Photo: William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland · CC BY-SA 2.0Drogheda Grammar School is the fee-paying secondary school near Drogheda
19 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 2 special schools are in or within 3 km of Drogheda, with 14,360 pupils between them. 28% of the schools around Drogheda are DEIS schools, below Irish towns (35%). With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
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 Drogheda’s schools
One fee-paying secondary school
One secondary school within reach charges fees; the others are free. The fee-paying one: Drogheda Grammar School (557). Every school ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Families here can choose among 9 post-primary schools within 10 km of the town, of more than one kind; each admits on its own published policy, so applying to more than one is common. The nearest: Sacred Heart Secondary School (0.5 km), St Mary's Diocesan School (0.7 km) and Our Lady's College (1.5 km). Post-primary choices ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
The 29 schools in and around Drogheda
Every school in Drogheda or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No school here carries a letter or a result: Ireland publishes neither for individual schools.
Where the 29 schools in and around Drogheda 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 Drogheda’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 Drogheda
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
2 of Drogheda’s 29 schools teach every subject through Irish: S.N. Aonghusa and Gaelscoil an Bhradáin Feasa.
Who Drogheda’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Louth’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 Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 30% | 36% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 4% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 50% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 36% | 27% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 8% | 8% | 6% |
DEIS schools teach 30% of the pupils around Drogheda, much as across Ireland (27%; Co. Louth: 36%). Set beside Ireland, post-primary pupils at single-sex schools stand out most: 36% against 29%. The largest DEIS school here is St Oliver's Community College, with 1,422 pupils.
Each of the 29 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 Drogheda’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
20 of Drogheda’s 29 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Meath (9), Archbishop of Armagh (8) and Educate Together (3). 8 of the 29 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 11 patrons of Drogheda’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Meath is patron of 9 of the 29 schools around Drogheda, which teach 28% of their pupils; 11 patrons run them in all. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them. Educate Together runs 4.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of MeathSt Marys Parish Primary School, St Mary's Diocesan School, St Pauls Senior, Rathmullan, S N Realt na Mara, S N Realt na Mara, S.N. Ard Mhuire C, S.N. Dun Uabhair, S.N. Naomh Colmcille | Catholic | 9 | 4,059 |
| Archbishop of ArmaghSt Brigid's and St Patrick's, S.N. Tulach Aluinn, Presentation Convent, Scoil na mBraithre Sn, Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa, Naomh Seosamh, St Itas Special School, S.N. Aonghusa | Catholic | 8 | 2,730 |
| Educate TogetherLaytown & Drogheda Educate Together, Le Cheile Educate Together NS, Aston Village Educate Together | Multi-denominational | 3 | 1,278 |
| CEISTOur Lady's College, Sacred Heart | Catholic | 2 | 1,682 |
| Louth & Meath ETBSt Oliver's | Multi-denominational | 1 | 1,422 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustSt. Joseph's C.B.S. | Catholic | 1 | 1,128 |
| Louth & Meath ETB & Educate TogetherBallymakenny College | Multi-denominational | 1 | 998 |
| Drogheda Grammar School LtdDrogheda Grammar School | Quaker | 1 | 557 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil an Bhradáin Feasa | Multi-denominational | 1 | 383 |
| Archbishop of Armagh COIS.N. Naomh Peadar | Church of Ireland | 1 | 92 |
| Irish Autism ActionABACAS School | Multi-denominational | 1 | 31 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Drogheda
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
Since 2019/20, 10 of these 27 schools have grown by 5% or more and 11 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of pupils changed by +5%.
All 27 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 Drogheda’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 29 schools below each link their own.
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Drogheda
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Within 10 km of Drogheda there are 9 post-primary schools: 6 voluntary secondary schools, 2 ETB schools and one community school. 3 of them are single-sex, 2 for girls and 1 for boys. One of them charges fees. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 717 | 0.5 km |
| St Mary's Diocesan SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 917 | 0.7 km |
| Our Lady's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 965 | 1.5 km |
| St. Joseph's C.B.S.Voluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,128 | 1.5 km |
| Ballymakenny CollegeCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 998 | 1.8 km |
| St Oliver's Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 1,422 | 2.1 km |
| Drogheda Grammar SchoolVoluntary secondary · Quaker | Girls and boys | Fee-paying | 557 | 2.9 km |
| Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 520 | 3.3 km |
| Colaiste na hInseETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,021 | 7.1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Drogheda
2 special schools serve the area: St Itas Special School and ABACAS School, 238 pupils between them. 11 of the 19 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.
Drogheda beside the 31 other Irish towns of 19,800 to 93,100 people
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km, listed by population: Ireland publishes no results, so none is ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogheda | 44,135 | 29 | 14,360 | 2 | 28% | 0.5 km |
| Dundalk | 43,112 | 31 | 11,625 | 1 | 39% | 0.8 km |
| Swords | 40,776 | 24 | 10,901 | 2 | 13% | 0.8 km |
| Navan | 33,886 | 20 | 9,158 | 1 | 35% | 0.2 km |
| Bray | 33,512 | 30 | 9,081 | 4 | 27% | 0.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Celbridge | 20,601 | 18 | 7,733 | 1 | 0% | 1.4 km |
Of these 31 other towns, 11 count more pupils at their schools than Drogheda. Every one of them has an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Drogheda
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Drogheda had 13,101 pupils in 2015/16 and 14,360 in 2025/26. Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School grew most: +1,344% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Drogheda
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 Drogheda
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogheda | 29 | 14,360 | 2 | 28% | 0.5 km |
| Tullyallen 5.3 km | 1 | 411 | 0 | 0% | 3.7 km |
| Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney 5.9 km | 11 | 5,783 | 1 | 0% | 1.4 km |
| Termonfeckin 7.5 km | 2 | 508 | 0 | 0% | 5.4 km |
| Duleek 7.9 km | 4 | 957 | 0 | 50% | 6.8 km |
| Stamullen 11 km | 3 | 1,043 | 0 | 0% | 2.1 km |
| Clogherhead 11 km | 2 | 568 | 0 | 0% | 9.1 km |
Of Drogheda’s neighbours, Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+6%) and Stamullen the least (−20%); Drogheda itself: +7%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Drogheda 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 Drogheda
How many schools are there in Drogheda?
In Drogheda or within 3 km of it: 19 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 2 special schools, with 14,360 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Drogheda that teach through Irish?
Yes, 2: S.N. Aonghusa and Gaelscoil an Bhradáin Feasa teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Drogheda?
1 of the 8: Drogheda Grammar School. The others are free.
What is the best school in Drogheda?
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 Drogheda?
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).