Photo: Kieran Campbell · CC BY-SA 2.0DEIS support is less common around Tallanstown: 0% of schools, below Co. Louth’s towns and Irish towns
Measured that way, Tallanstown is below both Co. Louth’s towns (39%) and Irish towns (35%). All 2 of its schools are Catholic: there is no other kind within 3 km. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results 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.
Where the 2 schools in and around Tallanstown 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 Tallanstown’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.
Who runs Tallanstown’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Tallanstown’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. Their patron: Archbishop of Armagh (2). None of the 2 is 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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Tallanstown
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 2 schools in and around Tallanstown teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Tallanstown’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Louth’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Tallanstown | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 36% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 1% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 50% | 49% |
Around Tallanstown, 0% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 36% in Co. Louth. Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tallonstown N.S.Primary | 276 | 46% | ||
| St. Mochta's National SchoolPrimary | 181 | 45% |
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.
How children get a place in Tallanstown
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
Since 2019/20, 1 of these 2 schools have grown by 5% or more and 1 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of pupils changed by +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.
The 2 schools in and around Tallanstown
Here are the schools in Tallanstown or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Inspection reports for Tallanstown’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, 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 2 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Tallonstown N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Mochta's National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Tallanstown
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Tallanstown is Ardee Community School, a community school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardee Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 1,306 | 7.8 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Tallanstown
No special school is in or near Tallanstown. 1 of the 2 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.
Tallanstown beside the 169 other Irish towns of 500 to 900 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cratloe | 899 | 1 | 278 | 0 | 0% | 6.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Johnstownbridge | 677 | 5 | 1,442 | 0 | 0% | 3.3 km |
| Hospital | 674 | 3 | 1,316 | 0 | 0% | 0.1 km |
| Kilmacow | 671 | 1 | 176 | 0 | 0% | 5.2 km |
| Schull | 669 | 2 | 510 | 0 | 0% | 0.8 km |
| Tallanstown | 668 | 2 | 457 | 0 | 0% | 7.8 km |
| Cappamore | 668 | 2 | 161 | 0 | 50% | 6.3 km |
| Ballitore | 667 | 1 | 259 | 0 | 0% | 9.4 km |
| An Rinn | 665 | 3 | 332 | 3 | 33% | 0.3 km |
| Bennettsbridge | 664 | 1 | 206 | 0 | 0% | 7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Of the other 169 towns, 52 have more pupils at the schools around them than Tallanstown. 15 of the 170 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Tallanstown
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Tallanstown had 473 pupils in 2015/16 and 457 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Tallanstown
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 Tallanstown
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tallanstown | 2 | 457 | 0 | 0% | 7.8 km |
| Ardee 7.5 km | 5 | 2,252 | 0 | 60% | 0.8 km |
| Dromiskin 9.6 km | 1 | 234 | 0 | 0% | 6.8 km |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran 11 km | 3 | 506 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Carrickmacross 12 km | 6 | 2,352 | 1 | 17% | 0.2 km |
| Dundalk 13 km | 31 | 11,625 | 1 | 39% | 0.8 km |
| Dunleer 14 km | 5 | 1,205 | 0 | 20% | 0.8 km |
Carrickmacross has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. The roll around Tallanstown moved −4% since 2019/20; nearby, Ardee grew most (+19%) and Dromiskin least (−1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Tallanstown 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 Tallanstown
How many schools are there in Tallanstown?
In Tallanstown or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 457 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Tallanstown that teach through Irish?
None in Tallanstown or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Tallanstown?
Not in Tallanstown or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Ardee Community School, 7.8 km away.
What is the best school in Tallanstown?
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 Tallanstown?
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).