Leaving Cert 2022: Young Cork couple make the grade with exam success at double

A YOUNG Cork couple who managed to keep their relationship strong during Covid and a stressful exam period are celebrating after receiving top Leaving Certificate marks.

Neighbours Isabel Heaney, 18, and Jake Tennant, 19, met while volunteering with Cobh Tidy Towns just weeks before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

More than two years on, they are among 7,000 Cork students contemplating their futures after receiving their Leaving Certificate results today. 

Jake, who attended Coláiste Muire, Cobh, described how the experience of preparing for the Leaving Certificate only brought him and girlfriend Isabel closer together.

He praised Isabel, a former pupil of St Aloysius Secondary School, Carrigtwohill, for her impressive grades which included H1s in Irish, physics, and chemistry and H2s in maths, French, biology, and English.

“I’m convinced that Isabel will be the breadwinner,” Jake laughed. “All I needed was a pass to do what I wanted. There was a lot more pressure for Isabel because of the points she needed. In spite of this, she was just as invested in me as she was in herself. She’s a really kind person like that.”

Jake was delighted to have scored a H2 in art and plans to study the subject in St John’s College to realise his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. Isabel has opted for an engineering course in UCC. Despite their different paths, the pair are determined to make the relationship work.

It is not the first challenge they faced, having been separated by the pandemic just weeks into their relationship. “I remember thinking it was great when our schools told us that we were getting two weeks off because we would get to spend some time together,” said Isabel. “Little did I know then what was ahead of us.” However, the couple’s relationship only grew stronger.

“We could only go on walks together and even at that we were practically at opposite sides of the road.”

Isabel is glad her hard work paid off. “My school gave me so much encouragement and always told me I could do it,” she said. “It was all really positive but there’s also a pressure that comes with that because the last thing you want to do is let people down.”

Jake is feeling positive about the future.

“I feel really strong about the relationship. It’s been great to have to have so much support from Isabel.”