Mullingar student wins prestigious award at Maynooth University

A Mullingar student has won a prestigious award at Maynooth University.

Niamh Devaney won the prize for the best undergraduate thesis at this year's Department of Geography awards, which were held last Wednesday night. Her thesis, 'An analysis to uncover how, and if, sense of place has changed over a significant period within Mullingar Town, as a result of its expansion', looked at how her home town has been shaped as a place over time.

Niamh's supervisor, Dr Adrian Kavanagh, praised her work saying, "I have been working in the department for nearly as long as Niamh has been alive, and over that time I have come across very few other theses that would come close to rivalling Niamh's work. The quality of the research, as well as the quality of the writing, was excellent."

"Niamh's work was also praised by world-famous geographer, Prof Anoop Nayak, who got to review this as part of his work as external examiner for the Department of Geography. The Department of Geography wishes Niamh well in her future endeavours, whatever they may be, but really hopes that this future includes PhD research work in Geography!," Dr Kavanagh said.