St David’s Class Of ’26 Pack Their Bags

The Macadams…

atest press release from a very busy St David’s Secondary School, issued on Tuesday, May 19th 2026…

On Friday 15th of May, we marked the celebratory occasion of the Class of 26’s graduation.

After a welcome from Mr. Carey and Deputy Head Boy Paddy and Deputy Head Girl Grace, the choir began the liturgical component of the day with the seminal hymn, Christ be our Light, which perfectly captured the themes of the service: light, love and hope.

Mr. Doyle then spoke about his immense pride at having had the opportunity to be the Year Head for this graduating class over the last two years. He acknowledged the challenging context of our students’ start to their St David’s experience in the midst of Covid and the rebuilding of the school but highlighted their resilience and pointed to the incredible memories they had made.

After this, the 6th Year tutors initiated formal graduation proceedings, as each student received a gift to commemorate their time in the school. We then had the opportunity to hear from Head Boy and Head Girl, Rian and Kate, who thanked everyone present and for their contributions to the St David’s community.

Student of the Year Paddy Marrinan and his bodyguard

They gave thanks to Mr. Carey for his energy, determination and enthusiasm in his leadership, as well as Ms. O’Sullivan for her unwavering support of ethos, Mr. Davies for his positivity and organisation and Mr. Doyle’s compassion and dedication. They also expressed their gratitude to all staff – their teachers and mentors, Liam our caretaker, our stellar cleaning staff, and the backbone of the school, Celina and Aoife.

Mr. Carey followed by commenting on our themes of the day: light, hope and love. He recalled the unusual origins of their journey but praised the class for their humility and respect. Mr. Carey pointed to the year group being trailblazers, including embracing the new uniforms, becoming the first year group to form the school choir and the overwhelming engagement of our female students in sports.

He concluded by encouraging them to view the wider perspective in life – that as initially daunting as some challenges may appear, they can be overcome, especially when we retain hope.

Mr. Doyle returned to the stage to announce the winner of Student of the Year. A huge congratulations goes to each of our nominees, Carolina Inanga, Ellie Hall, Grace McDermott, Kate Macadam, Rian O’Gorman, Sofia MacDarby and Travis O’Farrell and the winner for the Class of 2026, Paddy Marrinan.

A huge thank you to all the staff members who made the day possible, including the Religion and Music departments led by Ms. Kane and Ms. Cronly, Ms. Foynes as well as Mr. Doyle, Mr. Carey and Mr. Davies for all their hard work.

You can find out more about St David’s Holy Faith Secondary School here agus here, and follow on Instagram here or Facebook here.

Photographers: Laoise O’Gorman and Niamh O’Neill