FOUR generations of women have graduated from a Galway university over a 90-year period.
Offaly woman Hannah Clarke is the latest to complete a degree at the University of Galway.
The Banagher native graduated this month with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics.
Her great-grandmother, Mary C. Whyte, later Mary Dwyer, from Tuam, Co Galway, graduated from the same university with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1934.
Her grandmother, Margaret Moloney, who is also from Tuam, received a Certificate in Social Studies from the establishement in 1996, while her mother, Anne Clarke, also from Banagher, graduated with a First-Class Honours Executive MBA in 2025.
“Today I became the fourth generation of my family to study here at University of Galway,” Hannah said following her graduation ceremony.
“The women who came before me have been a true inspiration,” she added.
Hannah Clarke, her grandmother Margaret Moloney and mother Anne Clarke with the University of Galway student register, showing the signature of Hannah’s great-grandmother, Mary C. Whyte. (Pic: Aengus McMahon)“Walking around the college over the last three years, knowing that my great grandmother, grandmother and mother walked the same paths that I did, every day, was an inspiration.”
Following the ceremony Hannah and her family visited the University’s library, where they were shown her great-grandmother Mary C. Whyte’s signature in the student register from when she first enrolled at the University.
“My mother graduated from here in 1934 with a BComm and she went on to work in accountancy for Coca Cola in Tuam, and I graduated from here in 1996 with Social Studies,” Hannah’s grandmother Margaret said.
“My mother was a very unassuming and humble person,” she added.
“She never bragged about anything, and she loved education.
“Today is the first time I ever saw her name here in the register in University of Galway and it brought tears to my eyes to see her name because we always knew about it, but she never bragged.
“She let us all choose our own paths and what we did.
“There were six of us and our father died when we were young, so she had to work and provide for us.
“In fact, she worked two jobs to rear us. She was a wonderful woman.”
Hannah’s mother Anne Clarke graduated from the University last year.
“I am third generation of Dwyer women to graduate here,” she said.
“It was a really emotional day to see my mom crying seeing her own mother’s name in the book.
“Our grandmother has always been our aspiring hero, because from a very young age we knew she’d been in college. Third-level education was a given.
“There was no finishing at Leaving Cert. We were all going to college.
“To follow, and to know that you stand on the shoulders of the legacy of the women who went before you, is truly humbling and amazing.”
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