Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Kinsale than around Co. Cork’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
On this, Kinsale is below both Co. Cork’s towns (44%) and Irish towns (39%). Its schools have 2,264 pupils, 16% more than in 2019/20. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never 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 Kinsale’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. The school is Gaelscoil Chionn tSáile (145). Language ↓
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 ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is Kinsale Community School: 1,111 pupils in 2019/20, 1,450 now. Getting a place ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Kinsale
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Kinsale’s 5 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Chionn tSáile.
Pupil numbers around Kinsale
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 Kinsale had 1,665 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,264 in 2025/26. Kinsale Community School grew most: +31% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Kinsale
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.
The 5 schools in and around Kinsale
Here are the schools in Kinsale or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. You won’t find letters or results below: Ireland publishes none for single schools.
Where the 5 schools in and around Kinsale 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 Kinsale’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 Kinsale’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against 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 Kinsale | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 6% | 8% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
Fewer of the pupils around Kinsale are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 0% against 27% (Co. Cork: 18%).
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsale Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 1,450 | 49% | ||
| Scoil Naomh EltinPrimary | 401 | 52% | ||
| S.N. Chobh Chionn TsailePrimary | 213 | 53% | ||
| Gaelscoil Chionn tSáilePrimary | 145 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Kinsale N.S.Primary | 55 | 58% |
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 Kinsale’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Kinsale’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Cork & Ross (3), Cork ETB & Religious Sisters of Mercy (1) and Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross COI (1). None of the 5 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 3 patrons of Kinsale’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
3 patrons run the 5 schools around Kinsale; the largest, Bishop of Cork & Ross, has 3 of them and 34% of the pupils. One is an ETB school.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Cork & RossScoil Naomh Eltin, S.N. Chobh Chionn Tsaile, Gaelscoil Chionn tSáile | Catholic | 3 | 759 |
| Cork ETB & Religious Sisters of MercyKinsale | Inter-denominational | 1 | 1,450 |
| Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross COIKinsale | Church of Ireland | 1 | 55 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Kinsale
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 5 grew by 5% or more and 2 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.
Inspection reports for Kinsale’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 |
|---|---|
| Kinsale Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh EltinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Chobh Chionn TsailePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Chionn tSáilePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Kinsale 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 Kinsale
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 Kinsale is Kinsale Community School, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsale Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,450 | 0.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Kinsale
No special school is in or near Kinsale. 3 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.
Kinsale beside the 94 other Irish towns of 4,200 to 8,100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubber | 7,941 | 54 | 15,781 | 5 | 67% | 1.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Dock | 6,258 | 45 | 15,206 | 5 | 49% | 0.3 km |
| Lisduggan | 6,216 | 29 | 11,782 | 1 | 45% | 0.2 km |
| The Glen | 6,119 | 66 | 19,000 | 5 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Passage West-Monkstown | 6,051 | 16 | 4,438 | 0 | 6% | 0.1 km |
| Kinsale | 5,991 | 5 | 2,264 | 1 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Glasheen | 5,981 | 66 | 21,351 | 6 | 50% | 1.1 km |
| Ayrfield | 5,863 | 73 | 20,467 | 5 | 40% | 0.6 km |
| Gillabbey | 5,857 | 72 | 22,124 | 6 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Ballinfoile and Terryland | 5,851 | 33 | 11,082 | 5 | 33% | 1.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| St Luke's | 4,278 | 70 | 20,531 | 6 | 51% | 0.1 km |
Of the other 94 towns, 76 have more pupils at the schools around them than Kinsale. Within 3 km, 82 of these 95 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Kinsale
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsale | 5 | 2,264 | 1 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Inishannon 12 km | 1 | 295 | 0 | 0% | 5.7 km |
| Carrigaline 15 km | 12 | 4,439 | 2 | 8% | 0.5 km |
| Bandon 15 km | 10 | 3,617 | 1 | 10% | 0.4 km |
| Lehenagh 18 km | 43 | 14,801 | 4 | 33% | 2.3 km |
| Frankfield and Grange 18 km | 58 | 20,798 | 6 | 24% | 2 km |
| Inishkenny 18 km | 43 | 16,164 | 4 | 35% | 1.4 km |
Frankfield and Grange has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. Of Kinsale’s neighbours, Carrigaline saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+9%) and Inishannon the least (−5%); Kinsale itself: +16%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Kinsale 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 Kinsale
How many schools are there in Kinsale?
In Kinsale or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 2,264 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Kinsale that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Chionn tSáile teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Kinsale?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Kinsale?
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 Kinsale?
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).