Photo: Darren J. Prior · CC BY 4.0Around An Bun Beag, 100% of schools get DEIS support, more than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns
Around An Bun Beag, 100% of schools are in DEIS, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (38%) and Irish towns (35%). 6 of its 6 schools are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, against 30% across Ireland. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results 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 An Bun Beag’s schools
Taught through Irish
Every school here is in the Gaeltacht and teaches through Irish; across Ireland, 8% of schools teach only through it. They are Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair (414), S.N. Adhamhnain (131), S.N. Chonaill (107) and Scoil Phadraig (103), and 2 more. Language ↓
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: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair (414), S.N. Adhamhnain (131), S.N. Chonaill (107) and Scoil Phadraig (103), and 2 more. Who runs them ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around An Bun Beag
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
6 of An Bun Beag’s 6 schools teach every subject through Irish, 6 of them in the Gaeltacht: S.N. Chonaill, Scoil Mhuire B&C and S.N. Olibhear Pluinceid.
Who runs An Bun Beag’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
5 of An Bun Beag’s 6 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Raphoe (5) and Donegal ETB & Bishop of Raphoe (1). 6 of the 6 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.
The 6 schools in and around An Bun Beag
Every school in An Bun Beag or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Where the 6 schools in and around An Bun Beag 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 An Bun Beag’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 An Bun Beag’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Donegal’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 An Bun Beag | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 100% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 51% | 49% | 49% |
100% of the pupils around An Bun Beag are at a DEIS school, more than the 27% across Ireland (62% in Co. Donegal). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 100% here against 6%. The biggest school in DEIS is Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair (414 pupils).
Each of the 6 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. ChonaillPrimary | 107 | 46% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scoil Mhuire B&CPrimary | 97 | 47% | ✓ | ✓ |
| S.N. Olibhear PluinceidPrimary | 61 | 38% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pobalscoil Ghaoth DobhairPost-primary · Community school | 414 | 54% | ✓ | ✓ |
| S.N. AdhamhnainPrimary | 131 | 56% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scoil PhadraigPrimary | 103 | 52% | ✓ | ✓ |
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 2 patrons of An Bun Beag’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Bishop of Raphoe is patron of 5 of the 6 schools around An Bun Beag, which teach 55% of their pupils; 2 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of RaphoeS.N. Adhamhnain, S.N. Chonaill, Scoil Phadraig, Scoil Mhuire B&C, S.N. Olibhear Pluinceid | Catholic | 5 | 499 |
| Donegal ETB & Bishop of RaphoePobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair | Inter-denominational | 1 | 414 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in An Bun Beag
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 6 grew by 5% or more and 4 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 An Bun Beag’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
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; each of the 6 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. ChonaillPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Mhuire B&CPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Olibhear PluinceidPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Pobalscoil Ghaoth DobhairPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. AdhamhnainPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil PhadraigPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of An Bun Beag
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 An Bun Beag is Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, a community school. It takes girls and boys. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pobalscoil Ghaoth DobhairCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaeltacht school, DEIS | 414 | 3.3 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around An Bun Beag
No special school is in or near An Bun Beag. 1 of the 5 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.
An Bun Beag 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 |
| … | ||||||
| Kilfinnane | 757 | 3 | 908 | 0 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Killenaule | 755 | 2 | 495 | 0 | 100% | 0.2 km |
| Keenagh | 753 | 1 | 109 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Drumod | 753 | 2 | 284 | 0 | 0% | 7.8 km |
| An Bun Beag | 749 | 6 | 913 | 6 | 100% | 3.3 km |
| Ballyhaise | 748 | 2 | 335 | 0 | 0% | 3.7 km |
| Corrofin | 745 | 3 | 466 | 0 | 0% | 8.4 km |
| Loughshinny | 741 | 10 | 3,960 | 1 | 10% | 3.1 km |
| Killenard | 741 | 3 | 1,391 | 0 | 0% | 5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Of these 187 other towns, 24 count more pupils at their schools than An Bun Beag. Within 3 km, 16 of these 188 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around An Bun Beag
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around An Bun Beag had 905 pupils in 2015/16 and 913 in 2025/26. Scoil Phadraig grew most: +27% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around An Bun Beag
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 An Bun Beag
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An Bun Beag | 6 | 913 | 6 | 100% | 3.3 km |
| An Clochán Liath 14 km | 3 | 825 | 0 | 100% | 0.6 km |
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in An Bun Beag 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 An Bun Beag
How many schools are there in An Bun Beag?
In An Bun Beag or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 913 pupils between them.
Are there schools in An Bun Beag that teach through Irish?
Yes, 6: S.N. Chonaill, Scoil Mhuire B&C and S.N. Olibhear Pluinceid teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near An Bun Beag?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in An Bun Beag?
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 An Bun Beag?
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).