Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Carrigaline than around Co. Cork’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
That puts Carrigaline below both Co. Cork’s towns (44%) and Irish towns (39%). 7 primary schools, 3 secondary schools and 2 special schools are in or within 3 km of Carrigaline, with 4,439 pupils between them. 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.
What stands out about Carrigaline’s schools
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. They are Gaelscoil Charraig Ui Leighin (591) and Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin (302). Language ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Families here can choose among 18 post-primary schools within 10 km of the town, of more than one kind; each admits on its own published policy, so applying to more than one is common. The nearest: Carrigaline Community School (0.5 km), Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin (1.2 km) and Edmund Rice College (1.2 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Few schools in DEIS
DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers and money, includes just 1 of the 12 schools here, against 30% of schools across Ireland. The one in DEIS: Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour N.S. (58). Who goes there ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Carrigaline
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
2 of Carrigaline’s 12 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Charraig Ui Leighin and Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin.
Where the 12 schools in and around Carrigaline 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 Carrigaline’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 Carrigaline’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Cork’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 Carrigaline | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 1% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 20% | 8% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 33% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 7% | 6% |
Fewer of the pupils around Carrigaline are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 1% against 27% (Co. Cork: 18%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at single-sex schools, at 0% against 29%. Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour N.S., with 58 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 12 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrigaline Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 1,072 | 47% | ||
| Holy Well National School (Scoil Tobair Naofa)Primary | 803 | 50% | ||
| Gaelscoil Charraig Ui LeighinPrimary | 591 | 53% | ✓ | |
| Edmund Rice CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 580 | 54% | ||
| Carrigaline Educate Together NSPrimary | 424 | 49% | ||
| Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui LeighinPost-primary · ETB | 302 | 53% | ✓ | |
| St Mary's Church of Ireland N.SPrimary | 204 | 46% | ||
| Owenabue ETNSPrimary | 118 | 49% | ||
| Sonas Special Primary Junior SchoolSpecial | 48 | 33% | ||
| Carrigaline Community Special SchoolSpecial | 47 | 26% | ||
| Shanbally N.S.Primary | 192 | 43% | ||
| Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour N.S.Primary | 58 | 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 Carrigaline’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
5 of Carrigaline’s 12 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Cork & Ross (4), Educate Together (2) and Cork ETB (2). 1 of the 12 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 7 patrons of Carrigaline’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
The schools around Carrigaline answer to 7 patrons, and Bishop of Cork & Ross leads with 4 of the 12 schools and 37% of their pupils. Education and Training Boards run 3 of them. Educate Together runs 2.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Cork & RossHoly Well National School, Gaelscoil Charraig Ui Leighin, Shanbally, Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour | Catholic | 4 | 1,644 |
| Educate TogetherCarrigaline Educate Together NS, Owenabue ETNS | Multi-denominational | 2 | 542 |
| Cork ETBGaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin, Carrigaline Community Special School | Multi-denominational | 2 | 349 |
| Cork ETB & Bishop of Cork and RossCarrigaline | Inter-denominational | 1 | 1,072 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustEdmund Rice College | Catholic | 1 | 580 |
| Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross COISt Mary's Church of Ireland N.S | Church of Ireland | 1 | 204 |
| Brothers of Charity (Southern Services) Brother John O'SheaSonas Special Primary Junior School | Other | 1 | 48 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Carrigaline
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
Of these 8 schools, 2 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 4 have lost as much; Ireland’s pupils changed by +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 12 schools in and around Carrigaline
Every school in Carrigaline or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Inspection reports for Carrigaline’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 12 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Carrigaline Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Holy Well National School (Scoil Tobair Naofa)Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Charraig Ui LeighinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Edmund Rice CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Carrigaline Educate Together NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui LeighinPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Mary's Church of Ireland N.SPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Owenabue ETNSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Sonas Special Primary Junior SchoolSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Carrigaline Community Special SchoolSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Shanbally N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ringaskiddy Lower Harbour 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 Carrigaline
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Carrigaline there are 18 post-primary schools: 10 voluntary secondary schools, 4 ETB schools, 3 community schools and one comprehensive school. Of these, 6 are single-sex: 3 for girls and 3 for boys. Every subject is taught through Irish at 2 of them.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrigaline Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,072 | 0.5 km |
| Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui LeighinETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 302 | 1.2 km |
| Edmund Rice CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 580 | 1.2 km |
| St Francis Capuchin CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 730 | 6 km |
| St Peter's Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 354 | 6.6 km |
| Colaiste MuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 523 | 6.8 km |
| Douglas Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Boys | – | 605 | 7.7 km |
| Coláiste MuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 709 | 8.1 km |
| Regina Mundi CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 564 | 8.2 km |
| Nagle Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 315 | 8.3 km |
| Carrignafoy Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 322 | 8.5 km |
| Christ King Girls' Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 700 | 8.9 km |
All 18 post-primary schools within reach
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ursuline College BlackrockVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 352 | 8.9 km |
| Ashton SchoolComprehensive · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | – | 539 | 9.4 km |
| Coláiste Chríost RíVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 502 | 9.5 km |
| Presentation Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 190 | 9.5 km |
| Coláiste Éamann RísVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 811 | 9.8 km |
| Coláiste DaibhéidETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste, DEIS | 151 | 9.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Carrigaline
2 special schools serve the area: Sonas Special Primary Junior School and Carrigaline Community Special School, 95 pupils between them. 6 of the 7 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.
Carrigaline beside the 77 other Irish towns of 12,800 to 24,600 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newbridge | 24,366 | 18 | 7,450 | 1 | 33% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Dooradoyle | 18,593 | 42 | 13,180 | 5 | 36% | 1 km |
| The Liberties | 18,460 | 129 | 33,405 | 9 | 53% | 0.3 km |
| Knocknacarra | 18,398 | 29 | 10,407 | 5 | 17% | 0.9 km |
| Clonmel | 18,369 | 13 | 4,235 | 1 | 23% | 0.4 km |
| Carrigaline | 18,239 | 12 | 4,439 | 2 | 8% | 0.5 km |
| Stillorgan | 18,212 | 81 | 32,574 | 8 | 7% | 0.4 km |
| Templeogue | 18,076 | 118 | 40,646 | 8 | 34% | 0.5 km |
| Dún Laoghaire | 17,994 | 52 | 17,578 | 1 | 19% | 0.8 km |
| Rathfarnham | 17,508 | 111 | 39,391 | 10 | 22% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Blackrock | 12,816 | 66 | 25,764 | 6 | 11% | 0.8 km |
Among the 77 other towns, 70 have more pupils at their schools than Carrigaline 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 Carrigaline
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Carrigaline had 3,533 pupils in 2015/16 and 4,439 in 2025/26. Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin grew most: +156% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Carrigaline
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 Carrigaline
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrigaline | 12 | 4,439 | 2 | 8% | 0.5 km |
| Douglas 6.1 km | 66 | 20,250 | 10 | 20% | 1.8 km |
| Passage West-Monkstown 6.6 km | 16 | 4,438 | 0 | 6% | 0.1 km |
| Frankfield and Grange 7 km | 58 | 20,798 | 6 | 24% | 2 km |
| Crosshaven 7.3 km | 5 | 1,057 | 0 | 20% | 0.5 km |
| Cobh 7.3 km | 13 | 3,613 | 1 | 23% | 0.8 km |
| Tramore 8.2 km | 75 | 22,562 | 7 | 48% | 0.7 km |
Douglas has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 10. The roll around Carrigaline moved +9% since 2019/20; nearby, Douglas grew most (+3%) and Cobh least (−11%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Carrigaline 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 Carrigaline
How many schools are there in Carrigaline?
In Carrigaline or within 3 km of it: 7 primary schools, 3 secondary schools and 2 special schools, with 4,439 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Carrigaline that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: Gaelscoil Charraig Ui Leighin and Gaelcholáiste Charraig Ui Leighin teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Carrigaline?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Carrigaline?
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 Carrigaline?
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).