News
Irish LPGA star links up with leading transatlantic educational charity once again to fund four local primary schools in honor of her participation in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle.
DROMOLAND CASTLE, Co. Clare, Ireland, September 26, 2022 (PR.com) – Irish American Partnership Ambassador and decorated Irish golfer Leona Maguire announced the award of $20,000 in grants to four local primary schools to coincide with her participation in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
The 2022 Women’s Irish Open marks the first-time women’s professional golf was played on Irish soil in ten years. On the heels of her best-ever major finish, Maguire provided an incredible performance to finish the tournament, and thanks to her, local school children have been inspired.
Sincere thanks to Leona, and all involved, for the extremely generous donation to our school, we are very grateful. – Principal Mary Warren of Ballycar National School.
In honor of Maguire’s participation, the Irish American Partnership proudly presented grants to Scoil na Maighne Mhuire, Ballycar National School, Stonehall National School, and Clonmoney National School, all located in the local Newmarket-on-Fergus parish. These grants will be used to purchase resources for the schools.
Maguire said, “I am so delighted to award grants to four primary schools in this area as ambassador with the Irish American Partnership. We are committed to supporting young people across Ireland’s education pathway and look forward to doing all that we can to support more schools in the near future.”
We are so proud of Leona’s association with the Partnership and her incredible accomplishments. Today, we are pleased to support local schools near Dromoland in Leona’s honor. – CEO Mary Sugrue
Maguire teed off her Irish American Partnership ambassadorship at a launch event in her native Cavan last month. The charitable partnership was born out of a mutual commitment to empowering the next generation of Irish leaders through education. In her capacity as ambassador, Maguire will champion the Irish American Partnership’s mission to educate and inspire, specifically its efforts to ensure schools across the island have adequate resources through its hallmark O’Neill Direct Grants to Schools program.
In addition to the four schools announced today, seventy-five (75) schools across the island of Ireland have seen $290,000 in funding as part of the Partnership’s 2022 grants under the initiative to date. With Maguire aboard and thanks to the continued generosity of its committed donors on both sides of the Atlantic, the Irish American Partnership is committed to providing a further $1 Million to schools over the next four years.
The Irish American Partnership’s collaboration with Maguire builds upon the success of previous initiatives including nationwide university access scholarships, empathy education in secondary schools, education centers for homeless youth, STEM resources to primary schools, technology apprenticeships as a gateway to employment, and more recently, an Outdoor Play & Learning program, launched by Partnership patron and fellow professional golfer, Pádraig Harrington.
ABOUT LEONA MAGUIRE
Leona entered the professional game in 2018 off the back of a record-breaking collegiate career with Duke University. The proud Irishwoman has been a serial winner ever since she took up the sport in Co. Cavan, but it was her decision to move to America, inspired by her life-long ambition to play on the LPGA Tour, that catapulted Leona into the big leagues. As an amateur, Leona was a three-time Curtis Cup player with Great Britain and Ireland, a two-time Olympian representing Ireland in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2017 she captured the Ladies British Amateur Championship title, becoming serial winner on the collegiate circuit too, Maguire sat atop the world amateur golf ranking for an incredible 135 weeks – the longest combined total at number one in women’s history. Leona became the first Irish woman to represent the winning Team Europe in the 2021 Solheim Cup. She was a crucial player becoming the greatest Solheim Cup rookie when she went unbeaten. In February 2022 Leona followed this feat up by winning her debut title on the LPGA at the Drive On Championship and in doing so became the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA in history.