Coláiste Mhuire
Ballygar, Co. Galway · F42 D265 · Roll number 62900M
Coláiste Mhuire is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ballygar. Every school in and around Ballygar →
What stands out about Coláiste Mhuire
- A small post-primary school: 306 pupils, against a typical 585.
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 306 pupils, 26% more than the 242 of 2019/20.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is Board of Trustees of Scoil Mhuire, Ballygar; its ethos is Catholic.
- The only post-primary school in Ballygar or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Coláiste Mhuire had 306 pupils in 2025/26, against 224 in 2015/16 (+37%). Girls are 52% of them. Its roll rose in 7 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Coláiste Mhuire
Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing schools by them, so this school has no letter and nothing here ranks it. Its facts are the Department of Education’s; its inspection reports are linked below.
What the Department of Education does publish for Coláiste Mhuire is on this page: its pupils each September since 2015/16, girls and boys, its patron and ethos, whether it teaches through Irish, whether it is in DEIS, and its inspection reports.
Newspapers print lists of how many of a school’s leavers go on to college. Those count destinations, not exam results, and depend on who a school takes in; we don’t use them.
Inspection reports on Coláiste Mhuire
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate visits schools and publishes its reports. The reports describe what inspectors saw; they give no overall grade, and we don’t make one. Reports for this school on gov.ie ↗
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.
Getting a place at Coláiste Mhuire
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Coláiste Mhuire directly, usually in the year before their child finishes sixth class; the school’s yearly admission notice gives the dates for applying and for its decisions.
A school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its admission policy, often brothers and sisters, the area it serves and, for post-primary schools, its feeder primaries. A family refused a place can appeal.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Coláiste Mhuire has grown by 26% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ballygar together changed by +20%.
Pupils since 2019/20
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; Department of Education enrolments 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary).
Side by side with the nearest post-primary schools
2025/26The nearest schools of the same kind, as the crow flies: their pupils, ethos and language. No results: none are published.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 5 have more pupils than Coláiste Mhuire. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +26%; 2 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Mhuire | 306 | +26% | Catholic | English | ||
| Coláiste an Chreagáin | 116 | +47% | Multi-denominational | English | 13 km | |
| Holy Rosary College | 720 | +2% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Roscommon Community College | 603 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 14 km |
| C.B.S. Roscommon | 450 | +18% | Catholic | English | 14 km | |
| Mercy College | 505 | −1% | Catholic | English | 14 km | |
| St. Cuan's College | 435 | +42% | Catholic | English | 15 km |
The other 40 post-primary schools in Co. Galway
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenamaddy Community School | 433 | +15% | Inter-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| Clonfert College | 926 | – | Catholic | English | ✓ | 23 km |
| St Killian's College (Coláiste Chilleáin Naofa) | 168 | +2% | Multi-denominational | English | 27 km | |
| Dunmore Community School | 367 | +29% | Inter-denominational | English | 29 km | |
| Archbishop McHale College | 479 | +94% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 35 km |
| St. Jarlaths College | 762 | +34% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| High Cross College | 777 | – | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| Coláiste an Eachréidh | 234 | −3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 38 km | |
| Presentation College | 1,100 | +2% | Catholic | English | 39 km | |
| Clárin College | 1,140 | +118% | Multi-denominational | English | 39 km | |
| St Raphaels College | 749 | +12% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| St Brigids College | 751 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | 40 km | |
| Coláiste Bhaile Chláir | 1,269 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | 46 km | |
| Portumna Community School | 506 | +14% | Inter-denominational | English | 48 km | |
| Calasanctius College | 906 | +6% | Catholic | English | 50 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College | 710 | +15% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 52 km |
| Presentation College | 857 | +10% | Catholic | English | 53 km | |
| Mercy College | 157 | +6% | Catholic | English | 53 km | |
| Galway Community College | 395 | +49% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 54 km |
| Galway City & Oranmore Educate Together Secondary School | 379 | +924% | Multi-denominational | English | 56 km | |
| St Joseph's College | 791 | +5% | Catholic | English | 56 km | |
| Coláiste Iognáid S.J. | 637 | +2% | Catholic | Some subjects in Irish | 57 km | |
| Coláiste Muire Máthair | 738 | – | Catholic | English | 57 km | |
| Dominican College | 564 | −11% | Catholic | English | 58 km | |
| Coláiste Einde | 808 | +2% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 59 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 658 | +0% | Catholic | English | 59 km | |
| Seamount College | 628 | +19% | Catholic | English | 59 km | |
| Coláiste na Coiribe | 711 | +19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 60 km | |
| Gort Community School | 1,043 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | 61 km | |
| St Pauls | 465 | +8% | Catholic | English | 67 km | |
| Colaiste Chroi Mhuire | 270 | +17% | Catholic | All in Irish | 72 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Feichín | 63 | −19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 75 km | |
| Colaiste Cholmcille | 101 | −11% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 77 km |
| Coláiste Na bPiarsach | 54 | −17% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 87 km |
| Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin | 440 | +20% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 90 km |
| Coláiste Ghobnait | 35 | +46% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 95 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Eoin | 41 | +3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 97 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Éinne | 59 | +7% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 100 km | |
| Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara | 117 | +22% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 102 km |
| Scoil Phobail | 489 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 113 km |
Living in Ballygar
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F42 Eircode area
Housing in Ballygar →The median sale price rose from €220,000 in 2023 to €259,800 in 2025 (+18%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F42 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Galway
Cost of living in Ballygar →New tenancies in Co. Galway averaged €1,637 a month in 2025, against €1,501 in 2024 (+9%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ballygar, F42 D265
Post-primary schools near Coláiste Mhuire
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Coláiste Mhuire
Is Coláiste Mhuire a good school?
We don’t grade it: Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them. Its inspection reports on gov.ie, a visit and a talk with the principal will tell you more than any table could.
How many pupils does Coláiste Mhuire have?
306 pupils in 2025/26. That is +26% since 2019/20.
Does Coláiste Mhuire teach through Irish?
No: Coláiste Mhuire teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Coláiste Mhuire?
Coláiste Mhuire has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Board of Trustees of Scoil Mhuire, Ballygar.
How do pupils get a place at Coláiste Mhuire?
Apply to the school directly. It publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates; if more children apply than it has places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Which schools of the same kind are near Coláiste Mhuire?
The nearest are Coláiste an Chreagáin (13 km), Holy Rosary College (13 km) and Roscommon Community College (14 km).
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · inspection reports on gov.ie, linked by roll number. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Facts from the Department of Education’s school lists. Listed with Ballygar; nothing here rates the school.
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).