St Mary's Diocesan School
Beamore Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth · A92 TF24 · Roll number 63841E
St Mary's Diocesan School is one of 8 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Drogheda. Every school in and around Drogheda →
What stands out about St Mary's Diocesan School
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 917 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+10%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A boys’ school.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is the Bishop of Meath; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Mary's Diocesan School had 917 pupils in 2025/26, against 781 in 2015/16 (+17%). Its roll rose in 6 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for St Mary's Diocesan School
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 St Mary's Diocesan School 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 St Mary's Diocesan School
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 St Mary's Diocesan School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Mary's Diocesan School 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.
It takes boys only.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: St Mary's Diocesan School has grown by 10% since 2019/20. All the schools around Drogheda together changed by +7%.
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.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 4 have more pupils than St Mary's Diocesan School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +10%; 4 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Diocesan School | 917 | +10% | Catholic | English | ||
| Sacred Heart Secondary School | 717 | +11% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Our Lady's College | 965 | +3% | Catholic | English | 1.9 km | |
| St. Joseph's C.B.S. | 1,128 | +44% | Catholic | English | 2.1 km | |
| St Oliver's Community College | 1,422 | +2% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 2.1 km |
| Ballymakenny College | 998 | +18% | Multi-denominational | English | 2.5 km | |
| Drogheda Grammar School | 557 | +43% | Quaker | English | 3.1 km |
The other 11 post-primary schools in Co. Louth
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Ui Mhuiri | 644 | +20% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 13 km |
| Ardee Community School | 1,306 | +35% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 21 km |
| Ó Fiaich College | 336 | +25% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 31 km |
| Dundalk Grammar School | 597 | +7% | Church of Ireland | English | 32 km | |
| Coláiste Chú Chulainn | 885 | +44% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 33 km |
| St Vincent's Secondary School | 928 | +0% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Colaiste Rís | 616 | −2% | Catholic | Irish stream | 33 km | |
| St Mary's College | 916 | +24% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| Bush Post Primary School | 833 | +29% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| De La Salle College | 755 | +14% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| St Louis Secondary School | 524 | +14% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 35 km |
Living in Drogheda
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the A92 Eircode area
Housing in Drogheda →The median sale price rose from €333,500 in 2023 to €380,000 in 2025 (+14%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the A92 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Drogheda
Cost of living in Drogheda →New tenancies in Drogheda averaged €1,454 a month in 2025, against €1,354 in 2024 (+7%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Drogheda, A92 TF24
Post-primary schools near St Mary's Diocesan School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Mary's Diocesan School
Is St Mary's Diocesan School 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 St Mary's Diocesan School have?
917 pupils in 2025/26. That is +10% since 2019/20.
Does St Mary's Diocesan School teach through Irish?
No: St Mary's Diocesan School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Mary's Diocesan School?
St Mary's Diocesan School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Bishop of Meath.
How do pupils get a place at St Mary's Diocesan School?
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 St Mary's Diocesan School?
The nearest are Sacred Heart Secondary School (0.4 km), Our Lady's College (1.9 km) and St. Joseph'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 Drogheda; 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).