Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0The schools around Shrule have fewer pupils than in 2019/20: −16%, below Co. Mayo’s towns and Irish towns
That puts Shrule below both Co. Mayo’s towns (+10%) and Irish towns (+4%). Its schools have 112 pupils, 16% fewer than in 2019/20. Nothing here grades or ranks these schools: Ireland publishes no results school by school, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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 Shrule’s schools
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Shrule 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 Shrule’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.
Pupil numbers around Shrule
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around Shrule had 127 pupils in 2015/16 and 112 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Shrule
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.
Who runs Shrule’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Shrule’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora (1) and Archbishop of Tuam (1). 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 Shrule
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 2 schools in and around Shrule teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Shrule’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Mayo’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Shrule | Co. Mayo | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 5% | 6% |
| Girls | 55% | 48% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Shrule are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (37% in Co. Mayo). The biggest difference from Ireland is in girls: 55% here, 49% there.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh SheosamhPrimary | 99 | 56% | ||
| SN Baile CuisinPrimary | 13 | 54% |
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 Shrule
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, 0 of these 2 schools have grown by 5% or more and 2 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 Shrule
Each school in or within 3 km of Shrule links to a page of its own. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Inspection reports for Shrule’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 2 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh SheosamhPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| SN Baile CuisinPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Shrule
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Shrule is Presentation College, a voluntary secondary school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 857 | 6.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Shrule beside the 169 other Irish towns of 300 to 500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Oulart | 362 | 3 | 302 | 0 | 33% | 7 km |
| Banteer | 362 | 1 | 190 | 0 | 0% | 5.3 km |
| Spa | 362 | 1 | 230 | 0 | 0% | 4.5 km |
| Golden | 362 | 2 | 197 | 0 | 0% | 6.5 km |
| Shrule | 362 | 2 | 112 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Kilberry | 361 | 1 | 84 | 0 | 100% | 4.6 km |
| Ballyvaughan | 361 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 0% | 13 km |
| Unionhall | 359 | 3 | 178 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Castlemagner | 354 | 1 | 223 | 0 | 0% | 5.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
Of these 169 other towns, 122 count more pupils at their schools than Shrule. 16 of the 170 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Shrule
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shrule | 2 | 112 | 0 | 0% | 6.4 km |
| Headford 6.3 km | 4 | 1,120 | 0 | 0% | 0.8 km |
| Ballinrobe 14 km | 3 | 1,391 | 0 | 0% | 0.7 km |
| Tuam 16 km | 8 | 3,460 | 1 | 25% | 0.3 km |
| Oughterard 19 km | 2 | 730 | 0 | 50% | 0.6 km |
Tuam has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Pupils around Shrule: −16% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Ballinrobe led (+17%) and Headford trailed (+8%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Shrule 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 Shrule
How many schools are there in Shrule?
In Shrule or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 112 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Shrule that teach through Irish?
None in Shrule or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Shrule?
Not in Shrule or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Presentation College, 6.4 km away.
What is the best school in Shrule?
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 Shrule?
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).