Half a million Euro in Scholarships and Bursaries Presented at Sixth Annual MIC College Awards Ceremony

Half a million Euro in Scholarships and Bursaries Presented at Sixth Annual MIC College Awards Ceremony. Pictured were Zoe Luxen from North Circular Road, Limerick; Naima Albacete from Keyes Park, Co. Limerick; Molly Flanagan from Corbally, Limerick and Aimee Ryan from Clarina, Co. Limerick

Almost 100 students and alumni from MIC were recognised for their academic and other notable achievements as almost €500,000 was presented at the Sixth Annual MIC College Awards Ceremony

Almost 100 students and alumni from MIC were recognised for their academic and other notable achievements on Tuesday 26 November as just under €500,000 was presented on the night in scholarships, awards and bursaries.

Among those honoured were two MIC Alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields. Singer, writer and Musicologist, Dr Nóirin Ní Ríain (Class of 2003) and Jamie Wall (Class of 2014), a former dual player for Cork and the Manager of MIC‘s Senior Hurling team, which won the Fitzgibbon Cup for the third time in 2024.

Clare’s GAA/GPA 2024 Young Hurler of the Year and Third Year Liberal Arts student, Adam Hogan, was awarded the Student Outstanding Achievement of the Year for his phenomenal sporting success with county (Hurling League and All Ireland honours), club (County Championship with Feakle) and College (Fitzgibbon Cup 2024).

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Nearly €100,000 was presented to 47 first-year students who received an MIC Entrance Scholarship on the basis of their impressive Leaving Certificate results. A further nine deserving students who have excelled in their chosen sports were presented with Munster GAA bursaries, valued at €750 each. Caoimhe Fraher, from Cork, was awarded the Rachel Kenneally Bursary, which is awarded annually in memory of former MIC student and Tipperary Ladies Footballer, Rachel Kenneally.

MIC’s five Elite Sports Scholars were celebrated on the night:  Kerry Ladies Footballer, Aoife Dillane; Irish Women’s Rugby player, Clara Barrett; Clare Senior Hurler, Shane Meehan; Laois Ladies Footballer, Katie Donoghue and Clare U20 hurler, Ronan O’Connor. Additionally, Waterford Camogie player, Niamh Murphy, and Galway Senior Hurler, Eoin Lawless, were awarded the MIC GPA Sports Scholarship worth €4,800—awarded to which two Gaelic Players Association members who are undertaking postgraduate study at MIC. The two recipients of prestigious Camogie Association Camogie 120 Teacher Education Bursaries—worth €5,000 each annually for four years of the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) and sponsored by MIC Alumna, Dr Carmel Naughton—were also acknowledged. They are: First Year B Ed students, Clíodhna Queally from Clare and Niamh Hally from Waterford.

Gifted concertina player, Rachel Mahony from Ennis, Co. Clare, was awarded the Ashling Murphy Memorial Scholarship. The scheme, which is jointly presented by MIC and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), recognises first-year Bachelor of Education students for their exceptional achievement and talent in the field of traditional Irish music.

Three MIC Researchers were acknowledged for their recent Research Ireland Government of Ireland funding awards. Simon Brennan received a Postgraduate Scholarship, as did Evans Amoako Amoah from Ghana, whose research into farmer-herder conflicts in Ghana and investigate linkages between climate change, resource competition and food security in rural communities saw him awarded the Department of Foreign Affairs Andrew Grene Postgraduate Scholarship in Conflict Resolution. Dr Geraldine Brassil, a Teaching Fellow in the Department of English Language and Literature, received a Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Mary Immaculate College presented several awards to postgraduate students to continue their studies at MIC. Wonder Kofi Adzigbli was awarded a Doctoral Award; Sinéad Morgan a Doctoral Studentship and Katie Hallinan a Postgraduate Studentship. The Geography Postgraduate Award was presented to Augustus Kweku Sobeng and the Franco-German Research Award to Valentine Pic.

MIC’s Postgraduate College of Sanctuary of Scholarships were awarded for the second time this year to two recipients, Ahmad Shah Amadhi, who is studying for a Masters in Applied Linguistics and Farahnaz Haidary, who is pursuing an M Ed in Education for Human Rights and Equality. The scholarships aim to support International Protection Applicants, refugees, and migrant groups to pursue postgraduate study and consist of an annual stipend of €3,000 and a full fee waiver.

Alex Kinahan, from Nenagh in Tipperary, received the TOMAR Trust Award which is valued at €8,500 over four years. The award is offered by the TOMAR Trust to support MIC’s PATH programme which seeks to recognise students who transfer with distinction from their Further Education programme to take up a place in MIC Thurles’ teacher preparation programme. Alex is studying on the BA in Education, Business Studies and Religious Studies programme.

Six current MIC students were awarded the Saint Bonaventure Trust Prize, which recognises the academic excellence of students studying Theology and Religious Studies.

MIC lecturers and married couple, Dr John Morrissey (Department of Geography) and Dr Ailbhe McDaid (Department of English Language and Literature)—from Doneraile and Monkstown in Cork respectively—were also acknowledged on the night for securing €1m euro in funding for their respective research projects. Dr Morrissey is the Irish lead on Aquabalance, an initiative under the EU Blue Economy Partnership programme, and Dr McDaid was awarded significant Research Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland funding for her project Pathologies of Violence: Inscriptions of Global Conflict in Irish Literature 1922-present (PATHOS).

President of MIC, Professor Dermot Nestor, congratulated the awardees, saying that the individual journeys, dreams and ambitions were to be celebrated as well as the accomplishments.

“We honour our recipients for their achievements. But more importantly, we celebrate the motivations that propelled them towards their goals, and the commitments that enabled them to be secured. Tonight, we revel in their results, we savour their successes. But we should also be inspired by their devotion, stimulated by their dedication, and infinitely curious as to why they do what they do. That is the question worth asking. Theirs are the voices that need to be heard. Theirs are the dreams and ambitions that we need to support.”