Laois school honours Adam Kirwan by holding tournament in his memory

Mountrath Community School have honoured their former pupil Adam Kirwan, who passed away following a road traffic accident last year, by holding a tournament in his memory.

Adam’s family members attended a special event on Monday, April 22 in recognition of the ‘Gold Award’ the school's TY GAA Future Leaders Programme received this year.

GAA President Jarlath Burns paid a special visit to the Laois school and a series of events were planned on the day which was entitled ‘MCS Future Leaders, Future Stars’. This was the name given to highlight the role the school plays along the pathway from 1st year right through to intercounty stars today. 

To illustrate this, MCS staff members and Laois hurlers Aaron Dunphy (Captain) and Bryan Bredin were joined by intercounty players and past pupils, Ryan Mullaney, Jer Quinlan (Hurling) and Niall Dunne (Football) along with the National League Trophies which both teams won already this year. Also in attendance on the day were Laois GAA Chairman PJ Kelly, Secretary Niall Handy along with the head of Laois Games Development, Shane Keegan. 

Former GAA President and local Trumera man Liam O’Neill was also welcomed. To mark the day, this year’s TY Future Leaders group hosted two tournaments for the 1st year students of the school - one in Ladies Football and the other in hurling.

It was a poignant day as the 1st year hurling tournament winners were presented with the Adam Kirwan Memorial Trophy in memory of the late past pupil of MCS. 

Adam’s parents, Lourda and Paul, sister Marie and Grandparents were there to present the trophy to the winning captain of the ‘Limerick’ team, Leo Guilfoyle. Adam was remembered for his contribution to the school, his love of sport and hurling and a young man who made such a huge impact and always with a smile on his face. 

The GAA President was invited to the stage ‘as Gaeilge’ by students Ruaidhri Kavanagh and Donnacha O’Neill, and in his address, Mr. Burns spoke about the warmth and positive atmosphere he felt throughout the school. He spoke about the beautiful facilities and grounds of the school and urged the students to appreciate how fortunate they are to attend a school with these facilities on hand. 

He spoke about the importance of remembering in the GAA and how heartened he was to see Adam Kirwan’s memory being kept alive in the school and in the wider community.

Principal, Ms Kathryn O’Brien thanked all guests for attending and making the time and effort to support the day. She especially thanked Mr Burns and described the excitement and honour which greeted the news of his impending visit.