St Joseph's Secondary School
Castlebar, Co Mayo · F23 RK09 · Roll number 64590K
St Joseph's Secondary School is one of 3 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Castlebar. Every school in and around Castlebar →
What stands out about St Joseph's Secondary School
- 542 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−9%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A girls’ school.
- The smallest of the 3 post-primary schools around Castlebar.
- 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 Joseph's Secondary School had 542 pupils in 2025/26, against 480 in 2015/16 (+13%). Its largest roll was 601, in 2018/19. Its roll rose in 5 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 Joseph'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 Joseph'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 Joseph'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 Joseph's Secondary School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Joseph'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 Joseph's Secondary School has shrunk by 9% since 2019/20. All the schools around Castlebar together changed by +9%.
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.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 3 have more pupils than St Joseph's Secondary School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −9%; 6 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 542 | −9% | Catholic | English | ||
| Davitt College | 902 | +27% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 0.2 km |
| St. Geralds College | 688 | +11% | Catholic | English | 1.1 km | |
| Balla Secondary School | 476 | +42% | Catholic | English | 11 km | |
| Rice College | 615 | +34% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Sacred Heart School | 530 | −3% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 482 | +3% | Catholic | English | 18 km |
The other 19 post-primary schools in Co. Mayo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Community School | 701 | +20% | Inter-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire | 95 | −41% | Catholic | All in Irish | 22 km | |
| Mount St Michael | 404 | −4% | Catholic | English | 23 km | |
| Scoil Muire Agus Padraig | 394 | +29% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 24 km |
| Coláiste Cholmáin | 402 | +6% | Catholic | English | 24 km | |
| Ballinrobe Community School | 865 | +28% | Inter-denominational | English | 26 km | |
| St. Tiernan's College | 253 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 27 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 541 | −6% | Catholic | English | 27 km | |
| Moyne College | 221 | +21% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 551 | +16% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| St Muredachs College | 403 | +14% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| St Joseph's Community College | 223 | +44% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| Ballyhaunis Community School | 717 | +12% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 35 km |
| Sancta Maria College | 571 | +19% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| St. Patrick's College | 181 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 42 km |
| Coláiste Pobail Acla | 232 | −1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 42 km |
| Colaiste Chomain | 29 | −40% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 58 km |
| St. Brendan's College | 357 | −7% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 60 km |
| Our Lady's Secondary School | 265 | +37% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 60 km |
Living in Castlebar
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F23 Eircode area
Housing in Castlebar →The median sale price rose from €210,000 in 2023 to €280,000 in 2025 (+33%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F23 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Castlebar
Cost of living in Castlebar →New tenancies in Castlebar averaged €1,247 a month in 2025, against €1,138 in 2024 (+10%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Castlebar, F23 RK09
Post-primary schools near St Joseph'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 Joseph's Secondary School
Is St Joseph'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 Joseph's Secondary School have?
542 pupils in 2025/26. That is −9% since 2019/20.
Does St Joseph's Secondary School teach through Irish?
No: St Joseph's Secondary School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Joseph's Secondary School?
St Joseph's Secondary School has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at St Joseph'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 Joseph's Secondary School?
The nearest are Davitt College (0.2 km), St. Geralds College (1.1 km) and Balla Secondary School (11 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 Castlebar; 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).