Paddy was a member of the Laois minor hurling team of 1934 that won Leinster honours and was pipped by a point by Tipperary in a farcical finish to the All-Ireland final which was kept going for over ten minutes of extra time until the Munster men got the winning score. His father, also Paddy, was a well-known boxing coach and was an ally for many years of the legendary Portlaoise boxing supremo, Garda Billy Blackwell, who helped establish Portlaoise Boxing Club as one of the foremost in the country. His sister, Rosie, was wife of another famous Laois hurler of the period, Mick Hopper, and their son Noel, also a great supporter of the “Town”, was a classy player for Portlaoise under age teams in the 1950s.
Portlaoise has been blessed with having some really good administrators over the years.
In the early years there was R.P. Fennell, a man whose family and connections were
deeply rooted in the town and in the nationalist tradition.
Jimmy Harding was one of the clubs leading dual players.
He won football championships in 1976, 79, 81 and 82 and figured in the Leinster title win of 1977 and was part of the panel for the All-Ireland club win of 1983.
Paddy Bracken was one of those Portlaoise footballers who
blazed the trail for the club in the 1950s when championship
wins were scarce and in the 1960s when winning became more
fashionable
