Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
Railway Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois · R32 WE02 · Roll number 76474B
Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) is one of 4 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Portlaoise. Every school in and around Portlaoise →
What stands out about Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
- 506 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- Growing: 506 pupils, 175% more than the 184 of 2019/20.
- Some classes are taught entirely through Irish, the rest in English.
- The smallest of the 4 post-primary schools around Portlaoise.
- An ETB school: run by the county’s Education and Training Board.
- Its patron is the Laois & Offaly ETB; its ethos is multi-denominational.
Pupils over time
2017/18 to 2025/26Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) had 506 pupils in 2025/26, against 36 in 2017/18 (+1,306%). Girls are 49% of them. Its largest roll was 577, in 2024/25. Its roll rose in 7 of the 8 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
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 Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) 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 Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
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 Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) 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: Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) has grown by 175% since 2019/20. All the schools around Portlaoise together changed by +10%.
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.
Each of the 6 nearest post-primary schools has more pupils than Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc). Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +175%; 0 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) | 506 | +175% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ||
| Portlaoise College | 1,005 | +75% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 1 km |
| Scoil Chriost Ri | 880 | −7% | Catholic | English | 2 km | |
| St. Mary's C.B.S. | 853 | +5% | Catholic | English | 2.1 km | |
| Mountmellick Community School | 742 | +39% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 9.4 km |
| Mountrath Community School | 789 | +6% | Inter-denominational | English | 13 km | |
| Coláiste Íosagáin | 1,182 | +19% | Catholic | English | 15 km |
The other 3 post-primary schools in Co. Laois
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heywood Community School | 749 | +1% | Inter-denominational | English | 17 km | |
| Clonaslee College | 236 | −3% | Multi-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| St Fergal's College | 383 | +27% | Multi-denominational | English | 27 km |
Living in Portlaoise
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the R32 Eircode area
Housing in Portlaoise →The median sale price rose from €250,000 in 2023 to €320,000 in 2025 (+28%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the R32 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Portlaoise
Cost of living in Portlaoise →New tenancies in Portlaoise averaged €1,268 a month in 2025, against €1,141 in 2024 (+11%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Portlaoise, R32 WE02
Post-primary schools near Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)
Is Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) 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 Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) have?
506 pupils in 2025/26. That is +175% since 2019/20.
Does Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) teach through Irish?
In part: some classes are taught entirely through Irish, the rest in English.
Who runs Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)?
Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc) has a multi-denominational ethos. Its patron is Laois & Offaly ETB.
How do pupils get a place at Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)?
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 Dunamase College (Coláiste Dhún Másc)?
The nearest are Portlaoise College (1 km), Scoil Chriost Ri (2 km) and St. Mary's C.B.S. (2.1 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 Portlaoise; 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).