Park-Ratheniska GAA are delighted to announce the return of our Nursery and Academy Hurling, Football and Ladies Gaelic Football for 2025!
Situated just 10 minutes outside Portlaoise town, the club’s idyllic grounds in the village of Ratheniska will once again buzz with activity on Sunday, April 13th, at 11am when the “Ratheniska Rascals” return for their 2025 season.
The “Rascals” are the club’s dedicated nursery programme for boys and girls from ages 4-6.
Adopting the GAA’s TURAS programme, the Rascals will begin their Gaelic Games journey through a fun games-based approach, giving the children a safe environment to learn and play with their friends.
All the while adopting the fundamental principles associated with nurturing the children’s first experience of sport in a fun and safe environment with special games and activities that are transferable across all sports.
The Rascals Nursery will continue throughout the Summer, every Sunday morning at 11am and new members and players, boys and girls are always welcome throughout the year.
Get in touch with Club Coaching Officer Bryan Lynch at 087 9657218 or simply pop out some Sunday morning and take a look for yourself!
Following on from the Rascals Nursery is our Gaelic Football and Hurling Academy which caters for players from U-7 to U-11, with the Hurling taking place on Sunday morning also at 11am and the football groups training on a Monday evening at 6.30pm for the boys and Tuesday evening at 6.30pm for the girls.
Bryan will answer any questions you have for the football and hurling, and if you have any queries relating to Ladies Football you can call Sara O’Hara at 0868457673
Our Academy continues on at all ages from U-10 upwards to and including adult in Gaelic Football, Ladies Football and Hurling.
Should you be interested in getting involved, please get in touch. The club has close to 100 accredited coaches who are fully vetted, qualified and safeguarded as per the guidelines of Sport Ireland.
The Park-Ratheniska GAA Club has a long tradition of GAA in Laois, with Gaelic games in the Ratheniska area being dated back to the 1890s.
It is the amalgamation of two clubs, Park and Ratheniska, or Ráithin an Uisce as gaeilge, “the Rath of the Water”. The area of Park and its name originates from the surrounds of Dunamase Castle, a medieval deer park.
1933 saw the founding of the Park GAA Club with the Ratheniska Hurling Club following shortly after in 1953.
With both clubs primarily using the same players it was decided to amalgamate them under the one banner in 1981, and with that, the Park-Ratheniska GAA Club was founded.
The club also has a Ladies Football Club and has won a number of intermediate titles since their foundation, the latest of which came in 2022 which at the time put both clubs senior at the same time for the first time in the club’s histories.
The club is hugely active in the community, with our grounds set right in the heart of the village, and being used on a daily basis by the local National School.
The Club are constantly developing and improving our facilities, from our recently renovated Clubhouse, Ball Wall, Fully lit Walking Track and Floodlit pitches with work due to start on a new Astro Surface in the coming weeks.
The first club in Laois to be accredited as both an Official GAA Green and Healthy Club, we continue to develop new ways to benefit both our community and members.
SEE ALSO – You can check out the Park-Ratheniska GAA website here
