Croke Park Prize
Our Trip to Croke Park
by C. Hegarty and A. Horkan
(Click the link below to see a video documenting our fantastic day)
In March, as the result of a project submitted by 6th Class, Brackloon N.S was awarded “Small School of the Year” at the Cornmarket National Cumann na mBunscol Awards. Part of our prize included a trip to Croke Park for 30 pupils.
On Tuesday the 28th of May, 6th Class and some pupils from 4th and 5th Class, travelled to Croke Park, Dublin. The students arrived at school at 7:00am sharp and hopped onto the bus. The journey was long but we were looking forward to the excitement ahead of us.
When we arrived at the stadium, our jaws dropped! We were greeted by the tour guides and they took us to the conference room where we watched a short film about the history of Croke Park. They congratulated us on our huge achievement and led us to the players’ lounge and dressing rooms. When we walked into the dressing room, all 32 county jerseys were hanging up around the room, including London and New York. We took some photos with the jerseys and were allowed to visit the managers’ and physiotherapists’ rooms. We then headed to the warm up room where we talked about the players' routines and we got the opportunity to experience running out of the tunnel. It was brilliant!
After that, we sat in the VIP seats and observed the huge pitch. One lucky pupil even got to sit in Michael D. Higgins’s seat. We ascended to the top seats of the stadium and watched as the pitch was being tended to. Did you know that the grass in Croke Park is cut daily? Our guide explained that years ago sheep used to be brought in to make the mowing job easier!
Following that, we went to the dining area and ate our lunch which was kindly provided by the catering staff.
Later, we went down to the Croke Park museum where we saw the Sam Maguire Cup. We didn’t realise that a replica cup was used at the All-Ireland Final. We played games in the simulation rooms and finished off the day with a visit to the gift shop. Finally, we headed to the bus and departed the wonderful stadium.
We enjoyed the trip very much and we are very grateful for having this amazing opportunity.
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