The schools around Ballitore have fewer pupils than in 2019/20: −11%, below Co. Kildare’s towns and Irish towns
In the comparison, Ballitore comes below both Co. Kildare’s towns (+7%) and Irish towns (+4%). St Laurences N.S. is a primary with 259 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.
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.
Where the school in or near Ballitore is
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 Ballitore’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 Ballitore
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 1 schools in and around Ballitore teaches every subject through Irish.
Who runs Ballitore’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
1 of Ballitore’s 1 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Archbishop of Dublin (1). None of the 1 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.
How children get a place in Ballitore
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.
The school in and around Ballitore
Here are the schools in Ballitore or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Inspection reports for Ballitore’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
Each school is visited by inspectors from time to time, for a whole-school evaluation of teaching, learning and leadership, for one subject, or to follow up earlier advice, and every report is posted on gov.ie with the school’s response.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what the school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the school below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Laurences 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 Ballitore
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Ballitore is St Kevin's Community College, an ETB school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Kevin's Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 829 | 9.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballitore
No special school is in or near Ballitore. 1 of the 1 primary schools has 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.
Ballitore beside the 169 other Irish towns of 500 to 900 people
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km, listed by population: Ireland publishes no results, so none is ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cratloe | 899 | 1 | 278 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Kilmacow | 671 | 1 | 176 | 0 | 0% | 5.2 km |
| Schull | 669 | 2 | 510 | 0 | 0% | 0.8 km |
| Tallanstown | 668 | 2 | 457 | 0 | 0% | 7.8 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 |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 77 of the other 169 towns than around Ballitore. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 15 of the 170.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballitore
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 Ballitore had 314 pupils in 2015/16 and 259 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballitore
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 Ballitore
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballitore | 1 | 259 | 0 | 0% | 9.4 km |
| Dunlavin 9.5 km | 3 | 1,103 | 0 | 33% | 0.6 km |
| Athy 11 km | 7 | 2,975 | 1 | 57% | 0.8 km |
| Baltinglass 11 km | 3 | 912 | 0 | 0% | 0.2 km |
| Castledermot 12 km | 2 | 678 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Curragh Camp 14 km | 8 | 1,733 | 1 | 38% | 1.2 km |
| Kilcullen 14 km | 3 | 1,524 | 0 | 0% | 0.2 km |
Athy has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Ballitore changed by −11%; among its neighbours, Dunlavin’s grew most (+22%) and Castledermot’s least (−12%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballitore 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 Ballitore
How many schools are there in Ballitore?
In Ballitore or within 3 km of it: 1 primary school, with 259 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballitore that teach through Irish?
None in Ballitore or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballitore?
Not in Ballitore or within 3 km of it; the nearest is St Kevin's Community College, 9.4 km away.
What is the best school in Ballitore?
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 Ballitore?
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).