Photo: Pamela Norrington · CC BY-SA 2.0Most post-primaries around Swinford take girls and boys: 0% are single-sex, below Co. Mayo’s towns and Irish towns
For Swinford, that is below both Co. Mayo’s towns (33%) and Irish towns (39%). All 3 of its schools are Catholic: there is no other kind within 3 km. 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 Swinford’s schools
Extra support for many schools
Many schools here are in DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and help; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. In DEIS: Scoil Muire Agus Padraig (394), Swinford N.S. (200) and Culmore N.S. (33). Who runs them ↓
One school growing fast
Scoil Muire Agus Padraig has grown from 305 pupils in 2019/20 to 394, the fastest of the schools here. Getting a place ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Who runs Swinford’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Swinford’s 3 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Achonry (2) and CEIST (1). 3 of the 3 are 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 3 schools in and around Swinford
Every school in Swinford or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. These schools carry no letter or result: Ireland doesn’t release them school by school.
Where the 3 schools in and around Swinford 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 Swinford’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 Swinford
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 3 schools in and around Swinford teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Swinford’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Swinford | Co. Mayo | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 100% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 5% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 48% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 100% of the pupils around Swinford, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Mayo: 37%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%. Scoil Muire Agus Padraig, with 394 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 3 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Muire Agus PadraigPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 394 | 48% | ✓ | |
| Swinford N.S.Primary | 200 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Culmore N.S.Primary | 33 | 36% | ✓ |
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.
The 2 patrons of Swinford’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Of the 3 schools around Swinford, 2 have Bishop of Achonry as patron, teaching 37% of the pupils; 2 patrons in all.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of AchonrySwinford, Culmore | Catholic | 2 | 233 |
| CEISTScoil Muire Agus Padraig | Catholic | 1 | 394 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Swinford
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
1 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 1 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 Swinford’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 |
|---|---|
| Scoil Muire Agus PadraigPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Swinford N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Culmore N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Swinford
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Families in Swinford have 2 post-primary schools within 10 km: one voluntary secondary school and one ETB school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Muire Agus PadraigVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 394 | 0.4 km |
| St Joseph's Community CollegeETB · Catholic | Girls and boys | DEIS | 223 | 9.7 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Swinford
No special school is in or near Swinford. 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.
Swinford beside the 135 other Irish towns of 1,000 to 2,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enniskerry | 2,000 | 10 | 2,487 | 0 | 20% | 2.9 km |
| … | ||||||
| Rochfortbridge | 1,498 | 2 | 1,343 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 3 | 807 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Coill Dubh (Blackwood) | 1,476 | 4 | 708 | 0 | 0% | 4.7 km |
| Killumney | 1,466 | 7 | 2,866 | 1 | 0% | 4 km |
| Swinford | 1,459 | 3 | 627 | 0 | 100% | 0.4 km |
| Foxford | 1,452 | 2 | 753 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Slane | 1,445 | 1 | 254 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Aughrim | 1,437 | 2 | 326 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Moroe | 1,432 | 2 | 345 | 0 | 0% | 1.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Carragh | 1,006 | 2 | 1,383 | 0 | 0% | 3.5 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 73 of the other 135 towns than around Swinford. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 15 of the 136.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Swinford
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Swinford had 575 pupils in 2015/16 and 627 in 2025/26. Scoil Muire Agus Padraig grew most: +29% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Swinford
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 Swinford
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swinford | 3 | 627 | 0 | 100% | 0.4 km |
| Charlestown-Bellahy 10 km | 2 | 491 | 0 | 50% | 0.4 km |
| Kiltimagh 11 km | 2 | 963 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Foxford 12 km | 2 | 753 | 0 | 0% | 0.3 km |
| Knock 17 km | 1 | 152 | 0 | 100% | 7.8 km |
| Tubbercurry 18 km | 4 | 1,130 | 0 | 25% | 1.7 km |
Of Swinford’s neighbours, Charlestown-Bellahy saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+42%) and Knock the least (+4%); Swinford itself: +14%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Swinford 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 Swinford
How many schools are there in Swinford?
In Swinford or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 627 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Swinford that teach through Irish?
None in Swinford 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 Swinford?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Swinford?
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 Swinford?
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).