Photo: Captain Fearnought at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0More children at the schools around Dunshaughlin: +30% since 2019/20, above Co. Meath’s towns and Irish towns
That puts Dunshaughlin above both Co. Meath’s towns (+2%) and Irish towns (+4%). 3 of its 5 schools are multi- or inter-denominational, against 14% across Ireland. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
What stands out about Dunshaughlin’s schools
More all-Irish schools than most places
Families here have more choice of a school that teaches every subject through Irish than in most of Ireland, where 8% of schools do. The school is Scoil na Rithe (222). Language ↓
A choice beyond the church schools
Most schools in Ireland have a church patron; here more of them are multi- or inter-denominational than in most places (14% across Ireland). They are Community College Dunshaughlin (1,120), Coláiste Rioga (267) and Dunshaughlin Community National School (168). Who runs them ↓
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 ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Teaching through Irish in and around Dunshaughlin
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Dunshaughlin’s 5 schools teach every subject through Irish: Scoil na Rithe.
Who runs Dunshaughlin’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Dunshaughlin’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Louth & Meath ETB (3) and Bishop of Meath (2). None of the 5 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.
Pupil numbers around Dunshaughlin
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 Dunshaughlin had 1,699 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,399 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Dunshaughlin
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.
Where the 5 schools in and around Dunshaughlin 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 Dunshaughlin’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.
Who Dunshaughlin’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, 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 Dunshaughlin | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 14% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 9% | 5% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 22% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
Fewer of the pupils around Dunshaughlin are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 0% against 27% (Co. Meath: 14%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here, 29% there.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community College DunshaughlinPost-primary · ETB | 1,120 | 48% | ||
| S.N. Seachnaill NaofaPrimary | 622 | 45% | ||
| Coláiste RiogaPost-primary · ETB | 267 | 47% | ||
| Scoil na RithePrimary | 222 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Dunshaughlin Community National SchoolPrimary | 168 | 49% |
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 Dunshaughlin’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
2 patrons run the 5 schools around Dunshaughlin; the largest, Louth & Meath ETB, has 3 of them and 65% of the pupils. The local Education and Training Board runs 3.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louth & Meath ETBCommunity College Dunshaughlin, Coláiste Rioga, Dunshaughlin Community | Inter-denominational, Multi-denominational | 3 | 1,555 |
| Bishop of MeathS.N. Seachnaill Naofa, Scoil na Rithe | Catholic | 2 | 844 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Dunshaughlin
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, 1 of these 3 schools have grown by 5% or more and 0 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 5 schools in and around Dunshaughlin
Every school in Dunshaughlin or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Inspection reports for Dunshaughlin’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 5 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Community College DunshaughlinPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Seachnaill NaofaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coláiste RiogaPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil na RithePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Dunshaughlin Community National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Dunshaughlin
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Dunshaughlin there are 4 post-primary schools: 4 ETB schools. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community College DunshaughlinETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,120 | 0.4 km |
| Coláiste RiogaETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 267 | 1 km |
| Ratoath CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,132 | 5.8 km |
| De Lacy CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 929 | 8.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Dunshaughlin
No special school is in or near Dunshaughlin. 1 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.
Dunshaughlin beside the 99 other Irish towns of 4,700 to 9,000 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandyford | 8,844 | 67 | 27,808 | 8 | 8% | 0.9 km |
| … | ||||||
| Christchurch | 6,778 | 119 | 29,651 | 8 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| O'Connell Street | 6,749 | 124 | 33,516 | 11 | 52% | 0.5 km |
| Fermoy | 6,720 | 12 | 3,461 | 1 | 17% | 0.2 km |
| Santry | 6,710 | 64 | 20,947 | 7 | 64% | 1.7 km |
| Dunshaughlin | 6,644 | 5 | 2,399 | 1 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Kells | 6,608 | 6 | 2,154 | 0 | 0% | 0.6 km |
| Ballinasloe | 6,597 | 6 | 2,019 | 1 | 50% | 1.8 km |
| Ballytruckle | 6,563 | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1 km |
| Roscommon | 6,555 | 7 | 2,589 | 1 | 29% | 0.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Birr | 4,726 | 7 | 1,708 | 1 | 86% | 1.4 km |
Of the other 99 towns, 77 have more pupils at the schools around them than Dunshaughlin. 87 of the 100 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 Dunshaughlin
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
Ongar has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 3. Pupils around Dunshaughlin: +30% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Ashbourne led (+2%) and Kentstown trailed (−15%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Dunshaughlin 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 Dunshaughlin
How many schools are there in Dunshaughlin?
In Dunshaughlin or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 2,399 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Dunshaughlin that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Scoil na Rithe teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Dunshaughlin?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Dunshaughlin?
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 Dunshaughlin?
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).