West Belfast-born opera singer Angela Feeney visited Coláiste Feirste on Thursday, where she presented the school with two gifts and performed two songs.

Feeney gave the school a book titled 'The Irish Language in Rathlin Island by Nils Magnus Holmer' and a violin that belonged to her late husband, Professor Nikolaus Grüger, an orchestral player.

She performed 'Habanera' from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen and the Irish language song 'Fill, Fill a Rún'.

Feeney said she was happy to visit the school for the first time and felt honoured to present the gifts. She said her husband bought the violin just before he died and she thought Coláiste Feirste would be a fitting home for it. She expressed confidence that the book would be an important resource for students.

She also said she was impressed by the performance of the Coláiste Feirste students, describing them as willing, articulate, and talented.

Coláiste Feirste Principal Mícheál Mac Giolla Ghunna said the school was delighted to welcome Feeney for what he called an exceptional homecoming performance. He said the event was an opportunity for pupils to share a stage with someone at the pinnacle of musical theatre and to celebrate language, culture, and history.

Mac Giolla Ghunna noted Feeney's deep connection to the Irish language community. He said her late grandmother, Bella McKenna (née McCurdy), was the last native Irish speaker from Rathlin Island, and her father, Billy, was an active supporter of Bunscoil Phobal Feirste, the first Irish medium school.

Moya Ní Dhúgáin, Heritage and Archive Officer with Gaelstair, an Irish-language heritage and archiving project, thanked Feeney for presenting the book. She said the book is very important because the Irish language no longer exists on Rathlin, and she hopes the event will inspire the next generation of Irish speakers to pursue studies in the arts.