Photo: Kognos · CC BY 4.0More of the schools around Gort An Choirce are in DEIS than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns: 100%
The DEIS programme includes 100% of the schools around Gort An Choirce, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (38%) and Irish towns (35%). DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, reaches 5 of its 5 schools; across Ireland, 30%. 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 Gort An Choirce’s schools
Mostly taught through Irish
Most schools here are in the Gaeltacht and teach through Irish; across Ireland, 8% of schools teach only through it. They are Scoil Fhionáin (204), S N Cnoc na Naomh (87), S.N. Gort an Choirce (40) and Scoil Naomh Dubhthach (27). 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 Chloich Cheannfhaola (455), Scoil Fhionáin (204), S N Cnoc na Naomh (87), S.N. Gort an Choirce (40) and Scoil Naomh Dubhthach (27). Who runs them ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Gort An Choirce
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
4 of Gort An Choirce’s 5 schools teach every subject through Irish, 4 of them in the Gaeltacht: S.N. Gort an Choirce, Scoil Fhionáin and Scoil Naomh Dubhthach.
Who runs Gort An Choirce’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
4 of Gort An Choirce’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Raphoe (4) and Donegal ETB & Bishop of Raphoe (1). 5 of the 5 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 schools in and around Gort An Choirce
Here are the schools in Gort An Choirce 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.
Where the 5 schools in and around Gort An Choirce 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 Gort An Choirce’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 Gort An Choirce’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Gort An Choirce | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 44% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 49% | 49% |
More of the pupils around Gort An Choirce are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 100% against 27% (Co. Donegal: 62%). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 44% against 6%. The largest DEIS school here is Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola, with 455 pupils.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Gort an ChoircePrimary | 40 | 35% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pobalscoil Chloich CheannfhaolaPost-primary · Community school | 455 | 46% | ✓ | |
| Scoil FhionáinPrimary | 204 | 48% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scoil Naomh DubhthachPrimary | 27 | 56% | ✓ | ✓ |
| S N Cnoc na NaomhPrimary | 87 | 48% | ✓ | ✓ |
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 Gort An Choirce’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
2 patrons run the 5 schools around Gort An Choirce; the largest, Bishop of Raphoe, has 4 of them and 44% of the pupils. An Education and Training Board runs one of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of RaphoeScoil Fhionáin, S N Cnoc na Naomh, S.N. Gort an Choirce, Scoil Naomh Dubhthach | Catholic | 4 | 358 |
| Donegal ETB & Bishop of RaphoePobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola | Inter-denominational | 1 | 455 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Gort An Choirce
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
Since 2019/20, 1 of these 5 schools have grown by 5% or more and 1 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of 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.
Inspection reports for Gort An Choirce’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 5 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Gort an ChoircePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Pobalscoil Chloich CheannfhaolaPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil FhionáinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh DubhthachPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S N Cnoc na NaomhPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Gort An Choirce
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 Gort An Choirce is Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pobalscoil Chloich CheannfhaolaCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 455 | 2.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Gort An Choirce
No special school is in or near Gort An Choirce. 2 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.
Gort An Choirce beside the 169 other Irish towns of 300 to 500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Newtownsandes | 378 | 1 | 78 | 0 | 0% | 8.6 km |
| Glencullen | 376 | 3 | 683 | 0 | 0% | 4.4 km |
| Cloonfad | 376 | 1 | 125 | 0 | 100% | 8.1 km |
| Narraghmore | 375 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8.9 km |
| Gort An Choirce | 375 | 5 | 813 | 4 | 100% | 2.2 km |
| Moneygall | 374 | 1 | 108 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Carney | 373 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5.9 km |
| Bridge End | 373 | 1 | 218 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Milltown | 372 | 7 | 2,588 | 0 | 57% | 3.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
Of the other 169 towns, 12 have more pupils at the schools around them than Gort An Choirce. 16 of the 170 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Gort An Choirce
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Gort An Choirce had 835 pupils in 2015/16 and 813 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Scoil Fhionáin grew most: +20% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Gort An Choirce
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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Gort An Choirce 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 Gort An Choirce
How many schools are there in Gort An Choirce?
In Gort An Choirce or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 813 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Gort An Choirce that teach through Irish?
Yes, 4: S.N. Gort an Choirce, Scoil Fhionáin and Scoil Naomh Dubhthach teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Gort An Choirce?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Gort An Choirce?
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 Gort An Choirce?
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).