The nearest secondary school to Kilnaleck is 8.1 km away
Around Kilnaleck, 0% of schools teach through Irish, close to Co. Cavan’s towns (0%) and below Irish towns (8%). All 4 of its schools are Catholic: there is no other kind within 3 km. 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.
Where the 4 schools in and around Kilnaleck 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 Kilnaleck’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 Kilnaleck’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
4 of Kilnaleck’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kilmore (3) and Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise (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 Kilnaleck
Here are the schools in Kilnaleck or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Teaching through Irish in and around Kilnaleck
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 4 schools in and around Kilnaleck teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Kilnaleck’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.
| Share of pupils | Around Kilnaleck | Co. Cavan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 51% | 49% | 49% |
The share of pupils at DEIS schools around Kilnaleck, 26%, is close to Ireland’s 27% (Co. Cavan: 25%). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here against 6%. The biggest school in DEIS is Kilnaleck Mixed N.S. (106 pupils).
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilnaleck Mixed N.S.Primary | 106 | 58% | ✓ | |
| Crosserlough N.S.Primary | 93 | 49% | ||
| Ballynarry N.S.Primary | 111 | 50% | ||
| Drumkilly N.S.Primary | 96 | 46% |
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 2 patrons of Kilnaleck’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 Kilnaleck, 3 have Bishop of Kilmore as patron, teaching 73% of the pupils; 2 patrons in all.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of KilmoreKilnaleck Mixed, Drumkilly, Crosserlough | Catholic | 3 | 295 |
| Bishop of Ardagh & ClonmacnoiseBallynarry | Catholic | 1 | 111 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Kilnaleck
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
2 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 2 have shrunk by as much, out of 4; across Ireland: +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 Kilnaleck’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
Each school is visited by inspectors from time to time, for a whole-school evaluation of teaching, learning and leadership, for one subject, or to follow up earlier advice, and every report is posted 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 |
|---|---|
| Kilnaleck Mixed N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Crosserlough N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ballynarry N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Drumkilly N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Kilnaleck
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 Kilnaleck is St Clare's College, a voluntary secondary school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Clare's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 578 | 8.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Kilnaleck
No special school is in or near Kilnaleck. 1 of the 4 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.
Kilnaleck beside the 217 other Irish towns of 300 to 600 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshford | 593 | 2 | 244 | 0 | 50% | 10 km |
| … | ||||||
| Drimoleague | 486 | 3 | 121 | 0 | 0% | 12 km |
| Blackwater | 485 | 1 | 218 | 0 | 0% | 8.9 km |
| Cluain Bú | 484 | 2 | 410 | 1 | 0% | 7.2 km |
| Carrigallen | 481 | 2 | 511 | 0 | 50% | 0.1 km |
| Kilnaleck | 481 | 4 | 406 | 0 | 25% | 8.1 km |
| Walsh Island or Coolagary | 480 | 1 | 83 | 0 | 100% | 8.1 km |
| Tyrrellspass | 480 | 1 | 176 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Fennagh | 479 | 1 | 144 | 0 | 0% | 7.2 km |
| Ballyliffin | 479 | 3 | 349 | 0 | 100% | 8.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 52 of the other 217 towns than around Kilnaleck. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 19 of the 218.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Kilnaleck
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Kilnaleck had 408 pupils in 2015/16 and 406 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Ballynarry N.S. grew most: +22% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Kilnaleck
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 Kilnaleck
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
Cavan has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. The roll around Kilnaleck moved −4% since 2019/20; nearby, Granard grew most (+21%) and Ballyjamesduff least (−4%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Kilnaleck 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 Kilnaleck
How many schools are there in Kilnaleck?
In Kilnaleck or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, with 406 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Kilnaleck that teach through Irish?
None in Kilnaleck or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Kilnaleck?
Not in Kilnaleck or within 3 km of it; the nearest is St Clare's College, 8.1 km away.
What is the best school in Kilnaleck?
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 Kilnaleck?
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).