Carlow College

Carlow College celebrates month long Civic Engagement Festival

Nerilie Duffey — Thu, 07 May 2026 15:13:58 +0000

Carlow College’s Civic Engagement Hub hosted its annual Civic Engagement festival from 23rd March to 23rd April 2026 comprising pop-up talks, quiz events, workshops, walking tours, football matches and much more.

The festival was launched with a Creative Art exhibition in the main corridor showcasing the artistic talents of staff and students, as well as a In Conversation talk with Haikel Mansor from the Rohingya community.

Over the fortnight, several pop-up talks were presented by staff and students across a range of topics, craftivism workshops, the Sustainability Group led a series of workshops on Composting and Biodiversity, and the Annual Literary Awards showcased the creative writing talents of full-time and part-time students.

The Festival also included an exclusive tour of VISUAL’s latest exhibition.

A key feature of the festival was the Dr Noel Kavanagh Memorial Staff vs Students Football Match, a long held tradition in the College, this year marked to remember a much-loved colleague and lecturer, Dr Noel Kavanagh.

Speaking of the festival, Chair of the Civic Engagement Hub, Agnita Kenny said: “From the pop‑up talks and lively quiz events to the football matches and inspiring open‑mic poetry readings, every activity contributed to the energy and success of the festival. It was wonderful to see so many people come together to share ideas, talents, and conversation across campus.”

“Your enthusiasm, creativity, and willingness to get involved made the festival a vibrant and meaningful celebration of community and engagement.”

The Civic Engagement Hub aims to:

facilitate and support staff and students in their contributions to community engagement in the various different areas of community engagement activities.
promote community engagement as a valued and essential activity of the College community.
develop an overall profile of the public and civic engagement activities undertaken by the College community.

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Staff Team Storms Home in Dr Noel Kavanagh Memorial Cup versus Students

Nerilie Duffey — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:35:24 +0000

What a day for our Annual Staff vs Students match. Both sides fiercely contested for the coveted Dr Noel Kavanagh Memorial Cup.

The annual match formed part of the College’s Civic Engagement Festival which aims promote community engagement as a valued and essential activity of the College community, as well as facilitating and supporting staff and students in their contributions to community engagement in the various different areas of community engagement activities.

The student team came our guns blazing scoring the first goal of the match early on. However, after a slow start, the Staff side, ably assisted by a few alumni, took control of the game with goals coming in quick succession to take home the glory with a 5-1 win.

The match was expertly refereed by alumna Clifton Redmond with commentary provided by 4th Year student, Will Rainsford.

Following the match, College President Fr Conn O Maoldhomhnaigh presented the Dr Noel Kavanagh Memorial Cup trophy to the Staff Team Captain, Justin Murray.

Players from both sides enjoyed a post-match chat and refreshments supplied by the team in the Carlovian Dining Hall.

Speaking of the event, Agnita Kenny Chair of the Civic Engagement Hub said: “Today was more than a match — it was a celebration of the spirit and community of Carlow College. Friendly rivalry, pre-exam stress relief, and a proud moment as staff honoured our dear friend Dr Noel Kavanagh by lifting the Memorial Cup in his honour. Well done to everyone involved.”

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Carlow College Hosts Annual Literary Awards and Creative Writing Showcase – 2026

Laura McDonald — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:48:37 +0000

Carlow College St Patrick’s hosted its fourteenth Annual Literary Awards and Creative Writing Showcase in VISUAL on Tuesday 14^th April. This annual event gathers together the College literary community for a night to recognise and celebrate the creative writing talent of its students with awards presented for best in prose and poetry writing over the past year. This year’s awards were presented by the poet Molly Twomey, author of Raised Among Vultures (2022) and Chic to be Sad (2025), an awardee of Arts Council and Ireland Chair of Poetry bursaries.

Friends and family, staff, students and past graduates of Carlow College, were in attendance for what was an engaging and entertaining evening. The night opened with members of the Third Year Creative Writing class presenting a showcase of their writing. The class delivered what proved a dramatic, moving, and varied showcase of their work. Their poems explored the type of oddball characters you might encounter in small town settings in Ireland, to the pleasure of enjoying chips at Kilmore Quay with your mother.

Speaking at the awards, Lecturer in English and Creative Writing, Dr Derek Coyle, commented on ‘how dynamic and alive the writing scene is in Carlow and the south-east, and that Carlow College is committed to fostering that talent and to helping writers develop and hone their skills.’ He went on to say that ‘Carlow is blessed to have such a stunning venue as VISUAL for an occasion like this, and students were fortunate to encounter the writing talent of a young poet like Molly Twomey, originally from Lismore, Co Waterford, as a role model and exemplar of what is possible, particularly for women writers in Ireland today.’

Poetry Winners:

Ann J. Irwin: ‘The Drawer of Hidden Things’;
Aaron Doyle (Kildare): ‘Terms and Conditions’;
Daniel Butler (Kilkenny): ‘Black Jacket I’m Too Big For’;

Simon Bourke (Kilkenny): ‘Shampoo’.

Prose Winners:

Margaret Levingstone: ‘On the Edge’;
Polly Chapman (Wexford): ‘The Understory’;
Joy Redmond (Wexford): ‘The Beachcombers’ and ‘Lover’.

Following the Awards, Molly Twomey commended the entrants on the high standard of their work and encouraged all participants to keep persevering and working hard at refining and improving their craft. During the Q & A she mentioned the importance of reading, how so many of her poems grow out of a response to other poems and poets that she has been reading. The poems she read from her latest collection Chic to be Sad were powerfully personal, exploring the type of pressures young women experience in today’s society around body image and appearance, amongst other things. After a question and answer session, Carlow College St Patrick’s students with literary ambitions were left with plenty to consider and with the doors of inspiration opened.

Full details of the Awards winners and their winning pieces are available at:

2026 Student Literary Awards | Carlow College

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