Excitement continues to build ahead of Friday’s Laois Shopping Centre Intermediate football championship final.
Arles-Kilcruise and Park-Ratheniska will go head to head for a place in the 2026 Laois SFC.
Park-Ratheniska claimed this title in 2021 and spent two seasons at senior before being relegated at the end of 2023.
Ahead of the showdown, we took a trip deep into their heartland and visited Ratheniska National School.
The school currently has 210 students spread across eight mainstream classrooms and one autism class known as the Elder Room.
They have eight teachers and six support teachers with six Special Needs Assistants.
Secretary Mairead Farrell is a warming presence as you enter the building and they all work under Pauline Dunne who is the principal.
Pauline is 26 years in the role which makes her one of the longest serving principals in Laois.
While the majority of the students will be shouting for Park on Friday night – not all will be.
Teacher Brendan Conway and his cousin Sadie, daughter of Chris, were proudly decked out in the Arles-Kilcruise colours on the day.
It is also set to be a busy weekend for the students too as some of the girls will represent Park-Ratheniska in the U-14 ‘B’ county final.
While some of the lads will be with Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe when they take on Castletown in the U-13 ‘A’ Shield final.
Check out some great pictures below:
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