Few schools around Ballycannan teach through Irish: 0%, below Co. Clare’s towns and Irish towns
In the comparison, Ballycannan comes below both Co. Clare’s towns (10%) and Irish towns (8%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, Thomond Community College, has 597 pupils. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never 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 Ballycannan’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: Thomond Community College (597), Corpus Christi N.S. (403), Scoil Chriost Ri B (278) and S N Muire na hEireann (262), and 2 more. Who runs them ↓
A wide choice at twelve
15 post-primary schools lie within 10 km, so families here have a real choice at twelve; each admits on its own policy. The nearest: Thomond Community College (2.4 km), St Munchin's College (3.3 km) and Ardscoil Ris (3.9 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Ballycannan’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
6 of Ballycannan’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Limerick (6) and Limerick & Clare ETB (1). 6 of the 7 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 7 schools in and around Ballycannan
Each school in or within 3 km of Ballycannan links to a page of its own. These schools carry no letter or result: Ireland doesn’t release them school by school.
Where the 7 schools in and around Ballycannan 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 Ballycannan’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 Ballycannan
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 7 schools in and around Ballycannan teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballycannan’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Clare’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 Ballycannan | Co. Clare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 85% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 3% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 50% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 85% of the pupils around Ballycannan, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Clare: 18%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here, 6% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Thomond Community College is the biggest: 597 pupils.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Mhuire MiliucPrimary | 84 | 56% | ✓ | |
| Corpus Christi N.S.Primary | 403 | 50% | ✓ | |
| Thomond Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 597 | 52% | ✓ | |
| S.N. an Phairtin MixedPrimary | 317 | 51% | ||
| Thomond Primary SchoolPrimary | 215 | 49% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Chriost Ri BPrimary | 278 | 0% | ✓ | |
| S N Muire na hEireannPrimary | 262 | 100% | ✓ |
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 Ballycannan’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Of the 7 schools around Ballycannan, 6 have Bishop of Limerick as patron, teaching 72% of the pupils; 2 patrons in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of LimerickCorpus Christi, S.N. an Phairtin Mixed, Scoil Chriost Ri B, S N Muire na hEireann, Thomond Primary School, S.N. Mhuire Miliuc | Catholic | 6 | 1,559 |
| Limerick & Clare ETBThomond | Multi-denominational | 1 | 597 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballycannan
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
Since 2019/20, 2 of these 7 schools have grown by 5% or more and 4 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of pupils changed by +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 Ballycannan’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
Reports come from whole-school evaluations (teaching, learning, leadership and management), subject inspections and follow-through visits that check earlier advice; gov.ie publishes each one with the school’s response.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 7 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Mhuire MiliucPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Corpus Christi N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Thomond Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. an Phairtin MixedPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Thomond Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Chriost Ri BPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S N Muire na hEireannPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballycannan
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Ballycannan have 15 post-primary schools within 10 km: 10 voluntary secondary schools, 4 ETB schools and one comprehensive school. Of these, 7 are single-sex: 3 for girls and 4 for boys. One of them charges fees. Every subject is taught through Irish at 2 of them.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomond Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 597 | 2.4 km |
| St Munchin's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 682 | 3.3 km |
| Ardscoil RisVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 728 | 3.9 km |
| Ardscoil MhuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 591 | 4.2 km |
| Villiers Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | Fee-paying, Boarding | 508 | 4.3 km |
| Gaelcholáiste LuimnighETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 606 | 4.8 km |
| Coláiste Nano NagleVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 365 | 4.9 km |
| St Clements CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | DEIS | 411 | 5 km |
| Colaiste MhichilVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | DEIS | 349 | 5 km |
| Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | Gaelcholáiste | 315 | 5.1 km |
| Laurel Hill Secondary School FCJVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 746 | 5.1 km |
| Crescent College ComprehensiveComprehensive · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 922 | 7.1 km |
All 15 post-primary schools within reach
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limerick City East Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 811 | 7.4 km |
| Mungret Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 991 | 8.1 km |
| Castletroy CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,360 | 8.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballycannan
No special school is in or near Ballycannan. 5 of the 6 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.
Ballycannan beside the 215 other Irish towns of 400 to 800 people
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km, listed by population: Ireland publishes no results, so none is ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crinkill | 795 | 7 | 1,708 | 1 | 86% | 3.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Rosscarbery | 638 | 2 | 576 | 0 | 0% | 0.9 km |
| Emyvale | 638 | 3 | 479 | 0 | 0% | 8.6 km |
| Passage East | 634 | 3 | 236 | 0 | 33% | 4.2 km |
| Borris-In-Ossory | 629 | 1 | 95 | 0 | 0% | 9.8 km |
| Ballycannan | 629 | 7 | 2,156 | 0 | 86% | 2.4 km |
| Glanworth | 628 | 1 | 114 | 0 | 0% | 8 km |
| Glenealy | 623 | 1 | 116 | 0 | 100% | 6.3 km |
| Garristown | 619 | 1 | 191 | 0 | 0% | 6.5 km |
| Fenit | 619 | 1 | 43 | 0 | 0% | 9.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Oilgate | 401 | 2 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 6.2 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 7 of the other 215 towns than around Ballycannan. 18 of the 216 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballycannan
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 Ballycannan had 1,945 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,156 in 2025/26. Corpus Christi N.S. grew most: +22% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballycannan
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 Ballycannan
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballycannan | 7 | 2,156 | 0 | 86% | 2.4 km |
| Ballynanty 2.4 km | 39 | 12,623 | 4 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| Caherdavin 2.9 km | 46 | 16,583 | 5 | 39% | 1 km |
| Ardnacrusha 3 km | 5 | 2,332 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Farranshone 3.6 km | 49 | 16,369 | 6 | 47% | 0.4 km |
| Westbury 4.1 km | 29 | 9,896 | 3 | 55% | 0.9 km |
| Corbally and King's Island 4.1 km | 45 | 15,801 | 6 | 49% | 0.2 km |
Farranshone has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. Of Ballycannan’s neighbours, Westbury saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+8%) and Ardnacrusha the least (−3%); Ballycannan itself: +1%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballycannan 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 Ballycannan
How many schools are there in Ballycannan?
In Ballycannan or within 3 km of it: 6 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 2,156 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballycannan that teach through Irish?
None in Ballycannan 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 Ballycannan?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Ballycannan?
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 Ballycannan?
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).