Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Dundalk Grammar School is the fee-paying secondary school near Dundalk
All-Irish schools make up 3% of those around Dundalk, below Irish towns (8%). 11,625 pupils go to the 22 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 1 special school in or within 3 km of Dundalk. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Dundalk’s schools
One fee-paying secondary school
One secondary school within reach charges fees; the others are free. The fee-paying one: Dundalk Grammar School (597). Every school ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 8 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: Coláiste Chú Chulainn (0.8 km), Ó Fiaich College (0.8 km) and Dundalk Grammar School (1.2 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
The 31 schools in and around Dundalk
Every school in Dundalk or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
Where the 31 schools in and around Dundalk 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 Dundalk’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 Dundalk
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
1 of Dundalk’s 31 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan.
Who Dundalk’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, beside 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 Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 35% | 36% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 2% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 53% | 50% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 26% | 27% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 11% | 8% | 6% |
DEIS schools teach 35% of the pupils around Dundalk, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Louth: 36%). Coláiste Chú Chulainn, with 885 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 31 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 Dundalk’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
25 of Dundalk’s 31 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Archbishop of Armagh (21), Louth & Meath ETB (3) and Le Chéile Schools Trust (2). 12 of the 31 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 8 patrons of Dundalk’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Archbishop of Armagh is patron of 21 of the 31 schools around Dundalk, which teach 55% of their pupils; 8 patrons run them in all. Education and Training Boards run 3 of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop of ArmaghScoil Mhuire na nGael, Colaiste Rís, St Josephs, C.b.s. Primary, Scoil na gCreagacha Dubha, Réalt na Mara School, St. Francis, S.N. N Maolmhaodhagh B, S.N. N Maolmhaodhagh C, Scoil Fhursa, S.N. N Maolmhaodhagh N, Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan, Scoil Phadraig Naofa, Castletown Rd Convent, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, S.N. an Tslanaitheora B, S.N. Eoin Baiste, St Nicholas Monastery NS, S.N. an Tslanaitheora C, Bellurgan, St Brighids Special Sch | Catholic | 21 | 6,350 |
| Louth & Meath ETBColáiste Chú Chulainn, Ó Fiaich College, Faughart Community | Multi-denominational | 3 | 1,323 |
| Le Chéile Schools TrustDe La Salle College, St Louis | Catholic | 2 | 1,279 |
| CEISTSt Vincent's | Catholic | 1 | 928 |
| Marist Education AuthoritySt Mary's College | Catholic | 1 | 916 |
| Joint patronage between the Incorporated Society for Promoting Protestant Schools in Ireland and Dundalk Grammar School CLGDundalk Grammar School | Church of Ireland | 1 | 597 |
| Archbishop of Armagh COIS.N. San Nioclas | Church of Ireland | 1 | 148 |
| Presbytery of Derry & DonegalDun Dealgan | Presbyterian | 1 | 84 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Dundalk
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
Of these 30 schools, 13 have grown by at least 5% since 2019/20 and 7 have lost as much; Ireland’s pupils changed by +5%.
All 30 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 Dundalk’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 31 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 Dundalk
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
8 post-primary schools are within 10 km of Dundalk: 6 voluntary secondary schools and 2 ETB schools. 2 teach girls and boys apart: 2 girls’ and 0 boys’ schools. One of them charges fees. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Chú ChulainnETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | Irish stream, DEIS | 885 | 0.8 km |
| Ó Fiaich CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 336 | 0.8 km |
| Dundalk Grammar SchoolVoluntary secondary · Church of Ireland | Girls and boys | Fee-paying, Boarding | 597 | 1.2 km |
| St Vincent's Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 928 | 1.3 km |
| Colaiste RísVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | Irish stream | 616 | 1.6 km |
| St Mary's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 916 | 1.7 km |
| St Louis Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | DEIS | 524 | 3.3 km |
| De La Salle CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 755 | 3.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Dundalk
St Brighids Special Sch is the special school here, with 104 pupils. 10 of the 22 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.
Dundalk beside the 12 other Irish towns of 24,100 to 72,800 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 |
| Ennis | 27,923 | 18 | 7,595 | 1 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Balbriggan | 24,322 | 17 | 8,295 | 2 | 29% | 0.3 km |
Of these 12 other towns, 2 count more pupils at their schools than Dundalk. 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 Dundalk
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Dundalk had 10,543 pupils in 2015/16 and 11,625 in 2025/26. Faughart Community National School grew most: +122% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Dundalk
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 Dundalk
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 31 | 11,625 | 1 | 39% | 0.8 km |
| Dromiskin 7.6 km | 1 | 234 | 0 | 0% | 6.8 km |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran 11 km | 3 | 506 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Carlingford 15 km | 4 | 410 | 0 | 0% | 4.6 km |
| Ardee 18 km | 5 | 2,252 | 0 | 60% | 0.8 km |
| Dunleer 18 km | 5 | 1,205 | 0 | 20% | 0.8 km |
The roll around Dundalk moved +9% since 2019/20; nearby, Ardee grew most (+19%) and Carlingford least (−15%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Dundalk 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 Dundalk
How many schools are there in Dundalk?
In Dundalk or within 3 km of it: 22 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 1 special school, with 11,625 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Dundalk that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Dundalk?
1 of the 8: Dundalk Grammar School. The others are free.
What is the best school in Dundalk?
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 Dundalk?
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).