Scoil Dara
Church St,, Kilcock,, Co Kildare. · W23 WT26 · Roll number 61691B
Scoil Dara is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Kilcock. Every school in and around Kilcock →
What stands out about Scoil Dara
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 828 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−10%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is CEIST; its ethos is Catholic.
- The only post-primary school in Kilcock or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Scoil Dara had 828 pupils in 2025/26, down from 873 in 2015/16 (−5%). Girls are 48% of them. Its largest roll was 922, in 2019/20. Its roll rose in 3 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Scoil Dara
Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing schools by them, so this school has no letter and nothing here ranks it. Its facts are the Department of Education’s; its inspection reports are linked below.
What the Department of Education does publish for Scoil Dara is on this page: its pupils each September since 2015/16, girls and boys, its patron and ethos, whether it teaches through Irish, whether it is in DEIS, and its inspection reports.
Newspapers print lists of how many of a school’s leavers go on to college. Those count destinations, not exam results, and depend on who a school takes in; we don’t use them.
Inspection reports on Scoil Dara
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate visits schools and publishes its reports. The reports describe what inspectors saw; they give no overall grade, and we don’t make one. Reports for this school on gov.ie ↗
Inspectors visit every kind of school. Whole-school evaluations look at teaching and learning, leadership and management; subject inspections look at one subject; follow-through inspections check whether earlier advice was taken. Each report is published on gov.ie with the school’s response.
Getting a place at Scoil Dara
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Scoil Dara directly, usually in the year before their child finishes sixth class; the school’s yearly admission notice gives the dates for applying and for its decisions.
A school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its admission policy, often brothers and sisters, the area it serves and, for post-primary schools, its feeder primaries. A family refused a place can appeal.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Scoil Dara has shrunk by 10% since 2019/20. All the schools around Kilcock together changed by −2%.
Pupils since 2019/20
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; Department of Education enrolments 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary).
Side by side with the nearest post-primary schools
2025/26The nearest schools of the same kind, as the crow flies: their pupils, ethos and language. No results: none are published.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 3 have more pupils than Scoil Dara. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −10%; 4 of the 4 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Dara | 828 | −10% | Catholic | English | ||
| Maynooth Community College | 1,013 | +66% | Multi-denominational | English | 5 km | |
| Maynooth Post Primary School | 1,018 | +5% | Multi-denominational | English | 5.3 km | |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad | 154 | – | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 5.6 km | |
| Salesian College | 880 | +25% | Catholic | English | 9.3 km | |
| Celbridge Community School | 712 | +32% | Multi-denominational | English | 9.4 km | |
| Enfield Community College | 684 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 9.8 km |
The other 23 post-primary schools in Co. Kildare
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clongowes Wood College | 421 | −6% | Catholic | English | 10 km | |
| St Wolstan's Community School | 846 | +17% | Inter-denominational | English | 11 km | |
| Confey Community College | 934 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | 12 km | |
| Coláiste Chiaráin | 676 | +10% | Inter-denominational | English | 12 km | |
| Scoil Mhuire Community School | 1,189 | +3% | Inter-denominational | English | 12 km | |
| St Farnan's Post Primary School | 676 | +50% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 14 km |
| Naas Community College | 928 | +95% | Multi-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Mhuire | 1,076 | +3% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara | 401 | +8% | Catholic | All in Irish | 21 km | |
| Meánscoil Iognáid Ris | 1,013 | +0% | Catholic | English | 21 km | |
| Piper's Hill College | 1,049 | +12% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 23 km |
| Newbridge College | 923 | +4% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Patrician Secondary School | 932 | +5% | Catholic | English | 26 km | |
| Holy Family Secondary School | 789 | +11% | Catholic | English | 26 km | |
| St Conleth's Community College | 752 | +37% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 26 km |
| Ardscoil Rath Iomgháin | 751 | +8% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Curragh Community College | 288 | +112% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Kildare Town Community School | 1,014 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | 31 km | |
| Cross And Passion College | 843 | +1% | Catholic | English | 31 km | |
| St Pauls Secondary School | 843 | +68% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 39 km |
| Athy Community College | 646 | +51% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 49 km |
| Árdscoil na Trionóide | 894 | +4% | Catholic | English | 50 km | |
| Colaiste Lorcain | 334 | −18% | Inter-denominational | English | 56 km |
Living in Kilcock
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the W23 Eircode area
Housing in Kilcock →The median sale price rose from €450,000 in 2023 to €485,000 in 2025 (+8%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the W23 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Kilcock
Cost of living in Kilcock →New tenancies in Kilcock averaged €1,548 a month in 2025, against €1,406 in 2024 (+10%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Kilcock, W23 WT26
Post-primary schools near Scoil Dara
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Scoil Dara
Is Scoil Dara a good school?
We don’t grade it: Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them. Its inspection reports on gov.ie, a visit and a talk with the principal will tell you more than any table could.
How many pupils does Scoil Dara have?
828 pupils in 2025/26. That is −10% since 2019/20.
Does Scoil Dara teach through Irish?
No: Scoil Dara teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Scoil Dara?
Scoil Dara has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at Scoil Dara?
Apply to the school directly. It publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates; if more children apply than it has places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Which schools of the same kind are near Scoil Dara?
The nearest are Maynooth Community College (5 km), Maynooth Post Primary School (5.3 km) and Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad (5.6 km).
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · inspection reports on gov.ie, linked by roll number. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Facts from the Department of Education’s school lists. Listed with Kilcock; nothing here rates the school.
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).