Photo: Hywel Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Killumney than around Co. Cork’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
That puts Killumney below both Co. Cork’s towns (44%) and Irish towns (39%). None of its 7 schools is in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas (30% of schools across Ireland are). 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 Killumney’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 ↓
No school in DEIS
None of the schools here is in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. Who runs them ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Families here can choose among 7 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: Le Cheile Secondary School Ballincollig (4 km), Ballincollig Community School (4 km) and Coláiste Choilm (5.3 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Killumney
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Killumney had 2,200 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,866 in 2025/26. Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin grew most: +201% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Killumney
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.
Who runs Killumney’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
5 of Killumney’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Cork & Ross (4), An Foras Pátrúnachta (1) and Le Chéile Schools Trust (1). None of the 7 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.
The 7 schools in and around Killumney
Each school in or within 3 km of Killumney links to a page of its own. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Where the 7 schools in and around Killumney 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 Killumney’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 Killumney
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Killumney’s 7 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin.
Who Killumney’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, 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 Killumney | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 7% | 8% | 6% |
| Girls | 56% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 33% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 7% | 6% |
Around Killumney, 0% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 18% in Co. Cork. Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at single-sex schools, at 0% against 29%.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ovens N.S.Primary | 466 | 52% | ||
| Gaelscoil an ChaisleáinPrimary | 205 | 53% | ✓ | |
| Our Lady of Good Counsel N.S.Special | 68 | 31% | ||
| Scoil BarraPrimary | 449 | 46% | ||
| Le Cheile Secondary School BallincolligPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 254 | 48% | ||
| Ballincollig Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 987 | 48% | ||
| Scoil Naomh Mhuire CPrimary | 437 | 100% |
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 4 patrons of Killumney’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Of the 7 schools around Killumney, 4 have Bishop of Cork & Ross as patron, teaching 50% of the pupils; 4 patrons in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Cork & RossOvens, Scoil Barra, Scoil Naomh Mhuire C, Our Lady of Good Counsel | Catholic | 4 | 1,420 |
| Cork ETB & Bishop of Cork and RossBallincollig | Inter-denominational | 1 | 987 |
| Le Chéile Schools TrustLe Cheile Secondary School Ballincollig | Catholic | 1 | 254 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil an Chaisleáin | Multi-denominational | 1 | 205 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Killumney
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
3 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 1 have shrunk by as much, out of 5; 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 Killumney’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
Inspectors visit every kind of school. Whole-school evaluations look at teaching and learning, leadership and management; subject inspections look at one subject; follow-through inspections check whether earlier advice was taken. Each report is published 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 7 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Ovens N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil an ChaisleáinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Our Lady of Good Counsel N.S.Special | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil BarraPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Le Cheile Secondary School BallincolligPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ballincollig Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh Mhuire CPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Killumney
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Killumney have 7 post-primary schools within 10 km: 4 voluntary secondary schools, 2 community schools and one ETB school. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 1 girls’ and 1 boys’ schools. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Cheile Secondary School BallincolligVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 254 | 4 km |
| Ballincollig Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 987 | 4 km |
| Coláiste ChoilmETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | Irish stream | 1,357 | 5.3 km |
| Bishopstown Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 306 | 8.8 km |
| Scoil Mhuire gan SmalVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,124 | 9.2 km |
| Coláiste an Spioraid NaoimhVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 715 | 9.3 km |
| Mount Mercy CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 811 | 9.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Killumney
Our Lady of Good Counsel N.S. is the special school here, with 68 pupils. 2 of the 4 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.
Killumney beside the 135 other Irish towns of 1,000 to 2,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enniskerry | 2,000 | 10 | 2,487 | 0 | 20% | 2.9 km |
| … | ||||||
| Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch | 1,506 | 4 | 399 | 0 | 75% | 0.3 km |
| Rochfortbridge | 1,498 | 2 | 1,343 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 3 | 807 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Coill Dubh (Blackwood) | 1,476 | 4 | 708 | 0 | 0% | 4.7 km |
| Killumney | 1,466 | 7 | 2,866 | 1 | 0% | 4 km |
| Swinford | 1,459 | 3 | 627 | 0 | 100% | 0.4 km |
| Foxford | 1,452 | 2 | 753 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Slane | 1,445 | 1 | 254 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Aughrim | 1,437 | 2 | 326 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Carragh | 1,006 | 2 | 1,383 | 0 | 0% | 3.5 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 5 of the other 135 towns than around Killumney. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 15 of the 136.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Killumney
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killumney | 7 | 2,866 | 1 | 0% | 4 km |
| Ballincollig 4.1 km | 28 | 11,989 | 4 | 14% | 0.6 km |
| Tower 6.9 km | 6 | 2,638 | 1 | 17% | 3.2 km |
| Bishopstown 9.1 km | 54 | 18,909 | 6 | 50% | 0.3 km |
| Blarney 9.5 km | 5 | 2,101 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Inishkenny 9.8 km | 43 | 16,164 | 4 | 35% | 1.4 km |
| Shanakiel 10 km | 52 | 16,547 | 5 | 54% | 0.6 km |
Bishopstown has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. The roll around Killumney moved +22% since 2019/20; nearby, Blarney grew most (+45%) and Bishopstown least (+0%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Killumney 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 Killumney
How many schools are there in Killumney?
In Killumney or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 1 special school, with 2,866 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Killumney that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Killumney?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Killumney?
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 Killumney?
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).