number one on our list.

She went viral back in October when ‘Freddie the Fox’ broke into her house and landed in her fruit bowl – leading to an appearance on ITV News.

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