St Patrick's Athletic loan duo to First Division clubs
Pat's starlets head for pastures new on loan Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)
The St Pat’s Academy has continued its path of allowing young stars out on loan to develop in the First Division with deals for underage internationals Anto Dodd and Luke Kehir.
Following Luke O’Brien’s successful spell at Finn Harps last season, midfielder Anto Dodd has now travelled to Finn Park for the 2025 campaign and, speaking to finnharps.ie, manager Darren Murphy was very happy with the new arrival,
“I’m delighted Anto has decided to join us for the season from St Pats and I am really looking forward to getting to work with him now in preseason. "
"He will be a great asset to the football club in the 2025 campaign and the squad we are building. There were other clubs interested in Anto, so for him to decide to come up the road shows the commitment he has to Finn Harps and representing this community. I would also like to thank St Pats for their cooperation in getting this deal completed and trusting us with the development of their player.”
With Pat’s defender Sean McHale also notching up 25 games in the First Division last season, on loan at Wexford, it was no surprise when The Slaneysiders announced the loan signing of attacking midfielder Luke Kehir on a similar deal this week.
Kehir and new Wexford teammate Kaylem Hartnett were both part of the Republic of Ireland Under 19 setup during the autumn with the Pat’s loanee finding the net in a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan.
Dodd will also link up with a former international teammate as both the midfielder and Harps’ Aaron McLaughlin were part of Colin O’Brien’s Under 18 squad who lost to Belgium in November 2023.
