Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.0One of the secondary schools around Garryowen charges fees: Villiers Secondary School
64% of the post-primary schools around Garryowen take only girls or only boys, above both Co. Limerick’s towns (54%) and Irish towns (39%). 7 of its 11 secondary schools take only boys or only girls. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, 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 Garryowen’s schools
One fee-paying secondary school
One secondary school within reach charges fees; the others are free. The fee-paying one: Villiers Secondary School (508). Every school ↓
Mostly single-sex at secondary
Most secondary schools here take only boys or only girls; the mixed ones are marked on the cards below. Single-sex: Laurel Hill Secondary School FCJ (746), Ardscoil Ris (728), St Munchin's College (682) and Ardscoil Mhuire (591), and 3 more. Every school ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 15 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh (1 km), Colaiste Mhichil (1.4 km) and Coláiste Nano Nagle (1.5 km). Post-primary choices ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
The 41 schools in and around Garryowen
Every school in Garryowen 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.
Show all 26 primary schools
Where the 41 schools in and around Garryowen 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 Garryowen’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 Garryowen
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
6 of Garryowen’s 41 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, Gaelscoil Sheoirse and An Mhodh Scoil.
Who Garryowen’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Garryowen | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 33% | 25% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 17% | 7% | 6% |
| Girls | 47% | 48% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 63% | 23% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 8% | 4% | 6% |
DEIS schools teach 33% of the pupils around Garryowen, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Limerick: 25%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is post-primary pupils at single-sex schools, at 63% against 29%. Ardscoil Mhuire, with 591 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 41 schools
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 Garryowen’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
36 of Garryowen’s 41 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Limerick (26), Edmund Rice Schools Trust (2) and CEIST (2). 18 of the 41 are 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 12 patrons of Garryowen’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Of the 41 schools around Garryowen, 26 have Bishop of Limerick as patron, teaching 52% of the pupils; 12 patrons in all. One is an ETB school. Educate Together runs 2.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of LimerickScoil Moin A Lin, St Munchin's College, Scoil Ide, Milford Grange N School, St Brigids, Gaelscoil Sairseal, Scoil Mathair de, Salesian Primary School, Our Lady Queen of Peace School, Presentation Primary School, Catherine Mc Auley Sp S, St Johns Convent, Scoil Iosagain, J F K Memorial School, Thomond Primary School, Scoil Padraig Naofa B, Scoil Padraig Naofa C, Le Chéile, Our Lady of Lourdes, St Mary's, Donoughmore, St Michaels, Gaelscoil Sheoirse, St John the Baptist Boys, Mid West School for the Deaf, St Augustines Spec Sch | Catholic | 26 | 7,338 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustArdscoil Ris, Colaiste Mhichil | Catholic | 2 | 1,077 |
| Le Chéile Schools TrustLaurel Hill Secondary School FCJ, Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ | Catholic | 2 | 1,061 |
| Educate TogetherLimerick City East, Limerick School Project | Multi-denominational | 2 | 1,014 |
| CEISTArdscoil Mhuire, Coláiste Nano Nagle | Catholic | 2 | 956 |
| Limerick & Clare ETBGaelcholáiste Luimnigh | Inter-denominational | 1 | 606 |
| Minister for Education & SkillsAn Mhodh Scoil | Catholic | 1 | 578 |
| Board of Governors of Villiers Secondary SchoolVilliers | Church of Ireland | 1 | 508 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Chaladh an Treoigh | Catholic | 1 | 412 |
| Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorist Fathers)St Clements College | Catholic | 1 | 411 |
| Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe & Ardfert COISt Michaels | Church of Ireland | 1 | 116 |
| Health Service ExecutiveSt Canices Special School | Catholic | 1 | 7 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Garryowen
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. The fee-paying school here sets its own fees and admissions.
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; each school’s admission policy and notice are on its own website.
Which schools are growing
10 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 16 have shrunk by as much, out of 37; across Ireland: +5%.
All 37 schools
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 Garryowen’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; each of the 41 schools below links its own.
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Garryowen
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
15 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Garryowen: 10 voluntary secondary schools, 4 ETB schools and one comprehensive school. Of these, 7 are single-sex: 3 for girls and 4 for boys. One of them charges fees. Every subject is taught through Irish at 2 of them.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaelcholáiste LuimnighETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 606 | 1 km |
| Colaiste MhichilVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | DEIS | 349 | 1.4 km |
| Coláiste Nano NagleVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 365 | 1.5 km |
| Ardscoil MhuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 591 | 1.6 km |
| Limerick City East Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 811 | 1.8 km |
| St Clements CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | DEIS | 411 | 2.6 km |
| Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | Gaelcholáiste | 315 | 2.6 km |
| Laurel Hill Secondary School FCJVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 746 | 2.7 km |
| St Munchin's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 682 | 2.7 km |
| Ardscoil RisVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 728 | 2.8 km |
| Crescent College ComprehensiveComprehensive · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 922 | 3.7 km |
| Villiers Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | Fee-paying, Boarding | 508 | 3.9 km |
All 15 post-primary schools within reach
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomond Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 597 | 3.9 km |
| Castletroy CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,360 | 4 km |
| Mungret Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 991 | 6.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Garryowen
4 special schools serve the area: St Canices Special School, St Augustines Spec Sch, Mid West School for the Deaf and Catherine Mc Auley Sp S, 353 pupils between them. 16 of the 26 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.
Garryowen beside the 98 other Irish towns of 3,800 to 7,300 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temple Bar | 7,276 | 116 | 27,705 | 10 | 51% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ardee | 5,478 | 5 | 2,252 | 0 | 60% | 0.8 km |
| Edmondstown | 5,451 | 57 | 23,063 | 6 | 12% | 1.1 km |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 30 | 10,795 | 4 | 23% | 0.6 km |
| Ballinlough | 5,435 | 79 | 23,116 | 7 | 47% | 0.6 km |
| Garryowen | 5,428 | 41 | 14,084 | 6 | 44% | 1 km |
| Galvone | 5,412 | 48 | 16,815 | 5 | 46% | 0.6 km |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 7 | 2,400 | 0 | 57% | 0.6 km |
| Tipperary | 5,387 | 8 | 2,079 | 1 | 75% | 0.4 km |
| St Stephen's Green | 5,319 | 127 | 33,381 | 9 | 47% | 0 km |
| … | ||||||
| Shanakiel | 3,804 | 52 | 16,547 | 5 | 54% | 0.6 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 39 of the other 98 towns than around Garryowen. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 81 of the 99.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Garryowen
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 Garryowen had 13,183 pupils in 2015/16 and 14,084 in 2025/26. Limerick City East Secondary School grew most: +587% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Garryowen
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 Garryowen
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garryowen | 41 | 14,084 | 6 | 44% | 1 km |
| Galvone 0.9 km | 48 | 16,815 | 5 | 46% | 0.6 km |
| Prospect and Newtown Pery 1.7 km | 46 | 15,489 | 5 | 48% | 0.7 km |
| Rathbane 1.7 km | 52 | 19,628 | 7 | 33% | 1.5 km |
| Corbally and King's Island 1.7 km | 45 | 15,801 | 6 | 49% | 0.2 km |
| Limerick City Centre 1.8 km | 43 | 14,494 | 5 | 51% | 0.4 km |
| Dock 2.3 km | 45 | 15,206 | 5 | 49% | 0.3 km |
Rathbane has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 7. The roll around Garryowen moved +3% since 2019/20; nearby, Rathbane grew most (+7%) and Dock least (−1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Garryowen 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 Garryowen
How many schools are there in Garryowen?
In Garryowen or within 3 km of it: 26 primary schools, 11 secondary schools and 4 special schools, with 14,084 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Garryowen that teach through Irish?
Yes, 6: Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, Gaelscoil Sheoirse and An Mhodh Scoil teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Garryowen?
1 of the 11: Villiers Secondary School. The others are free.
What is the best school in Garryowen?
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 Garryowen?
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).