Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Around Ballybofey-Stranorlar, only 0% of schools teach through Irish, fewer than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns
That leaves Ballybofey-Stranorlar below both Co. Donegal’s towns (13%) and Irish towns (8%). Families in Ballybofey-Stranorlar have 5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools within 3 km, teaching 2,400 pupils. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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: Scoil Mhuire B & C (489), Finn Valley College (424), S.N. Seiseadh Ui Neill (167) and Robertson N.S. (89). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
5 of Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Raphoe (2), Bishop of Derry (2) and CEIST (1). 4 of the 7 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.
Where the 7 schools in and around Ballybofey-Stranorlar 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 7 schools in and around Ballybofey-Stranorlar teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 49% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 13% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
49% of the pupils around Ballybofey-Stranorlar are at a DEIS school, more than the 27% across Ireland (62% in Co. Donegal). Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at single-sex schools, at 0% against 29%. Scoil Mhuire B & C, with 489 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Columbas CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 983 | 50% | ||
| Scoil Mhuire B & CPrimary | 489 | 47% | ✓ | |
| Finn Valley CollegePost-primary · ETB | 424 | 47% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Seiseadh Ui NeillPrimary | 167 | 43% | ✓ | |
| Robertson N.S.Primary | 89 | 47% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Gleann CoimheadPrimary | 57 | 51% | ||
| Dooish N.S.Primary | 191 | 49% |
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 5 patrons of Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar, 2 have Bishop of Raphoe as patron, teaching 28% of the pupils; 5 patrons in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of RaphoeScoil Mhuire B & C, Dooish | Catholic | 2 | 680 |
| Bishop of DerryS.N. Seiseadh Ui Neill, S.N. Gleann Coimhead | Catholic | 2 | 224 |
| CEISTSt Columbas College | Catholic | 1 | 983 |
| Donegal ETBFinn Valley College | Multi-denominational | 1 | 424 |
| Bishop of Derry & Raphoe COIRobertson | Church of Ireland | 1 | 89 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballybofey-Stranorlar
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
4 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 3 have shrunk by as much, out of 7; 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.
The 7 schools in and around Ballybofey-Stranorlar
Here are the schools in Ballybofey-Stranorlar or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 7 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Columbas CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Mhuire B & CPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Finn Valley CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Seiseadh Ui NeillPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Robertson N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Gleann CoimheadPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Dooish 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Within 10 km of Ballybofey-Stranorlar there are 2 post-primary schools: one voluntary secondary school and one ETB school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Columbas CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 983 | 0.6 km |
| Finn Valley CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 424 | 0.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballybofey-Stranorlar
No special school is in or near Ballybofey-Stranorlar. 2 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.
Ballybofey-Stranorlar beside the 98 other Irish towns of 3,800 to 7,300 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Bar | 7,276 | 116 | 27,705 | 10 | 51% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Salthill | 5,445 | 30 | 10,795 | 4 | 23% | 0.6 km |
| Ballinlough | 5,435 | 79 | 23,116 | 7 | 47% | 0.6 km |
| Garryowen | 5,428 | 41 | 14,084 | 6 | 44% | 1 km |
| Galvone | 5,412 | 48 | 16,815 | 5 | 46% | 0.6 km |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 7 | 2,400 | 0 | 57% | 0.6 km |
| Tipperary | 5,387 | 8 | 2,079 | 1 | 75% | 0.4 km |
| St Stephen's Green | 5,319 | 127 | 33,381 | 9 | 47% | 0 km |
| Monasterevin | 5,307 | 5 | 1,605 | 0 | 20% | 0.7 km |
| Inchicore | 5,285 | 76 | 21,071 | 3 | 59% | 0.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Shanakiel | 3,804 | 52 | 16,547 | 5 | 54% | 0.6 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 70 of the other 98 towns than around Ballybofey-Stranorlar. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 81 of the 99.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballybofey-Stranorlar
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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar had 2,164 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,400 in 2025/26. Finn Valley College grew most: +61% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballybofey-Stranorlar
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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 7 | 2,400 | 0 | 57% | 0.6 km |
| Convoy 10 km | 4 | 1,290 | 0 | 75% | 4 km |
| Raphoe 14 km | 4 | 1,792 | 0 | 100% | 0.2 km |
| Letterkenny 18 km | 15 | 6,825 | 2 | 20% | 0.4 km |
| Lifford 19 km | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
Letterkenny has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. The roll around Ballybofey-Stranorlar moved +14% since 2019/20; nearby, Convoy grew most (+24%) and Lifford least (−6%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballybofey-Stranorlar 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar
How many schools are there in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
In Ballybofey-Stranorlar or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 2,400 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballybofey-Stranorlar that teach through Irish?
None in Ballybofey-Stranorlar or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
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).