Photo: (L-R) Sports Scholarship awardees Cian Scully, Anna Horan, Aoife Dillane and Sinéad Walsh pictured with Professor Niamh Hourigan, Vice-President Academic Affairs at MIC (centre).
Mary Immaculate College (MIC) is delighted to announce that five undergraduate students have been awarded Elite Sports Scholarships by the College in recognition of their sporting abilities. MIC’s Elite Sports Scholarship scheme is open to those who have excelled in their chosen sports and this year, the number of scholarships awarded increased from two to five for the first time.
Irish hockey player Anna Horan is the recipient of this year’s Gold Scholarship, with Irish athlete Thomas Devaney and Kerry Ladies footballer Aoife Dillane awarded Silver Scholarships, while Limerick U20 hurler Cian Scully and Mayo Ladies Footballer Sinéad Walsh were awarded Bronze Scholarships. The scholarships are offered in memory of former MIC staff members and sporting stalwarts, the late Noreen Lynch and Leonard Enright.
Congratulating the Scholarship awardees on their achievement was Professor Niamh Hourigan, Vice-President Academic Affairs at MIC, who said: “This is the fourth year of this scholarship and the calibre of our sporting ambassadors continues to be outstanding. This year’s talented awardees have proven their sporting excellence at international, national and inter-county level. They have also committed to achieving academic success here at MIC and balancing the two commitments is no easy task so we are delighted to offer our support to such worthy recipients. We anticipate that these recipients will achieve a lot on and off the pitch and we will be delighted to watch them grow as scholars and as sportspeople.”
Third year Bachelor of Education (B Ed) student, Anna Horan is the recipient of this year’s Gold Elite Sports Scholarship in recognition of her success at hockey for both club and country. The Limerick native represented Crescent College while a student there and captained the team during its 2019 Kate Russell title win. At club level, Anna plays for the City’s Catholic Institute club, which she helped to guide to an Irish Senior Cup title in 2022 and the runners-up spot earlier this year. Following the Irish title win, Catholic Institute made its European Club competition debut, where Anna scored the winning goal in their 1-0 win over Austrian side Akademischer. She represented Ireland at the Junior World Cup in South Africa in April 2022, before Captaining Ireland’s U21 squad who competed in the U21 Eurohockey Junior Championship in Belgium in July last year. Having represented her country at U18 grade while still in secondary school, Anna’s talents attracted international attention and she spent a year at the University of Connecticut on a sports scholarship playing for its hockey team.
This is the second year that fourth year B Ed student, Thomas Devaney, received an Elite Sports Scholarship from MIC. Thomas, who is from Islandeady in Co. Mayo, has won medals in athletics for his local club Castlebar AC, at third level with UL Wolves in Limerick, and at European level representing Ireland. Thomas was a key member of the gold medal winning six-man Irish team in the 8,000m team event at the European Cross-Country Championships in December 2021. At 19, this win was even more impressive as Thomas was the race’s youngest qualifier. Also, in 2021, Thomas placed second in the 5,000m race at the Irish U23 Athletics Championships before again taking silver at the event in 2022. In January 2022, he was a member of the Irish U23 team that took gold at the Celtic Cross Country before going on to set two records at the Irish Universities Athletics Association Outdoor Championships in April as he took gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m races.
Aoife Dillane, who is a second year B Ed student at MIC was also awarded a Silver Sports Scholarship. Aoife is from Tralee and plays at club level with Austin Stacks in Kerry, where she won an Intermediate Kerry County Championship in 2017. She has represented her county in Ladies Football since U14 grade and was called up to the Senior squad in 2021. She has won a Division 2 National League medal in 2022 and Division 1 medal in 2023, as well as playing in the Senior Ladies All Ireland Football finals in 2022 and 2023, where Kerry was the runner-up. Aoife was an integral part of MIC’s Giles Cup winning team of 2022 and is this year's captain of MIC's O'Connor Cup squad.
Cian Scully, a first year B Ed student, is from Banogue in Co. Limerick and was awarded a Bronze Sports Scholarship. He plays for his County’s U20 hurling team, having previously served as Captain of the Treaty’s Minor hurlers in 2021. Cian played at half back for the county’s U20s side which won the Munster final in May 2022 before falling a point short in the All-Ireland decider later in the Championship. At club level, Cian was instrumental in two campaigns for Dromin Athlacca as he captained the team to an U19B County Championship title before later scoring 0-13 of his side’s 0-19 to 2-9 win over Knockaderry in the U21 County Championship decider. A graduate of Limerick’s Ard Scoil Rís, Cian was the team’s centre-back as they won the Croke Cup and finished as runners-up in the Harty Cup in 2022.
The second Bronze awardee, Sinéad Walsh, a first year B Ed student, is from Lahardane in Co. Mayo. Sinéad has represented her county in Ladies Football since an early age and first tasted success when she was vice-captain in Mayo’s All Ireland winning U14 footballers in 2017. Sinéad helped Mayo to Connacht finals in 2018 and 2019 at U16 level and in 2021 at Minor level. She made her debut with the Senior Ladies team in 2022 where she scored 4-6 during its League Campaign and later scored 1-8 during the Championship, when Mayo reached the All-Ireland semi-final stages. She scored 3-6 in the 2023 League campaign before scoring 2-7 in the Championship, including a Player of the Match performance against Laois, as Mayo again reached the last four. At club level, Sinead plays for Machale Rovers and was a member of the team that reached the 2020 Intermediate County finals in 2020, and won the Mayo Club Minor Championship in 2021.
You can find out more about MIC’s Elite Sports Scholarship by clicking here.
