The J. P. McManus Scholarship Award was established on December 16, 1996 when a capital sum was provided by McManus with the purpose of funding third level education scholarships for students of C.B.S. Sexton Street, Limerick, his Alma Mater.
Eight scholarships based on Leaving Certificate examination results are awarded each year since 1997 to the top students with the best results.
Each scholarship has a value of €6,750 per annum and the average term of each one is four years.
1997: Joseph McCarthy, Donal O'Brien, Patrick Dundon, Trevor Clancy, John O'Halloran, Patrick Gavin, Raymond Casey, David Fahey.
1998: Trevor Byrne, Thomas Fleming, John Walsh, Roger Gough, Michael Metcalfe, Declan Hogan, [Patrick O'Doherty], Joseph Mulqueen.
1999: Padraig Cullinan, Patrick McInerney, Michael Kiely, Richard Meaney, Eamonn Dillon (R.I.P), Timmy Houlihan, Brian Hartigan, Anthony Metcalfe
2000: Colin King, Colm Henn, David Casey, Kevin Paul Higgans, Keith Griffin, Shane Madden, Robert Anslow, Paul O'Connor
2001: Thomas Quirke, Brian O'Callaghan, Colm Dillon, Kevin Shine, Keith Lynch, Ross Smyth, Sean Conway, John Shine
2002: James Clifford, Brian Coleman, Jonathan Flynn, Frank Hoare, Brendan McCarthy, Simon Leamy, Henry Foster, Jamie Sheahan
2003: Gavin Dillon, Shane Mc Namara, David Keane ,James Corbett, Paul McDonald, Paul Ryan, Colin O'Rourke, Gearoid Cullinan
2004: Alan Daly, Christopher Mc Namara, Adam Hackett, Aidan Mulcahy, Shane Cahill, Laurence Browne, Stephen Lee, Greg Power
2005: Niall Carroll, Brendan Clifford, Paul Collins, Adrian Dawson, James Leahy, Patrick Lonergan, Eoghan O'Sullivan, Andrew Ryan
2006: Alan Brereton, Eoin Madigan, Alan McAuliffe, Colm O'Brien, Kevin O'Doherty, Shane O'Reilly, Vijay Slattery, Ross Tuite
2007: James Hickey, Raymond Kerley, Kevin McKevitt, David "Bobo" Mullane, Kevin Reardon, Kevin Ryan, Raymond Slattery, Sean Tobin
2008: Robert Lee, Liam McNamara, Jamie Kerley, Mawuli Boevi, Mateusz Grodzicki, Barry McNamara, Jonathan Clohessy, Jamie Richardson
2009: Jamie Lynch, Rory Lynch, Patryk Mania, Patrick McNamara, Jack Molyneaux, Eoin O'Brien, Mark O'Toole, Keith Sheahan
2010: Ryan Bourke, Kevin Bowman, Dara Chesser, Ian Costelloe, Dane Creamer, Darragh Hogan, Andrew Lynch, Andrew O' Riordan, Pawel Surowka
On September 15, 2006, a special event was held at the South Court Hotel in Limerick not only to celebrate the 2006 winners but also to mark the 10th anniversary of the scholarships' establishment.
Past winners and their guests, the teachers of C.B.S. Sexton Street, J.P. McManus, the Minister for Education & Science Mary Hanafin and many more were present on the day. Entertainment was provided by Brendan Grace.