Most post-primaries around Curragh Camp take girls and boys: 0% are single-sex, below Co. Kildare’s towns and Irish towns
Set beside other towns, Curragh Camp comes out below both Co. Kildare’s towns (20%) and Irish towns (39%). Curragh Community College, with 288 pupils, is the only secondary school within 3 km. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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 Curragh Camp’s schools
One school growing fast
Curragh Community College has grown from 136 pupils in 2019/20 to 288, the fastest of the schools here. Getting a place ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 7 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: Curragh Community College (1.2 km), St Conleth's Community College (5.6 km) and Kildare Town Community School (6 km). Post-primary choices ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
The 8 schools in and around Curragh Camp
Every school in Curragh Camp or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Where the 8 schools in and around Curragh Camp 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 Curragh Camp’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 Curragh Camp
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Curragh Camp’s 8 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Chill Dara.
Who Curragh Camp’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 Curragh Camp | Co. Kildare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 29% | 17% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 17% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
Around Curragh Camp, 29% of pupils attend a school in DEIS, near Ireland’s 27% and Co. Kildare’s 17%. Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 17% against 6%. The largest DEIS school here is Curragh Community College, with 288 pupils.
Each of the 8 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curragh Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 288 | 51% | ✓ | |
| St. Catherine of SiennaPrimary | 151 | 54% | ✓ | |
| St Brigids N.S.Primary | 167 | 51% | ||
| St Annes Special SchoolSpecial | 74 | 35% | ||
| Newbridge Educate Together NSPrimary | 406 | 50% | ||
| Gaelscoil Chill DaraPrimary | 288 | 51% | ✓ | |
| Scoil BridePrimary | 304 | 47% | ||
| S.N. BridePrimary | 55 | 44% | ✓ |
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 Curragh Camp’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
6 of Curragh Camp’s 8 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (3), Kildare & Wicklow ETB (1) and Joint patronage between the Minister for Defence and the Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (1). 3 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 6 patrons of Curragh Camp’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
6 patrons run the 8 schools around Curragh Camp; the largest, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, has 3 of them and 30% of the pupils. The local Education and Training Board runs one. Educate Together runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Kildare & LeighlinScoil Bride, St Brigids, S.N. Bride | Catholic | 3 | 526 |
| Educate TogetherNewbridge Educate Together NS | Multi-denominational | 1 | 406 |
| Kildare & Wicklow ETBCurragh | Multi-denominational | 1 | 288 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Chill Dara | Catholic | 1 | 288 |
| Joint patronage between the Minister for Defence and the Bishop of Kildare & LeighlinSt. Catherine of Sienna | Catholic | 1 | 151 |
| KARE, Promoting Inclusion for People with Intellectual DisabilitiesSt Annes Special School | Catholic | 1 | 74 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Curragh Camp
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, 1 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 Curragh Camp’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 8 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Curragh Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Catherine of SiennaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Brigids N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Annes Special SchoolSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Newbridge Educate Together NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Chill DaraPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil BridePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. BridePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Curragh Camp
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
7 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Curragh Camp: 4 voluntary secondary schools, 2 ETB schools and one community school. Of these, 2 are single-sex: 1 for girls and 1 for boys. One of them charges fees. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curragh Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 288 | 1.2 km |
| St Conleth's Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 752 | 5.6 km |
| Kildare Town Community SchoolCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,014 | 6 km |
| Holy Family Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 789 | 6.1 km |
| Patrician Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 932 | 6.1 km |
| Cross And Passion CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 843 | 6.4 km |
| Newbridge CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | Fee-paying | 923 | 6.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Curragh Camp
St Annes Special School is the special school here, with 74 pupils. 2 of the 6 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.
Curragh Camp beside the 131 other Irish towns of 800 to 1,500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochfortbridge | 1,498 | 2 | 1,343 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Borrisokane | 1,117 | 2 | 862 | 0 | 50% | 1 km |
| Ballyragget | 1,116 | 1 | 163 | 0 | 0% | 8 km |
| Ballinamore | 1,112 | 2 | 573 | 0 | 50% | 1.1 km |
| Buttevant | 1,080 | 2 | 802 | 0 | 100% | 0.6 km |
| Curragh Camp | 1,076 | 8 | 1,733 | 1 | 38% | 1.2 km |
| Milford | 1,076 | 3 | 1,645 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Rathvilly | 1,074 | 2 | 248 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Dunlavin | 1,074 | 3 | 1,103 | 0 | 33% | 0.6 km |
| Granard | 1,058 | 6 | 1,295 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ballon | 801 | 1 | 239 | 0 | 0% | 7.5 km |
Of the other 131 towns, 12 have more pupils at the schools around them than Curragh Camp. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 15 of the 132.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Curragh Camp
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 Curragh Camp had 1,914 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,733 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Curragh Community College grew most: +112% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Curragh Camp
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 Curragh Camp
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
The roll around Curragh Camp moved +2% since 2019/20; nearby, Dunlavin grew most (+22%) and Kilmeage least (−17%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Curragh Camp 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 Curragh Camp
How many schools are there in Curragh Camp?
In Curragh Camp or within 3 km of it: 6 primary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 special school, with 1,733 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Curragh Camp that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Chill Dara teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Curragh Camp?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Curragh Camp?
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 Curragh Camp?
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).