By pure co-incidence the iconic Sam Maguire trophy was in The Heath NS on Thursday morning at the exact same time as LaoisToday visited ahead of next week’s Schools QuizCast Grand Final.
And the students of The Heath will be hoping that they can get their hands on more silverware when they do battle in the inaugural final of the LaoisToday event, which is being held in the Dunamase Arts Centre next Friday, March 1.
6th class students Finn Moore, Conal Lalor and John O’Hara are representing the school – where they will go up against Timahoe, Rath and St Colman’s, Stradbally.
Indeed The Heath have a proud quiz tradition, having won the Cumann na mBunscol quiz this year and come third last year. Indeed John O’Hara was on both teams.
That’s probably surprise given that 6th class teachers Shane Brennan and Shane Maher place a keen emphasis on general knowledge.
So far The Heath have defeated Holy Family Portlaoise and Clonaslee NS to book their place in the Grand Final.
The rounds up to now have been recorded on Zoom, with the students in question relocating to the nearby office of principal David O’Brien.
Their schoolmates have watched on on big screen back in the classroom.
But they’re travelling in numbers to the Dunamase Arts Centre next Friday, where they hope they can have ‘The Heath NS’ inscribed on the new inaugural trophy.
Whereas up to now, there have been four or five rounds of questions, the Grand Final will have ten rounds including some of the old favourites like ‘Golden Goose’ and ‘The List’ as well as some new rounds which test the contestants’ knowledge across spelling, the Irish language and music.
Before we left, we tested the entire class on their general knowledge with a couple of rounds of ‘The List’.
Their knowledge of European countries and Laois GAA clubs was top notch – though quote of the day went to Conal Lalor, when he quipped: “Can we get Mr Maher to move away from that table?!”
They have their wits about them alright – they’ll take some beating in the Dunamase!
The LaoisToday Schools QuizCast is brought to you in association with Mulhall Meat and Fish Counter, located in Mulhall’s SuperValu, Lyster Square Portlaoise. Mulhall Meats have been serving the people of Laois for over 90 years.
SEE ALSO – Check out all our coverage of the LaoisToday Schools QuizCast here
