Photo: Original uploader was Sarah777 at en.wikipedia · Public domainAround Killaloe, only 0% of schools teach through Irish, fewer than around Co. Clare’s towns or Irish towns
On this, Killaloe is below both Co. Clare’s towns (10%) and Irish towns (8%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, St Anne's Community College, has 731 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.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Killaloe’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: Killaloe Boys N.S. (104) and Mercy Convent Killaloe (97). Who runs them ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is St Anne's Community College: 557 pupils in 2019/20, 731 now. Getting a place ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Killaloe’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Killaloe’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Killaloe (2), Limerick & Clare ETB (1) and Archbishop of Cashel & Emly (1). 2 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 Killaloe
Each school in or within 3 km of Killaloe links to a page of its own. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Where the 4 schools in and around Killaloe 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 Killaloe’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 Killaloe
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 4 schools in and around Killaloe teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Killaloe’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 Killaloe | Co. Clare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 15% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 3% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 50% | 49% |
Around Killaloe, 15% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 18% in Co. Clare. Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%. Killaloe Boys N.S., with 104 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 731 | 50% | ||
| Killaloe Boys N.S.Primary | 104 | 0% | ✓ | |
| Mercy Convent KillaloePrimary | 97 | 98% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Baile an AthaPrimary | 404 | 45% |
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 3 patrons of Killaloe’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Killaloe is patron of 2 of the 4 schools around Killaloe, which teach 15% of their pupils; 3 patrons run them in all. An Education and Training Board runs one of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of KillaloeKillaloe Boys, Mercy Convent Killaloe | Catholic | 2 | 201 |
| Limerick & Clare ETBSt Anne's | Inter-denominational | 1 | 731 |
| Archbishop of Cashel & EmlyS.N. Baile an Atha | Catholic | 1 | 404 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Killaloe
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
1 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 Killaloe’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 |
|---|---|
| St Anne's Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Killaloe Boys N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Mercy Convent KillaloePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Baile an AthaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Killaloe
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Killaloe is St Anne's Community College, an ETB school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 731 | 0.7 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Killaloe
No special school is in or near Killaloe. 2 of the 3 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.
Killaloe beside the 102 other Irish towns of 1,200 to 2,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgeworthstown | 2,199 | 3 | 423 | 0 | 33% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Allenwood | 1,685 | 4 | 802 | 0 | 0% | 7.2 km |
| Longwood | 1,685 | 2 | 818 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| Dingle-Daingean Uí Chuis | 1,671 | 5 | 796 | 5 | 20% | 0.3 km |
| Manorhamilton | 1,667 | 4 | 811 | 1 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Killaloe | 1,666 | 4 | 1,336 | 0 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Mullagh | 1,651 | 2 | 450 | 0 | 0% | 9.3 km |
| Baile Chláir | 1,632 | 3 | 1,800 | 0 | 33% | 0.8 km |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 3 | 586 | 0 | 33% | 0.5 km |
| Lifford | 1,613 | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Clonee | 1,205 | 25 | 12,320 | 2 | 28% | 1.3 km |
Of these 102 other towns, 15 count more pupils at their schools than Killaloe. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 13 of the 103.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Killaloe
Pupils every September at the schools in or within 3 km of the town, each counted at today’s site.
The schools in and around Killaloe had 1,209 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,336 in 2025/26. St Anne's Community College grew most: +31% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Killaloe
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 Killaloe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killaloe | 4 | 1,336 | 0 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Ballina 1 km | 4 | 1,336 | 0 | 50% | 1.1 km |
| Castleconnell 11 km | 2 | 536 | 0 | 0% | 5.9 km |
| Newport 11 km | 4 | 1,527 | 0 | 25% | 0.4 km |
| Ardnacrusha 15 km | 5 | 2,332 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Annacotty 17 km | 8 | 4,443 | 1 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Westbury 17 km | 29 | 9,896 | 3 | 55% | 0.9 km |
Westbury has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 3. The roll around Killaloe moved +9% since 2019/20; nearby, Newport grew most (+22%) and Castleconnell least (−5%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Killaloe 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 Killaloe
How many schools are there in Killaloe?
In Killaloe or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 1,336 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Killaloe that teach through Irish?
None in Killaloe 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 Killaloe?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Killaloe?
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 Killaloe?
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).