Photo: C Michael Hogan · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Ballinrobe than around Co. Mayo’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
For Ballinrobe, that is below both Co. Mayo’s towns (67%) and Irish towns (39%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, Ballinrobe Community School, has 865 pupils. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Ballinrobe’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
One school growing fast
The fastest-growing school here is Ballinrobe Community School: 674 pupils in 2019/20, 865 now. Getting a place ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Ballinrobe
Pupils every September at the schools in or within 3 km of the town, each counted at today’s site.
The schools in and around Ballinrobe had 1,090 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,391 in 2025/26. Ballinrobe Community School grew most: +28% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballinrobe
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.
The 3 schools in and around Ballinrobe
Every school in Ballinrobe 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 3 schools in and around Ballinrobe 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 Ballinrobe’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 Ballinrobe
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 3 schools in and around Ballinrobe teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballinrobe’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, beside Co. Mayo’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 Ballinrobe | Co. Mayo | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 5% | 6% |
| Girls | 47% | 48% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 0% of the pupils around Ballinrobe, a smaller share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Mayo: 37%). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%.
Each of the 3 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinrobe Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 865 | 48% | ||
| St. Josephs N.S.Primary | 451 | 47% | ||
| S.N. Chluain LuifinPrimary | 75 | 44% |
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 Ballinrobe’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Ballinrobe’s 3 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Archbishop of Tuam (2) and Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim ETB & Archbishop of Tuam (1). None of the 3 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.
The 2 patrons of Ballinrobe’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Archbishop of Tuam is patron of 2 of the 3 schools around Ballinrobe, which teach 38% of their pupils; 2 patrons run them in all. One is an ETB school.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop of TuamSt. Josephs, S.N. Chluain Luifin | Catholic | 2 | 526 |
| Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim ETB & Archbishop of TuamBallinrobe | Inter-denominational | 1 | 865 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballinrobe
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
2 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 0 have shrunk by as much, out of 3; across Ireland: +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.
Inspection reports for Ballinrobe’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
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 3 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Ballinrobe Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St. Josephs N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Chluain LuifinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballinrobe
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Families in Ballinrobe have 2 post-primary schools within 10 km: one community school and one voluntary secondary school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinrobe Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 865 | 0.7 km |
| Coláiste MhuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | Gaeltacht school | 95 | 9.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballinrobe
No special school is in or near Ballinrobe. 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.
Ballinrobe beside the 89 other Irish towns of 2,200 to 4,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehenagh | 4,154 | 43 | 14,801 | 4 | 33% | 2.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Tower | 3,300 | 6 | 2,638 | 1 | 17% | 3.2 km |
| Rathangan | 3,263 | 3 | 1,345 | 0 | 33% | 0.6 km |
| Crosshaven | 3,263 | 5 | 1,057 | 0 | 20% | 0.5 km |
| Virginia | 3,211 | 3 | 1,430 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Ballinrobe | 3,148 | 3 | 1,391 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 30 | 10,795 | 4 | 23% | 0.4 km |
| Blackpool | 3,124 | 65 | 18,866 | 5 | 52% | 0.6 km |
| Kinnegad | 3,064 | 1 | 413 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| Ballynanty | 3,030 | 39 | 12,623 | 4 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Abbeyfeale | 2,206 | 5 | 1,060 | 0 | 40% | 0.7 km |
Of these 89 other towns, 52 count more pupils at their schools than Ballinrobe. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 49 of the 90.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Ballinrobe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinrobe | 3 | 1,391 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Claremorris 19 km | 3 | 1,120 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Headford 19 km | 4 | 1,120 | 0 | 0% | 0.8 km |
Pupils around Ballinrobe: +17% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Headford led (+8%) and Claremorris trailed (−6%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballinrobe 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 Ballinrobe
How many schools are there in Ballinrobe?
In Ballinrobe or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 1,391 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballinrobe that teach through Irish?
None in Ballinrobe or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Ballinrobe?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Ballinrobe?
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 Ballinrobe?
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).