Photo: Bogman · CC BY-SA 2.5Around Lehinch, 20% of schools teach every subject through Irish, more than around Co. Clare’s towns or Irish towns
That leaves Lehinch above both Co. Clare’s towns (10%) and Irish towns (8%). One of its 5 schools teaches every subject through Irish, against 8% of schools across Ireland. 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.
What stands out about Lehinch’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. The school is S N Iosef Naofa (29). Language ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is Saint Marys N.S. Lahinch: 132 pupils in 2019/20, 166 now. Getting a place ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Lehinch
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 Lehinch had 689 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,110 in 2025/26. Mol an Óige Community National School grew most: +46% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Lehinch
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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Lehinch
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Lehinch’s 5 schools teach every subject through Irish: S N Iosef Naofa.
The 5 schools in and around Lehinch
Here are the schools in Lehinch or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Where the 5 schools in and around Lehinch 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 Lehinch’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 Lehinch’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 Lehinch | Co. Clare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 20% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 3% | 3% | 6% |
| Girls | 52% | 50% | 49% |
20% of the pupils around Lehinch are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (18% in Co. Clare). Of the DEIS schools here, Mol an Óige Community National School is the biggest: 158 pupils.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Marys N.S. LahinchPrimary | 166 | 60% | ||
| Ennistymon Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 693 | 51% | ||
| Ennistymon National SchoolPrimary | 64 | 47% | ✓ | |
| Mol an Óige Community National SchoolPrimary | 158 | 49% | ✓ | |
| S N Iosef NaofaPrimary | 29 | 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.
Who runs Lehinch’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Lehinch’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora (2), CEIST & Edmund Rice Schools Trust (1) and Limerick & Clare ETB (1). 2 of the 5 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 patrons of Lehinch’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora is patron of 2 of the 5 schools around Lehinch, which teach 21% of their pupils; 4 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & KilfenoraSaint Marys N.S. Lahinch, Ennistymon | Catholic | 2 | 230 |
| CEIST & Edmund Rice Schools TrustEnnistymon | Multi-denominational | 1 | 693 |
| Limerick & Clare ETBMol an Óige Community | Multi-denominational | 1 | 158 |
| Bishop of KillaloeS N Iosef Naofa | Catholic | 1 | 29 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Lehinch
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 Lehinch’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 5 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Saint Marys N.S. LahinchPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ennistymon Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ennistymon National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Mol an Óige Community National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S N Iosef NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Lehinch
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 Lehinch is Ennistymon Community School, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ennistymon Community SchoolCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 693 | 2.8 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Lehinch beside the 168 other Irish towns of 700 to 1,400 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moville | 1,390 | 5 | 1,100 | 1 | 40% | 0.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Craughwell | 1,034 | 2 | 426 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Knock | 1,029 | 1 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 7.8 km |
| Mohill | 1,027 | 3 | 788 | 0 | 33% | 0.5 km |
| Tallow | 1,022 | 2 | 184 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Lehinch | 1,018 | 5 | 1,110 | 1 | 40% | 2.8 km |
| Ballinagh | 1,012 | 2 | 321 | 0 | 100% | 6.8 km |
| Newcastle | 1,010 | 5 | 1,475 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Carragh | 1,006 | 2 | 1,383 | 0 | 0% | 3.5 km |
| Castletownbere | 999 | 3 | 524 | 0 | 67% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Shanagarry | 700 | 2 | 201 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
Of these 168 other towns, 27 count more pupils at their schools than Lehinch. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 20 of the 169.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Lehinch
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehinch | 5 | 1,110 | 1 | 40% | 2.8 km |
| Ennistimon 3.2 km | 5 | 1,088 | 0 | 60% | 0.6 km |
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Lehinch 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 Lehinch
How many schools are there in Lehinch?
In Lehinch or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 1,110 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Lehinch that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: S N Iosef Naofa teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Lehinch?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Lehinch?
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 Lehinch?
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).