Photo: dan kearney · CC BY-SA 3.0Buncrana has 2 schools teaching entirely through Irish, out of 7 nearby
Every subject is taught through Irish at 29% of the schools around Buncrana, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (0%) and Irish towns (8%). 4 primary schools and 3 secondary schools are in or within 3 km of Buncrana, with 2,583 pupils between them. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not 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 Buncrana’s schools
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. They are Gaelscoil Bhun Cranncha (67) and Coláiste Eoghain (13). Language ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Buncrana
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
2 of Buncrana’s 7 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Bhun Cranncha and Coláiste Eoghain.
Where the 7 schools in and around Buncrana 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 Buncrana’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 Buncrana’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Buncrana | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 66% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 3% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 13% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Around Buncrana, 66% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 62% in Co. Donegal. The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Scoil Mhuire Secondary School is the biggest: 885 pupils.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Mhuire Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 885 | 49% | ✓ | |
| Scoil IosagainPrimary | 779 | 47% | ||
| Crana CollegePost-primary · ETB | 585 | 52% | ✓ | |
| St Orans N.S.Primary | 228 | 49% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil Bhun CrannchaPrimary | 67 | 57% | ✓ | |
| St. Mura's National SchoolPrimary | 26 | 58% | ||
| Coláiste EoghainPost-primary · ETB | 13 | 62% | ✓ |
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.
Who runs Buncrana’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Buncrana’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Derry (2), Donegal ETB (2) and CEIST (1). 3 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.
The 5 patrons of Buncrana’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Derry is patron of 2 of the 7 schools around Buncrana, which teach 39% of their pupils; 5 patrons run them in all. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of DerryScoil Iosagain, St Orans | Catholic | 2 | 1,007 |
| Donegal ETBCrana College, Coláiste Eoghain | Multi-denominational | 2 | 598 |
| CEISTScoil Mhuire | Catholic | 1 | 885 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Bhun Cranncha | Inter-denominational | 1 | 67 |
| Bishop of Derry & Raphoe COISt. Mura's | Church of Ireland | 1 | 26 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Buncrana
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 7 schools, 3 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 2 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 7 schools in and around Buncrana
Every school in Buncrana or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Buncrana’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 7 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Scoil Mhuire Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil IosagainPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Crana CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Orans N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Bhun CrannchaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Mura's National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coláiste EoghainPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Buncrana
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
3 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Buncrana: 2 ETB schools and one voluntary secondary school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste EoghainETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 13 | 0.6 km |
| Crana CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 585 | 0.7 km |
| Scoil Mhuire Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 885 | 1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Buncrana
No special school is in or near Buncrana. 1 of the 4 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.
Buncrana beside the 94 other Irish towns of 4,900 to 9,400 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasnevin | 9,299 | 145 | 39,626 | 10 | 59% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Newcastle West | 7,209 | 8 | 2,648 | 1 | 38% | 0.6 km |
| Turner's Cross | 7,208 | 77 | 24,127 | 7 | 44% | 0.3 km |
| South Gate | 7,185 | 75 | 23,775 | 7 | 47% | 0.3 km |
| Dunboyne | 7,155 | 14 | 7,600 | 1 | 7% | 0.3 km |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 7 | 2,583 | 2 | 43% | 0.6 km |
| Westport | 6,872 | 10 | 2,121 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 36 | 12,413 | 5 | 33% | 1.2 km |
| Christchurch | 6,778 | 119 | 29,651 | 8 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| O'Connell Street | 6,749 | 124 | 33,516 | 11 | 52% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Mountmellick | 4,905 | 5 | 1,405 | 0 | 80% | 0.3 km |
Of these 94 other towns, 75 count more pupils at their schools than Buncrana. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 83 of the 95.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Buncrana
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Buncrana had 2,410 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,583 in 2025/26. Scoil Mhuire Secondary School grew most: +19% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Buncrana
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 Buncrana
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buncrana | 7 | 2,583 | 2 | 43% | 0.6 km |
| Muff 13 km | 1 | 196 | 0 | 0% | 14 km |
| Newtowncunningham 16 km | 2 | 280 | 0 | 50% | 14 km |
| Milford 17 km | 3 | 1,645 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Carndonagh 17 km | 7 | 1,729 | 0 | 100% | 0.1 km |
| Ramelton 17 km | 4 | 354 | 0 | 50% | 6.7 km |
Of Buncrana’s neighbours, Milford saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+11%) and Newtowncunningham the least (−11%); Buncrana itself: +5%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Buncrana 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 Buncrana
How many schools are there in Buncrana?
In Buncrana or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, with 2,583 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Buncrana that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: Gaelscoil Bhun Cranncha and Coláiste Eoghain teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Buncrana?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Buncrana?
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 Buncrana?
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).