Saoirse's the inaugural winner of the Alanna Lenehan Art Award at St Joseph's

Leaving Cert student Saoirse Ryan was the inaugural winner of the Alanna Lenehan Art Award, which was presented at a special event in St Joseph's Secondary School Rochfortbridge on Wednesday evening last.

'A Night of Creativity' was held to celebrate the creative efforts of the school community at St Joseph's and to honour the memory of student Alanna Lenehan who passed away in September last year after a brave battle against cancer.

The award will be presented each year to a student who excels at art. In a post of its Facebook page, the school said that Saoirse, who is from Rochfortbridge and is set to go to NCAD this autumn, is "a student who is extremely talented artistically and who is also known for her lovely unassuming attitude to her abilities".

Speaking at the event, art teacher Jen Gallagher congratulated Saoirse and also spoke about Alanna and the type of person she was.

She spoke of Alanna's love of art and how she was so proud of her brother Santiago, who is also a very talented artist. She also said that Alanna will never be forgotten in St Joseph's and that because of the award her memory and legacy will live on for years to come.

In a post of social media, Alanna's mother Lael thanked the school for honouring her daughter's memory.

"St Joseph's Secondary School, Rochfortbridge. is such a wonderful school with creative and loving staff. It means so much to her brother Santiago Lenehan and myself that they’re keeping her memory alive. Thank you to all the staff and students that took part. You are all in our hearts. Congratulations to the winner," she said.