Offaly student is fourth generation of women to graduate from university

Hannah Clarke, from Banagher, graduated today from University of Galway with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics. She follows in the footsteps of her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother.

Her great-grandmother, Mary C. Whyte, later Mary Dwyer, from Tuam, Co Galway, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1934. Her grandmother, Margaret Moloney, also from Tuam, received a Certificate in Social Studies in 1996, while her mother, Anne Clarke, from Banagher, graduated with a First-Class Honours Executive MBA in 2025.

After the ceremony, the family visited the University Library, where they were shown Mary C. Whyte’s signature in the student register from when she first enrolled at the University.

Hannah said: “Today I became the fourth generation of my family to study here at University of Galway. The women who came before me have been a true inspiration. 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.”

Margaret Moloney, Hannah’s grandmother said: “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. My mother was a very unassuming and humble person. 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 said: “I graduated from University of Galway last year, so I am third generation of Dwyer women to graduate here. 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.”