Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0DEIS support is widespread around Killygordon: 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 Killygordon, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (38%) and Irish towns (35%). DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, reaches 4 of its 4 schools; across Ireland, 30%. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
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 Killygordon’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: S.N. an Droim Mor (229), Gleneely N.S. (45), Killygordan N.S. (22) and S.N. Domhnach Mor (22). Who runs them ↓
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 4 schools in and around Killygordon 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 Killygordon’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 Killygordon’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Killygordon’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Derry (2), Bishop of Derry & Raphoe COI (1) and Presbytery of Derry & Donegal (1). 4 of the 4 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.
Pupil numbers around Killygordon
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Killygordon had 376 pupils in 2015/16 and 318 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Killygordon
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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Killygordon
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 4 schools in and around Killygordon teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Killygordon’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.
| Share of pupils | Around Killygordon | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 45% | 49% | 49% |
100% of the pupils around Killygordon are at a DEIS school, more than the 27% across Ireland (62% in Co. Donegal). The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here, 6% there. Of the DEIS schools here, S.N. an Droim Mor is the biggest: 229 pupils.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. an Droim MorPrimary | 229 | 47% | ✓ | |
| Killygordan N.S.Primary | 22 | 45% | ✓ | |
| Gleneely N.S.Primary | 45 | 44% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Domhnach MorPrimary | 22 | 32% | ✓ |
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 3 patrons of Killygordon’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Bishop of Derry is patron of 2 of the 4 schools around Killygordon, which teach 86% of their pupils; 3 patrons run them in all.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of DerryS.N. an Droim Mor, Gleneely | Catholic | 2 | 274 |
| Bishop of Derry & Raphoe COIKillygordan | Church of Ireland | 1 | 22 |
| Presbytery of Derry & DonegalS.N. Domhnach Mor | Presbyterian | 1 | 22 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Killygordon
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, 0 of the 4 grew by 5% or more and 2 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.
The 4 schools in and around Killygordon
Every school in Killygordon or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. You won’t find letters or results below: Ireland publishes none for single schools.
Inspection reports for Killygordon’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 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. an Droim MorPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Killygordan N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gleneely N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Domhnach MorPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Killygordon
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
2 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Killygordon: 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 | 5.8 km |
| Finn Valley CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 424 | 6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Killygordon
No special school is in or near Killygordon. 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.
Killygordon beside the 187 other Irish towns of 500 to 1,000 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castletownbere | 999 | 3 | 524 | 0 | 67% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Kinvarra | 721 | 3 | 1,016 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Whitechurch | 719 | 3 | 1,102 | 0 | 0% | 3 km |
| Carlanstown | 718 | 1 | 165 | 0 | 0% | 4.5 km |
| Louth | 717 | 1 | 181 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Killygordon | 716 | 4 | 318 | 0 | 100% | 5.9 km |
| Elphin | 715 | 2 | 344 | 0 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Delvin | 714 | 3 | 163 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Shinrone | 707 | 1 | 121 | 0 | 100% | 5.5 km |
| Borris | 702 | 2 | 754 | 0 | 0% | 1.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Of these 187 other towns, 78 count more pupils at their schools than Killygordon. 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.
Schools in the towns around Killygordon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killygordon | 4 | 318 | 0 | 100% | 5.9 km |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar 6.1 km | 7 | 2,400 | 0 | 57% | 0.6 km |
| Convoy 7.7 km | 4 | 1,290 | 0 | 75% | 4 km |
| Raphoe 10 km | 4 | 1,792 | 0 | 100% | 0.2 km |
| Lifford 13 km | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
| Letterkenny 18 km | 15 | 6,825 | 2 | 20% | 0.4 km |
Letterkenny has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. The roll around Killygordon moved −13% 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 Killygordon 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 Killygordon
How many schools are there in Killygordon?
In Killygordon or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, with 318 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Killygordon that teach through Irish?
None in Killygordon or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Killygordon?
Not in Killygordon or within 3 km of it; the nearest is St Columbas College, 5.9 km away.
What is the best school in Killygordon?
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 Killygordon?
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).