Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0DEIS support is widespread around Ballinagh: 100% of schools, above Co. Cavan’s towns and Irish towns
The DEIS programme includes 100% of the schools around Ballinagh, above both Co. Cavan’s towns (20%) and Irish towns (35%). DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, reaches 2 of its 2 schools; across Ireland, 30%. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Ballinagh’s schools
Extra support for many schools
Many schools here are in DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and help; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. In DEIS: S N Beal Atha na nEach (229) and Scoil Mhuire (92). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Ballinagh are
Each school where the official list places it, shaded by who runs it and sized by pupils; squares are secondary schools, triangles special schools. The dashed shape is Ballinagh’s outline; schools within 3 km of it count.
Places from the Department of Education’s school lists (its own coordinates for all but a handful); map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Who runs Ballinagh’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Ballinagh’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Kilmore (2). 2 of the 2 are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas (30% across Ireland).
Department of Education school lists: ethos 2025/26, patron 2024/25 (the 2025/26 lists don’t give it). DEIS list 2025/26.
Teaching through Irish in and around Ballinagh
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 2 schools in and around Ballinagh teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballinagh’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Cavan’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Ballinagh | Co. Cavan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 25% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
Around Ballinagh, 100% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 25% in Co. Cavan. The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here, 6% there. Of the DEIS schools here, S N Beal Atha na nEach is the biggest: 229 pupils.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S N Beal Atha na nEachPrimary | 229 | 47% | ✓ | |
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | 92 | 58% | ✓ |
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary): enrolments by sex and the DEIS list. Shares are of pupils, not of schools; a county’s are the schools listed with its towns.
How children get a place in Ballinagh
Starting primary school
Children can start primary school once they are four, and must be in school by six. Families apply to each school directly. Every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice; a school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its policy. Since the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, a Catholic or other majority-faith primary school can’t put baptised children first; a school of a minority faith still can, to keep its ethos.
Moving to secondary school
Children move to post-primary school at about twelve, after sixth class. Again, families apply to each school, usually a year or more ahead, and an oversubscribed school admits on its published criteria, often brothers and sisters and its feeder primary schools.
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; each school’s admission policy and notice are on its own website.
Which schools are growing
Between 2019/20 and now, 1 of the 2 grew by 5% or more and 1 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +5%.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September, 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary). No capacity is published, so how full a school is can’t be shown.
The 2 schools in and around Ballinagh
Every school in Ballinagh or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. These schools carry no letter or result: Ireland doesn’t release them school by school.
Inspection reports for Ballinagh’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 2 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S N Beal Atha na nEachPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballinagh
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
4 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Ballinagh: 3 voluntary secondary schools and one ETB school. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 1 girls’ and 1 boys’ schools. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal School CavanVoluntary secondary · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | – | 386 | 6.7 km |
| Loreto CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 663 | 9.4 km |
| St Patrick's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 825 | 9.5 km |
| Breifne CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 906 | 9.7 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballinagh
No special school is in or near Ballinagh. 1 of the 2 primary schools have special classes for children who need more support. Their cards ↑
Special schools and primary schools with special classes as the Department lists them; the National Council for Special Education places pupils in special classes.
Ballinagh beside the 168 other Irish towns of 700 to 1,400 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moville | 1,390 | 5 | 1,100 | 1 | 40% | 0.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Knock | 1,029 | 1 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 7.8 km |
| Mohill | 1,027 | 3 | 788 | 0 | 33% | 0.5 km |
| Tallow | 1,022 | 2 | 184 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Lehinch | 1,018 | 5 | 1,110 | 1 | 40% | 2.8 km |
| Ballinagh | 1,012 | 2 | 321 | 0 | 100% | 6.8 km |
| Newcastle | 1,010 | 5 | 1,475 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Carragh | 1,006 | 2 | 1,383 | 0 | 0% | 3.5 km |
| Castletownbere | 999 | 3 | 524 | 0 | 67% | 0.4 km |
| Ardfinnan | 978 | 1 | 244 | 0 | 0% | 8.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Shanagarry | 700 | 2 | 201 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 103 of the other 168 towns than around Ballinagh. Within 3 km, 20 of these 169 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballinagh
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around Ballinagh had 324 pupils in 2015/16 and 321 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballinagh
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year, 2015/16 to 2025/26 (preliminary), for every school placed in the area today; schools that have since closed or merged count where they stood.
Schools in the towns around Ballinagh
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinagh | 2 | 321 | 0 | 100% | 6.8 km |
| Cavan 7.9 km | 14 | 4,634 | 1 | 29% | 1.2 km |
| Ballyjamesduff 15 km | 2 | 1,000 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| Granard 18 km | 6 | 1,295 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Belturbet 19 km | 4 | 551 | 0 | 50% | 0.2 km |
Cavan has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Of Ballinagh’s neighbours, Belturbet saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+22%) and Ballyjamesduff the least (−4%); Ballinagh itself: +2%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballinagh or within 3 km of its outline, as the Department places it: families here use them. Schools further out are on the map of each school’s own page.
- The kinds of school. Primary schools take children from junior infants to sixth class, about ages 4 to 12. Post-primary schools teach the Junior and Leaving Certificate, about ages 12 to 18: voluntary secondary schools (mostly with a religious patron), ETB schools and community colleges run by an Education and Training Board, and community and comprehensive schools. Special schools teach children with particular needs.
- Teaching through Irish. All-Irish: every subject taught through Irish, in the Gaeltacht or, outside it, a Gaelscoil or Gaelcholáiste. Partly in Irish: an Irish stream (some classes entirely through Irish) or some subjects through Irish. Every other school teaches Irish as a subject.
- DEIS. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) gives schools serving disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and support; the Department decides which schools are in it.
- Ethos and patron. Most Irish schools are owned by a patron, mostly a church; the patron sets the school’s ethos. Multi-denominational schools (Educate Together, many ETB schools) teach children of every faith and none together.
- No grade. Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 lets the Minister refuse to release information that would allow schools’ exam results to be compared, and no results are published school by school. So Ireland’s schools have no letters and its towns no School Grade; nothing on this page ranks them.
- What isn’t here. What the UK and French pages show from results, these can’t: results charts, results against pupils’ backgrounds and towns ranked by their schools (no published results), and how full each school is (no capacity is published). Every post-primary school teaches to the Leaving Certificate, so there is no sixth-form split to show.
- Inspections. The Inspectorate’s reports are linked from each school’s page. They give no overall grade, so none is shown.
- The year. The 2025/26 lists are the Department’s preliminary release; numbers can change a little in the final lists.
Questions about schools in Ballinagh
How many schools are there in Ballinagh?
In Ballinagh or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 321 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballinagh that teach through Irish?
None in Ballinagh or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballinagh?
Not in Ballinagh or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Royal School Cavan, 6.8 km away.
What is the best school in Ballinagh?
We don’t say. Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them; a ranking would rest on guesses. Each school’s page has its own facts and a link to its inspection reports, and visiting the schools you are weighing is still the best guide.
How do I get a place at a school in Ballinagh?
Apply to each school directly: every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates. If it has more applicants than places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · one school placed with OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).