Talented Cooper Lynch helps Ireland clinch Associations Cup in Northern Ireland

A young footballer from Clonard looks set to have a bright future, after lining out at international level last weekend - his first outing in the green shirt.

Fourteen-year-old Cooper Lynch was on the Schoolboys/girls Football Association of Ireland (SFAI) team who defeated Wales in the final of the Associations Cup in Northern Ireland at the weekend.

Cooper, who graduated his way up from Kinnegad Juniors to the Midland Schoolboys/girls League (MSL), was selected after his participation in the recent Kennedy Cup in Limerick, and is the only boy from the midlands on the SFAI squad.

His selection represented a proud day for Kinnegad Juniors, as he is the first from the club to have made it through to national level.

A student at St Joseph's Secondary School in Rochfortbridge, where he is going in to third year, Cooper has been described by his school this week as being "a gentleman on and off the pitch".

The talented sportsman is son of John Joe (from Ballymore) and Eleanor Lynch. He has an elder sister, Madison Rose, who is very involved in activities at the Arts Cetnre in Mullingar, and he is a first cousin of Rachel Duffy, from Rosemount, international Rose of Tralee winner in 2022.