Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0More children at the schools around Athenry: +20% since 2019/20, above Co. Galway’s towns and Irish towns
On this, Athenry is above both Co. Galway’s towns (+2%) and Irish towns (+4%). Its schools have 3,133 pupils, 20% more than in 2019/20. 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 Athenry’s schools
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. They are Coláiste an Eachréidh (234) and Gaelscoil Riada (158). Language ↓
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
One school growing fast
Of the schools here, Clárin College has grown fastest, from 523 in 2019/20 to 1,140. Getting a place ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Athenry
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
2 of Athenry’s 5 schools teach every subject through Irish: Coláiste an Eachréidh and Gaelscoil Riada.
Pupil numbers around Athenry
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 Athenry had 2,590 pupils in 2015/16 and 3,133 in 2025/26. Clárin College grew most: +118% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Athenry
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.
Where the 5 schools in and around Athenry 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 Athenry’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 Athenry’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Galway’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 Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 21% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 13% | 14% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 9% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Around Athenry, 0% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 21% in Co. Galway. Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at single-sex schools, at 0% against 29%.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clárin CollegePost-primary · ETB | 1,140 | 47% | ||
| Presentation CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,100 | 50% | ||
| Athenry Primary SchoolPrimary | 501 | 53% | ||
| Coláiste an EachréidhPost-primary · ETB | 234 | 53% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil RiadaPrimary | 158 | 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.
Who runs Athenry’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Athenry’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Galway & Roscommon ETB (2), CEIST (1) and Archbishop of Tuam (1). None of the 5 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.
The 4 patrons of Athenry’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
The schools around Athenry answer to 4 patrons, and Galway & Roscommon ETB leads with 2 of the 5 schools and 44% of their pupils. The local Education and Training Board runs 2.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galway & Roscommon ETBClárin College, Coláiste an Eachréidh | Multi-denominational | 2 | 1,374 |
| CEISTPresentation College | Catholic | 1 | 1,100 |
| Archbishop of TuamAthenry Primary School | Catholic | 1 | 501 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Riada | Catholic | 1 | 158 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Athenry
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
1 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 1 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.
The 5 schools in and around Athenry
Here are the schools in Athenry or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Inspection reports for Athenry’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 5 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Clárin CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Presentation CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Athenry Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coláiste an EachréidhPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil RiadaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Athenry
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Families in Athenry have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: 2 ETB schools and one voluntary secondary school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste an EachréidhETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 234 | 0.4 km |
| Presentation CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,100 | 1.1 km |
| Clárin CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,140 | 1.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Athenry
No special school is in or near Athenry. 1 of the 2 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.
Athenry beside the 96 other Irish towns of 3,200 to 6,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Glen | 6,119 | 66 | 19,000 | 5 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Carrick-On-Shannon | 4,743 | 5 | 1,575 | 1 | 0% | 0.2 km |
| Birr | 4,726 | 7 | 1,708 | 1 | 86% | 1.4 km |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 30 | 10,789 | 5 | 23% | 1.6 km |
| Bohernabreena | 4,613 | 54 | 19,297 | 5 | 46% | 0.9 km |
| Athenry | 4,603 | 5 | 3,133 | 2 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Saggart | 4,573 | 23 | 9,161 | 3 | 61% | 0.7 km |
| Kilcoole | 4,569 | 8 | 3,046 | 0 | 0% | 0.6 km |
| Newcastle | 4,526 | 11 | 5,403 | 2 | 0% | 2.4 km |
| Gurranebraher | 4,502 | 64 | 19,573 | 6 | 55% | 0.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Virginia | 3,211 | 3 | 1,430 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
Among the 96 other towns, 60 have more pupils at their schools than Athenry does. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 71 of the 97.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Athenry
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athenry | 5 | 3,133 | 2 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Craughwell 8.3 km | 2 | 426 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Oranmore 13 km | 8 | 3,669 | 1 | 13% | 0.4 km |
| Baile Chláir 13 km | 3 | 1,800 | 0 | 33% | 0.8 km |
| Ballybane 16 km | 18 | 6,135 | 2 | 44% | 0.3 km |
| Loughrea 17 km | 6 | 2,361 | 1 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Murrough 17 km | 22 | 7,826 | 2 | 41% | 1.6 km |
Of Athenry’s neighbours, Loughrea saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+10%) and Craughwell the least (−11%); Athenry itself: +20%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Athenry 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 Athenry
How many schools are there in Athenry?
In Athenry or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, with 3,133 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Athenry that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: Coláiste an Eachréidh and Gaelscoil Riada teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Athenry?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Athenry?
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 Athenry?
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).