St. Mary's Secondary School
Slí Ectra, Ballina, Co Mayo · F26 YXC7 · Roll number 64520M
St. Mary's Secondary School is one of 3 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ballina. Every school in and around Ballina →
What stands out about St. Mary's Secondary School
- 551 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 551 pupils, 16% more than the 474 of 2019/20.
- A girls’ school.
- The largest of the 3 post-primary schools around Ballina.
- 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 2025/26St. Mary's Secondary School had 551 pupils in 2025/26, down from 553 in 2015/16 (−0%). 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 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 St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's Secondary School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St. Mary's 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: St. Mary's Secondary School has grown by 16% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ballina together changed by +10%.
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.
St. Mary's Secondary School has more pupils than any of the 6 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +16%; 2 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 551 | +16% | Catholic | English | ||
| Moyne College | 221 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 1.4 km |
| St Muredachs College | 403 | +14% | Catholic | English | 1.5 km | |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 541 | −6% | Catholic | English | 9 km | |
| St. Tiernan's College | 253 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 10 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 244 | −22% | Catholic | English | 12 km | |
| St. Patrick's College | 181 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 15 km |
The other 20 post-primary schools in Co. Mayo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 482 | +3% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Scoil Muire Agus Padraig | 394 | +29% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 24 km |
| St Joseph's Community College | 223 | +44% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Davitt College | 902 | +27% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 542 | −9% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| St. Geralds College | 688 | +11% | Catholic | English | 31 km | |
| St Louis Community School | 701 | +20% | Inter-denominational | English | 32 km | |
| Balla Secondary School | 476 | +42% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| Rice College | 615 | +34% | Catholic | English | 42 km | |
| Sacred Heart School | 530 | −3% | Catholic | English | 42 km | |
| Mount St Michael | 404 | −4% | Catholic | English | 44 km | |
| Coláiste Cholmáin | 402 | +6% | Catholic | English | 44 km | |
| Colaiste Chomain | 29 | −40% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 45 km |
| Ballyhaunis Community School | 717 | +12% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 47 km |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 95 | −41% | Catholic | All in Irish | 52 km | |
| Coláiste Pobail Acla | 232 | −1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 53 km |
| St. Brendan's College | 357 | −7% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 54 km |
| Our Lady's Secondary School | 265 | +37% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 54 km |
| Ballinrobe Community School | 865 | +28% | Inter-denominational | English | 55 km | |
| Sancta Maria College | 571 | +19% | Catholic | English | 57 km |
Living in Ballina
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F26 Eircode area
Housing in Ballina →The median sale price rose from €184,800 in 2023 to €200,000 in 2025 (+8%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F26 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Ballina
Cost of living in Ballina →New tenancies in Ballina averaged €1,019 a month in 2025, against €901 in 2024 (+13%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ballina, F26 YXC7
Post-primary schools near St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's Secondary School
Is St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's Secondary School have?
551 pupils in 2025/26. That is +16% since 2019/20.
Does St. Mary's Secondary School teach through Irish?
No: St. Mary's Secondary School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St. Mary's Secondary School?
St. Mary's Secondary School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's Secondary School?
The nearest are Moyne College (1.4 km), St Muredachs College (1.5 km) and Jesus & Mary Secondary School (9 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 Ballina; 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).