WITH schools across the country closed today, two Laois students didn’t waste a second with their time off.
Several counties across Ireland were hit with up to eight inches of snow and hazardous conditions this week as an Arctic blast moved over the country.
However, for Conor, 10, and Dylan Fitzgerald, 9, the fun was only beginning when their school in Ratheniska, Co Laois announced they’d be closing this week.
The brothers, hoping to “get away from mom”, took it upon themselves to build a den out of the snow – which quickly turned into their very own igloo.
The boys’ mum Irene told the Irish Sun: “It’s been unbelievable, I’m still taking pictures here now of outside and around the house.
“The boys have been off school, their local school has been closed because it’s also out in the country.
“The boys actually wanted to build a den so they could escape me from the snow fighting.”
Slowly but surely, the design went from a den to an igloo, with the boys even popping a Portlaoise flag on top to complete the decor.
Irene said: “We were out throwing snowballs and they decided on a den and we came up with this idea of making the igloo so they could get in there to get away from me.
“I’m a bigger child than they are and that’s the way it worked out, just having a bit of craic when they’re trying to get away from their mom.”
Irene recalled her own childhood memories of snow days like these, and while her children couldn’t return to school following the Christmas break, she felt it was just as important for them to build their own memories like her own.
She said: “They were taking hot chocolate breaks in between, when they’re off school and if they can do something like that I’m happy to have them home.
“When we got it this year, it was like, oh thank God, it’s great to see.”
COMPETITION
Similarly in Tipperary, Kayleigh Dwyer and her family also had a go at building their own igloo.
Initially just making a snowman, Kayleigh, her dad James and boyfriend Dillon decided to make something bigger as a way of clearing off some of the snow.
As they live up in the hills, they were left with around three feet of snow, and the icy conditions meant it would freeze over.
All in all it took them a whopping four days to complete.
Kayleigh told The Irish Sun: “We got boxes and we were filling up the boxes and I’m stomping on it to compact the snow. And it was so satisfying watching it come out.
“Because we’re up so high, the snow was freezing around five o’clock every evening. And if it was turning into powder, it wouldn’t compact.”
Once it was built, they could finally see some road again with the snow now in the form of “our first home”, Kayleigh joked.
But the next problem they encountered once reaching the shops, the place had been wiped clean.
She added: “We got out and we got to the shops but there was nothing. We got stuck twice trying to get home.”
