Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0More of the schools around Lifford are in DEIS than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns: 100%
100% of the schools around Lifford are DEIS schools, 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. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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 Lifford’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 Patricks N.S. (162), Scoil Náisiúnta Muire Gan Smál (124) and Scoil Cholmcille Naofa (17). Who runs them ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 3 schools in and around Lifford 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 Lifford’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 Lifford’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Lifford’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 Lifford
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 3 schools in and around Lifford teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Lifford’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 Lifford | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 49% | 49% |
100% of the pupils around Lifford are at a DEIS school, more than the 27% across Ireland (62% in Co. Donegal). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%. The largest DEIS school here is St Patricks N.S., with 162 pupils.
Each of the 3 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Náisiúnta Muire Gan SmálPrimary | 124 | 47% | ✓ | |
| St Patricks N.S.Primary | 162 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Cholmcille NaofaPrimary | 17 | 59% | ✓ |
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 Lifford’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Every school around Lifford has the same patron: Bishop of Derry.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of DerrySt Patricks, Scoil Náisiúnta Muire Gan Smál, Scoil Cholmcille Naofa | Catholic | 3 | 303 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Lifford
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, 1 of the 3 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 3 schools in and around Lifford
Each school in or within 3 km of Lifford links to a page of its own. You won’t find letters or results below: Ireland publishes none for single schools.
Inspection reports for Lifford’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 3 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Scoil Náisiúnta Muire Gan SmálPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Patricks N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Cholmcille NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Lifford
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Lifford have 2 post-primary schools within 10 km: one comprehensive 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Royal and Prior SchoolComprehensive · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | DEIS, Boarding | 609 | 7.9 km |
| Deele CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 840 | 8.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Lifford
No special school is in or near Lifford. 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.
Lifford beside the 122 other Irish towns of 1,100 to 2,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edgeworthstown | 2,199 | 3 | 423 | 0 | 33% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Killaloe | 1,666 | 4 | 1,336 | 0 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Mullagh | 1,651 | 2 | 450 | 0 | 0% | 9.3 km |
| Baile Chláir | 1,632 | 3 | 1,800 | 0 | 33% | 0.8 km |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 3 | 586 | 0 | 33% | 0.5 km |
| Lifford | 1,613 | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
| Belturbet | 1,610 | 4 | 551 | 0 | 50% | 0.2 km |
| Castlemartyr | 1,603 | 2 | 314 | 0 | 0% | 8 km |
| Kilbeggan | 1,575 | 2 | 966 | 0 | 0% | 1 km |
| Killucan-Rathwire | 1,574 | 4 | 698 | 0 | 25% | 0.9 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ballinamore | 1,112 | 2 | 573 | 0 | 50% | 1.1 km |
Of the other 122 towns, 106 have more pupils at the schools around them than Lifford. Within 3 km, 14 of these 123 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Lifford
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 Lifford had 356 pupils in 2015/16 and 303 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Scoil Náisiúnta Muire Gan Smál grew most: +19% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Lifford
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 Lifford
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifford | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
| Raphoe 8.3 km | 4 | 1,792 | 0 | 100% | 0.2 km |
| Convoy 12 km | 4 | 1,290 | 0 | 75% | 4 km |
| Newtowncunningham 18 km | 2 | 280 | 0 | 50% | 14 km |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar 19 km | 7 | 2,400 | 0 | 57% | 0.6 km |
Pupils around Lifford: −6% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Convoy led (+24%) and Newtowncunningham trailed (−11%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Lifford 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 Lifford
How many schools are there in Lifford?
In Lifford or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools, with 303 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Lifford that teach through Irish?
None in Lifford or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Lifford?
Not in Lifford or within 3 km of it; the nearest is The Royal and Prior School, 8 km away.
What is the best school in Lifford?
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 Lifford?
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).