“IT’S BEEN A dream of mine to play in Croke and today is my first-ever time to play here, and what an experience. I hope there’ll be many more days for Laois. We’ve had a lot of low days along the way, but all the tears down through the years have been worth it for this moment.”

Paddy Purcell lifting the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2019. Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO

And more days in Croke Park did indeed follow for Laois. It was Paddy Purcell who said these words, moments before lifting the Joe McDonagh Cup after beating Westmeath in the 2019 final. In what was an ode to the history of hurling in his county, Purcell spoke about the many years of struggle and disappointment that culminated in this breakthrough. 

Laois delivered another big result the following week, catching out Dublin to reach the All-Ireland quarter-final. Purcell scored a point in what was considered Laois’ biggest result since defeating Wexford in the 1985 Leinster semi-final. To contextualise this achievement further, Dublin had sensationally dumped Galway out of the championship just a few weeks beforehand. And now they Laois were making them drink their own medicine.

And now they find themselves in the exact same position: an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final at home in O’Moore Park. Wexford will provide the opposition on this occasion, but unlike 2019, this time they go into the tie as beaten Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.

But before we look forward, let’s rewind to 12 months before their day of Joe McDonagh glory in 2019. Laois were favourites to win the competition in 2018, but slumped to a fourth-place finish in the end. They only just avoided the relegation play-off after beating Meath in conjunction with a defeat for Antrim who were on the same number of points. But under a new management led by Kilkenny’s Eddie Brennan, Laois ended 2019 as Joe McDonagh winners to earn promotion to hurling’s top tier. 

And as Purcell concluded his impassioned speech in the Hogan Stand, he invited Laois kitman — and fellow Rathdowney-Errill native — Pat Delaney up the steps to celebrate the moment. Purcell also paid tribute to the other sons of Laois hurling who cared for the jersey as faithfully as he did, but never had a day like this. He remembered them all reverently before the final hoist.

It was Séamus ‘Cheddar’ Plunkett who oversaw Purcell’s senior debut with Laois in 2013 after playing one year at U21 level. Purcell broke his arm in 2014, ruling him out of the Leinster championship, and returned in time for a qualifier against Waterford where Purcell was deployed from the bench to mark Déise great, Kevin Moran.

“An experience in itself,” he told the Leinster Express last year on the week he hit 100 appearances for Laois about that tough induction. “I learned a lot that day.” Waterford won that clash by 10 points as Moran and Purcell both finished with a point each. 

Purcell’s wish for more visits to Croke Park did come true. That incredible win against Dublin in 2019 propelled Laois into an All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary where they gave the Premier County plenty of problems before eventually succumbing to a 10-point loss. Purcell also picked up the Joe McDonagh Player of the Year to cap off a stunning season.

But a downward trend was on the way. Five years would pass before Laois would get back to GAA’s Mecca with Purcell still pulling up trees for the team. Reaching this year’s Joe McDonagh final was the ideal antidote to last year’s showing where they missed out on a place in the final after suffering relegation from Division 1. Those results almost marked the end of Purcell’s inter-county career in the process. Midlands 103 commentator Jack Nolan recently revealed how Purcell, fearing the end was near at the end of 2023, made the confession to him.

“After we played Kerry in the final game of the year,” Nolan begins, “Paddy came over and thanked me for the nice things I’d said over the years and told me that was his last game and that he was retiring. I said to give it a chance and I didn’t make it public. He’s back and is probably playing the best hurling of his career.”

Helping his side to promotion this year, Dunphy started all but one of their Division 2A games, scoring 1-9 in total as Laois overcame Carlow in the league final on the way back to the top table. He started his Joe McDonagh series with 2-1 against Offaly and added a further eight points as Laois ended that five-year wait to get back to the final.

And although they were clipped by Offaly in the final, Purcell and his midfield partner Aidan Corby bossed their domain throughout the contest. They scored four points each from play in the first half (five in total for Purcell), forcing the Offaly management to perform some positional surgery to try and contain the pair.

Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Wexford, who will travel to O’Moore Park later today in the preliminary quarter-final, will surely be mentioning Purcell with emphasis in their team meetings this week. His input threatens their hopes of marching on to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. He needs to be contained again.

Purcell asked for more days out in Croke Park for Laois in 2019. He’s helped bring them back twice more since then, and another All-Ireland quarter-final appearance is just 70 minutes away. Paddy Purcell is granting his own wishes.

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