Photo: Einaz80 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Oranmore than around Co. Galway’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
That leaves Oranmore below both Co. Galway’s towns (33%) and Irish towns (39%). Primary schools here average 402 pupils, against 175 across Ireland. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Oranmore’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
9 post-primary schools lie within 10 km, so families here have a real choice at twelve; each admits on its own policy. The nearest: Calasanctius College (0.4 km), Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College (4.2 km) and Galway Community College (7.3 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Few schools in DEIS
Only 1 of the 8 schools here are in DEIS, the programme of extra teachers and money for schools serving disadvantaged areas; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. The one in DEIS: Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College (710). Who goes there ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
The 8 schools in and around Oranmore
Each school in or within 3 km of Oranmore links to a page of its own. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Where the 8 schools in and around Oranmore 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 Oranmore’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 Oranmore
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Oranmore’s 8 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil de hIde.
Who Oranmore’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, 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 Oranmore | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 19% | 21% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 11% | 14% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 9% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Around Oranmore, 19% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 21% in Co. Galway. Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here against 29%. The biggest school in DEIS is Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College (710 pupils).
Each of the 8 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calasanctius CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 906 | 45% | ||
| Scoil ÍosaPrimary | 770 | 51% | ||
| Gaelscoil de hIdePrimary | 399 | 48% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Naomh MhuirePrimary | 233 | 45% | ||
| Merlin Woods Primary SchoolPrimary | 383 | 48% | ||
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin CollegePost-primary · ETB | 710 | 48% | ✓ | |
| Scoil AineSpecial | 45 | 67% | ||
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | 223 | 46% |
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 Oranmore’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
7 of Oranmore’s 8 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora (6), CEIST (1) and Galway & Roscommon ETB (1). 1 of the 8 are 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 3 patrons of Oranmore’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Of the 8 schools around Oranmore, 6 have Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora as patron, teaching 56% of the pupils; 3 patrons in all. One is an ETB school.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & KilfenoraScoil Íosa, Gaelscoil de hIde, Merlin Woods Primary School, Scoil Naomh Mhuire, Scoil Mhuire, Scoil Aine | Catholic | 6 | 2,053 |
| CEISTCalasanctius College | Catholic | 1 | 906 |
| Galway & Roscommon ETBColáiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College | Multi-denominational | 1 | 710 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Oranmore
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
Of these 6 schools, 2 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 3 have lost as much; Ireland’s pupils changed by +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 Oranmore’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
Reports come from whole-school evaluations (teaching, learning, leadership and management), subject inspections and follow-through visits that check earlier advice; gov.ie publishes each one with the school’s response.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 8 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Calasanctius CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil ÍosaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil de hIdePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh MhuirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Merlin Woods Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil AineSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Oranmore
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
9 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Oranmore: 6 voluntary secondary schools and 3 ETB schools. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calasanctius CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 906 | 0.4 km |
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 710 | 4.2 km |
| Galway Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 395 | 7.3 km |
| Coláiste Bhaile ChláirETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,269 | 7.8 km |
| Galway City & Oranmore Educate Together Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 379 | 8.5 km |
| St Joseph's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 791 | 8.7 km |
| Coláiste Iognáid S.J.Voluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 637 | 8.9 km |
| Coláiste Muire MáthairVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 738 | 9.3 km |
| Dominican CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 564 | 9.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Oranmore
Scoil Aine is the special school here, with 45 pupils. 3 of the 5 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.
Oranmore beside the 99 other Irish towns of 4,100 to 7,900 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monaghan | 7,894 | 11 | 3,968 | 2 | 36% | 0.2 km |
| … | ||||||
| Glasheen | 5,981 | 66 | 21,351 | 6 | 50% | 1.1 km |
| Ayrfield | 5,863 | 73 | 20,467 | 5 | 40% | 0.6 km |
| Gillabbey | 5,857 | 72 | 22,124 | 6 | 50% | 0.7 km |
| Ballinfoile and Terryland | 5,851 | 33 | 11,082 | 5 | 33% | 1.5 km |
| Oranmore | 5,819 | 8 | 3,669 | 1 | 13% | 0.4 km |
| Rathcoole | 5,792 | 11 | 5,371 | 2 | 9% | 0.5 km |
| Sutton | 5,789 | 50 | 14,773 | 4 | 30% | 0.4 km |
| Harmonstown | 5,769 | 84 | 25,004 | 5 | 39% | 0.4 km |
| Rathgar | 5,768 | 105 | 34,594 | 8 | 21% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Grange | 4,109 | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1.3 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 68 of the other 99 towns than around Oranmore. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 87 of the 100.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Oranmore
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Oranmore had 2,981 pupils in 2015/16 and 3,669 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Oranmore
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 Oranmore
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oranmore | 8 | 3,669 | 1 | 13% | 0.4 km |
| Ballybane 4.5 km | 18 | 6,135 | 2 | 44% | 0.3 km |
| Murrough 5.1 km | 22 | 7,826 | 2 | 41% | 1.6 km |
| Mervue 6.4 km | 30 | 9,041 | 4 | 37% | 0.9 km |
| Eyre Square 7.3 km | 36 | 12,413 | 5 | 33% | 1.2 km |
| Castlegar 7.7 km | 32 | 9,971 | 4 | 34% | 1.3 km |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island 8.4 km | 33 | 11,452 | 5 | 33% | 0.2 km |
Eyre Square has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 5. Pupils around Oranmore: +2% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Mervue led (+3%) and Woodquay and Nuns Island trailed (+1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Oranmore 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 Oranmore
How many schools are there in Oranmore?
In Oranmore or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 1 special school, with 3,669 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Oranmore that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil de hIde teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Oranmore?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Oranmore?
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 Oranmore?
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).