Rice College
New Road, Ennis, Co Clare · V95 FV10 · Roll number 61910K
Rice College is one of 4 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ennis. Every school in and around Ennis →
What stands out about Rice College
- 666 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−5%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- 236 girls and 430 boys: more of one than the other.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is Edmund Rice Schools Trust; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Rice College had 666 pupils in 2025/26, against 637 in 2015/16 (+5%). Girls are 35% of them. Its largest roll was 721, in 2022/23. Its roll rose in 7 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Rice College
Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing schools by them, so this school has no letter and nothing here ranks it. Its facts are the Department of Education’s; its inspection reports are linked below.
What the Department of Education does publish for Rice College is on this page: its pupils each September since 2015/16, girls and boys, its patron and ethos, whether it teaches through Irish, whether it is in DEIS, and its inspection reports.
Newspapers print lists of how many of a school’s leavers go on to college. Those count destinations, not exam results, and depend on who a school takes in; we don’t use them.
Inspection reports on Rice College
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate visits schools and publishes its reports. The reports describe what inspectors saw; they give no overall grade, and we don’t make one. Reports for this school on gov.ie ↗
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.
Getting a place at Rice College
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Rice College directly, usually in the year before their child finishes sixth class; the school’s yearly admission notice gives the dates for applying and for its decisions.
A school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its admission policy, often brothers and sisters, the area it serves and, for post-primary schools, its feeder primaries. A family refused a place can appeal.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Rice College has shrunk by 5% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ennis together changed by +1%.
Pupils since 2019/20
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; Department of Education enrolments 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary).
Side by side with the nearest post-primary schools
2025/26The nearest schools of the same kind, as the crow flies: their pupils, ethos and language. No results: none are published.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 5 have more pupils than Rice College. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −5%; 6 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice College | 666 | −5% | Catholic | English | ||
| Coláiste Mhuire | 1,013 | +3% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Ennis Community College | 614 | +33% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 0.6 km |
| St Flannan's College | 1,270 | +8% | Catholic | English | 1.6 km | |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School Tulla | 727 | +22% | Catholic | English | 15 km | |
| Shannon Comprehensive School | 765 | +38% | Inter-denominational | English | 17 km | |
| St Caimin's Community School | 794 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | 18 km |
The other 9 post-primary schools in Co. Clare
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St John Bosco Community College | 289 | +12% | Inter-denominational | English | 21 km | |
| Ennistymon Community School | 693 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 24 km | |
| St Michael's Community College | 283 | +16% | Multi-denominational | English | 27 km | |
| Mary Immaculate Secondary School | 284 | +13% | Catholic | English | 29 km | |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School | 449 | +41% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| Scariff Community College | 429 | +0% | Multi-denominational | English | 30 km | |
| St Anne's Community College | 731 | +31% | Inter-denominational | English | 37 km | |
| Kilrush Community School | 343 | −20% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 41 km |
| St Joseph's Community College | 171 | +18% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 49 km |
Living in Ennis
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the V95 Eircode area
Housing in Ennis →The median sale price rose from €251,500 in 2023 to €320,000 in 2025 (+27%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the V95 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Ennis
Cost of living in Ennis →New tenancies in Ennis averaged €1,157 a month in 2025, against €1,095 in 2024 (+6%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ennis, V95 FV10
Post-primary schools near Rice College
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Rice College
Is Rice College a good school?
We don’t grade it: Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them. Its inspection reports on gov.ie, a visit and a talk with the principal will tell you more than any table could.
How many pupils does Rice College have?
666 pupils in 2025/26. That is −5% since 2019/20.
Does Rice College teach through Irish?
No: Rice College teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Rice College?
Rice College has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Edmund Rice Schools Trust.
How do pupils get a place at Rice College?
Apply to the school directly. It publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates; if more children apply than it has places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Which schools of the same kind are near Rice College?
The nearest are Coláiste Mhuire (0.4 km), Ennis Community College (0.6 km) and St Flannan's College (1.6 km).
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · inspection reports on gov.ie, linked by roll number. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Facts from the Department of Education’s school lists. Listed with Ennis; nothing here rates the school.
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).