Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0DEIS support is less common around Killarney: 8% of schools, below Co. Kerry’s towns and Irish towns
That leaves Killarney below both Co. Kerry’s towns (34%) and Irish towns (35%). In or within 3 km of Killarney: 9 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, 4,102 pupils in all. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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 Killarney’s schools
Mostly single-sex at secondary
Most secondary schools here take only boys or only girls; the mixed ones are marked on the cards below. Single-sex: St. Brendan's College (871) and St. Brigid's Secondary School (789). Every school ↓
Few schools in DEIS
Just 1 of the 12 schools here get DEIS support for disadvantaged areas; 30% do across Ireland. The one in DEIS: Killarney Community College (469). Who goes there ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
The 12 schools in and around Killarney
Each school in or within 3 km of Killarney links to a page of its own. Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
Where the 12 schools in and around Killarney 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 Killarney’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 Killarney
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Killarney’s 12 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Faithleann.
Who Killarney’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Kerry’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 Killarney | Co. Kerry | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 11% | 20% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 6% | 9% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 78% | 33% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Fewer of the pupils around Killarney are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 11% against 27% (Co. Kerry: 20%). Set beside Ireland, post-primary pupils at single-sex schools stand out most: 78% against 29%. The largest DEIS school here is Killarney Community College, with 469 pupils.
Each of the 12 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Brendan's CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 871 | 0% | ||
| St. Brigid's Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 789 | 100% | ||
| St Olivers N.S.Primary | 625 | 47% | ||
| Killarney Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 469 | 51% | ✓ | |
| Holy Cross Primary SchoolPrimary | 345 | 72% | ||
| Gaelscoil FaithleannPrimary | 245 | 53% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Mhuire na MainistreachPrimary | 167 | 0% | ||
| Scoil BhrídePrimary | 129 | 50% | ||
| Lissivigeen Mxd N.S.Primary | 269 | 53% | ||
| Two Mile Community National SchoolPrimary | 46 | 48% | ||
| Tiernaboul N.S.Primary | 57 | 49% | ||
| Loughguitane N.S.Primary | 90 | 47% |
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 Killarney’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
10 of Killarney’s 12 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kerry (9), Kerry ETB (2) and CEIST (1). 1 of the 12 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 Killarney’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
3 patrons run the 12 schools around Killarney; the largest, Bishop of Kerry, has 9 of them and 68% of the pupils. The local Education and Training Board runs 2.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of KerrySt. Brendan's College, St Olivers, Holy Cross Primary School, Lissivigeen Mxd, Gaelscoil Faithleann, Scoil Mhuire na Mainistreach, Scoil Bhríde, Loughguitane, Tiernaboul | Catholic | 9 | 2,798 |
| Kerry ETBKillarney, Two Mile Community | Multi-denominational | 2 | 515 |
| CEISTSt. Brigid's | Catholic | 1 | 789 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Killarney
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
Since 2019/20, 6 of these 12 schools have grown by 5% or more and 5 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of pupils changed by +5%.
All 12 schools
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 Killarney’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 12 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St. Brendan's CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Brigid's Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Olivers N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Killarney Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Holy Cross Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil FaithleannPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Mhuire na MainistreachPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil BhrídePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Lissivigeen Mxd N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Two Mile Community National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Tiernaboul N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Loughguitane N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Killarney
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Families in Killarney have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: 2 voluntary secondary schools and one ETB school. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Brigid's Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 789 | 0.8 km |
| St. Brendan's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 871 | 0.9 km |
| Killarney Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 469 | 1.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Killarney
No special school is in or near Killarney. 3 of the 9 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.
Killarney beside the 83 other Irish towns of 10,100 to 19,500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crumlin | 19,287 | 124 | 35,375 | 8 | 52% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ashtown | 14,937 | 97 | 28,864 | 8 | 52% | 0.7 km |
| Ballyowen | 14,739 | 68 | 31,032 | 6 | 32% | 1 km |
| Darndale | 14,675 | 85 | 23,703 | 7 | 49% | 1 km |
| Bishopstown | 14,529 | 54 | 18,909 | 6 | 50% | 0.3 km |
| Killarney | 14,412 | 12 | 4,102 | 1 | 8% | 0.8 km |
| Corbally and King's Island | 14,213 | 45 | 15,801 | 6 | 49% | 0.2 km |
| Cobh | 14,148 | 13 | 3,613 | 1 | 23% | 0.8 km |
| Clonskeagh | 14,142 | 106 | 39,846 | 10 | 10% | 0.3 km |
| Midleton | 13,906 | 10 | 5,560 | 1 | 10% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Parnell Square | 10,117 | 124 | 33,167 | 9 | 52% | 0.1 km |
Of the other 83 towns, 74 have more pupils at the schools around them than Killarney. Every one of them has an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Killarney
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 Killarney had 3,586 pupils in 2015/16 and 4,102 in 2025/26. Two Mile Community National School grew most: +77% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Killarney
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 Killarney
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killarney | 12 | 4,102 | 1 | 8% | 0.8 km |
| Milltown 17 km | 4 | 1,193 | 0 | 25% | 0.2 km |
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Killarney 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 Killarney
How many schools are there in Killarney?
In Killarney or within 3 km of it: 9 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, with 4,102 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Killarney that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Faithleann teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Killarney?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Killarney?
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 Killarney?
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).