Photo: Conor Dunne · CC0Around Donore, only 0% of schools teach through Irish, fewer than around Co. Meath’s towns or Irish towns
That leaves Donore below both Co. Meath’s towns (8%) and Irish towns (8%). Its one secondary school within 3 km, St Oliver's Community College, has 1,422 pupils. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Donore’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: St Oliver's Community College (1,422), St Pauls Senior N.S. (466) and Rathmullan N.S. (373). Who runs them ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 8 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: St Oliver's Community College (3.7 km), St Mary's Diocesan School (5.1 km) and Sacred Heart Secondary School (5.5 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Donore’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
3 of Donore’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Meath (3) and Louth & Meath ETB (1). 3 of the 4 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 4 schools in and around Donore
Every school in Donore 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 4 schools in and around Donore 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 Donore’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 Donore
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 4 schools in and around Donore teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Donore’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Meath’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 Donore | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 93% | 14% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 5% | 6% |
| Girls | 47% | 49% | 49% |
More of the pupils around Donore are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 93% against 27% (Co. Meath: 14%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%. St Oliver's Community College, with 1,422 pupils, is the largest school here in DEIS.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Dun UabhairPrimary | 166 | 44% | ||
| St Oliver's Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 1,422 | 48% | ✓ | |
| St Pauls Senior N.S.Primary | 466 | 48% | ✓ | |
| Rathmullan N.S.Primary | 373 | 45% | ✓ |
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 Donore’s schools
Each school has a patron that owns it and sets its ethos; its board of management runs it.
Bishop of Meath is patron of 3 of the 4 schools around Donore, which teach 41% of their pupils; 2 patrons run them in all. An Education and Training Board runs one of them.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of MeathSt Pauls Senior, Rathmullan, S.N. Dun Uabhair | Catholic | 3 | 1,005 |
| Louth & Meath ETBSt Oliver's | Multi-denominational | 1 | 1,422 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Donore
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
Between 2019/20 and now, 0 of the 4 grew by 5% or more and 2 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +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 Donore’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
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.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Dun UabhairPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Oliver's Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Pauls Senior N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Rathmullan 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 Donore
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Donore there are 8 post-primary schools: 6 voluntary secondary schools, one ETB school and one community school. 3 of them are single-sex, 2 for girls and 1 for boys. One of them charges fees. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Oliver's Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 1,422 | 3.7 km |
| St Mary's Diocesan SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 917 | 5.1 km |
| Sacred Heart Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 717 | 5.5 km |
| Ballymakenny CollegeCommunity school · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 998 | 6.7 km |
| St. Joseph's C.B.S.Voluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,128 | 6.9 km |
| Our Lady's CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 965 | 6.9 km |
| Drogheda Grammar SchoolVoluntary secondary · Quaker | Girls and boys | Fee-paying | 557 | 8.2 km |
| Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 520 | 8.3 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Donore
No special school is in or near Donore. 3 of the 3 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.
Donore beside the 187 other Irish towns of 500 to 1,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castletownbere | 999 | 3 | 524 | 0 | 67% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Mountbellew | 774 | 5 | 1,503 | 0 | 0% | 1 km |
| Riverstick | 772 | 1 | 363 | 0 | 0% | 7.7 km |
| Robertstown | 771 | 3 | 618 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
| Ardfert | 771 | 1 | 215 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Donore | 767 | 4 | 2,427 | 0 | 75% | 3.7 km |
| Ballineen-Enniskean | 766 | 2 | 207 | 0 | 0% | 13 km |
| Rathmore | 766 | 3 | 627 | 0 | 0% | 2.5 km |
| Knockbridge | 759 | 1 | 285 | 0 | 0% | 5.8 km |
| Lixnaw | 758 | 1 | 104 | 0 | 100% | 7.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
Of these 187 other towns, 5 count more pupils at their schools than Donore. Within 3 km, 16 of these 188 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Donore
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 Donore had 2,358 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,427 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Donore
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 Donore
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donore | 4 | 2,427 | 0 | 75% | 3.7 km |
| Duleek 3.6 km | 4 | 957 | 0 | 50% | 6.8 km |
| Tullyallen 5.4 km | 1 | 411 | 0 | 0% | 3.7 km |
| Drogheda 5.5 km | 29 | 14,360 | 2 | 28% | 0.5 km |
| Slane 8.2 km | 1 | 254 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Kentstown 10 km | 1 | 214 | 0 | 0% | 8.1 km |
| Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney 11 km | 11 | 5,783 | 1 | 0% | 1.4 km |
Drogheda has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. The roll around Donore moved −3% since 2019/20; nearby, Drogheda grew most (+7%) and Tullyallen least (−17%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Donore 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 Donore
How many schools are there in Donore?
In Donore or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 2,427 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Donore that teach through Irish?
None in Donore 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 Donore?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Donore?
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 Donore?
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).