Limerick GAA duo announced as inaugural MIC GPA Sports Scholars

Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) have announced Limerick footballer Pádraig de Brún and Limerick camogie player Caoimhe Costelloe as the first awardees of the MIC GPA Scholarship Scheme.

The newly established scholarship is the result of a partnership between MIC and the GPA. The MIC GPA Scholarship Scheme is open to all GPA members who have applied for and are successful in securing a place on MIC’s postgraduate programmes in education and the liberal arts, two of these scholarships are offered on an yearly basis. 

A member of the Limerick Senior Football Team since 2017, de Brún holds McGrath Cup & Division 4 Allianz National League Medals with the Shannonsiders. De Brún has also won a County Championship Minor Football Medal in 2013 and a County Championship Senior Football Medal with East Kerry.

He is currently teaching at Limerick’s Ardscoil Rís, where he also attended, and is currently studying the M Ed in Middle Leadership and Mentoring at MIC’s Thurles campus, having previously received a first-class honours at Diploma level. He completed his BA & PME at University College Cork. 

Caoimhe Costelloe has been a standout player for Limerick’s camogie side since 2013 when she won a Division 2 League Title. The following year, she won the Soaring Star award for her part in taking the All Ireland Premier Minor title and the All Ireland Intermediate title.

In 2015, she was a Purcell Cup winner with MIC while studying as a Bachelor of Education, from which she graduated in 2018. Costelloe helped Limerick to a 2017 Munster Senior Camogie Championship win and in 2021 scored eight points against Clare to secure the Treaty another place in the final, against eventual Munster champions Cork. She is the current Limerick senior camogie captain.

She is completing a Masters in MIC and is a Primary School teacher at Our Lady’s Abbey GNS in Adare. 

Under the scholarship, MIC are set to contribute 50% of the successful applicants programme fees while the GPA will contribute the remaining 50%. As recipients, both Costelloe and de Brún become ‘MIC GPA Scholars’ and will take up a key role as ambassadors within MIC’s sporting community in an effort to support the Gaelic Games at the College.  

“At the GPA we’re committed to supporting the education and development of our members and are delighted to have the support of educational institutions around the country including MIC which is essential if we are to be able to do this.  I would like to thank the team at MIC for their backing of inter-county players. Most importantly I would like to congratulate Pádraig and Caoimhe on being selected and wish them well in their studies.” 

Head of Finance and Operations at the GPA, Ciarán Barr

GPA members who are interested in learning more about the educational supports available to them should contact GPA Education Manager Karen Thorpe (karen@gaelicplayers.com) for further information.