Photo: sarah777 · CC BY-SA 2.0No secondary school in or near Emo: the nearest is 6.7 km away
0% of the schools around Emo are DEIS schools, below both Co. Laois’ towns (15%) and Irish towns (35%). Emo Mixed N.S. is a primary with 207 pupils. 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 Emo’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
6 post-primary schools lie within 10 km, so families here have a real choice at twelve; each admits on its own policy. The nearest: St. Mary's C.B.S. (6.7 km), Scoil Chriost Ri (6.9 km) and Coláiste Íosagáin (7.4 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Where the school in or near Emo is
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 Emo’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 Emo
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 1 schools in and around Emo teaches every subject through Irish.
Who runs Emo’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
1 of Emo’s 1 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (1). None of the 1 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.
How children get a place in Emo
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.
The school in and around Emo
Here are the schools in Emo or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Inspection reports for Emo’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
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; the link below opens the school’s own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Emo Mixed 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 Emo
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
6 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Emo: 3 voluntary secondary schools, 2 ETB schools and one community school. 2 of them are single-sex, 1 for girls and 1 for boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Mary's C.B.S.Voluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 853 | 6.7 km |
| Scoil Chriost RiVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 880 | 6.9 km |
| Coláiste ÍosagáinVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,182 | 7.4 km |
| Mountmellick Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 742 | 8.1 km |
| Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)ETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Irish stream | 506 | 8.8 km |
| Portlaoise CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 1,005 | 9.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Emo
No special school is in or near Emo. 1 of the 1 primary schools has 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.
Emo beside the 224 other Irish towns of 200 to 400 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crossbarry | 399 | 2 | 184 | 0 | 0% | 8.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Cootehall | 287 | 1 | 156 | 0 | 0% | 6.3 km |
| Doohamlat | 287 | 1 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 4.9 km |
| Ballygawley | 285 | 3 | 358 | 0 | 33% | 5.2 km |
| Baylin | 284 | 2 | 533 | 0 | 50% | 5.6 km |
| Emo | 283 | 1 | 207 | 0 | 0% | 6.7 km |
| Toomevara | 283 | 1 | 96 | 0 | 100% | 11 km |
| Duncannon | 281 | 4 | 841 | 0 | 25% | 2.8 km |
| Clashmore | 280 | 2 | 120 | 0 | 50% | 7.1 km |
| Doonbeg | 279 | 1 | 63 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| … | ||||||
| Lahardane | 200 | 1 | 76 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
Among the 224 other towns, 65 have more pupils at their schools than Emo does. Within 3 km, 17 of these 225 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Emo
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 Emo had 213 pupils in 2015/16 and 207 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Emo
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 Emo
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emo | 1 | 207 | 0 | 0% | 6.7 km |
| Portarlington 7.3 km | 5 | 2,657 | 0 | 0% | 1.3 km |
| Mountmellick 7.8 km | 5 | 1,405 | 0 | 80% | 0.3 km |
| Portlaoise 8.2 km | 13 | 6,518 | 1 | 15% | 0.6 km |
| Stradbally 10 km | 2 | 375 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Monasterevin 12 km | 5 | 1,605 | 0 | 20% | 0.7 km |
Portlaoise has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. The roll around Emo moved −1% since 2019/20; nearby, Monasterevin grew most (+24%) and Portarlington least (−3%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Emo 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 Emo
How many schools are there in Emo?
In Emo or within 3 km of it: 1 primary school, with 207 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Emo that teach through Irish?
None in Emo or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Emo?
Not in Emo or within 3 km of it; the nearest is St. Mary's C.B.S., 6.7 km away.
What is the best school in Emo?
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 Emo?
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).