Mary I heads for its second century

After last night's centenary banquet for staff and alumni, a packed year of celebrations comes to an end this afternoon for current and former staff and students of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.

Together with civic and religious leaders, they will be attending a Mass of thanksgiving in St Joseph's Church in Limerick. A highlight will be music especially written for the occasion by Sister Hilary of the college, who has composed an English Mass. This complements the Irish Mass written by another staff member, Sister Colmchille, for the opening one year ago.

"We would like everyone to join with us in this final centenary celebration," said Sister Angela Bugler, the college president. "It brings to an end a successful year, during which we accomplished everything on an ambitious programme."

The programme was indeed full, with academic and special programmes, special events, drama, music, exhibitions and conferences.

For Bugler, herself an alumnus of Mary Immaculate, perhaps the most inspiring programme was the series of visits made by past students. Starting with the 1920-to-1935 students, and following on in groups over about five years, they came back on 13 Saturdays. "It gave a great sense of connectedness to the past," she commented.

She is also very proud of the special 30p stamp issued by An Post. It features the original college building.

Another highlight was the performance of Mozart's Requiem under the baton of staff member Dr Gareth Cox.

On the work side, there were several conferences. Almost 400 people attended the conference of the Association of Teacher Educators in Europe (ATEE).

The college, a component of UL, is formally linked with a university in Maryland in the US, interchanging staff and students. It, too, is celebrating its centenary, and the two establishments held a two-day video conference in October. With the celebrations over this afternoon, it might be thought that the college would now draw its breath, but many new developments are under way.

Mary Immaculate has grown from a slump to 300 students in 1991, after national cuts in teacher training, to its current head count of around 1,700. While growth in bachelor of education students accounts for much of this, the introduction a few years ago of a liberal arts BA, and a recent emphasis on postgraduate training and research is equally important.

While most postgraduate students are pursuing taught MEd and MA degrees, there are about 30 doing an MA by research. Bugler hopes to see a strengthening of this side. There is one PhD student already, and she hopes for more.

The college, in co-operation with the Mayo Education Centre, began a graduate diploma/master's in information technology and communication in Limerick and Castlebar this academic year.

Starting soon are a graduate diploma/MEd course in religious education and a graduate diploma/MA in theology and religion studies.

And a graduate diploma/MEd in primary school science and technology is in the pipeline.

As Mary Immaculate heads into its second century, the college is beginning to burst at the seams. Negotiations for developments are under way.