Photo: Kieran Campbell · CC BY-SA 2.0Around Ballyboghil, only 0% of schools are in DEIS, fewer than around Co. Dublin’s towns or Irish towns
Measured that way, Ballyboghil is below both Co. Dublin’s towns (40%) and Irish towns (35%). All 2 of its schools are Catholic: there is no other kind within 3 km. 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 Ballyboghil’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 10 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: Swords Community College (5.6 km), St Finians Community College (6.3 km) and Fingal Community College (6.9 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Ballyboghil 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 Ballyboghil’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 Ballyboghil’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Ballyboghil’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Archbishop of Dublin (2). None of the 2 is 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 Ballyboghil
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 2 schools in and around Ballyboghil teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballyboghil’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Dublin’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Ballyboghil | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 28% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 49% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 0% of the pupils around Ballyboghil, a smaller share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Dublin: 28%). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here against 6%.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyboghill N.S.Primary | 206 | 44% | ||
| Brighde NaofaPrimary | 357 | 50% |
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.
How children get a place in Ballyboghil
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
0 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 1 have shrunk by as much, out of 2; 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.
The 2 schools in and around Ballyboghil
Every school in Ballyboghil or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. There are no letters or results on these cards, because Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Ballyboghil’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 2 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Ballyboghill N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Brighde NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballyboghil
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Families in Ballyboghil have 10 post-primary schools within 10 km: 6 ETB schools, 3 voluntary secondary schools and one community school. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 1 girls’ and 1 boys’ schools. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swords Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 952 | 5.6 km |
| St Finians Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 671 | 6.3 km |
| Fingal Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 864 | 6.9 km |
| Loreto CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 655 | 7 km |
| Lusk Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,104 | 7.3 km |
| Coláiste ChoilmVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 421 | 7.5 km |
| Ashbourne Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,109 | 8.2 km |
| Donabate Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 799 | 8.5 km |
| Malahide & Portmarnock Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 696 | 8.8 km |
| De Lacy CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 929 | 9.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Ballyboghil beside the 178 other Irish towns of 600 to 1,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urlingford | 1,196 | 2 | 882 | 0 | 100% | 3.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Na Forbacha | 868 | 2 | 450 | 2 | 0% | 6.3 km |
| Collon | 864 | 1 | 190 | 0 | 0% | 8.6 km |
| Balla | 860 | 2 | 678 | 0 | 0% | 0.6 km |
| Doneraile | 857 | 2 | 434 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| Ballyboghil | 855 | 2 | 563 | 0 | 0% | 5.6 km |
| Scarriff-Tuamgraney | 854 | 4 | 720 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Newtownforbes | 851 | 2 | 606 | 0 | 50% | 5 km |
| Strokestown | 850 | 3 | 851 | 0 | 33% | 0.5 km |
| Patrickswell | 848 | 2 | 204 | 0 | 50% | 3.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Na Dúnaibh | 601 | 2 | 202 | 1 | 100% | 14 km |
Of the other 178 towns, 59 have more pupils at the schools around them than Ballyboghil. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 16 of the 179.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballyboghil
Pupils every September at the schools in or within 3 km of the town, each counted at today’s site.
The schools in and around Ballyboghil had 528 pupils in 2015/16 and 563 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballyboghil
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 Ballyboghil
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyboghil | 2 | 563 | 0 | 0% | 5.6 km |
| Lusk 6.5 km | 11 | 4,510 | 1 | 0% | 0.9 km |
| Swords 6.8 km | 24 | 10,901 | 2 | 13% | 0.8 km |
| Donabate 8.2 km | 6 | 2,087 | 1 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Ashbourne 8.9 km | 13 | 6,695 | 2 | 0% | 1.1 km |
| Kinsealy-Drinan 9 km | 22 | 11,271 | 1 | 5% | 0.7 km |
| Balrothery 9.4 km | 16 | 7,860 | 2 | 31% | 1.7 km |
Swords has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. Of Ballyboghil’s neighbours, Lusk saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+6%) and Kinsealy-Drinan the least (−1%); Ballyboghil itself: −3%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballyboghil 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 Ballyboghil
How many schools are there in Ballyboghil?
In Ballyboghil or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 563 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballyboghil that teach through Irish?
None in Ballyboghil or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballyboghil?
Not in Ballyboghil or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Swords Community College, 5.6 km away.
What is the best school in Ballyboghil?
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 Ballyboghil?
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).