Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Pupil numbers around Grenagh have fallen behind Co. Cork’s towns and Irish towns: −27% since 2019/20
That leaves Grenagh below both Co. Cork’s towns (+1%) and Irish towns (+4%). S.N. 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 Grenagh’s schools
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Where the school in or near Grenagh is
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 Grenagh’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.
Pupil numbers around Grenagh
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 Grenagh had 296 pupils in 2015/16 and 197 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Grenagh
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 Grenagh
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 1 schools in and around Grenagh teaches every subject through Irish.
Who runs Grenagh’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
1 of Grenagh’s 1 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Cloyne (1). None of the 1 is 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.
How children get a place in Grenagh
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.
The school in and around Grenagh
Here are the schools in Grenagh or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Grenagh’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
Reports come from whole-school evaluations (teaching, learning, leadership and management), subject inspections and follow-through visits that check earlier advice; gov.ie publishes each one with the school’s response.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; the link below opens the school’s own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Rath DubhPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Grenagh
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 Grenagh is Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, a voluntary secondary school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Mhuire gan SmalVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,124 | 9.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Grenagh
No special school is in or near Grenagh. 1 of the 1 primary schools has 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.
Grenagh beside the 187 other Irish towns of 500 to 1,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castletownbere | 999 | 3 | 524 | 0 | 67% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Castlefinn | 730 | 4 | 234 | 0 | 100% | 7.7 km |
| Bweeng | 728 | 1 | 113 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| An Cheathrú Rua | 725 | 3 | 661 | 2 | 67% | 0.8 km |
| Clonlara | 724 | 1 | 276 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Grenagh | 724 | 1 | 197 | 0 | 0% | 9.6 km |
| Borrisoleigh | 724 | 2 | 571 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Kinvarra | 721 | 3 | 1,016 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Whitechurch | 719 | 3 | 1,102 | 0 | 0% | 3 km |
| Carlanstown | 718 | 1 | 165 | 0 | 0% | 4.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Of the other 187 towns, 127 have more pupils at the schools around them than Grenagh. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 16 of the 188.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Grenagh
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grenagh | 1 | 197 | 0 | 0% | 9.6 km |
| Blarney 8.9 km | 5 | 2,101 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Tower 9.5 km | 6 | 2,638 | 1 | 17% | 3.2 km |
| Hollyhill and Ballincolly 13 km | 84 | 27,337 | 7 | 43% | 1.1 km |
| Fair Hill 14 km | 58 | 17,368 | 5 | 55% | 0.4 km |
| Mallow 14 km | 11 | 4,357 | 1 | 18% | 0.6 km |
| Knocknaheeny 14 km | 59 | 18,265 | 5 | 59% | 0.5 km |
Hollyhill and Ballincolly has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 7. Of Grenagh’s neighbours, Blarney saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+45%) and Knocknaheeny the least (−0%); Grenagh itself: −27%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Grenagh 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 Grenagh
How many schools are there in Grenagh?
In Grenagh or within 3 km of it: 1 primary school, with 197 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Grenagh that teach through Irish?
None in Grenagh or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Grenagh?
Not in Grenagh or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Scoil Mhuire gan Smal, 9.6 km away.
What is the best school in Grenagh?
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 Grenagh?
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).