Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.03 of the 4 schools around Cootehill are multi-denominational
Of the post-primaries around Cootehill, 0% are single-sex, close to Co. Cavan’s towns (0%) and below Irish towns (39%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, St Aidans Comprehensive School, has 654 pupils. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Cootehill’s schools
A choice beyond the church schools
Most schools in Ireland have a church patron; here more of them are multi- or inter-denominational than in most places (14% across Ireland). They are St Aidans Comprehensive School (654), Holy Family S S (182) and Darley N.S. (130). Who runs them ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is St Aidans Comprehensive School: 512 pupils in 2019/20, 654 now. Getting a place ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Who runs Cootehill’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
1 of Cootehill’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Minister for Education (1), Bishop of Kilmore (1) and Joint patronage between Bishop of Kilmore Elphin & Ardagh COI and the Presbyterian Moderator (1). 1 of the 4 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.
The 4 schools in and around Cootehill
Every school in Cootehill or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Where the 4 schools in and around Cootehill 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 Cootehill’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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Cootehill
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 4 schools in and around Cootehill teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Cootehill’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Cavan’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Cootehill | Co. Cavan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 19% | 25% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 47% | 49% | 49% |
Fewer of the pupils around Cootehill are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 19% against 27% (Co. Cavan: 25%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here, 6% there. Of the DEIS schools here, St Michaels National School is the biggest: 232 pupils.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Aidans Comprehensive SchoolPost-primary · Comprehensive | 654 | 48% | ||
| St Michaels National SchoolPrimary | 232 | 56% | ✓ | |
| Darley N.S.Primary | 130 | 50% | ||
| Holy Family S SSpecial | 182 | 25% |
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.
The 4 patrons of Cootehill’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Of the 4 schools around Cootehill, 1 have Minister for Education as patron, teaching 55% of the pupils; 4 patrons in all.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minister for EducationSt Aidans Comprehensive School | Inter-denominational | 1 | 654 |
| Bishop of KilmoreSt Michaels | Catholic | 1 | 232 |
| Named IndivdualHoly Family S S | Multi-denominational | 1 | 182 |
| Joint patronage between Bishop of Kilmore Elphin & Ardagh COI and the Presbyterian ModeratorDarley | Multi-denominational | 1 | 130 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Cootehill
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, 2 of the 3 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.
Inspection reports for Cootehill’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
Inspectors visit every kind of school. Whole-school evaluations look at teaching and learning, leadership and management; subject inspections look at one subject; follow-through inspections check whether earlier advice was taken. Each report is published on gov.ie with the school’s response.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Aidans Comprehensive SchoolPost-primary · Comprehensive | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Michaels National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Darley N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Holy Family S SSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Cootehill
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Cootehill is St Aidans Comprehensive School, a comprehensive school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Aidans Comprehensive SchoolComprehensive · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 654 | 1.2 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Cootehill
Holy Family S S is the special school here, with 182 pupils. 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.
Cootehill beside the 90 other Irish towns of 1,300 to 2,500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleconnell | 2,488 | 2 | 536 | 0 | 0% | 5.9 km |
| … | ||||||
| Newmarket-On-Fergus | 1,887 | 2 | 272 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Clones | 1,885 | 3 | 848 | 1 | 100% | 0.5 km |
| Portlaw | 1,881 | 1 | 214 | 0 | 100% | 4.7 km |
| Ballivor | 1,870 | 2 | 248 | 0 | 100% | 9.7 km |
| Cootehill | 1,856 | 4 | 1,198 | 0 | 25% | 1.3 km |
| Castlebridge | 1,850 | 3 | 459 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Oughterard | 1,846 | 2 | 730 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| Watergrasshill | 1,840 | 1 | 391 | 0 | 0% | 8.8 km |
| Derrinturn | 1,837 | 3 | 426 | 0 | 100% | 8.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ferns | 1,317 | 2 | 324 | 0 | 50% | 10 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 18 of the other 90 towns than around Cootehill. Within 3 km, 13 of these 91 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Cootehill
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 Cootehill had 989 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,198 in 2025/26. St Aidans Comprehensive School grew most: +28% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Cootehill
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 Cootehill
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cootehill | 4 | 1,198 | 0 | 25% | 1.3 km |
| Ballybay 13 km | 4 | 772 | 0 | 50% | 0.4 km |
| Clones 16 km | 3 | 848 | 1 | 100% | 0.5 km |
| Bailieborough 19 km | 5 | 1,420 | 0 | 20% | 0.1 km |
Clones has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Cootehill changed by +13%; among its neighbours, Clones’s grew most (+8%) and Ballybay’s least (+2%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Cootehill 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 Cootehill
How many schools are there in Cootehill?
In Cootehill or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 special school, with 1,198 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Cootehill that teach through Irish?
None in Cootehill or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Cootehill?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Cootehill?
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 Cootehill?
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).