Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0DEIS support is widespread around Ballyliffin: 100% of schools, above Co. Donegal’s towns and Irish towns
DEIS, the extra support for schools serving disadvantaged areas, reaches 100% of the schools around Ballyliffin, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (38%) and Irish towns (35%). 3 of its 3 schools are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, against 30% across Ireland. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
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 Ballyliffin’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: St Francis' National School (132), Scoil Phadraig (121) and S N na gCluainte (96). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 3 schools in and around Ballyliffin 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 Ballyliffin’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 Ballyliffin’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Ballyliffin’s 3 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Derry (3). 3 of the 3 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 Ballyliffin
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 3 schools in and around Ballyliffin teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballyliffin’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, 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 Ballyliffin | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 100% of the pupils around Ballyliffin, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Donegal: 62%). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%. The largest DEIS school here is St Francis' National School, with 132 pupils.
Each of the 3 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Francis' National SchoolPrimary | 132 | 55% | ✓ | |
| S N na gCluaintePrimary | 96 | 39% | ✓ | |
| Scoil PhadraigPrimary | 121 | 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.
One patron for Ballyliffin’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Every school around Ballyliffin has the same patron: Bishop of Derry.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of DerrySt Francis', Scoil Phadraig, S N na gCluainte | Catholic | 3 | 349 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballyliffin
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
1 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 2 have shrunk by as much, out of 3; 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 3 schools in and around Ballyliffin
Each school in or within 3 km of Ballyliffin links to a page of its own. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Ballyliffin’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 3 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Francis' National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S N na gCluaintePrimary | 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 Ballyliffin
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Ballyliffin is Carndonagh Community School, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carndonagh Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 1,118 | 8.7 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballyliffin
No special school is in or near Ballyliffin. 1 of the 3 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.
Ballyliffin beside the 217 other Irish towns of 300 to 600 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshford | 593 | 2 | 244 | 0 | 50% | 10 km |
| … | ||||||
| Kilnaleck | 481 | 4 | 406 | 0 | 25% | 8.1 km |
| Walsh Island or Coolagary | 480 | 1 | 83 | 0 | 100% | 8.1 km |
| Tyrrellspass | 480 | 1 | 176 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Fennagh | 479 | 1 | 144 | 0 | 0% | 7.2 km |
| Ballyliffin | 479 | 3 | 349 | 0 | 100% | 8.8 km |
| Ballymore | 478 | 1 | 100 | 0 | 100% | 10 km |
| Mogeely | 477 | 1 | 214 | 0 | 0% | 8.8 km |
| Two Mile House | 474 | 2 | 460 | 0 | 0% | 3.7 km |
| Kilmihil | 472 | 3 | 445 | 0 | 0% | 0.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 56 of the other 217 towns than around Ballyliffin. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 19 of the 218.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballyliffin
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Ballyliffin had 412 pupils in 2015/16 and 349 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballyliffin
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 Ballyliffin
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyliffin | 3 | 349 | 0 | 100% | 8.8 km |
| Carndonagh 8.7 km | 7 | 1,729 | 0 | 100% | 0.1 km |
| Buncrana 16 km | 7 | 2,583 | 2 | 43% | 0.6 km |
Buncrana has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Ballyliffin changed by −5%; among its neighbours, Buncrana’s grew most (+5%) and Carndonagh’s least (+4%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballyliffin 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 Ballyliffin
How many schools are there in Ballyliffin?
In Ballyliffin or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools, with 349 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballyliffin that teach through Irish?
None in Ballyliffin or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballyliffin?
Not in Ballyliffin or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Carndonagh Community School, 8.8 km away.
What is the best school in Ballyliffin?
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 Ballyliffin?
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).