U16 Girls Path To The Final
DEAN MAGUIRC – PATH TO THE FINAL
Dean Maguirc College, Carrickmore have reached an Ulster Ladies U16 Final for the first time in the school’s history. The school has won previous U14 & U20 Ulster titles but the U16 title has always evaded them.
They face fellow Tyrone school, St Patrick’s Academy Dungannon on Tuesday 29th January in St. Patrick’s, Rock at 1pm.
The Dean’s Ulster campaign started back in September 2024 with a comprehensive win in their opening match against Aquinas Grammar, Belfast with a score line of 8 -14 to 3 -7.
Again, the Dean proved too strong against the next local rival, St Joseph’s
Grammar, Donaghmore. The Dean were slow to get going in this match and Donaghmore were competitive but once the momentum got going, The Dean ran away with it defeating Donaghmore 8 -09 to 1 -11.
The final group game was played before the Halloween break in Tír na nÓg, Portadown against another Belfast School, St Dominic’s. The Dean were in fine form once again and scored heavily against a talented St. Dominic’s.
Topping the group, the Dean progressed to the Ulster Semi- Final to play
Sacred Heart Grammar, Newry. This game was played in Éire Óg pitch in Carrickmore on 2nd December and was a very intense and closely contested match. Sacred Heart were very strong across the field but the Dean girls showed true grit and determination to overcome their opponents by 3 points. Final score 2-11 to 3 -05.
Open Night 2025
We would like to invite Pupils of Primary 6 and 7 along with their parents and guardians to our Open Night on Monday 20th January at 7.30pm. Principal’s address at this time followed by a guided tour of the school and its facilities.
New Strength and Conditioning area at DMC
New Strength and Conditioning area at DMC
A project two years in the making reached fruition recently at Dean Maguirc College when the new strength and conditioning area opened.
The project would not have been possible without the support of the parents, businesses and GAA clubs associated with the Dean. Sponsorship raised from all these groups for our recent Sports Presentation nights facilitated the purchased of the equipment which was supplied and fitted by Odin Strength, owned by our past pupils Ruairi and Maire Grimes(Nee Mc Mahon).
A great debt of gratitude is also owed to past pupils, father and sons Sean, John and Paudie Conlon of CRS who supplied and fabricated the mesh partition wall and sliding door to close off the new area located on the gym stage.
Past pupils Francie and Nuala Gormley of FG Groundworks once again answered the call of their old school and contributed significantly to the overall financial cost of putting this area in place.
Today we also take the opportunity to thank our long-term sponsors of the Dean Senior Boys team – Brendan Loughran and Sons. They have been involved for many years now and came on board when the success we have enjoyed in recent years had yet to come. However, the winning of the Markey Cup in 2022 and the move to MacLarnon level has seen them get their just rewards.
S&C has become an integral part of the development of young people in sport and the installation of this area has allowed the Dean to keep pace with modern strength and conditioning as well as injury prevention programmes.
Once again, the collective will of the Dean wider community has won through by providing this facility for the growth and development of our pupils.
First Minister is Guest Speaker at Senior Prizegiving
First Minister is guest speaker at ‘Senior Prizegiving’ in Dean Maguirc College.
Dean Maguirc College, Carrickmore recently had the honour of welcoming First Minister, Michelle O’Neill to their Senior Prizegiving for 2024. The First Minister joined members of the Board of Governors, invited guests, pupils, parents and staff, to celebrate and reflect on the outstanding achievements of their GCSE and A Level pupils.
The First Minister was delighted to be invited as guest speaker and spoke of how she couldn’t wait to get out to talk in particular to the young people because “Everything I’m trying to do is about building a better future, it’s about building this place we call home, to be just the best place it can be for all young people and for better futures”. She added “Tonight is about celebrating your outstanding achievements and in life we should always make time to celebrate for whenever we have done good”.
It was clear to all that the First Minister enjoyed taking time to speak to young people as she continued “It’s my greatest privilege to get out to meet people and in particular young people. Your success is amazing to watch and what I’m trying to do is make this a good place for you. When you see the depths of the awards tonight, whether it be academic or sporting, just giving back to the community and school, that’s what makes up the world, that’s what makes up our community. Everybody plays their part; everybody has their strength”.
Speaking about the ethos of the school, the First Minister spoke “Right at the heart of this school ethos is community spirit, school spirit, it’s a school family, it’s that wider community that makes it much more than a school”. She spoke of a proud community in Carrickmore. “You only have to look at how you work in partnership with all the different groups and the fact that the principals of the feeder primary schools are here tonight to be part of the celebrations, just shows that wider ethos that sharing and working together means you can achieve much more”.
She reflected on the journey the school has taken over the last few years and how it has high hopes for the future, “it’s no wonder the school is oversubscribed when you see its achievement and the big plans that lie ahead for the college. I will walk that journey with you”.
Mrs. O’Neill concluded by speaking directly to the pupils in attendance by saying “You have got to this point because you have worked hard at it and from the support which you have around you. Whatever your journey is from here, make sure you take with you the value of friendship that you have learned from here, make sure you take with you the values of respect that you have learnt from your school community and my advice to you all is very simple, when you wake in the morning the road ahead is full of opportunities. Yes, there will be challenging days, there will be difficult days, there will be hard days, but take a breath because the next day will be better”.
The awards began with recognising achievements across the curriculum at A Level, G.C.S.E. Level and Key Stage 4 equivalent courses. Outstanding achievement at A Level were Pierce Byrne, Niamh Clarke, Tara Curran, Kate Fox, Anna Hempenstall, Róise Kerr and Orla Morris. Amy Ayna was top pupil at GCSE Level with Niamh Mullan, Ava Byrne, Rioghnach McAleer and Caislin Tracey receiving awards for outstanding achievement. Grace Donnelly, Clara-Rose Marley, Niamh McElduff, Sara Roszyk and Laura Delaney were the recipients of awards for excellent achievement at G.C.S.E. Level.
GCSE Results
Dean Maguirc College celebrates 2024 G.C.S.E. results
There was much excitement and delight when pupils received their G.C.S.E. results at Dean Maguirc College as the grades achieved by the pupils were most impressive indeed. Commenting on the results, the principal, Mr. Warnock said ‘I am delighted with the performance of our pupils who indeed have excelled in this set of examinations. These pupils have worked closely with their teachers during Key Stage 4, resulting in the achievement of their full potential in both the academic and vocational subjects, a feature of our school which caters for all abilities. These pupils have to be applauded for their application and determination and on behalf of the Board of Governors, I congratulate them on their success today’.
He added ‘I thank the staff for their on–going commitment which has undoubtedly enabled such high achievement for our pupils and I also want to acknowledge the continued support and co–operation of our parents. We look forward to welcoming back so many of the year group for their Post 16 Studies and I wish the remainder of this cohort of pupils the very best as they embark on the next stage of their education at South West College.’
Top achievers were: Amy Ayna, Niamh Mullan, Ava Byrne, Rioghnach McAleer, Caislin Tracey, Grace Donnelly, Clara–Rose Marley, Niamh McElduff, Sara Roszyk, Laura Delaney, Oran Curran, Sarah McElduff, Roisin Munroe, Caolan Tracey, Laura Duff, Micheal Gallagher, Daniel Kerr, Meabh McAnespie, Fionn Begley and Bronagh McCloy.
Junior Prizegiving
On Monday 24th June we celebrated the achievements of our KS3 pupils at our annual Junior Prizegiving Ceremony. Guest speaker for the event was past pupil Grace Conneely. Grace qualified as a pharmacist and is now working in Antrim Area Hospital. Those in attendance were delighted to hear of her time at school and her career pathway.
Pupils were rewarded for their effort and achievement in their subjects and through extra- curricular activities along with excellent attendance. For the Year 10 pupils this marked the end of Junior school as they now prepare to enter KS4 and their GCSE pathways.
Congratulations to Year 10 pupils, Grace McCullagh who was awarded the Hugh Rafferty Memorial Cup, Áine Mullan who received the KS3 Achievement Award. Most Endeavour award went to Cara Harte and the Joseph McKernan Cup was received by Marcus Conway. 
Celebration Of Sporting Achievement 2023/24
3 Ulster Camogie Titles For Dean Maguirc College
3 Ulster Camogie Titles for Dean Maguirc College
Congratulations to our Camogs who have had such success making history this academic year by winning three Ulster titles in Camogie. Success came in victories over Bailieborough Community School, Co. Cavan in both the U–14 and U–16 Ulster Finals and in the Senior Girls’ Ulster Final, the ‘Dean’ defeated St. Joseph’s High School, Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh.
We look forward to recognising these achievements at our Celebration if Sporting Achievement on June 2oth in The Patrician, Carrickmore.
Lift the ‘cap’ and recognise the Dean
For years now, our very popular school has been capped with an ‘Admissions Number’ of 80 and ‘Enrolment Number’ of 440. We have sought to get an increase in these respective numbers on various occasions but have met with resistance from our employing authority, CCMS who have yet to acknowledge us as a growing post primary school at the heart of its community. We continue to be oversubscribed by nearly 50% annually for Year 8 places, and this coming September will see a pupil population of 670 (approx.). The Department of Education did identify us a school which has to continually seek temporary variations to enable us to meet the demand for places in the college and its recent pilot exercise gave us some hope of getting the capped numbers increased to 100 and 600, which would be more indicative of present numbers. Unfortunately, CCMS did not again support such an increase, stating that one of the reasons being, the availability of places in another school, eleven miles away. Knowing you as stakeholders, I doubt you would entertain such a notion. As a thriving post-primary school, the time has come for us now to embark on a campaign to seek an ‘Admissions Number’ and ‘Enrolment Number’ that truly reflects our current pupil numbers.
Thanking you as always for your on-going support and for the overwhelming confidence you have in us a s a rural post-primary community school.
Yours sincerely,
James Warnock
Best wishes to Fr O’Neill
On our first Senior Assembly of the new school year we sadly said goodbye to our chaplain, Board of Governor but most importantly our friend, Fr O’Neill. After 16 years in the parish he is being moved to Keady. Our loss is definetly their gain. A token of our appreciation was presented by Anna Hempenstall, top student at AS Level .
We wish Fr O’Neill health and happiness in his new role, he will be sadly missed.
