Photo: Graham Horn · CC BY-SA 2.0Most post-primaries around Shannon take girls and boys: 0% are single-sex, below Co. Clare’s towns and Irish towns
That puts Shannon below both Co. Clare’s towns (25%) and Irish towns (39%). They have 2,913 pupils between them, in or within 3 km of Shannon. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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.
Where the 10 schools in and around Shannon 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 Shannon’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 Shannon
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Shannon’s 10 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Donncha Rua.
Who Shannon’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, 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 Shannon | Co. Clare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 6% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 2% | 3% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 50% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 11% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Fewer of the pupils around Shannon are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 6% against 27% (Co. Clare: 18%). Set beside Ireland, post-primary pupils at single-sex schools stand out most: 0% against 29%. The largest DEIS school here is Shannon Airport 1 N.S., with 113 pupils.
Each of the 10 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Caimin's Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 794 | 50% | ||
| Shannon Comprehensive SchoolPost-primary · Comprehensive | 765 | 47% | ||
| St Conaires N.S.Primary | 338 | 49% | ||
| St Aidans N.S.Primary | 260 | 51% | ||
| Naomh TolaPrimary | 218 | 47% | ||
| Shannon Airport 1 N.S.Primary | 113 | 50% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil Donncha RuaPrimary | 68 | 51% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shannon Airport No 2 NSPrimary | 51 | 41% | ||
| S.N. Cluain MuingePrimary | 205 | 44% | ||
| Stonehall N.S.Primary | 101 | 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 Shannon’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
7 of Shannon’s 10 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Killaloe (7), Limerick & Clare ETB & Bishop of Killaloe (1) and Minister for Education (1). 2 of the 10 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 Shannon’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Bishop of Killaloe is patron of 7 of the 10 schools around Shannon, which teach 45% of their pupils; 4 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of KillaloeSt Conaires, St Aidans, Naomh Tola, S.N. Cluain Muinge, Shannon Airport 1, Stonehall, Gaelscoil Donncha Rua | Catholic | 7 | 1,303 |
| Limerick & Clare ETB & Bishop of KillaloeSt Caimin's | Inter-denominational | 1 | 794 |
| Minister for EducationShannon Comprehensive School | Inter-denominational | 1 | 765 |
| Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe & Ardfert COIShannon Airport No 2 NS | Church of Ireland | 1 | 51 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Shannon
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, 2 of the 9 grew by 5% or more and 3 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +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.
The 10 schools in and around Shannon
Every school in Shannon or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Inspection reports for Shannon’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 10 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Caimin's Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Shannon Comprehensive SchoolPost-primary · Comprehensive | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Conaires N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Aidans N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Naomh TolaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Shannon Airport 1 N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Donncha RuaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Shannon Airport No 2 NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Cluain MuingePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Stonehall N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Shannon
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Families in Shannon have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: one comprehensive school, one community school and one voluntary secondary school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon Comprehensive SchoolComprehensive · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 765 | 0.6 km |
| St Caimin's Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 794 | 0.8 km |
| Salesian Secondary CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 746 | 6.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Shannon
No special school is in or near Shannon. 7 of the 8 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.
Shannon beside the 85 other Irish towns of 7,200 to 13,800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deansrath | 13,743 | 64 | 26,713 | 6 | 34% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Skerries | 10,743 | 14 | 4,988 | 1 | 21% | 0.2 km |
| Ballina | 10,556 | 14 | 2,979 | 1 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Terenure | 10,391 | 119 | 38,960 | 8 | 37% | 0.3 km |
| Kildare | 10,302 | 4 | 2,671 | 1 | 25% | 1.2 km |
| Shannon | 10,256 | 10 | 2,913 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Kilmainham | 10,240 | 106 | 27,472 | 4 | 62% | 0.5 km |
| Parnell Square | 10,117 | 124 | 33,167 | 9 | 52% | 0.1 km |
| Dungarvan | 10,081 | 12 | 3,623 | 1 | 25% | 0.5 km |
| Ratoath | 10,077 | 10 | 4,880 | 1 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Turner's Cross | 7,208 | 77 | 24,127 | 7 | 44% | 0.3 km |
Of these 85 other towns, 78 count more pupils at their schools than Shannon. Within 3 km, 83 of these 86 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Shannon
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 Shannon had 2,813 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,913 in 2025/26. Shannon Comprehensive School grew most: +38% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Shannon
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 Shannon
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon | 10 | 2,913 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Newmarket-On-Fergus 6.1 km | 2 | 272 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Sixmilebridge 7.6 km | 1 | 423 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Askeaton 14 km | 2 | 426 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Caherdavin 15 km | 46 | 16,583 | 5 | 39% | 1 km |
| Ballynanty 16 km | 39 | 12,623 | 4 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| Farranshone 16 km | 49 | 16,369 | 6 | 47% | 0.4 km |
Farranshone has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. Of Shannon’s neighbours, Caherdavin saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+4%) and Askeaton the least (−22%); Shannon itself: +7%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Shannon 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 Shannon
How many schools are there in Shannon?
In Shannon or within 3 km of it: 8 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 2,913 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Shannon that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Donncha Rua teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Shannon?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Shannon?
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 Shannon?
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).