Students, parents and teachers from across Ireland gathered at Trinity College Dublin on Wednesday, 29th April, for the 2026 All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) award ceremony, hosted by the ADAPT Research Centre and led by Director Prof. John Kelleher.
The national final of the competition took place earlier this year in March in Dublin City University, following preliminary rounds held in schools nationwide in January, which saw participation from more than 1,000 students. This year’s finalists represent 56 secondary schools from 20 counties across the island. The top-performing students will go on to represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad in Bucharest, Romania this July.
AILO, run by ADAPT, challenges students to apply logic and analytical reasoning to decode unfamiliar languages. By working through language data to uncover underlying rules, participants develop transferable skills highly relevant to careers in computing, linguistics and language-related fields.
Team award medals were awarded to Kamila Miszkiel (St. Mary’s Holy Faith, Glasnevin), Conor O’Dowd (Catholic University School, Dublin), and Ellie Smyth (Mount Lourdes Grammar School, Enniskillen), alongside Ella-Rose Hamilton (St. Patrick’s College, Dungannon).
In the Junior category, medals were awarded to Luka Ó hEaghra (Coláiste an Eachréidh, Galway), John Murphy (Christian Brothers College, Cork), and Archie Rodger (Wallace High School). The Junior AILO 2026 Champion title and trophy went to Jacob Roantree of St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule for the second year in a row.
The International Team Awards, determining Ireland’s representatives for Bucharest, saw Jacob Roantree place fourth, Aidan Alexander (St Mac Dara’s Community College) take third, and Kirill Korostelev (Institute of Education) secure second place. The overall AILO 2026 Champion title and trophy were awarded to Michael Costello of St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule.
Pictured: Prof Harold Somers (AILO), Jacob Roantree (St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule), Kirill Korostelev (Institute of Education), Aidan Alexander (St Mac Dara’s Community College), Michael Costello (St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule), Prof John Kelleher (Director, ADAPT) and Dr Cara Greene (AILO, ADAPT DCU)
