Longford teenager among country’s highest-performing Leaving Cert students

Three Longford teenagers, hailing from St Mel’s College, Moyne Community School and Ballymahon’s Mercy Secondary School, scored the highest possible marks in the Leaving Cert results last Friday, an outcome that now places them among the top young achievers in the country.

Each of the three earned seven H1s, formerly known as A1 grades, an extraordinary accomplishment aptly described by Ballymahon Principal Gary Kenny as an “exceptional academic feat.”

One of those standout Leaving Cert performances came from Ballinalee’s Conor Doherty, a student of St Mel’s and a footballer with the Killoe seniors.

Son of Padraig and Dearbhla Doherty, Conor told the Longford Leader that he now plans to study Veterinary Medicine in UCD.

During his studies, Conor continued playing with the Killoe Senior Football Team as well as helping out on the family farm.

“I was playing up until a few weeks before the Leaving Cert," he explains. “You definitely need something else to keep your mind off the study so sport was great for that.”

He credits his teachers in St Mel’s for their support throughout his studies, his mum Dearbhla for helping him prepare for French, and his dad Padraig, a teacher in Moyne, for his help with maths.

Remarkably, Conor’s brother and sister also scored the maximum number of points in their respective Leaving Cert results.

Both are now based in Dublin with Daniel working in accountancy and Clara having just completed her degree in Actuarial Mathematics in UCD.