28/11/2023Pictured at the recent Mary Immaculate College Awards Ceremony were: Leading sustainable fashion educator, advocate and designer Miriam Keegan, from Emo, Co. Laois who was awarded an MIC Alumni Award, Alumni of the year Kerry football legend, Tomás Ó Sé Limerick Senior Hurling Captain, Declan Hannon, who was awarded an MIC Alumni Award in recognition of his sporting success and RTÉ journalist Petula Martyn, who was awarded an MIC Alumni Award in recognition of her notable achievements in the media.
The annual MIC College Awards Ceremony, held in the Lime Tree Theatre, saw almost 150 students, graduates and alumni from MIC being recognised for their academic and other notable achievements with just under €600,000 presented on the night in scholarships and bursaries.
Pic: Don Moloney
Kerry football legend, Tomás Ó Sé has been announced as a recipient of this year’s Mary Immaculate College Alumni of the Year award. Tomás was presented with his award alongside three other notable graduates, Limerick hurling captain, Declan Hannon; sustainable fashion designer and educator, Miriam Keegan; and RTÉ Broadcaster, Petula Martyn. The annual MIC Alumni awards recognise the remarkable achievements of notable graduates in their personal or professional lives.
He has been speaking about the award
Tomás, was awarded an MIC Alumni Award in recognition of his notable sporting talents, both on the pitch—as a five-time All-Ireland winning footballer—and off the pitch as a pundit and sports writer. Originally from Ventry, Co. Kerry, Tomás is widely regarded as one of the best Gaelic Footballers of the modern game. Representing Kerry on the football pitch, alongside his brothers Darragh and Marc, for over 20 years, Ó Sé has nineteen Munster championship medals, five All-Ireland titles, five All-Stars and three National Football League medals, in addition to one All-Ireland and three Munster Championship medals at U21 level and a Munster Championship title at Minor level. Tomás successfully represented two clubs, winning two County Championships and a Munster Championship with An Gaeltacht before moving to Nemo Rangers (Cork) in 2015 and winning a further two County Championships and a Munster Championship. Tomás was described as the ‘best wing back that I’ve seen play the game’ by former Kerry manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice and in 2020 was listed as one of the 20 greatest footballers of the past 50 years by the Irish Independent. Since leaving football, Tomás has gone into punditry alongside fellow MIC Alumni of the Year awardee, Jacqui Hurley, on The Sunday Game and writes for the Irish Independent. Additionally, Tomás has taken up a management role, coaching Glanmire’s minor footballers to a Cork Minor Football Championship win before commencing a role with the Offaly senior team in 2021. In 2022, Tomás returned to Kerry, to become manager of the County's U20 football team. Tomás graduated as a primary teacher from Mary Immaculate College in 2001 and nurtured his football career during his time at college. Teaching in Gaelscoil de hÍde in Fermoy since his graduation, Tomás was made Principal of the school in 2022. He currently resides in Glanmire with his wife Orla and four children. On receiving the award Tomás thanked Mary Immaculate College for all it had given him and for the relationships he had formed whilst a student there.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Tomás said: “It’s a huge honour to be given this award. I really enjoyed my time at MIC and made life-long friends here. I was a shy lad when I came into the College and had a desperate fear of teaching and it’s not until you look back that you realise the help you were given along the way. There was a time there I didn’t even think I’d graduate so I was very surprised and delighted to hear that I was to get this award! From the sporting side I was very ambitious when I was in College and I think that MIC, if anything, pushed me along further. The people I met and crossed path with her thought me a lot about leadership, about communication and about bringing people along with you, and I’ve valued that throughout my life.”
RTÉ’s Petula Martyn, Limerick hurling star Declan Hannon and fashion designer and educator Miriam Keegan were also named as MIC Alumni of the Year awardees. Petula, from Limerick, presents the business news on Ireland’s most listened to radio programme, Morning Ireland. After graduating from MIC in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts, she worked with Limerick’s Live 95FM and then the Limerick Leader newspaper before joining RTÉ as a multimedia journalist in 2011. Miriam, from Emo, Co. Laois, is a leading sustainable fashion educator, designer, business developer and advocate. Graduating from MIC in 2016 with a Bachelor of Education and specialism in Visual Art Education, she went on to undertake study on Fashion and Apparel Studies and sustainable fashion at the University of Delaware. She has instructed hundreds of primary teachers on sustainable fashion in the classroom and is Head of Sustainability at Irish fashion brand, Aoife McNamara. Limerick hurling Captain Declan Hannon has overseen the Treaty’s remarkable dominance of the sport in recent years and holds five All-Ireland medals, six Munster titles and three All-Star awards, to name but a few of his sporting accolades. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from MIC, Declan decided on a career in recruitment and is the National Recruitment Manager at Unijobs.
Previous recipients of the MIC Alumni of the Year award include Carmel Naughton, founder of the Naughton Foundation; sports journalist, Jacqui Hurley; Supermacs Founder, Pat McDonagh; and author Roisin Meaney; former Executive Director of Trócaire, Éamonn Meehan; presenter, Dáithí Ó Sé; RTÉ political correspondent, Micheál Lehane; former Irish Rugby captain, Ciara Griffin; and Google Ireland’s Director of People Operations, Helen Tynan; and BBC commissioning editor, Tommy Bulfin.
The recipients were presented with their award at the College's annual awards night, where the achievements of almost 150 students and graduates were celebrated.
