{"id":21550,"date":"2019-10-17T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T00:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/?p=21550"},"modified":"2026-08-14T18:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T17:52:00","slug":"prestigious-inaugural-joe-mcdonagh-award-for-davitt-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/prestigious-inaugural-joe-mcdonagh-award-for-davitt-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Prestigious Inaugural Joe McDonagh Award for Davitt College"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- ========================================== -->\n<!-- NEWS ARTICLE: JOE MCDONAGH AWARD 2019      -->\n<!-- ========================================== -->\n<div class=\"aen-news-article-modern\" style=\"font-family: 'Plus Jakarta Sans', sans-serif; width: 100%; max-width: 1200px; margin: 50px auto 30px auto; padding: 0 20px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; position: relative; z-index: 10;\">\n  \n  <div style=\"background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #e2e8f0; border-radius: 24px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 20px 40px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04);\">\n    \n    <!-- Header Banner -->\n    <div style=\"background: linear-gradient(135deg, #0f2015 0%, #1a3825 100%); padding: 55px 40px; border-bottom: 4px solid #f59e0b; text-align: center;\">\n      <span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.2); color: #fbbf24; font-weight: 800; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1.5px; font-size: 11px; padding: 6px 16px; border-radius: 50px; margin-bottom: 15px; border: 1px solid rgba(245, 158, 11, 0.4);\">\n        &#x1f3c6; National Award \u2022 Irish Culture &amp; Heritage\n      <\/span>\n      <h2 style=\"font-size: 36px !important; color: #ffffff !important; font-weight: 800 !important; margin: 0 0 15px 0 !important; letter-spacing: -0.5px !important; line-height: 1.25 !important;\" class=\"modern-article-title\">\n        Prestigious Inaugural Joe McDonagh Award for Davitt College\n      <\/h2>\n      <p style=\"font-size: 14px; color: #cbd5e1; margin: 0; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: 0.5px;\">\n        17 October 2019 \u2022 ETBI National Awards\n      <\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Body Section Inside Single Card -->\n    <div style=\"padding: 50px;\" class=\"modern-body-pad\">\n      \n      <!-- Text Content -->\n      <div style=\"color: #334155; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 35px;\">\n        \n        <p style=\"margin: 0 0 25px 0; font-size: 19px; font-weight: 600; color: #0f2015; border-left: 4px solid #f59e0b; padding-left: 20px;\">\n          The Education and Training Board of Ireland (ETBI) has proudly announced that Davitt College is this year\u2019s joint winner of the <strong>ETBI National Joe McDonagh Award 2019<\/strong>.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <p style=\"margin: 0 0 25px 0;\">\n          <strong>&#x1f3c6; Honouring a Champion of Irish Culture<\/strong><br>\n          This prestigious award celebrates Irish culture, Irish heritage, and the Irish language. The late Joe McDonagh was a former Chief Executive Officer of Galway VEC and, more recently, the Chief Executive of the Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board. He was an enthusiastic Gaeilgeoir and a passionate champion of education, the GAA, and Ireland&#8217;s rich cultural heritage.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <p style=\"margin: 0 0 25px 0;\">\n          <strong>&#x1f3c5; A Winning Night in Athlone<\/strong><br>\n          The official Awards Ceremony was held in the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, on the 25th of September 2019. Students from Davitt College, accompanied by their teacher Mrs. Fiona O\u2019Connor, were absolutely thrilled to receive the Joe McDonagh Trophy, alongside a \u20ac1,000 scholarship dedicated to the continued promotion of Irish culture, language, and heritage within the school.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <p style=\"margin: 0 0 0 0;\">\n          <strong>&#x1f91d; Creative and Inclusive Storytelling<\/strong><br>\n          The school\u2019s winning entry comprised a beautifully crafted short film featuring a re-enactment of the famous Irish folklore legend, C\u00fa Chulainn. This highly creative project was voiced over in Irish, subtitled in English, and fully signed using Irish Sign Language (ISL). With inclusivity being a paramount part of the ETBI\u2019s ethos, our students purposefully focused their film on the inclusive use of the three recognised languages of Ireland, brilliantly showcasing our national heritage for all to enjoy.\n        <\/p>\n\n      <\/div>\n\n      <!-- Single Featured Image with Lightbox Trigger -->\n      <div style=\"border-radius: 16px; overflow: hidden; border: 1px solid #e2e8f0; box-shadow: 0 8px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06); cursor: pointer; width: 100%; margin: 0 0 30px 0;\" onclick=\"openAenLightbox('https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JoeMcDonaghAward-1024x683.jpg')\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JoeMcDonaghAward-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Davitt College wins ETBI National Joe McDonagh Award 2019\" style=\"width: 100%; max-height: 620px; object-fit: cover; object-position: center center; display: block;\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n\n      <!-- Attendees Callout Box (Moved Below Image) -->\n      <div style=\"background: #f8fafc; border-left: 4px solid #254b2e; border-radius: 8px; padding: 20px 25px; margin: 0;\">\n        <h4 style=\"font-size: 16.5px; font-weight: 800; color: #0f2015; margin: 0 0 10px 0;\">&#x1f465; Attendees &amp; Pictured Dignitaries<\/h4>\n        <p style=\"margin: 0 0 10px 0; font-size: 14.5px; color: #475569; line-height: 1.6;\">\n          <strong>Front Row (Left to Right):<\/strong> Caoimhe Halligan; Ms. Bernie Rowland, Principal, Davitt College; Clodagh Cahill-Gilligan; Ms. Fiona O\u2019Connor, Teacher, Davitt College; Fiona Minish, Emer Minish; Ms. Mary Madden, Director of Schools, MSLETB\n        <\/p>\n        <p style=\"margin: 0; font-size: 14.5px; color: #475569; line-height: 1.6;\">\n          <strong>Back Row (Left to Right):<\/strong> Kolette Kucinskas; Ryan Mulligan; Dylan Loftus; Mr. Tom Grady, Chief Executive, MSLETB\n        <\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- ========================================== -->\n<!-- ORIGINAL ROCK-SOLID LIGHTBOX MODAL         -->\n<!-- ========================================== -->\n<div id=\"aen-lightbox-modal\" onclick=\"this.style.display='none'\" style=\"display:none; position:fixed; z-index:99999; top:0; left:0; width:100%; height:100%; background:rgba(0,0,0,0.85); align-items:center; justify-content:center; cursor:zoom-out;\">\n  <span style=\"position:absolute; top:20px; right:30px; color:#ffffff; font-size:40px; font-weight:bold; cursor:pointer;\">&times;<\/span>\n  <img id=\"aen-lightbox-img\" style=\"max-width:90%; max-height:85vh; border-radius:8px; box-shadow:0 10px 30px rgba(0,0,0,0.5);\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<script>\n  function openAenLightbox(imgSrc) {\n    var modal = document.getElementById('aen-lightbox-modal');\n    var modalImg = document.getElementById('aen-lightbox-img');\n    modal.style.display = 'flex';\n    var fullResSrc = imgSrc.replace(\/-\\d+x\\d+(?=\\.[a-zA-Z]+$)\/, '');\n    modalImg.src = fullResSrc;\n  }\n\n  document.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() {\n    var galleryItems = document.querySelectorAll('.wp-block-gallery .wp-block-image, .wp-block-gallery a, .wp-block-gallery img');\n    galleryItems.forEach(function(item) {\n      item.style.cursor = 'pointer';\n      item.onclick = function(e) {\n        e.preventDefault();\n        e.stopPropagation();\n        var anchor = this.tagName === 'A' ? this : this.closest('a');\n        var img = this.tagName === 'IMG' ? this : this.querySelector('img');\n        var targetSrc = '';\n        if (anchor && anchor.href) {\n          targetSrc = anchor.href;\n        } else if (img) {\n          targetSrc = img.src.replace(\/-\\d+x\\d+(?=\\.[a-zA-Z]+$)\/, '');\n        }\n        if (targetSrc) {\n          openAenLightbox(targetSrc);\n        }\n      };\n    });\n  });\n<\/script>\n\n<style>\n  @media (max-width: 900px) {\n    .modern-article-title {\n      white-space: normal !important;\n      font-size: 26px !important;\n    }\n    .modern-body-pad {\n      padding: 20px !important;\n    }\n    .aen-news-article-modern {\n      padding: 0 10px !important;\n    }\n  }\n\n  \/* Keeps captions high-contrast white on dark green *\/\n  .wp-block-gallery .wp-block-image figcaption, \n  .wp-block-gallery figcaption {\n    color: #ffffff !important;\n    background: #0f2015 !important;\n    padding: 8px !important;\n    border-radius: 4px !important;\n    text-align: center !important;\n    font-size: 13px !important;\n  }\n<\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#x1f3c6; National Award \u2022 Irish Culture &amp; Heritage Prestigious Inaugural Joe McDonagh Award for Davitt College 17 October 2019 \u2022 ETBI National Awards The Education and Training Board of Ireland (ETBI) has proudly announced that Davitt College is this year\u2019s joint winner of the ETBI National Joe McDonagh Award 2019. &#x1f3c6; Honouring a Champion of Irish Culture This prestigious award celebrates Irish culture, Irish heritage, and the Irish language. The late Joe McDonagh was a former Chief Executive Officer of Galway VEC and, more recently, the Chief Executive of the Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board. He was an enthusiastic Gaeilgeoir and a passionate champion of education, the GAA, and Ireland&#8217;s rich cultural heritage. &#x1f3c5; A Winning Night in Athlone The official Awards Ceremony was held in the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, on the 25th of September 2019. Students from Davitt College, accompanied by their teacher Mrs. Fiona O\u2019Connor, were absolutely thrilled to receive the Joe McDonagh Trophy, alongside a \u20ac1,000 scholarship dedicated to the continued promotion of Irish culture, language, and heritage within the school. &#x1f91d; Creative and Inclusive Storytelling The school\u2019s winning entry comprised a beautifully crafted short film featuring a re-enactment of the famous Irish folklore legend, C\u00fa Chulainn. This highly creative project was voiced over in Irish, subtitled in English, and fully signed using Irish Sign Language (ISL). With inclusivity being a paramount part of the ETBI\u2019s ethos, our students purposefully focused their film on the inclusive use of the three recognised languages of Ireland, brilliantly showcasing our national heritage for all to enjoy. &#x1f465; Attendees &amp; Pictured Dignitaries Front Row (Left to Right): Caoimhe Halligan; Ms. Bernie Rowland, Principal, Davitt College; Clodagh Cahill-Gilligan; Ms. Fiona O\u2019Connor, Teacher, Davitt College; Fiona Minish, Emer Minish; Ms. Mary Madden, Director of Schools, MSLETB Back Row (Left to Right): Kolette Kucinskas; Ryan Mulligan; Dylan Loftus; Mr. Tom Grady, Chief Executive, MSLETB &times;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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Gallagher","author_link":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/author\/dgallagher\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/academic-curriculum\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Academic &amp; Curriculum<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/school-life-culture-achievements\/awards\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Awards<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/core-news-information\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Core News &amp; Information<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/school-life-culture-achievements\/extra-curricular\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Extra-Curricular<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/academic-curriculum\/humanities-language\/gaeilge\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Gaeilge<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/category\/academic-curriculum\/humanities-language\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Humanities &amp; Language<\/a> <a 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of&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21550"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33245,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21550\/revisions\/33245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davittcollege.ie\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}