Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.025% of the post-primaries around Ennis are single-sex: 0% around Co. Clare’s towns, 39% around Irish towns
Every subject is taught through Irish at 6% of the schools around Ennis, below both Co. Clare’s towns (10%) and Irish towns (8%). In or within 3 km of Ennis, they have 7,595 pupils in all. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
Where the 18 schools in and around Ennis 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 Ennis’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 Ennis
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Ennis’s 18 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gael Sc Mhichil Chiosog.
Who Ennis’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against 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 Ennis | Co. Clare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 24% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 6% | 3% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 50% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 28% | 11% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
The share of pupils at DEIS schools around Ennis, 24%, is close to Ireland’s 27% (Co. Clare: 18%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools: 0% here, 6% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Ennis Community College is the biggest: 614 pupils.
Each of the 18 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Flannan's CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,270 | 32% | ||
| Coláiste MhuirePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,013 | 100% | ||
| Rice CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 666 | 35% | ||
| Bunscoil na mBraithrePrimary | 643 | 48% | ||
| Ennis N.S.Primary | 615 | 47% | ||
| Ennis Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 614 | 39% | ✓ | |
| Gael Sc Mhichil ChiosogPrimary | 451 | 54% | ✓ | |
| Clarecastle National SchoolPrimary | 362 | 49% | ✓ | |
| Holy Family SnrPrimary | 306 | 49% | ✓ | |
| Chriost RiPrimary | 226 | 50% | ✓ | |
| Holy Family Junior SchoolPrimary | 167 | 40% | ✓ | |
| Ennis Educate Together NSPrimary | 144 | 42% | ✓ | |
| St Annes S SSpecial | 142 | 30% | ||
| St Clares Special SchSpecial | 107 | 25% | ||
| S.N. Cnoc an EinPrimary | 262 | 49% | ||
| Barefield Mixed N.S.Primary | 390 | 55% | ||
| Inch N.S.Primary | 104 | 52% | ||
| S.N. Dubh RathPrimary | 113 | 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.
Who runs Ennis’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
16 of Ennis’s 18 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Killaloe (14), CEIST (1) and Edmund Rice Schools Trust (1). 6 of the 18 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 5 patrons of Ennis’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
The schools around Ennis answer to 5 patrons, and Bishop of Killaloe leads with 14 of the 18 schools and 68% of their pupils. One is an ETB school. Educate Together runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of KillaloeSt Flannan's College, Bunscoil na mBraithre, Ennis, Gael Sc Mhichil Chiosog, Barefield Mixed, Clarecastle, Holy Family Snr, S.N. Cnoc an Ein, Chriost Ri, Holy Family Junior School, St Annes S S, S.N. Dubh Rath, St Clares Special Sch, Inch | Catholic | 14 | 5,158 |
| CEISTColáiste Mhuire | Catholic | 1 | 1,013 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustRice College | Catholic | 1 | 666 |
| Limerick & Clare ETBEnnis | Multi-denominational | 1 | 614 |
| Educate TogetherEnnis Educate Together NS | Multi-denominational | 1 | 144 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ennis
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, 6 of the 16 grew by 5% or more and 3 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +5%.
All 16 schools
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 18 schools in and around Ennis
Every school in Ennis or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Inspection reports for Ennis’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 18 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Flannan's CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coláiste MhuirePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Rice CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Bunscoil na mBraithrePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ennis N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ennis Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gael Sc Mhichil ChiosogPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Clarecastle National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Holy Family SnrPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Chriost RiPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Holy Family Junior SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ennis Educate Together NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Annes S SSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Clares Special SchSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Cnoc an EinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Barefield Mixed N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Inch N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Dubh RathPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ennis
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Within 10 km of Ennis there are 4 post-primary schools: 3 voluntary secondary schools and one ETB school. Only one teaches girls and boys apart. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste MhuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 1,013 | 0.3 km |
| Ennis Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Irish stream, DEIS | 614 | 0.4 km |
| Rice CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 666 | 0.6 km |
| St Flannan's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,270 | 1.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ennis
2 special schools serve the area: St Annes S S and St Clares Special Sch, 249 pupils between them. 9 of the 12 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.
Ennis beside the 28 other Irish towns of 19,500 to 37,700 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navan | 33,886 | 20 | 9,158 | 1 | 35% | 0.2 km |
| Bray | 33,512 | 30 | 9,081 | 4 | 27% | 0.7 km |
| Ennis | 27,923 | 18 | 7,595 | 1 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 19 | 7,832 | 2 | 42% | 0.7 km |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 19 | 8,557 | 2 | 11% | 0.6 km |
| Naas | 26,180 | 15 | 8,304 | 2 | 7% | 0.1 km |
| Tralee | 26,079 | 18 | 6,726 | 2 | 39% | 0.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Celbridge | 20,601 | 18 | 7,733 | 1 | 0% | 1.4 km |
Among the 28 other towns, 19 have more pupils at their schools than Ennis does. Every one of them has an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ennis
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Ennis had 7,254 pupils in 2015/16 and 7,595 in 2025/26. Ennis Educate Together NS grew most: +125% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ennis
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 Ennis
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ennis | 18 | 7,595 | 1 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Newmarket-On-Fergus 11 km | 2 | 272 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Shannon 17 km | 10 | 2,913 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Sixmilebridge 18 km | 1 | 423 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
Since 2019/20 the pupils around Ennis changed by +1%; among its neighbours, Shannon’s grew most (+7%) and Sixmilebridge’s least (−21%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ennis 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 Ennis
How many schools are there in Ennis?
In Ennis or within 3 km of it: 12 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and 2 special schools, with 7,595 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ennis that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gael Sc Mhichil Chiosog teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Ennis?
No: all 4 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Ennis?
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 Ennis?
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).