Sacred Heart Secondary School
Sunnyside, Drogheda, Co Louth · A92 K796 · Roll number 63860I
Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary School
- 717 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+11%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A girls’ 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 CEIST; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Sacred Heart Secondary School had 717 pupils in 2025/26, against 593 in 2015/16 (+21%). Its roll rose in 10 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Sacred Heart Secondary 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 girls only.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Sacred Heart Secondary School has grown by 11% 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, 5 have more pupils than Sacred Heart Secondary School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +11%; 3 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart Secondary School | 717 | +11% | Catholic | English | ||
| St Mary's Diocesan School | 917 | +10% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Our Lady's College | 965 | +3% | Catholic | English | 1.5 km | |
| St. Joseph's C.B.S. | 1,128 | +44% | Catholic | English | 1.6 km | |
| Ballymakenny College | 998 | +18% | Multi-denominational | English | 2.2 km | |
| St Oliver's Community College | 1,422 | +2% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 2.4 km |
| Drogheda Grammar School | 557 | +43% | Quaker | English | 2.7 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 | ✓ | 32 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 | 33 km | |
| Bush Post Primary School | 833 | +29% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| De La Salle College | 755 | +14% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| St Louis Secondary School | 524 | +14% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 34 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 K796
Post-primary schools near Sacred Heart Secondary School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Sacred Heart Secondary School
Is Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary School have?
717 pupils in 2025/26. That is +11% since 2019/20.
Does Sacred Heart Secondary School teach through Irish?
No: Sacred Heart Secondary School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Sacred Heart Secondary School?
Sacred Heart Secondary School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at Sacred Heart Secondary 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 Sacred Heart Secondary School?
The nearest are St Mary's Diocesan School (0.4 km), Our Lady's College (1.5 km) and St. Joseph's C.B.S. (1.6 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).