Tess McGovern, class of 2010

I graduated from Scoil Mhuire in 2010, not too long ago.  At the moment I am a first year studying for a Bachelor Degree in Voice and Dance in the University of Limerick.  My course is part of the Irish World Academy, a new sector to the university ran by well renowned national and international singers, dancers and musicians.    I auditioned for the course previous to sitting my Leaving Cert exams, with the audition taking place in early April. The auditions ran for three weekends with over 300 applicants attending.  The audition consisted of four sections, a dance workshop, a singing workshop, your own pre-rehearsed song or dance piece ( I naturally chose to dance) and an interview with a panel of judges.  It was definitely one of the most nerve racking days of my life!
The course also required 395 points in your Leaving Cert, so with great help from the staff of Scoil Mhuire and many hours of sitting over ink, paper and textbooks I succeeded in getting those points.! More importantly than that only 22 people got excepted into the BA Voice and Dance and I was one of the lucky selected few to do so.  I must have done something right! :)
The course is everything I expected it to be and more, surrounded by amazingly talents musicians, I have not only excelled hugely in dance in the short time I have been here but also my song voice has come on leaps and bounds.  In the academy we are given the opportunity to experience all cultures of life with my weekly timetable varying from gospel choir to Latin American song and dance.  With that I have also grown academically studying music theory, ritual performance and music technology.  Even with the long hours, starting at 9 and sometimes not finishing until 6 or 7 I appreciate every moment I am here as I know I not only blossoming as a performer but in character and personality also.  

Nancy Tuohy-Hamill, class of 2004

After finishing in Scoil Mhuire in 2004, I began a four year degree in Law and European Studies (LLB) in the University of Limerick. In 2009, I completed a one year masters in Human Rights Law (LLM), a cross border programme with Queen’s University Belfast and NUI Galway. 

In the year following my LLM, I undertook two unpaid internships with human rights NGOs abroad (non-governmental organisations). The first was with Al Marsad, the Arab Centre for Human Rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and the second was with the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Each internship was three months in duration and was extremely valuable in terms of work experience and learning to live in a foreign country with very different cultures and customs to Ireland. I funded the internships from savings I put aside from summer work. It helps to pick a country where the cost of living is cheap, which means you don’t need much money to get by.

In September 2010 I began (paid) work as a legal consultant for a Palestinian NGO called the Civic Coalition in occupied East Jerusalem, and worked mainly on issues of legal research and advocacy. In February 2011 I am going to begin a 12 month assignment as a Gender Advocate Officer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Laos, South East Asia.

Maeve Lyne, class of 1994

Maeve graduated from Scoil Mhuire in 1994. She went on to complete a degree in medicine in NUI Galway. She graduated in 2000 with Honours. She was awarded the gold medal in medicine and pathology at graduation. After completing internship she completed one year of general medicine and became a member of the royal college of physicians. She then went on to start training in ophthalmic (eye) surgery in 2003. She graduated as a specialist in ophthalmic surgery in 2010. She is presently working in a London hospital following her special interest of plastic and reconstruction surgery around the eye. She plans on returning to Ireland in 2011 as consultant ophthalmic surgeon .