St Pauls
Oughterard, Co Galway · H91 PT86 · Roll number 63101K
St Pauls is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Oughterard. Every school in and around Oughterard →
What stands out about St Pauls
- 465 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+8%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- 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 CEIST; its ethos is Catholic.
- The only post-primary school in Oughterard or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Pauls had 465 pupils in 2025/26, against 415 in 2015/16 (+12%). Girls are 47% of them. Its largest roll was 481, in 2023/24. 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 St Pauls
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 St Pauls 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 St Pauls
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 St Pauls
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Pauls 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: St Pauls has grown by 8% since 2019/20. All the schools around Oughterard together changed by +9%.
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, 2 have more pupils than St Pauls. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +8%; 3 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Pauls | 465 | +8% | Catholic | English | ||
| Coláiste Naomh Feichín | 63 | −19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 12 km | |
| Presentation College | 857 | +10% | Catholic | English | 15 km | |
| Coláiste Na bPiarsach | 54 | −17% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 19 km |
| Colaiste Chroi Mhuire | 270 | +17% | Catholic | All in Irish | 21 km | |
| Colaiste Cholmcille | 101 | −11% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 21 km |
| Coláiste na Coiribe | 711 | +19% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 22 km |
The other 37 post-primary schools in Co. Galway
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Einde | 808 | +2% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 24 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 658 | +0% | Catholic | English | 24 km | |
| Dominican College | 564 | −11% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Coláiste Muire Máthair | 738 | – | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| St Joseph's College | 791 | +5% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Galway City & Oranmore Educate Together Secondary School | 379 | +924% | Multi-denominational | English | 25 km | |
| Coláiste Iognáid S.J. | 637 | +2% | Catholic | Some subjects in Irish | 25 km | |
| Galway Community College | 395 | +49% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 25 km |
| Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin | 440 | +20% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 26 km |
| Coláiste Bhaile Chláir | 1,269 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | 28 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuirlinne/Merlin College | 710 | +15% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 28 km |
| Calasanctius College | 906 | +6% | Catholic | English | 32 km | |
| High Cross College | 777 | – | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Archbishop McHale College | 479 | +94% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 33 km |
| St. Jarlaths College | 762 | +34% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara | 117 | +22% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 35 km |
| Presentation College | 1,100 | +2% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Éinne | 59 | +7% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 41 km | |
| Clárin College | 1,140 | +118% | Multi-denominational | English | 41 km | |
| Coláiste an Eachréidh | 234 | −3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 41 km | |
| Seamount College | 628 | +19% | Catholic | English | 42 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Eoin | 41 | +3% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 42 km | |
| Coláiste Ghobnait | 35 | +46% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 43 km | |
| Dunmore Community School | 367 | +29% | Inter-denominational | English | 44 km | |
| Scoil Phobail | 489 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 46 km |
| Gort Community School | 1,043 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | 54 km | |
| Glenamaddy Community School | 433 | +15% | Inter-denominational | English | 54 km | |
| Holy Rosary College | 720 | +2% | Catholic | English | 55 km | |
| Coláiste an Chreagáin | 116 | +47% | Multi-denominational | English | 56 km | |
| St. Cuan's College | 435 | +42% | Catholic | English | 57 km | |
| St Raphaels College | 749 | +12% | Catholic | English | 57 km | |
| St Brigids College | 751 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | 57 km | |
| St Killian's College (Coláiste Chilleáin Naofa) | 168 | +2% | Multi-denominational | English | 58 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 306 | +26% | Catholic | English | 67 km | |
| Clonfert College | 926 | – | Catholic | English | ✓ | 73 km |
| Mercy College | 157 | +6% | Catholic | English | 75 km | |
| Portumna Community School | 506 | +14% | Inter-denominational | English | 83 km |
Living in Oughterard
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the H91 Eircode area
Housing in Oughterard →The median sale price rose from €338,600 in 2023 to €408,300 in 2025 (+21%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the H91 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Oughterard
Cost of living in Oughterard →New tenancies in Oughterard averaged €1,250 a month in 2025, against €1,236 in 2024 (+1%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Oughterard, H91 PT86
Post-primary schools near St Pauls
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Pauls
Is St Pauls 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 St Pauls have?
465 pupils in 2025/26. That is +8% since 2019/20.
Does St Pauls teach through Irish?
No: St Pauls teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Pauls?
St Pauls has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at St Pauls?
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 St Pauls?
The nearest are Coláiste Naomh Feichín (12 km), Presentation College (15 km) and Coláiste Na bPiarsach (19 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 Oughterard; 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).