Photo: Sarah777 at English Wikipedia · Public domainFewer single-sex secondaries around Johnstownbridge than around Co. Kildare’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
On this, Johnstownbridge is below both Co. Kildare’s towns (20%) and Irish towns (39%). Enfield Community College, with 684 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.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
What stands out about Johnstownbridge’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Johnstownbridge
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Johnstownbridge had 817 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,442 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Johnstownbridge
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.
The 5 schools in and around Johnstownbridge
Here are the schools in Johnstownbridge or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Where the 5 schools in and around Johnstownbridge 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 Johnstownbridge’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 Johnstownbridge
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 5 schools in and around Johnstownbridge teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Johnstownbridge’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside 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 Johnstownbridge | Co. Kildare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 17% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 49% | 49% |
Around Johnstownbridge, 0% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 17% in Co. Kildare. The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here, 6% there.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Patricks N.S.Primary | 87 | 55% | ||
| St. Mary's Primary SchoolPrimary | 543 | 48% | ||
| Cara Community Special SchoolSpecial | 28 | 21% | ||
| Enfield Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 684 | 47% | ||
| S.N. Scoil TreasaPrimary | 100 | 53% |
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 Johnstownbridge’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Johnstownbridge’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (2), Louth & Meath ETB (2) and Bishop of Meath (1). None of the 5 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.
The 3 patrons of Johnstownbridge’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
The schools around Johnstownbridge answer to 3 patrons, and Louth & Meath ETB leads with 2 of the 5 schools and 49% of their pupils. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louth & Meath ETBEnfield, Cara Community Special School | Multi-denominational | 2 | 712 |
| Bishop of Kildare & LeighlinS.N. Scoil Treasa, St Patricks | Catholic | 2 | 187 |
| Bishop of MeathSt. Mary's Primary School | Catholic | 1 | 543 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Johnstownbridge
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 3 schools, 0 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 Johnstownbridge’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 5 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Patricks N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Mary's Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Cara Community Special SchoolSpecial | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Enfield Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Scoil TreasaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Johnstownbridge
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Within 10 km of Johnstownbridge there are 2 post-primary schools: 2 ETB schools. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enfield Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 684 | 3.3 km |
| Coláiste ClavinETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 519 | 6.9 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Johnstownbridge
Cara Community Special School is the special school here, with 28 pupils. 1 of the 3 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.
Johnstownbridge beside the 169 other Irish towns of 500 to 900 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cratloe | 899 | 1 | 278 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Holycross | 697 | 2 | 230 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Ballymore Eustace | 689 | 1 | 216 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Naul | 684 | 1 | 163 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Churchtown | 684 | 1 | 103 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Johnstownbridge | 677 | 5 | 1,442 | 0 | 0% | 3.3 km |
| Hospital | 674 | 3 | 1,316 | 0 | 0% | 0.1 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 |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Among the 169 other towns, 12 have more pupils at their schools than Johnstownbridge does. An all-Irish school is within 3 km of 15 of the 170.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Johnstownbridge
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnstownbridge | 5 | 1,442 | 0 | 0% | 3.3 km |
| Enfield 2.6 km | 4 | 1,342 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Longwood 7.3 km | 2 | 818 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
| Derrinturn 8.3 km | 3 | 426 | 0 | 100% | 8.3 km |
| Coill Dubh (Blackwood) 12 km | 4 | 708 | 0 | 0% | 4.7 km |
| Kilcock 13 km | 4 | 2,202 | 1 | 0% | 0.6 km |
| Allenwood 13 km | 4 | 802 | 0 | 0% | 7.2 km |
Kilcock has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Of Johnstownbridge’s neighbours, Enfield saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+85%) and Derrinturn the least (−9%); Johnstownbridge itself: +72%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Johnstownbridge 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 Johnstownbridge
How many schools are there in Johnstownbridge?
In Johnstownbridge or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools, 1 secondary school and 1 special school, with 1,442 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Johnstownbridge that teach through Irish?
None in Johnstownbridge or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Johnstownbridge?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Johnstownbridge?
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 Johnstownbridge?
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).