Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0More of the schools around St. Johnston are in DEIS than around Co. Donegal’s towns or Irish towns: 100%
DEIS, the extra support for schools serving disadvantaged areas, reaches 100% of the schools around St. Johnston, 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%. 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 St. Johnston’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. Naomh Baoithin (113), S.N. an Leinbh Iosa (84), S.N. Baile an Caislean (66) and Monreagh N.S. (48). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 4 schools in and around St. Johnston 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 St. Johnston’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 St. Johnston’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of St. Johnston’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Raphoe (2), Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (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.
The 4 schools in and around St. Johnston
Every school in St. Johnston 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.
Teaching through Irish in and around St. Johnston
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 4 schools in and around St. Johnston teaches every subject through Irish.
Who St. Johnston’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.
| Share of pupils | Around St. Johnston | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 10% | 6% |
| Girls | 53% | 49% | 49% |
More of the pupils around St. Johnston are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 100% against 27% (Co. Donegal: 62%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%. S.N. Naomh Baoithin, with 113 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh BaoithinPrimary | 113 | 50% | ✓ | |
| S.N. Baile an CaisleanPrimary | 66 | 50% | ✓ | |
| S.N. an Leinbh IosaPrimary | 84 | 58% | ✓ | |
| Monreagh N.S.Primary | 48 | 54% | ✓ |
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 St. Johnston’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
3 patrons run the 4 schools around St. Johnston; the largest, Bishop of Raphoe, has 2 of them and 63% of the pupils.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of RaphoeS.N. Naomh Baoithin, S.N. an Leinbh Iosa | Catholic | 2 | 197 |
| Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in IrelandS.N. Baile an Caislean | Presbyterian | 1 | 66 |
| Presbytery of Derry & DonegalMonreagh | Presbyterian | 1 | 48 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in St. Johnston
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
2 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 0 have shrunk by as much, out of 4; 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.
Inspection reports for St. Johnston’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 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh BaoithinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Baile an CaisleanPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. an Leinbh IosaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Monreagh N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of St. Johnston
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
No post-primary school is within 10 km of St. Johnston; the nearest is The Royal and Prior School, 10 km away.
Special schools and classes around St. Johnston
No special school is in or near St. Johnston. 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.
St. Johnston beside the 215 other Irish towns of 400 to 800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crinkill | 795 | 7 | 1,708 | 1 | 86% | 3.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ringaskiddy-Loughbeg | 575 | 11 | 3,287 | 0 | 18% | 3.4 km |
| Shercock | 574 | 2 | 217 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Fieries | 573 | 2 | 303 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
| Frenchpark | 572 | 1 | 104 | 0 | 100% | 12 km |
| St. Johnston | 571 | 4 | 311 | 0 | 100% | 10 km |
| Ballingarry | 570 | 1 | 204 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Grange | 569 | 3 | 611 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Clonmany | 569 | 2 | 228 | 0 | 100% | 9.5 km |
| Bun Na Leaca | 569 | 2 | 545 | 2 | 100% | 3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Oilgate | 401 | 2 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 6.2 km |
Of the other 215 towns, 85 have more pupils at the schools around them than St. Johnston. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 18 of the 216.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around St. Johnston
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around St. Johnston had 265 pupils in 2015/16 and 311 in 2025/26. S.N. Baile an Caislean grew most: +38% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around St. Johnston
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 St. Johnston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Johnston | 4 | 311 | 0 | 100% | 10 km |
| Newtowncunningham 7.5 km | 2 | 280 | 0 | 50% | 14 km |
| Lifford 11 km | 3 | 303 | 0 | 100% | 8 km |
| Raphoe 11 km | 4 | 1,792 | 0 | 100% | 0.2 km |
| Convoy 15 km | 4 | 1,290 | 0 | 75% | 4 km |
| Ramelton 17 km | 4 | 354 | 0 | 50% | 6.7 km |
| Letterkenny 17 km | 15 | 6,825 | 2 | 20% | 0.4 km |
Letterkenny has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. Of St. Johnston’s neighbours, Convoy saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+24%) and Newtowncunningham the least (−11%); St. Johnston itself: +11%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in St. Johnston 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 St. Johnston
How many schools are there in St. Johnston?
In St. Johnston or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, with 311 pupils between them.
Are there schools in St. Johnston that teach through Irish?
None in St. Johnston or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in St. Johnston?
Not in St. Johnston or within 3 km of it; the nearest is The Royal and Prior School, 10 km away.
What is the best school in St. Johnston?
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 St. Johnston?
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).