Mary Immaculate College (MIC) was delighted to welcome past students back to the College on Saturday 8 October for the 2022 Alumni Reunion.
In a welcome return of the event for the first time since before the pandemic, graduates from as recently as 2002 and as far back as 1957 came back through the doors of MIC’s Foundation Building and gathered to reminisce about their time at the College, to meet old friends, tour the campus and see archive materials from down through the years.
According to Professor Eugene Wall, President of MIC: “It was great that for the first time in three years, today we have had the opportunity to welcome back on campus graduates from previous years as part of our Alumni Reunion. Today was a wonderful opportunity to meet with them, for them to meet with each other and to reactivate old memories of their time here. We look forward to meeting old students back here again in the future!”
A special mention was given to Joan Lucey-Corbett, who graduated from MIC sixty-five years ago in 1957 and who attended the Reunion on Saturday with her daughter Maura. Professor Wall presented Joan with a bouquet of flowers in appreciation of her attendance and described her as an inspiration to all those who are studying at MIC. The graduating cohort of 1972 were also celebrated as they marked fifty-years since they graduated from MIC and a member of the class, Nuala Henry Meade, cut the cake with Professor Wall to mark the occasion.
In 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, 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. 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 2022.
Attending the reunion was Alice O’Connell, who graduated from MIC in 1977 as part of the first cohort of the three-year Bachelor of Education degree. Remembering her time at MIC, she said: “Until we started, the course had been a two-year course so we were very special and treated very specially and minded furiously! I would say that my three-years at MIC would still stand out as the best three years of my life. I absolutely enjoyed it. I went from a lone student who knew nobody and who nobody knew, to being President of the Students’ Union. All-in-all I have great memories of MIC.”
Also attending was Eileen Kiely, a member of the graduating class of 1982. Speaking at the event, Eileen said: “It’s wonderful to be back! I can’t believe the changes and so many new buildings. I have so many memories of making wonderful friends and when I left college in 1982 I thought for many happy years.”
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.
