He may have achieved the highest Leaving Cert score in the State - 9A1s (90-100 per cent) - but 18-year-old Feargus Denman was taking it all in his stride and planning to scale new heights yesterday.
The heights in question were some small mountains outside Edinburgh in Scotland, where he has been working with a theatre promotions company during the current fringe festival.
Feargus, a pupil at Maynooth secondary school, scored A1s in Irish, English, maths, French, applied maths, chemistry, Latin, engineering and physics. Four years ago, his brother, Hugh - also a past pupil of Maynooth post-primary school - scored 7A1s. He has recently completed a computer science course at Churchill College, Cambridge, and is doing postgraduate work at TCD.
Yesterday, Feargus was more worried about the kind of things that usually preoccupy 18-yearolds. Chiefly, was there enough credit on his mobile phone? During festival week, he is working as an usher and manning the box-office. It is, he says, a dream job. They give him accommodation; he gets to see all the shows.
The plan now is to pause for thought, enjoy the brief shining moment and spend a year away from studying. He might visit the Czech Republic; the world is, in every sense, his oyster.
Longer term, he is thinking about a maths and classics degree at NUI Maynooth, where his father, Peter, is a lecturer in English. He might apply to Cambridge to do something in the social science area, but he has still not chosen a course.
A keen supporter of Amnesty International, he would love to do something in the area of human rights. He does not share the apolitical, languid world view of Generation X: "I am proud to be considered an activist for the things I believe in," he says.
His results represent a considerable coup for Maynooth post-primary school, a non-fee paying co-ed school with 700 pupils. Its principal, Mr Sean Ashe, is a leading member of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals.
It is also a boost for transition year: Feargus spent some of that year studying both applied maths and Latin. He studied the Latin course on his own initiative outside school. Asked how it feels to score the highest marks in an exam completed by 58,200 students, Feargus seemed low key: "It is a nice feeling. I haven't taken it in or thought about the implications, it is just a nice situation to be in, I suppose."
Last night the president of NUI Maynooth, Dr Seamus Smyth, said Feargus chose NUI Maynooth as his first preference in the CAO process.
"Feargus chose NUI Maynooth because its arts degree programme includes the option to study maths and Latin, his preferred subjects. As an Irish speaker, he was also impressed that the department of mathematics at NUI Maynooth welcomes the use of Irish in its programmes.
"Feargus was also familiar with the NUI Maynooth campus, having spent time there while training for the Irish Mathematical Olympiad, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience," said Dr Smyth.