REVEALED: The shortlisted nominations for Laois' All Time Great

The shortlist of names for the search to find Laois' All Time Great has been drawn up and the competition will now begin in earnest. 

Sixteen people have been selected from hundreds of nominations and now the fun really begins! The Leinster Express will shortly launch a series of online polls pitting our nominees head-to-head at quarter-final, semi-final and eventually final stage over the coming weeks.

A draw will take place this Friday, the results of which will be posted in video online. Then, the polls will ask you, the reader, to determine who is Laois' All Time Great.

"As you can see, a fantastically varied list of 16 names has been assembled - generations of people who have contributed greatly to local life in this county and this recognises their work,” according to Leinster Express editor Pat Somers. 

A huge thank you to our sponsors: Castle Durrow, Laois Local Enterprise Office, Revive Clinic, Metac Training, Sherry Fitzgerald Hyland Keating and Phelan's Restaurant 

The following are the sixteen nominees for Laois' All Time Great: 

1: Noel 'Supervet' Fitzpatrick

2: James Fintan Lalor

3:Colm 'Woolie' Parkinson

4: Gillian Treacy

5: Robert Sheehan

6: Pat Critchley

7: Darina Allen

8: Anna May McHugh

9: Liam O'Neill

10: Anne Keenan Buckley

11: Zack Tuohy

12: Claire Byrne

13: Bernard O'Shea

14: Tommy Murphy

15: Kevin O'Higgins

16: Bishop Daniel Delaney