Photo: John Chudley · CC BY-SA 2.0Few schools around Dunmore teach through Irish: 0%, below Co. Galway’s towns and Irish towns
Set beside other towns, Dunmore comes out below both Co. Galway’s towns (15%) and Irish towns (8%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, Dunmore Community School, has 367 pupils. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not 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 Dunmore’s schools
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, Dunmore Community School has grown fastest, from 284 in 2019/20 to 367. Getting a place ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Dunmore
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around Dunmore had 559 pupils in 2015/16 and 605 in 2025/26. Dunmore Community School grew most: +29% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Dunmore
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.
The 3 schools in and around Dunmore
Each school in or within 3 km of Dunmore links to a page of its own. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Where the 3 schools in and around Dunmore 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 Dunmore’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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Dunmore
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 3 schools in and around Dunmore teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Dunmore’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 Dunmore | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 21% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 14% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 49% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Dunmore are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (21% in Co. Galway). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here against 6%.
Each of the 3 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunmore Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 367 | 45% | ||
| Nioclas NaofaPrimary | 221 | 48% | ||
| S.N. Baile an LeasaPrimary | 17 | 65% |
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 Dunmore’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Dunmore’s 3 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Archbishop of Tuam (2) and Galway & Roscommon ETB & Religious Sisters of Mercy (1). None of the 3 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 2 patrons of Dunmore’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Of the 3 schools around Dunmore, 2 have Archbishop of Tuam as patron, teaching 39% of the pupils; 2 patrons in all. An Education and Training Board runs one of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop of TuamNioclas Naofa, S.N. Baile an Leasa | Catholic | 2 | 238 |
| Galway & Roscommon ETB & Religious Sisters of MercyDunmore | Inter-denominational | 1 | 367 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Dunmore
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
Between 2019/20 and now, 1 of the 3 grew by 5% or more and 1 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +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 Dunmore’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 3 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Dunmore Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Nioclas NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Baile an LeasaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Dunmore
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Dunmore is Dunmore Community School, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunmore Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 367 | 0.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Dunmore beside the 169 other Irish towns of 500 to 900 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cratloe | 899 | 1 | 278 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Cappamore | 668 | 2 | 161 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Ballitore | 667 | 1 | 259 | 0 | 0% | 9.4 km |
| An Rinn | 665 | 3 | 332 | 3 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Bennettsbridge | 664 | 1 | 206 | 0 | 0% | 7 km |
| Dunmore | 664 | 3 | 605 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Ballygar | 660 | 3 | 411 | 0 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Ballyroan | 657 | 1 | 177 | 0 | 0% | 7 km |
| Cloghan | 654 | 1 | 93 | 0 | 100% | 6.2 km |
| Hacketstown | 653 | 2 | 507 | 0 | 50% | 0.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 40 of the other 169 towns than around Dunmore. Within 3 km, 15 of these 170 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Dunmore
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunmore | 3 | 605 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Tuam 13 km | 8 | 3,460 | 1 | 25% | 0.3 km |
| Ballyhaunis 16 km | 2 | 1,102 | 0 | 100% | 0.7 km |
Tuam has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Dunmore changed by +15%; among its neighbours, Tuam’s grew most (+14%) and Ballyhaunis’s least (+11%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Dunmore 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 Dunmore
How many schools are there in Dunmore?
In Dunmore or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 605 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Dunmore that teach through Irish?
None in Dunmore or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Dunmore?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Dunmore?
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 Dunmore?
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).