Arranmore student Finn Trocmé awarded Coogan-Gallagher Scholarship

Arranmore’s Finn Trocmé has been selected as the second recipient of the Coogan-Gallagher Scholarship. 

Finn, who is a leaving certificate student at Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, was selected based on an anonymous application, a reference request and an essay. The requirements are not based upon academic performance.

The scholarship was established by past student, Caroleann Gallagher, who currently works as a lawyer in Chicago. Caroleann announced the winning candidate on Zoom and said: “Some say success is measured by your own personal happiness and this scholarship truly makes me happy and so very proud.” Caroleann’s parents Laurence and Kathleen from Arranmore Island were in attendance in person when the leaving certificate student was awarded.

Caroleann was one of the first pupils to attend Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada in 1990. The award was created out of her gratitude for all that the school brought to the island and to help students  with financing further education. Now in its second year, the scholarship will be available annually and will award the winner €3,000  to assist them on their career path

“Congratulations to the second recipient of the prestigious Coogan Gallagher Scholarship Award, Finn Trocmé,” Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada shared. “The scholarship will support him with costs associated with any Third Level Education or Training he will pursue during the academic year.  We are greatly appreciative of this contribution to students selected for the award.”

The scholarship competition opened to all Leaving Certificate students enrolled at the Arranmore secondary school and it was judged solely by Caroleann and her Chicago law partner, Jim Coogan. 

Caroleann studied law at the University of Galway and practiced as a solicitor in Ireland. Following on, she moved to Chicago where she took the Illinois State Bar exam in 2011. 

“I want to give something back and show my appreciation, and Arranmore’s as a whole, so with the help of my partner here in Chicago, Jim, and the principal at home, Mary Doherty, we set up the Coogan Gallagher Scholarship,” Caroleann said of the first award. “I just want to give the students a helping hand into their new world and I am so excited it has come to pass.”

Last year, Arranmore native JJ O’Donnell received the official inaugural Coogan Gallagher Award at Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada and then secured a place at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Donegal, in Letterkenny.