Academic Affairs & Student Life

MIC celebrated the outstanding achievements of its student body through prestigious awards at the 2024 conferring events.

Gold Medals were awarded to:

• Hannah O'Driscoll (B Ed Primary Teaching) - Also received the Peadar Cremin Fellowship, Bonn Vere Foster Award, and certificate for excellence in Music Education
• Sarah Ryan-Purcell (B Ed & Psychology) - Recipient of the Diocese of Limerick Medal and West Chester University Scholarship
• Chloe Troy (BA Education, Business & Accounting) - Recipient of the TUI Medal and ASTI award
• Jenny Bent (PME) - Awarded the Vere Foster Medal and top dissertation prize
• Áine Gleeson, Aisling Knox, Megan O'Sullivan and Callum McGeary also received faculty gold medals for top results in Arts and ECCE programmes.

These awards reflected academic excellence, commitment to professional practice, and high achievement across MIC's faculties.

The MIC Annual College Awards took place on 29 November in the Lime Tree Theatre, acknowledging and celebrating the academic, sporting, and other notable achievements of over 100 students, graduates, and alumni, with almost €600,000 being presented in scholarships, awards, and bursaries.

Other highlights of the night included the Alumni Awards, with four remarkable alumni being recognised for their various contributions to society:

• Petula Martyn, RTÉ multi-media journalist and presenter
• Tómas Ó Sé, five-time All-Ireland Kerry footballer, sports media pundit and primary school principal
• Miriam Keegan, sustainable fashion educator and designer
• Declan Hannon, Captain of Limerick's All-Ireland hurling team

MIC welcomed back over 150 graduates to the MIC Limerick campus on 7 October for the annual Alumni Reunion. Graduates from classes as recent as 2018 and as far back as 1958 participated.

For more about the 2023 Alumni Reunion, click here.

The MIC College awards ceremony saw the emotional presentation of the inaugural Ashling Murphy Memorial Entrance Scholarship, presented in Ashling's memory to First Year primary teaching students, Catherine Joyce and Róisín Ni Chonchuir. The two talented young musicians opened the ceremony with a performance and were presented with the scholarships by the President and Dorothy McGinley, President of the INTO. This scholarship is jointly awarded by Mary Immaculate College and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) to the amount of €4,000, which will be a bursary awarded to a first year Bachelor of Education student for their exceptional achievement (solo, ensemble and in the community) and talent in the field of traditional Irish music.

In total, over €600,000 was awarded in 2023–2024 through scholarships, prizes, and bursaries, reinforcing MIC's support for talent, inclusion, and holistic achievement:

• Entrance Scholarships: 47 first-year students awarded €2,000 based on Leaving Certificate results
• Camogie 120 Bursaries: €5,000/year (4-year award) supporting teaching students engaged in sport
• Foundation Awards for Excellence: Five students recognised for leadership in music, sport, and public engagement
• University of Sanctuary Scholarships (December 2023): Supported two postgraduate students from migrant backgrounds with full fees and a €3,000 stipend

The Student Outstanding Achievement of the Year was awarded to Adam Hogan, thirdyear BA student and Clare hurler. In 2024, Hogan achieved remarkable success across multiple competitions:

• Won the Fitzgibbon Cup with MIC
• Captured All-Ireland and National League titles with Clare
• Led Feakle to the Clare Senior Championship
• Was named GPA Young Hurler of the Year

This award underscored the College's commitment to the dual career model and recognition of holistic achievement.

• Nine Munster GAA bursaries (€750 each) were awarded to top-performing athletes
• Elite Sports Scholarships were conferred on athletes competing at national level, including Anna Horan, Aoife Dillane, and Cian Scully
• MIC–GPA Scholarships (€4,000 each) supported postgraduate athletes Diarmuid Ryan and Niamh Murphy

One of Higher Education GAA's premier titles, the Fitzgibbon Cup, returned to MIC for the third time after our senior hurling team defeated reigning champions, the University of Limerick, on 17 February.

The College celebrated the achievements of the squad and management team, led by MIC Alumnus and former Cork hurler, Jamie Wall, with a Celebratory Gala Dinner at the Limerick Strand Hotel in Limerick on Monday, 11 March. An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin TD, was the special guest on the night and presented the winning team with their Fitzgibbon Cup medals, following a speech where he emphasised that aspiring to play and win in third-level sport is "a precious jewel in the college experience".

The MIC Gaelic Games Club was launched on 22 April by the President of the GAA, Jarlath Burns, in an event attended by over 80 MIC staff, students, sports coaches and representatives from a variety of Gaelic Games organisations and clubs from across Munster.

The MIC Munster GAA Centre of Excellence for Child Coaching and Gaelic Games Promotion was founded in 2023, and the establishment of a GAA club is one of its foundational objectives. The new club is intended to create an overarching umbrella that will unite all four codes: Hurling, Gaelic Football, Camogie and Ladies Football; foster a sense of community; focus on student involvement and empowerment, and have a strong emphasis on inclusion and diversity.

As part of the launch, Ger Ryan, Munster GAA Chairperson, presented MIC Fourth Year Bachelor of Education students with Certificates of completion of the Gaelic Games Leadership programme. As part of this initiative, the 17 students, who were awarded certificates, organised a recent Gaelic Games Blitz for local primary schools on campus.

• CRAOL Gold Award: MA graduate Nasratullah Taban and alumni were honoured for a radio documentary on girls' education in Afghanistan
• EDII Student Project Awards (Spring 2024): Ranging from €500 to €5,000, these supported student-led equity and inclusion initiatives, such as STEM outreach to Traveller families and multilingual education projects
• LINC Conferring (October 2023): 537 graduates from the Leadership for Inclusion in the Early Years programme were celebrated for advancing inclusive practice in Ireland's ECCE sector

• Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival: MIC hosted over 12 events in March–April 2024, including lectures, arts workshops, and family-friendly science sessions
• Culture Night (September 2023): MIC's Limerick and Thurles campuses staged concerts, heritage events, and drama performances celebrating Irish culture and student creativity
• Student Experience Days (Spring 2024): Hosted in-person engagement events for prospective students, with SU panels, campus tours, and faculty taster sessions
• Wired FM: 120+ students produced weekly live broadcasts, supporting creativity, community engagement, and experiential learning

At a special awards ceremony on 17 April, 20 MIC students were commended for their valuable contributions to their community through voluntary tutoring of primary and post-primary students, and supporting the parents of migrant children in engaging with their child's learning.

Four current undergraduates volunteered on a pilot programme of learning support for recently-arrived migrant families from January to April and delivered the initiative with Scoil Mháthair Dé students in LCETB's O'Connell Avenue campus in Limerick City.

The programme aimed to provide children who are displaced from their home countries, and who are newcomers to the Irish education system, with the opportunity to gain support in their learning and achievement in schools through personalised homework support. The project coordinator, MIC Lecturer, Santhi Corcoran, developed a family learning model in collaboration with EAL team coordinator Simon Ratcliffe, in LCETB, which also supported parents and older family members in gaining English language skills, advice, information and guidance in accessing opportunities and pathways in local education institutions and programmes.

Also commended were 16 MIC students and graduates from the College's post-primary programmes based at the MIC Thurles campus who prepared and delivered weekly classes supporting Leaving Certificate students in Maths, Irish and Business Studies in 2021 and 2022, which formed the basis for the Family Learning Project.

Student achievement in 2023–2024 directly supported MIC's strategic priorities:

• Retention and progression: Awards and recognition structures supported engagement and motivation
• Graduate success and visibility: Postgraduate scholarships, alumni awards, and national media coverage raised MIC's profile
• Equity and access: Inclusion-focused awards and Sanctuary Scholarships strengthened MIC's commitment to the SDGs
• Community impact: Through civic awards, cultural events, and service learning, students contributed meaningfully to public life 

Student success at MIC is not only measured in grades, but in contribution, resilience, and voice. In every classroom, community, and competition, MIC students are forging futures that matter.