Paddy Purcell. The Laois star midfielder on his love for hurling.

 Paddy Purcell: The Laois star midfielder tells all about love for hurling.

 By Steven Kelly.

 15/02/2022.

It is fair to say that the name of Paddy Purcell has risen in profile over the last 3 seasons. The  Rathdowney/Errill club-man has been at the heart of midfield and alongside John Lennon has turned the counties fortunes around. Purcell is one of 4 children and comes from a well-respected sporting house in  Errill. He has 2 sisters and a brother and was raised on a farm. "My dad was chairman of the club at the time. I started playing hurling at u10 level and I remember in 2004 winning a Cumann Na NBunscoil final against Knock NS. I only remember it because I was the captain of the team. It was a big deal at the time."

Purcell continued his education in Our lady's of Templemore where he played with many fine hurlers. "I played with Noel and John McGrath from Loughmore and Dan Morrissey. We had a great team back then. I then continued on playing for the college's side with UCD. Nicky English one of the all-time greats was our manager. I hurled with UCD for 4/5 years and finished my masters in 2015 so that I could play longer. I now work in Arribawn Nenagh, where I am involved with Agriculture and in 2021 I was given a managers position. My placement outside Rathdowney served me well." 

Growing up Paddy had a love for all sports but admits that hurling was his first love. "I remember watching the great Clare team of the late 1990s. Jamesy O' Connor was my hero growing up. My dad is a Tipperary man so I would have gone to a lot of Munster Championship games as a young lad. I loved Eoin Kelly from Tipperary. He was a fantastic player. For whatever reason, I remember watching the 1998 World Cup final between Brazil and France. I played soccer myself. Our club in football is separated, Errill has their own junior team, so I would have played with them also."

Purcell is an example of hard work paying off. "I never played minor for Laois. Of course, it was my dream to, but everything happens for a reason. In 2013 I played u21 hurling under Tony Doran, a Camross man. I was then asked into the senior side that year. I remember Cheddar calling me. I had exams at that time so I didn't actually join the lads till after Christmas. Coming in as a young lad was both daunting and exciting. I would have looked up to Brian Campion, who is from my own club and Brian Stapleton of Borris/Kilcotton helped me out a lot too. We were in a developing stage at that time."

2019 proved to be a huge year for Paddy and he was part of the Laois side that beat Westmeath to win the Joe McDonagh final in Croke Park. One week later his side would make national press after sensationally knocking out hot favourites Dublin, in an All-Ireland qualifier. "As cliche as it is to say I don't remember much from that game. After we beat Westmeath In the Joe McDonagh final, we went on the lash for a few days. I don't think Eddie thought on Wednesday before the Dublin game that we had it in us. I wasn't even sure if our heads were right. We stopped in the Thatch pub coming home from the Westmeath game. We decided that Wednesday before leaving training that we were going to give it everything. By the time the game came around, I felt a lot more confident in us."

"I remember a huge crowd was in Portlaoise. A lot of us lads would have never experienced something like that before. We should have beaten Dublin in the league so we knew we had it in us. At half-time we were happy, but Eddie told us we were back at zero. We flew into tackles and with that our belief got stronger. I will never forget the scene's at the final whistle. RTE camera's around us and reporters looking for interviews. The feeling was unbelievable. I think we stayed on the pitch with all the supporters for an hour afterwards. Buff Egan showed up at the golf club with us after. Before those few weeks, I had never played in Croke Park and all of a sudden I was playing there twice in 2 weeks.

See a clip of Paddy Purcell being interviewed below.

Since then Laois have remained competitive, but how far can this Laois team go? "To be honest we want to win a few games in Division One. Laois is a very small county, with only 8 senior clubs in the county. It is very challenging when you're coming up against the likes of Tipperary and Kilkenny. All we can do is try to improve and give it our best. You play hurling for the big days. As captain, I have seen the left and joy it brings to people in the county. I have to say it was nice to be recognised more after 2019." 

Purcell loves his sport and if given the chance would love to chat around the table, with a few people in particular. I would love to have Ronan O' Gara around the table for his intelligence. Usain Bolt to get an insight into his life and Roy Keane because he is straight-talking and I love that about him. Looking ahead I would love to set up my own business at some stage. I am 30 this year so it would be something I would love to do, going forward. Outside of hurling, I enjoy farming playing any sport and just living life. I have said this before but I would consider retiring from the inter-county scene, but I say that every year. I find training in November extremely challenging. On the other hand, I don't want to have any regrets.

The engine room in that Laois team is under control for another while, at least.