Mary Immaculate College (MIC) was delighted to welcome back over 150 graduates to the College on Saturday 7 October for its annual Alumni Reunion. Graduates from classes as recent as 2018 and as far back as 1958 were among those who returned to the College to meet old friends, reminisce about their studies, view old archive materials and tour the changes to the campus since their graduation.
According to Professor Eugene Wall, President of MIC: “We were delighted to welcome back so many graduates from a wide spread of years to this year’s Alumni Reunion. Some of those who attended haven’t been back to the College since they graduated several decades ago. Memories that are banished and can’t be retrieved get suddenly unlocked when you walk back into places that you’ve been and it’s great to have a diverse group of Alumnus back to share stories of their time at the College.”
A special mention was made for two students who graduated 65 years ago in 1958, Máire Ní Chonchubhair and Áine Ní Ruairc, who were presented with flowers by Professor Wall in appreciation of their attendance. It was a family affair for Máire who was attending with her daughters, Sheelagh and Mairéad, who graduated from the Bachelor of Education in 1983 and 1993 respectively.
Speaking as she was presented with flowers, Áine recalled her time at MIC and her love of her subsequent career in teaching: “My experience in college here was absolutely wonderful. I was born in Ballyskelligs and came from Cahersiveen in Kerry, and Limerick was such a big city to come to! I learned in my career that children are really central to everything and the privilege that teachers have is to give confidence to children and the education we got here gave us the grounding to go out and impart that confidence on the youth.”
Also given a special mention was the Class of 1973, who were celebrating 50 years since their graduation, and a member of the class, Christine Hayes, cut the cake with Professor Wall to mark the occasion. Current MIC students were on hand to entertain the crowd with live music and to guide attendees around the campus, as well as speak about study and life as a student of MIC in 2023.
Addressing the attendees, Professor Wall highlighted the changes to the College in recent years, such as the construction of the modern teaching block in the Tara building, which also houses the state-of-the-art Lime Tree Theatre, the Tailteann sports complex and the John Henry Newman building, the home of MIC’s Research & Graduate School and the CRAFT Maker Space, as well as the incorporation of St Patrick’s College in Tipperary in 2016, which is now known as MIC Thurles and boasts over 500 students studying post-primary education.
Alluding to over four decades of working at MIC, Professor Wall reflected on the changes to the College down through the years. He said: "One of the biggest changes you'll notice are the addition of new buildings or a much larger student community. Very often, the changes over time are very evident but one of the biggest changes, and one which can't be observed, is the way the culture of the institution has changed and evolved over the years. Part of that evolution has been the way that we try to redefine our relationship with our students. This is very much in terms of turning MIC into an institution where respect for the students and care for the person and foremost to what we're trying to do here, and that's particularly important for us. We are proudly an inclusive college and one that promotes respect."
Recalling her time at MIC was graduate of the Class of 1988, Aedamar Ní Shiochru, who said: "I came to MIC at 17 and I loved the freedom of going to College and making new and lifelong friends. We had a wonderful time here, got a great education and really enjoyed it."
Also attending were over 50 members of the Class of 1988, who gathered to share memories from their time at MIC. Among them were Paul Mescal, Barry Derby and Liam Galvin, who came to the reunion with a special mission - to recreate a photo of their early days as students! As Barry explains: "We took a photo sometime during our first year at MIC. I had wanted to recreate it at some stage but we were never all together at reunions before so it was great to finally manage it, and the 35th anniversary seems fitting. The original was taken in 1985 when we were using 35mm cameras and had to adjust settings manually for each shot. There was no HD back then! Nonetheless, it's a great memory of our time at MIC. We had a great day and night attending the reunion, catching up with friends and renewing old acquaintances "
MIC’s Alumni Reunion takes place every year and invites graduates to return to the campus every five years after their graduation. For further information on MIC’s Alumni and planned Alumni events please see our website or sign up to MIC’s Alumni newsletter.
