Photo: Ian Paterson · CC BY-SA 2.0None of the 24 schools around Ballyoulster is in DEIS, the extra support for disadvantaged areas
Around Ballyoulster, 0% of schools are in DEIS, below both Co. Kildare’s towns (3%) and Irish towns (35%). In or within 3 km of Ballyoulster: 16 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 2 special schools, 10,718 pupils in all. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results 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 Ballyoulster’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 37 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: St Wolstan's Community School (3.1 km), Coláiste Chiaráin (3.3 km) and Salesian College (3.5 km). Post-primary choices ↓
No school in DEIS
None of the schools here is in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. Who runs them ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Who runs Ballyoulster’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
14 of Ballyoulster’s 24 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Archbishop of Dublin (13), Educate Together (3) and Kildare Wicklow ETB & Archbishop of Dublin (2). None of the 24 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.
Where the 24 schools in and around Ballyoulster 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 Ballyoulster’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 Ballyoulster
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Ballyoulster’s 24 schools teach every subject through Irish: Scoil C.ui Dhalaigh.
Who Ballyoulster’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Kildare’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 Ballyoulster | Co. Kildare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 17% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 4% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 34% | 26% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 6% | 6% |
Around Ballyoulster, 0% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 17% in Co. Kildare. Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools, at 0% against 6%.
Each of the 24 schools
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.
The 9 patrons of Ballyoulster’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Of the 24 schools around Ballyoulster, 13 have Archbishop of Dublin as patron, teaching 42% of the pupils; 9 patrons in all. The local Education and Training Board runs 5. Educate Together runs 4.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop of DublinAghards, St Marys, Scoil na Mainistreach, St. John the Evangelist, Scoil C.ui Dhalaigh, Scoil Naomh Padraig, San Carlo Senior, Scoil Bhride, Scoil Mhuire, San Carlo Junior, Scoil Eoin Phoil, Scoil Naomh Brid, St Raphaels Special Sch | Catholic | 13 | 4,510 |
| Educate TogetherNorth Kildare Educate Together NS, Adamstown Castle Educate Together, Leixlip Educate Together | Multi-denominational | 3 | 1,070 |
| Kildare Wicklow ETB & Archbishop of DublinSt Wolstan's, Coláiste Chiaráin | Inter-denominational | 2 | 1,522 |
| Dublin & Dún Laoghaire ETBAdamstown | Multi-denominational | 1 | 981 |
| Kildare & Wicklow ETBConfey | Inter-denominational | 1 | 934 |
| Salesian Fathers of Don BoscoSalesian College | Catholic | 1 | 880 |
| Kildare Wicklow ETB & Educate TogetherCelbridge | Multi-denominational | 1 | 712 |
| Archbishop of Dublin & Bishop of Glendalough COIPrimrose Hill | Church of Ireland | 1 | 109 |
| patron not listedLucan Community Special School | Multi-denominational | 1 | 0 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballyoulster
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 21 schools, 10 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 6 have lost as much; Ireland’s pupils changed by +5%.
All 21 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.
The 24 schools in and around Ballyoulster
Every school in Ballyoulster or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Letters and results are missing here for a reason: Ireland publishes neither school by school.
Inspection reports for Ballyoulster’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 24 schools below links its own.
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballyoulster
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Within 10 km of Ballyoulster there are 37 post-primary schools: 20 ETB schools, 10 community schools and 7 voluntary secondary schools. Of these, 6 are single-sex: 3 for girls and 3 for boys. One of them charges fees. Every subject is taught through Irish at 3 of them.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Wolstan's Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls | – | 846 | 3.1 km |
| Coláiste ChiaráinCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 676 | 3.3 km |
| Salesian CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 880 | 3.5 km |
| Celbridge Community SchoolCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 712 | 3.5 km |
| Adamstown Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 981 | 3.5 km |
| Confey Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 934 | 4.3 km |
| Lucan Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 966 | 4.5 km |
| Coláiste Cois LifeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 592 | 5.5 km |
| St Joseph's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 934 | 5.5 km |
| Kishoge Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 937 | 5.9 km |
| Griffeen Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 576 | 5.9 km |
| Coláiste Phádraig CBSVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 745 | 6 km |
All 37 post-primary schools within reach
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deansrath Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 425 | 6.4 km |
| Holy Family Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 998 | 6.9 km |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh NuadETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 154 | 7.3 km |
| St. Kevin's Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 525 | 7.5 km |
| Eriu Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 193 | 7.6 km |
| Coláiste ChilliainETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 400 | 7.6 km |
| Hansfield ETSSVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 867 | 7.7 km |
| Maynooth Post Primary SchoolETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,018 | 7.7 km |
| Coláiste pobail FólaETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 758 | 7.7 km |
| Collinstown Park Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 630 | 7.9 km |
| Moyle Park CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 763 | 8 km |
| Luttrellstown Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,027 | 8.3 km |
| Maynooth Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,013 | 8.5 km |
| Coláiste BrídeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 993 | 8.6 km |
| Coláiste Pobail SetantaETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,079 | 8.7 km |
| St Aidan's Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 561 | 8.7 km |
| The Kings HospitalVoluntary secondary · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | Fee-paying, Boarding | 732 | 8.9 km |
| Castleknock Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,318 | 9.2 km |
| Phobailscoil IosoldeCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 764 | 9.3 km |
| Hartstown Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,120 | 9.4 km |
| Mount Seskin Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 350 | 9.4 km |
| St Peter's CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,214 | 9.7 km |
| St Marks Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 931 | 9.7 km |
| Scoil Phobail Chuil MhinCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,014 | 9.9 km |
| Blakestown Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 563 | 10 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballyoulster
2 special schools serve the area: St Raphaels Special Sch and Lucan Community Special School, 96 pupils between them. 10 of the 16 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.
Ballyoulster beside the 166 other Irish towns of 400 to 700 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanagarry | 700 | 2 | 201 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Abbeydorney | 528 | 2 | 226 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Rathmullan | 528 | 2 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 5.5 km |
| Moylough | 526 | 1 | 146 | 0 | 0% | 4.7 km |
| Oldtown | 523 | 2 | 435 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Ballyoulster | 523 | 24 | 10,718 | 1 | 0% | 3.1 km |
| Mullinahone | 523 | 2 | 169 | 0 | 50% | 9 km |
| Rivermeade | 521 | 5 | 1,862 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Cliffony | 521 | 2 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 6.2 km |
| Kildrum | 518 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 km |
| … | ||||||
| Oilgate | 401 | 2 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 6.2 km |
No other town of its size has as many pupils at the schools around it as Ballyoulster. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 12 of the 167.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballyoulster
Pupils every September at the schools in or within 3 km of the town, each counted at today’s site.
The schools in and around Ballyoulster had 9,641 pupils in 2015/16 and 10,718 in 2025/26. Celbridge Community School grew most: +32% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballyoulster
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 Ballyoulster
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
Esker has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Ballyoulster changed by +7%; among its neighbours, Newcastle’s grew most (+18%) and Deansrath’s least (−1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballyoulster 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 Ballyoulster
How many schools are there in Ballyoulster?
In Ballyoulster or within 3 km of it: 16 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 2 special schools, with 10,718 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballyoulster that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Scoil C.ui Dhalaigh teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Ballyoulster?
No: all 6 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Ballyoulster?
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 Ballyoulster?
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).