Photo: Ben Brooksbank · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Kilcock than around Co. Kildare’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
On this, Kilcock is below both Co. Kildare’s towns (23%) and Irish towns (39%). Every one of its 4 schools within 3 km has a Catholic ethos. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results 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 Kilcock’s schools
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. The school is Scoil Uí Riada (484). Language ↓
A wide choice at twelve
8 post-primary schools lie within 10 km, so families here have a real choice at twelve; each admits on its own policy. The nearest: Scoil Dara (0.6 km), Maynooth Community College (4.9 km) and Maynooth Post Primary School (5.1 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Kilcock
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Kilcock’s 4 schools teach every subject through Irish: Scoil Uí Riada.
Who runs Kilcock’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
4 of Kilcock’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (3) and CEIST (1). None of the 4 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 4 schools in and around Kilcock
Every school in Kilcock or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Where the 4 schools in and around Kilcock 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 Kilcock’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.
Who Kilcock’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 Kilcock | Co. Kildare | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 17% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 22% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Kilcock are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (17% in Co. Kildare). The biggest difference from Ireland is in pupils at all-Irish schools: 22% here, 6% there.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil DaraPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 828 | 48% | ||
| Scoil Uí RiadaPrimary | 484 | 51% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Chóca NaofaPrimary | 467 | 52% | ||
| St Josephs N.S.Primary | 423 | 45% |
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 2 patrons of Kilcock’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
2 patrons run the 4 schools around Kilcock; the largest, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, has 3 of them and 62% of the pupils.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Kildare & LeighlinScoil Uí Riada, Scoil Chóca Naofa, St Josephs | Catholic | 3 | 1,374 |
| CEISTScoil Dara | Catholic | 1 | 828 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Kilcock
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
Between 2019/20 and now, 2 of the 4 grew by 5% or more and 2 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +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 Kilcock’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 4 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Scoil DaraPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Uí RiadaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Chóca NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Josephs 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 Kilcock
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Kilcock there are 8 post-primary schools: 4 ETB schools, 3 voluntary secondary schools and one community school. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 0 girls’ and 2 boys’ schools. One of them charges fees. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil DaraVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 828 | 0.6 km |
| Maynooth Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,013 | 4.9 km |
| Maynooth Post Primary SchoolETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,018 | 5.1 km |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh NuadETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 154 | 5.4 km |
| Salesian CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 880 | 9 km |
| Celbridge Community SchoolCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 712 | 9.1 km |
| Clongowes Wood CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | Fee-paying, Boarding | 421 | 9.7 km |
| Enfield Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 684 | 10 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Kilcock
No special school is in or near Kilcock. 3 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.
Kilcock beside the 86 other Irish towns of 6,100 to 11,700 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phibsborough | 11,657 | 146 | 40,148 | 12 | 51% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Sandyford | 8,844 | 67 | 27,808 | 8 | 8% | 0.9 km |
| Lusk | 8,806 | 11 | 4,510 | 1 | 0% | 0.9 km |
| Raheny | 8,734 | 70 | 21,242 | 4 | 34% | 0.9 km |
| Ballyvolane | 8,707 | 60 | 16,728 | 8 | 45% | 1.9 km |
| Kilcock | 8,674 | 4 | 2,202 | 1 | 0% | 0.6 km |
| New Ross | 8,610 | 10 | 3,266 | 0 | 60% | 0.6 km |
| Hollyhill and Ballincolly | 8,606 | 84 | 27,337 | 7 | 43% | 1.1 km |
| Youghal | 8,564 | 5 | 2,077 | 1 | 20% | 1.3 km |
| Booterstown | 8,505 | 73 | 27,367 | 8 | 7% | 0.2 km |
| … | ||||||
| The Glen | 6,119 | 66 | 19,000 | 5 | 50% | 0.5 km |
Of the other 86 towns, 81 have more pupils at the schools around them than Kilcock. Within 3 km, 83 of these 87 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Kilcock
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 Kilcock had 2,059 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,202 in 2025/26. Scoil Chóca Naofa grew most: +18% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Kilcock
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 Kilcock
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
Maynooth has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 3. Pupils around Kilcock: −2% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Enfield led (+85%) and Straffan trailed (+3%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Kilcock 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 Kilcock
How many schools are there in Kilcock?
In Kilcock or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 2,202 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Kilcock that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Scoil Uí Riada teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Kilcock?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Kilcock?
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 Kilcock?
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).