Congrats to our first year basketball panel who returned from the University of Limerick Sunday evening as All-Ireland Winners in the 2026 Minor ‘A’ Schools Basketball Plate Competition. Having traveled to Limerick as the North-East Regional Champions our lads faced the top teams in the country. They placed 2nd in their group on Saturday, narrowly missing out on topping the group on a margin of 3 points. The lads qualified for the All-Ireland Plate Competiton on Sunday and faced St. Andrew’s, Blackrock in the Quarter Final. The St. Pat’s lads secured a spot in the semi-final with a 33-17 over St. Andrew’s. The semi-final was played against Mercy Ballymahon with the lads once again coming out on the winning side of that fixture on a scoreline of 53-22. The All-Ireland final took place at 3pm on the main court with our lads facing a tough Castleisland Community College side. The fixture was the highlight of the weeked for our lads and after four close quarters our lads secured their spot as All-Ireland Plate Winners on a scoreline of 28-20. This was our school’s first All-Ireland ‘A’ title since our promotion to the top-tier of schools basketball and brought an end to the school’s most successful year on court which included an unbeaten run in the regional competition and our first Regional ‘A’ Title. We would like to thank the lads for their dedication, diligence and positive work-ethic both on and off the court. They should be extremely proud of their achievements as we look forward to the many years of basketball they have ahead of them here in St. Pat’s. We would like to acknowledge the sponsorship given to the team by DK Motors and Paul Nelson Coaches which the coaches and lads were very appreciative of in the run-up to this competition. We would also like to thank the parents and guardians for organising lifts home after training sessions and providing the lads with the opportunity to be a part of this team. Their support in Limerick, along with that of the teachers who travelled down, is greatly appreciated by both the lads and coaches.
