Meet the pupils causing teachers at a Co Tyrone school to do a double take.
Six sets of twins are among the new Year 8 intake at St Ciaran’s College in Ballygawley.
It’s not quite as problematic as it could have been. Only the Wilson girls, Sophie and Emily, are identical.
“I got my hair cut differently,” said Sophie — which should help their tutors and pals tell them apart.
While each set of twins share a lot of traits, there can be big differences in their outlook on life, and tastes in food in particular.
“I like cauliflower and peas,” Conor Devlin (11) told me. “I don’t,” said his brother Sean.
Following them through the doors on the first day of the new term at the 900-pupil school were Ruari and Patrick McKenna; Wojciecha and Szymon Burchacki; Amelia and Donnacha Harvey, and Ava and Mia McAteer.
As they walked into the room they didn’t all automatically sit beside their twin.
Emily and Sophie Wilson are the only identical twins in the six sets (Picture by Peter Morrison)
They may have come into the world virtually side by side, but it doesn’t always have to be that way.
“We do have rows at home,” said Amelia. “Just a few.”
“I thought there was bound to be at least one more set of twins coming to the school,” said Patrick, quickly establishing himself as the talkative one of the group.
“There are 160 of us starting, so I guessed we wouldn’t be the only ones.”
He’s not wrong. Roughly one in every 65 pregnancies results is twins.
But that makes the 12 in 160 pupils at St Ciaran’s — all born in the same area of Co Tyrone within a few months and ending up at the same school — all the more remarkable.
“We get on okay I guess,” Patrick added. “We’ve been together all our lives, apart from the first 11 minutes — I was first.”
Asked if he felt that gave him superiority in the home, he nodded and smiled. Ruari nodded in resigned agreement. He will always be the younger twin.
“And he’s taller than me,” added Ruari.
Patrick said: “We don’t like the same things at all, and I’m not only taller, he wears glasses.”
Also playing the older brother card was Conor.
“By one minute,” he smiled, holding up a single finger.
Sophie and Emily said they both “love being a twin”.
“We’ve never really been on our own,” they said in unison.
“We always have each other to turn to. We’ve always got along.”
Ava and Mia McAteer (Picture by Peter Morrison)
It’s only that shorter haircut that marks Sophie as instantly different from her sister.
That’s not the case for Wojciecha and Szymon. There’s not much similarity at all.
“I like farming and he likes sport,” explained Wojciecha.
“I play at Killeeshil (St Mary’s GFC), he’s not interested,” added Szymon.
Senior Year 8 teacher Celine McGirr told the Belfast Telegraph: “We have 160 pupils starting, but to have six sets of twins all starting at the same time in the same year was a bit of a surprise.
“But we are delighted that they have chosen St Ciaran’s as their school.
“One set is a boy and girl, the rest are either both boys and girls, but they are all so different to us already.
“The question we are all asking is what was in the air in 2012? But it’s wonderful for us that St Ciaran’s is benefiting from it now.
“They seem to all be enjoying their first few days in the school and we are delighted to have them with us for the next part of their education.
“We wish them all the very best over their next five or seven years with us.
“We can’t wait until we see them grow and develop and we will nurture them along the way.
“They’ve all come from different primary schools, so it’s not just a Ballygawley thing, it must be a Tyrone thing!”
It’s head of Year 8 Donna McKenna’s job to help the children settle into school life.
She said: “A number of years ago we had a set of quintuplets with us — that was a wonderful thing for the school.
“But I don’t recall ever having so many twins in the one year group.
“Absolutely we’re grateful that they’re not all identical. It makes it so much easier.
“We have no problem identifying them now.
“They all have different wee personalities as well. We can definitely see that coming through.”
Conor and Sean Devlin (Picture by Peter Morrison)
The process of deciding whether they should be together or separated for classes can be a tricky one.
She explained: “We do take a lot of things into consideration whether or not they should be in the same class.
“We have a great relationship with our local partner primary schools and they will always be involved in what happens.
“And we can have requests from parents on whether to keep them apart or together.
“But they are all very unique in their own right.
“Some of them are more reliant on their twin than others, you can definitely see that coming through.
“Some are delighted to be in the same class as their twin, others want to get away from them.
“They all have a lovely wee connection, though, and that’s fascinating for us to watch as they develop.
“There is a little phrase we would always use in this school — ‘A family for families’.
“These six sets of twins are testament to that concept.”