Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Pupil numbers around Rathard-Aherla have fallen behind Co. Cork’s towns and Irish towns: −12% since 2019/20
In the comparison, Rathard-Aherla comes below both Co. Cork’s towns (+1%) and Irish towns (+4%). Pupils: 246, down 12% since 2019/20. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
What stands out about Rathard-Aherla’s schools
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Rathard-Aherla 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 Rathard-Aherla’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 Rathard-Aherla
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Rathard-Aherla had 245 pupils in 2015/16 and 246 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Rathard-Aherla
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 Rathard-Aherla’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Rathard-Aherla’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Cork & Ross (2). None of the 2 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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Rathard-Aherla
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 2 schools in and around Rathard-Aherla teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Rathard-Aherla’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.
| Share of pupils | Around Rathard-Aherla | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 18% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 8% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Rathard-Aherla are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (18% in Co. Cork). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Cill BonainPrimary | 97 | 47% | ||
| S.N. Naomh MhuirePrimary | 149 | 50% |
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.
How children get a place in Rathard-Aherla
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
Since 2019/20, 0 of these 2 schools have grown by 5% or more and 1 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of 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 2 schools in and around Rathard-Aherla
Each school in or within 3 km of Rathard-Aherla links to a page of its own. You won’t find letters or results below: Ireland publishes none for single schools.
Inspection reports for Rathard-Aherla’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
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 2 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Cill BonainPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Naomh MhuirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Rathard-Aherla
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Families in Rathard-Aherla have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: one ETB school, one voluntary secondary school and one community school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachford CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 848 | 7.7 km |
| Le Cheile Secondary School BallincolligVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 254 | 9.7 km |
| Ballincollig Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 987 | 9.8 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Rathard-Aherla
No special school is in or near Rathard-Aherla. 1 of the 2 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.
Rathard-Aherla beside the 215 other Irish towns of 400 to 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crinkill | 795 | 7 | 1,708 | 1 | 86% | 3.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Bun Na Leaca | 569 | 2 | 545 | 2 | 100% | 3 km |
| Keel-Dooagh | 567 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 100% | 14 km |
| Clogheen | 564 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 100% | 13 km |
| Carrignavar | 563 | 2 | 778 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Rathard-Aherla | 562 | 2 | 246 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| The Ballagh | 560 | 2 | 270 | 0 | 50% | 9.6 km |
| Clarina | 559 | 5 | 2,090 | 1 | 0% | 3.2 km |
| Ballinabrannagh | 557 | 1 | 184 | 0 | 0% | 4.6 km |
| Glenamaddy | 557 | 3 | 623 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Oilgate | 401 | 2 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 6.2 km |
Of the other 215 towns, 97 have more pupils at the schools around them than Rathard-Aherla. 18 of the 216 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Rathard-Aherla
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathard-Aherla | 2 | 246 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Killumney 5.8 km | 7 | 2,866 | 1 | 0% | 4 km |
| Ballincollig 9.9 km | 28 | 11,989 | 4 | 14% | 0.6 km |
| Inishannon 11 km | 1 | 295 | 0 | 0% | 5.7 km |
| Tower 12 km | 6 | 2,638 | 1 | 17% | 3.2 km |
| Bandon 12 km | 10 | 3,617 | 1 | 10% | 0.4 km |
| Blarney 15 km | 5 | 2,101 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
Ballincollig has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 4. Of Rathard-Aherla’s neighbours, Blarney saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+45%) and Inishannon the least (−5%); Rathard-Aherla itself: −12%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Rathard-Aherla 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 Rathard-Aherla
How many schools are there in Rathard-Aherla?
In Rathard-Aherla or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 246 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Rathard-Aherla that teach through Irish?
None in Rathard-Aherla or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Rathard-Aherla?
Not in Rathard-Aherla or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Coachford College, 7.7 km away.
What is the best school in Rathard-Aherla?
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 Rathard-Aherla?
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).