Photo: MaxPride · CC BY-SA 4.0Around Ailt An Chorráin, 50% of schools teach every subject through Irish, more than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns
Measured that way, Ailt An Chorráin is above both Co. Donegal’s towns (7%) and Irish towns (8%). DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, reaches 2 of its 2 schools; across Ireland, 30%. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Ailt An Chorráin’s schools
Extra support for many schools
Many schools here are in DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and help; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. In DEIS: S N na hAcrai (70) and Scoil an Aingil Choimheadai (14). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Ailt An Chorráin 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 Ailt An Chorráin’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 runs Ailt An Chorráin’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Ailt An Chorráin’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Raphoe (2). 2 of the 2 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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Ailt An Chorráin
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Ailt An Chorráin’s 2 schools teach every subject through Irish, 1 of them in the Gaeltacht: Scoil an Aingil Choimheadai.
Who Ailt An Chorráin’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, beside Co. Donegal’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Ailt An Chorráin | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 17% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 60% | 49% | 49% |
More of the pupils around Ailt An Chorráin are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 100% against 27% (Co. Donegal: 62%). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 17% here against 6%. The biggest school in DEIS is S N na hAcrai (70 pupils).
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S N na hAcraiPrimary | 70 | 53% | ✓ | |
| Scoil an Aingil ChoimheadaiPrimary | 14 | 93% | ✓ | ✓ |
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 Ailt An Chorráin
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 2 schools, 0 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 1 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 2 schools in and around Ailt An Chorráin
Here are the schools in Ailt An Chorráin or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Letters and results are missing here for a reason: Ireland publishes neither school by school.
Inspection reports for Ailt An Chorráin’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, 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 2 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S N na hAcraiPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil an Aingil ChoimheadaiPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ailt An Chorráin
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Ailt An Chorráin there are 2 post-primary schools: one ETB 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gairmscoil Mhic DiarmadaETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Irish stream, DEIS, Island school | 61 | 4.4 km |
| Rosses Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 509 | 6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Ailt An Chorráin beside the 224 other Irish towns of 200 to 400 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossbarry | 399 | 2 | 184 | 0 | 0% | 8.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Inistioge | 315 | 1 | 104 | 0 | 0% | 6.7 km |
| Oola | 315 | 3 | 193 | 0 | 0% | 7.9 km |
| Mulranny | 315 | 1 | 77 | 0 | 100% | 11 km |
| Dromina | 312 | 1 | 69 | 0 | 100% | 7.7 km |
| Ailt An Chorráin | 311 | 2 | 84 | 1 | 100% | 4.4 km |
| Ballinaclash | 309 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3.5 km |
| Anagaire | 309 | 3 | 177 | 3 | 100% | 8.1 km |
| Clonygowan | 308 | 1 | 124 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Piercetown | 308 | 2 | 468 | 0 | 0% | 4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Lahardane | 200 | 1 | 76 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
Among the 224 other towns, 174 have more pupils at their schools than Ailt An Chorráin does. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 17 of the 225.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ailt An Chorráin
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 Ailt An Chorráin had 127 pupils in 2015/16 and 84 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Ailt An Chorráin
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 Ailt An Chorráin
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ailt An Chorráin | 2 | 84 | 1 | 100% | 4.4 km |
| An Clochán Liath 5.5 km | 3 | 825 | 0 | 100% | 0.6 km |
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ailt An Chorráin 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 Ailt An Chorráin
How many schools are there in Ailt An Chorráin?
In Ailt An Chorráin or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 84 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ailt An Chorráin that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Scoil an Aingil Choimheadai teach every subject through Irish.
Is there a secondary school in Ailt An Chorráin?
Not in Ailt An Chorráin or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, 4.4 km away.
What is the best school in Ailt An Chorráin?
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 Ailt An Chorráin?
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).