Awards and Scholarships

Judith Chavasse was a great advocate for, and leader of, nursing. As former Head of Nursing in UCD, her achievements were many; principally she led the development of the art and science of nursing toward the recognition of the profession as an academic discipline in Ireland. From early diploma and degree programmes for post-registration nurses to the establishment of undergraduate degree programmes and later master’s and doctoral programmes for nursing and midwifery, Judith sowed the seeds and provided inspiration to those who worked with her and succeeded her following her retirement. (Source irishtimes.ie)

This medal is awarded to the student who receives the highest grade in the module NMHS30970 Evidence Based Practice for Healthcare on Stage 4 of the BSc in General Nursing and the BSc in Midwifery.

Dr. Marie Carney was appointed to University College Dublin as lecturer in 1997 and she remained as senior lecturer until 2008, where she played a large part in the transformational changes taking place in UCD and in nursing education in UCD and nationally. She was appointed Head of the UCD School of Nursing and Midwifery (2000-2005) and Head of the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems (2005-2007) following college re-structuring. During this time in UCD she sat on many school, college and university committees. The School of Nursing was the largest school of nursing in Irish universities. (Source icntimeline.org)

This medal is awarded to the student who receives the highest grade in the module NMHS30290 Management and Quality Improvement on the BSc in General Nursing and BSc in Midwifery programmes.

Emeritus Full Professor Gerard Fealy was the UCD Professor of Nursing and served as the Dean of Nursing and Head of School from 2016 until his retirement in 2021. He also served on several University committees and governance boards and on a number of international boards. He is a UCD graduate, with an honour’s bachelor’s degree in nursing (BNS) (UCD 1989), a Master of Education degree (UCD, 1995) and a Ph.D. in Education (UCD, 2003). In a career spanning 45 years in nursing, including 24 years at UCD, he led many of the key developments in nursing education and research at his School. As Head of Teaching and Learning in the early noughties, he led the planning and introduction of the School’s four undergraduate majors in nursing and midwifery. As Professor of Nursing and Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, Emeritus Full Professor Fealy played a strategic role in developing research policy at the School, and led programmes of research in social gerontology, nursing history and professional regulation. 

All students registered to and successfully completing the Degree of BSc in Nursing (General) will be eligible to be considered for the award of the Professor Gerard Fealy Medal in General Nursing. The Medal will be awarded to the student who attains the highest Award GPA.

Sr. Antoinette trained in Our Lady's Children’s Hospital, Crumlin as a student nurse in 1963 and worked as a staff nurse and Nurse Tutor for some years. She returned to the hospital in 1979 and took up the post of Principal Nurse Tutor in 1984. Successive generations of children's nurses learned their skills and values under Antoinette's tutelage. There was no better or kinder teacher. Sr. Antoinetter Kelleher passed away in 2005 and this medal (formally the UCD Nursing Medal) is in her honour.

This medal is awarded to a BSc Nursing (Integrated Children’s and General) student who achieves the highest GPA in Stage 3 of the degree.

Dr. Deirdre Kelleher-Dowling was Assistant Professor in Children’s Nursing at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. She was widely known and respected within the academic community and among the nursing staff at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), Crumlin, and Children’s Health Ireland, Temple St. A UCD graduate (BNS 1998), she first joined the School in 2006 and played a significant role in the development of the first BSc Children’s and General Nursing integrated degree programme, which commenced in that same year. She was a dedicated educator and brought her own vision and values for children’s nursing to her teaching

Dr Kelleher-Dowling passed away in September 2020 following a cancer illness and her passing was attended with great sadness among the academic and professional community in children’s nursing. The Dr Deirdre Kelleher-Dowling Memorial Medal in Children’s and General Nursing is awarded to the student who achieves the highest exiting grade point average in the BSc Nursing (Integrated Children’s and General) Programme. 

This medal is awarded to the student with the highest exit GPA on completion of the Higher Diploma in Nursing (Children's Nursing) programme in September of each year.

This financial prize is awarded to the student who obtains the highest GPA in the Graduate Diploma in Nursing (Public Health Nursing).

Sister Triona Harvey, Medical Missionaries of Mary, is a former Lecturer in Nursing and Midwifery at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems. She led the midwifery option of the Nurse Tutor Diploma and Degree programmes at UCD, which provided midwives with a registerable qualification in the Tutors' Division of the NMBI Register. Over many years of service at UCD, Sister Triona supported the maternity services in developing midwifery educators, and she provided academic leadership in midwifery in Ireland at a critical time in its development towards separate disciplinary status. She also played a major role in professional regulation, working on committees of An Bord Altranais, including the Fitness to Practice Committee, where she acted as Chairperson, and the Education and Training Committee. The Sister Triona Harvey Medal is awarded to the UCD student who receives the highest GPA in the Higher Diploma in Midwifery examinations.

Dr Redmond began teaching law at University College Dublin at 19 years old. She also studied at Oxford and obtained her Ph.D at Cambridge. She went on to become Fellow and Dean of Studies in Law at Christ’s College Cambridge and was elected an Honorary Fellow. She became the leading academic on Irish labour law and published extensively. She set up her own firm in the mid 1980s in Ireland and subsequently merged her firm with Arthur Cox. She sat on the board of the RTE Authority and served consecutive terms on the Labour Relations Commission (Source hospicefoundation.ie).

This award is generously provided by the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), in perpetuity, in recognition of the significant contribution of its founder Dr Mary Redmond, to the development of providing psychosocial, spiritual and bereavement care and support to those with life limiting illness and their families in Ireland.

This medal is awarded to the student who receives the highest grade on a specialist module in palliative care.

Sr Francis Rose or Moire/Mary O’Flynn was born in Co Derry and served for 70 years as a Suster of Charity. For practically all of her religious life she was involved in the ministry of health care both in St. Vincent’s Hospital and in Our Lady’s Hospice, and served 12 years as the Superior General for her congregation. She was a woman of great vision who initiated and was closely involved in the setting up of the Home Care Service, the Education Unit and the developments of the Palliative Care Unit in Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross. Her concern and personal approach to patients and their families will never be forgotten. (Source: rsccaritas.com)

Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross generously fund a medal, in perpetuity, in recognition of the significant contribution of Sr Francis Rose O'Flynn RSC, to the development of palliative care education in Ireland.

This medal is awarded annually to the student who achieves the highest grade in the specialist modules in palliative care.

Professor Pearl Margaret Treacy was a former Head of School and was appointed to the first Chair in Nursing at UCD. She held a key leadership role in the School at a time when it transitioned from a small academic department in the Faculty of Medicine, offering postgraduate courses in nursing, to a major research-intensive School in the University, providing undergraduate professional programmes in Nursing and Midwifery, and a suite of taught-graduate courses. She developed the School’s first taught-master’s programme, the Master of Medical Sciences, and she also presided over the introduction of the School’s graduate research programme. Professor Treacy led the early development of the School’s funded research and was the Director of the School’s first academic centre, the National Centre for the Protection of Older People.

All students registered to and successfully completing the single dissertation module associated with the School’s MSc programme majors will be eligible to be considered for the award of the Professor Pearl Treacy Medal. Hence, the Medal is awarded to the student who attains the highest mark in the 30-credit dissertation module entitled NMHS44020 'Evidence Synthesis and Translation', or the corresponding module, should the dissertation module title and code change.