If she had been a rocket scientist, the welcome could not have been more effusive. The Benedictine nuns of Kylemore Abbey have bred a beauty queen . . . and are they proud. Hugs, kisses and shrieks of delight greeted the current Miss Ireland and former pupil when she returned to the prestigious international school in the heart of Connemara several days ago.
That Emir Holohan Doyle (19) should have secured seven honours in her Leaving Certificate seemed almost insignificant as she was received on the threshold of the 19th century building overlooking Poll an Chapaill lake by Mother Clare Morley, Kylemore's abbess.
The principal, Sister Rosario Ni Fhlartha, her music teacher, Sister Karol O'Connell, and several other members of staff, including Sister Dorothy Ryan, Sister Magdalena Fitzgibbon, and Sister Noreen Gallagher, could hardly contain their excitement or conceal their pride.
Whisking her up and down stairs and into classrooms before the 170 pupils could break for the day, they presented her as a role model. Recalling an assignment that Emir had completed as a young pupil in religion class, Mother Clare remembered her forecast that "this lady" would go far. Shadowing her daughter was a shy mother who could have been taken for a sister. Hands tucked deep into her cardigan, Jane Holohan had driven Emir all the way from their home in Kiltobranks - known as "the Bronx" - near Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon. It was she who had entered her daughter for Miss Galway back in July after nominations were sought through the local press. Emir was already studying music in Dublin and was also modelling with an agency. "It was just a bit of a giggle, nothing serious," said Jane. "And then . . . well, all the political correctness goes out the window."
Emir was selected from 12 finalists in Bogart's Night Club in Salthill. Before she knew it, she had won the Miss Ireland competition - bringing the crown to Galway for the second year in a row.
Always extrovert and at ease with herself, Emir's ability to cope with her new-found status was put to the test the day after the national contest.
Her father lives in Kuwait, and Jane, a mother of three, is married to another partner. A little hint of racism and narrow-mindedness, Irish-style, which Jane had detected before - and had tried to protect her daughter from - surfaced again in certain sections of the press.
In fact, it was that very hint of prejudice that had influenced Jane's decision to send her daughter to the expensive international school.
"Yes, I have to say that as someone reared on a council estate in south Dublin, and one of seven children, I always wanted the best for my own. I wanted Emir to have the education that I was not equipped to give her myself.
"But also, given the international mix, she wasn't going to stand out here. In fact, some of her fellow pupils were far more exotic. And the Benedictine ethos which allows everyone to achieve at their own level really attracted me."
The Benedictines have been at Kylemore since they fled from Belgium in 1918. Known then as the "Irish nuns", they had been forced out of Ireland by the 18th-century penal laws and had weathered the French Revolution's anti-clerical period.
However, their "high" convent at Ypres was burnt down in the first World War, and in 1920 they were given help to buy the fairy-tale castle in Connemara, then owned by a bankrupt duke.
Built in 1865 by Thomas Mitchell Henry for his wife, the Gothic building is still surrounded by the indigenous woodlands that gave the place its name. Mitchell Henry's wife died in Egypt in 1874, and he came back only occasionally after that. He sold most of the estate in 1902, and it was bought by the Duke of Manchester, who allowed Marconi to set up some of his receiver masts on the grounds.
When the British fleet came into Killary harbour on manoeuvres, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were taken on a tour around Letterfrack and stopped at Kylemore for tea.
The nuns have put many success stories through their hands, but Sister Rosario, who is from Inis Mor, would not be pressed to name names. Everyone is special; and at the school, they always have another "home".
So it was that Mother Clare reminded Emir, as she introduced her to the school choir and tried to persuade her to play the piano, that they would always pray for her. "It is a dangerous old world out there, and if she's ever lonely or worried there will always be a Kylemore." Emir is due to compete in the Miss World contest in London, and has months of public engagements ahead. She intends to continue her music studies at DIT in Rathmines, Dublin, to keep her feet on the ground.
Sister Karol, Emir's music teacher, is not the least bit worried about her charge's future direction or the impact that the coming year will have on her studies. "She is very level-headed, very talented, very committed. I have no doubt that she will stick it out."