Treble for Tipp as hard work pays off

SHOCK, surprise and success on the treble for Tipp.

On a day when tens of thousands of Junior Cert students celebrated their results, the Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles in Tipperary managed a remarkable treble with three of its pupils taking 12 higher level As, out of a national total of 15.

One of the three, Jane Ryan, 16, a boarder at the school, said she had expected Bs to appear at least once on her results slip.

“I couldn’t believe it really. I knew I had put in the work and would do okay but I never thought I’d get all As. I thought there would be Bs in there too. I suppose it proves that if you keep putting the work in, you’ll get what you want. None of us could have done it really without the staff and teachers here. They’re really great,” she said.

Isobella Harold-Barry, 15, had a similar emotion and hoped her results would give her the drive to go on to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

“It was a bit surreal really when I saw the results and it’s still a bit of a shock. I was very surprised. I thought I would do well but you never expect 12 As. I suppose my favourite subjects were art and I really love maths. I really want to do medicine in college so that’s my goal really,” she said.

For Hannah Stapleton, being called into the principal’s office had her in fear rather than delight on the day of her results.

“I am thrilled. Absolutely shocked but thrilled. I had no clue I had done this well all day. None of my teachers let on. The first I knew was when the principal pulled me into the office to speak to me. I thought I was in trouble but it was great news,” she said.

It was also a special day for one secondary school principal yesterday when he handed out Junior Cert results to his three children who all got results in their first state exams yesterday.

Triplets Noel, Roisín and Gráinne Malone were among the 140 students to receive results at Coláiste Chiarán in Croom, Co Limerick.

And even though their dad was the man in charge of handing out the results, there was no special treatment for the anxious threesome born in Ireland in 1996.

“It was a big day in the Malone household and the fact they are triplets made it a very unique occasion and the fact that I was going to see the results before anyone else made it even more unique,” school principal Noel Malone explained.

“Of course they wanted to come to school with me for the first time ever this morning, but I said no and they went on the bus as normal with the other students,” he added.

The Malone triplets made national headlines when they arrived into the world on January 9, 1996, as they were the first triplets born in the country that year.

It was also a special day for Phyllis Bradley, a 72-year-old woman from Finglas, who sat history last year and got an A and this year achieved a B in English.

Phyllis told David Harvey on 4FM how she loved school as a child but did not get the opportunity to go to secondary school due to a lack of money and left school at 14.

Delighted with her B, Phyllis, who has 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, paid tribute to her teacher at Coláiste Eoin in Finglas.

“I thought it was very hard, we did all these plays. We done the Irish plays and each of us had the part in the play in the class and each had to shout the part. We had a very good teacher, Joan Foley is her name, and she is just a brilliant, and she just helped me so much,” she said.