Scoil Phobail
Ardbear, Clifden, Co Galway · H71 W673 · Roll number 91412M
Scoil Phobail is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Clifden. Every school in and around Clifden →
What stands out about Scoil Phobail
- 489 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+13%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- In 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.
- A community school: run by a board of the local Education and Training Board and the religious or other bodies that founded it.
- Its patron is Galway & Roscommon ETB & Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscan brothers); its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Clifden or within 3 km of it.
- Outside Clifden’s outline, 0.9 km away; listed with Clifden, the nearest town in its county.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Scoil Phobail had 489 pupils in 2025/26, against 412 in 2015/16 (+19%). Girls are 50% of them. Its largest roll was 510, in 2022/23. Its roll rose in 6 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Scoil Phobail
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 Scoil Phobail 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 Scoil Phobail
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 Scoil Phobail
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Scoil Phobail 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.
It is in DEIS, so it has extra support for pupils from disadvantaged areas.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Scoil Phobail has grown by 13% since 2019/20. All the schools around Clifden together changed by +11%.
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.
Scoil Phobail has more pupils than any of the 1 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +13%; 1 of the 1 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Phobail | 489 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | |
| Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara | 117 | +22% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 22 km |
The other 42 post-primary schools in Co. Galway
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Na bPiarsach | 54 | −17% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 29 km |
| Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin | 440 | +20% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 37 km |
| Coláiste Naomh Feichín | 63 | −19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 38 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Éinne | 59 | +7% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 46 km | |
| St Pauls | 465 | +8% | Catholic | English | 46 km | |
| Colaiste Cholmcille | 101 | −11% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 49 km |
| Coláiste Naomh Eoin | 41 | +3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 52 km | |
| Colaiste Chroi Mhuire | 270 | +17% | Catholic | All in Irish | 54 km | |
| Coláiste Ghobnait | 35 | +46% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 57 km | |
| Presentation College | 857 | +10% | Catholic | English | 60 km | |
| Coláiste na Coiribe | 711 | +19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 64 km | |
| Coláiste Einde | 808 | +2% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 66 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 658 | +0% | Catholic | English | 66 km | |
| Dominican College | 564 | −11% | Catholic | English | 67 km | |
| Coláiste Muire Máthair | 738 | – | Catholic | English | 67 km | |
| Coláiste Iognáid S.J. | 637 | +2% | Catholic | Some subjects in Irish | 68 km | |
| St Joseph's College | 791 | +5% | Catholic | English | 68 km | |
| Galway City & Oranmore Educate Together Secondary School | 379 | +924% | Multi-denominational | English | 68 km | |
| Galway Community College | 395 | +49% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 69 km |
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College | 710 | +15% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 72 km |
| Coláiste Bhaile Chláir | 1,269 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | 74 km | |
| Calasanctius College | 906 | +6% | Catholic | English | 76 km | |
| High Cross College | 777 | – | Catholic | English | 78 km | |
| St. Jarlaths College | 762 | +34% | Catholic | English | 78 km | |
| Archbishop McHale College | 479 | +94% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 78 km |
| Seamount College | 628 | +19% | Catholic | English | 81 km | |
| Presentation College | 1,100 | +2% | Catholic | English | 86 km | |
| Dunmore Community School | 367 | +29% | Inter-denominational | English | 86 km | |
| Clárin College | 1,140 | +118% | Multi-denominational | English | 87 km | |
| Coláiste an Eachréidh | 234 | −3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 87 km | |
| Gort Community School | 1,043 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | 93 km | |
| Glenamaddy Community School | 433 | +15% | Inter-denominational | English | 97 km | |
| Holy Rosary College | 720 | +2% | Catholic | English | 101 km | |
| St Raphaels College | 749 | +12% | Catholic | English | 102 km | |
| Coláiste an Chreagáin | 116 | +47% | Multi-denominational | English | 102 km | |
| St Brigids College | 751 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | 102 km | |
| St. Cuan's College | 435 | +42% | Catholic | English | 103 km | |
| St Killian's College (Coláiste Chilleáin Naofa) | 168 | +2% | Multi-denominational | English | 104 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 306 | +26% | Catholic | English | 113 km | |
| Mercy College | 157 | +6% | Catholic | English | 118 km | |
| Clonfert College | 926 | – | Catholic | English | ✓ | 119 km |
| Portumna Community School | 506 | +14% | Inter-denominational | English | 127 km |
Living in Clifden
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the H71 Eircode area
Housing in Clifden →The median sale price rose from €250,000 in 2023 to €287,500 in 2025 (+15%).
Property Price Register sales in the H71 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Clifden
Cost of living in Clifden →New tenancies in Clifden averaged €959 a month in 2025, against €930 in 2024 (+3%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗near Clifden, H71 W673
Post-primary schools near Scoil Phobail
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Scoil Phobail
Is Scoil Phobail 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 Scoil Phobail have?
489 pupils in 2025/26. That is +13% since 2019/20.
Does Scoil Phobail teach through Irish?
No: Scoil Phobail teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Scoil Phobail?
Scoil Phobail has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Galway & Roscommon ETB & Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscan brothers).
How do pupils get a place at Scoil Phobail?
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 Scoil Phobail?
The nearest are Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara (22 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 Clifden; 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).