Photo: Suzanne Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0The schools around Adare have fewer pupils than in 2019/20: −13%, below Co. Limerick’s towns and Irish towns
That puts Adare below both Co. Limerick’s towns (+3%) and Irish towns (+4%). Pupils: 446, down 13% since 2019/20. 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 Adare’s schools
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 4 schools in and around Adare 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 Adare’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.
Pupil numbers around Adare
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Adare had 486 pupils in 2015/16 and 446 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Adare
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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Adare
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 4 schools in and around Adare teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Adare’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Limerick’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 25% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 7% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 48% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Adare are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (25% in Co. Limerick). Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Naomh IosafPrimary | 140 | 0% | ||
| Our Ladys AbbeyPrimary | 125 | 100% | ||
| St. Nicholas Church of Ireland SchoolPrimary | 54 | 56% | ||
| Scoil Sean TsraidePrimary | 127 | 47% |
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.
Who runs Adare’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Adare’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Limerick (3) and Named Individual (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 2 patrons of Adare’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
2 patrons run the 4 schools around Adare; the largest, Bishop of Limerick, has 3 of them and 88% of the pupils.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of LimerickScoil Naomh Iosaf, Scoil Sean Tsraide, Our Ladys Abbey | Catholic | 3 | 392 |
| Named IndividualSt. Nicholas Church of Ireland School | Church of Ireland | 1 | 54 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Adare
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
0 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 4 have shrunk by as much, out of 4; across Ireland: +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.
The 4 schools in and around Adare
Every school in Adare or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Letters and results are missing here for a reason: Ireland publishes neither school by school.
Inspection reports for Adare’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
Each school is visited by inspectors from time to time, for a whole-school evaluation of teaching, learning and leadership, for one subject, or to follow up earlier advice, and every report is posted on gov.ie with the school’s response.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Scoil Naomh IosafPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Our Ladys AbbeyPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Nicholas Church of Ireland SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Sean TsraidePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Adare
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Adare is Colaiste Chiarain, an ETB school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colaiste ChiarainETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 821 | 6.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Adare beside the 124 other Irish towns of 900 to 1,700 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tullyallen | 1,697 | 1 | 411 | 0 | 0% | 3.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran | 1,232 | 3 | 506 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Kiltimagh | 1,232 | 2 | 963 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Rathkeale | 1,231 | 5 | 971 | 0 | 60% | 0.2 km |
| Ardnacrusha | 1,229 | 5 | 2,332 | 0 | 20% | 3.1 km |
| Adare | 1,224 | 4 | 446 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| Daingean | 1,223 | 1 | 261 | 0 | 100% | 13 km |
| Kilkee | 1,214 | 3 | 312 | 0 | 67% | 0.8 km |
| Clonee | 1,205 | 25 | 12,320 | 2 | 28% | 1.3 km |
| Urlingford | 1,196 | 2 | 882 | 0 | 100% | 3.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Clarinbridge | 905 | 2 | 451 | 0 | 0% | 5.5 km |
Of the other 124 towns, 78 have more pupils at the schools around them than Adare. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 14 of the 125.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Adare
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adare | 4 | 446 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| Croom 7 km | 2 | 990 | 0 | 100% | 1 km |
| Rathkeale 11 km | 5 | 971 | 0 | 60% | 0.2 km |
| Dooradoyle 12 km | 42 | 13,180 | 5 | 36% | 1 km |
| Askeaton 13 km | 2 | 426 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Ballinacurra 14 km | 48 | 15,810 | 6 | 46% | 0.8 km |
| Dock 15 km | 45 | 15,206 | 5 | 49% | 0.3 km |
Ballinacurra has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 6. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Adare changed by −13%; among its neighbours, Croom’s grew most (+16%) and Askeaton’s least (−22%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Adare 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 Adare
How many schools are there in Adare?
In Adare or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, with 446 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Adare that teach through Irish?
None in Adare or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Adare?
Not in Adare or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Colaiste Chiarain, 6.6 km away.
What is the best school in Adare?
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 Adare?
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).