Scoil Aireagail
Ballyhale, Co. Kilkenny · R95 AH30 · Roll number 70570N
Scoil Aireagail is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Knocktopher. Every school in and around Knocktopher →
What stands out about Scoil Aireagail
- A small post-primary school: 204 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+4%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- An ETB school: run by the county’s Education and Training Board.
- Its patron is the Kilkenny & Carlow ETB; its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Knocktopher or within 3 km of it.
- Outside Knocktopher’s outline, 0.4 km away; listed with Knocktopher, the nearest town in its county.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Scoil Aireagail had 204 pupils in 2025/26, against 190 in 2015/16 (+7%). Girls are 47% of them. Its roll rose in 6 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 Aireagail
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 Aireagail 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 Aireagail
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 Aireagail
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Scoil Aireagail 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 Aireagail is about the size it was in 2019/20 (+4%). All the schools around Knocktopher together changed by +1%.
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, 5 have more pupils than Scoil Aireagail. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +4%; 4 of the 5 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Aireagail | 204 | +4% | Inter-denominational | English | ||
| Grennan College | 334 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 7.3 km |
| Coláiste Abhainn Rí | 706 | – | Catholic | English | 14 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 972 | +24% | Catholic | English | 18 km | |
| Comeragh College | 613 | +38% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 18 km |
| Duiske College | 141 | −5% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 19 km |
| St Kieran's College | 831 | +7% | Catholic | English | 19 km |
The other 9 post-primary schools in Co. Kilkenny
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Vocational School | 300 | +30% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 19 km |
| Coláiste Pobail Osraí | 214 | +7% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | 19 km | |
| Christian Brothers College Kilkenny | 816 | +11% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 947 | −5% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| Coláiste Cois Siúire | 167 | +28% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 21 km |
| Kilkenny College | 928 | +1% | Church of Ireland | English | 21 km | |
| Abbey Community College | 1,004 | +6% | Inter-denominational | English | 25 km | |
| Community School | 634 | +14% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 36 km |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 659 | +11% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 38 km |
Living in Knocktopher
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the R95 Eircode area
Housing in Knocktopher →The median sale price rose from €289,400 in 2023 to €351,700 in 2025 (+22%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the R95 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Kilkenny
Cost of living in Knocktopher →New tenancies in Co. Kilkenny averaged €1,207 a month in 2025, against €1,119 in 2024 (+8%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗near Knocktopher, R95 AH30
Post-primary schools near Scoil Aireagail
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Scoil Aireagail
Is Scoil Aireagail 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 Aireagail have?
204 pupils in 2025/26. That is +4% since 2019/20.
Does Scoil Aireagail teach through Irish?
No: Scoil Aireagail teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Scoil Aireagail?
Scoil Aireagail has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Kilkenny & Carlow ETB.
How do pupils get a place at Scoil Aireagail?
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 Aireagail?
The nearest are Grennan College (7.3 km), Coláiste Abhainn Rí (14 km) and Presentation Secondary School (18 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 Knocktopher; 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).