St Patrick's Athletic have signed striker Aidan Keena from Cheltenham Town, subject to international clearance, with Ruairí Keating leaving Inchicore to rejoin Cork City.
The 25-year-old Keena returns to Pat's seven years after moving to Hearts in the summer of 2017.
He went on to have spells at Queen's Park, Dunfermline Athletic, Hartlepool United and Falkirk before returning to the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division to join Sligo Rovers in January 2022.
The Mullingar man scored 18 goals in 32 games for the Bit O'Red in that campaign, and 21 in all competitions. That form saw him finish as the 2022 Premier Division top scorer and earned him a place in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year.
He joined Cheltenham Town from Sligo in January 2023, and previously worked with current Saints boss Stephen Kenny with the Republic of Ireland U21s. Kenny gave Keena his debut against Armenia in November 2019.
"I'm buzzing to be back at the club," Keena said. "Everything happened fairly quickly, it's great to get it done and to be back in the League of Ireland.
"I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do in terms of coming home or sticking it out in the UK, but as soon as I spoke to the gaffer (Kenny) it was fairly clear what I wanted to do, which was come home and get stuck into things with Pat's."
Keating makes a return to Cork City just months after leaving the Leesiders for St Pat's.
Earlier on Sunday the Saints announced his departure by mutual consent.
Injuries hampered the striker's short time in Inchicore while Kenny has been putting his stamp on the Saints squad with a number of new faces.
Keating scored four times in 18 league starts at the club.
He has signed a multi-year contract at Turner's Cross having scored 13 times in the Premier Division last season
Cork are set for an immediate return to the top flight as they lead the First Division by 15 points.
Keating said: "I genuinely can’t explain how happy I am to be back at City. I absolutely loved my time at the club before, and I am absolutely thrilled to be coming back.
"I just can’t wait to pull on a City jersey and play at Turner’s Cross again in front of the amazing City fans."
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