Photo: Darrin Antrobus · CC BY-SA 2.0Most post-primaries around Granard take girls and boys: 0% are single-sex, below Irish towns
In the comparison, Granard comes below Irish towns (39%). 3 of its 6 schools are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas, against 30% across Ireland. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Granard’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
Extra support for many schools
Many schools here are in DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and help; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. In DEIS: Ardscoil Phadraig (351), The Sacred Heart Primary NS (250) and St Bernards Mixed N.S. (29). Who runs them ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is Cnoc Mhuire: 425 pupils in 2019/20, 579 now. Getting a place ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Granard
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 Granard had 1,034 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,295 in 2025/26. Cnoc Mhuire grew most: +36% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Granard
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.
Who runs Granard’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
5 of Granard’s 6 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise (4), CEIST (1) and Longford & Westmeath ETB (1). 3 of the 6 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 6 schools in and around Granard
Every school in Granard or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
Where the 6 schools in and around Granard 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 Granard’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 Granard
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 6 schools in and around Granard teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Granard’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Longford’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 Granard | Co. Longford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 49% | 62% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 50% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 26% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Around Granard, 49% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 62% in Co. Longford. Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here against 29%. The biggest school in DEIS is Ardscoil Phadraig (351 pupils).
Each of the 6 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cnoc MhuirePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 579 | 46% | ||
| Ardscoil PhadraigPost-primary · ETB | 351 | 52% | ✓ | |
| The Sacred Heart Primary NSPrimary | 250 | 55% | ✓ | |
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | 45 | 51% | ||
| St Bernards Mixed N.S.Primary | 29 | 34% | ✓ | |
| Killasonna Mixed N.S.Primary | 41 | 51% |
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.
The 3 patrons of Granard’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise is patron of 4 of the 6 schools around Granard, which teach 28% of their pupils; 3 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Ardagh & ClonmacnoiseThe Sacred Heart Primary NS, Scoil Mhuire, Killasonna Mixed, St Bernards Mixed | Catholic | 4 | 365 |
| CEISTCnoc Mhuire | Catholic | 1 | 579 |
| Longford & Westmeath ETBArdscoil Phadraig | Multi-denominational | 1 | 351 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Granard
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
3 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 2 have shrunk by as much, out of 6; 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.
Inspection reports for Granard’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 6 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Cnoc MhuirePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ardscoil PhadraigPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| The Sacred Heart Primary NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil MhuirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Bernards Mixed N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Killasonna 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 Granard
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Granard there are 2 post-primary schools: one voluntary secondary school and one ETB school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cnoc MhuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 579 | 0.5 km |
| Ardscoil PhadraigETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 351 | 0.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Granard
No special school is in or near Granard. 1 of the 4 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.
Granard beside the 168 other Irish towns of 700 to 1,400 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moville | 1,390 | 5 | 1,100 | 1 | 40% | 0.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Curragh Camp | 1,076 | 8 | 1,733 | 1 | 38% | 1.2 km |
| Milford | 1,076 | 3 | 1,645 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Rathvilly | 1,074 | 2 | 248 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Dunlavin | 1,074 | 3 | 1,103 | 0 | 33% | 0.6 km |
| Granard | 1,058 | 6 | 1,295 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Kilmeage | 1,054 | 2 | 357 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Newmarket | 1,052 | 2 | 224 | 0 | 0% | 7.2 km |
| Kilcormac | 1,051 | 3 | 536 | 0 | 33% | 0.7 km |
| Inishannon | 1,043 | 1 | 295 | 0 | 0% | 5.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Shanagarry | 700 | 2 | 201 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
Of these 168 other towns, 21 count more pupils at their schools than Granard. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 20 of the 169.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Granard
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granard | 6 | 1,295 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| Edgeworthstown 12 km | 3 | 423 | 0 | 33% | 11 km |
| Castlepollard 17 km | 3 | 512 | 0 | 67% | 1 km |
| Ballinagh 18 km | 2 | 321 | 0 | 100% | 6.8 km |
| Drumlish 18 km | 1 | 215 | 0 | 100% | 10 km |
Pupils around Granard: +21% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Castlepollard led (+17%) and Drumlish trailed (−7%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Granard 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 Granard
How many schools are there in Granard?
In Granard or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 1,295 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Granard that teach through Irish?
None in Granard or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Granard?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Granard?
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 Granard?
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).