Franciscan College
Franciscan College, Gormanston, Co. Meath · K32 NH30 · Roll number 64420I
Franciscan College is one of 2 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Gormanston. Every school in and around Gormanston →
What stands out about Franciscan College
- A small post-primary school: 321 pupils, against a typical 585.
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Smaller than it was: 321 pupils, 26% fewer than the 433 of 2019/20.
- 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 Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan Fathers) Irish Province; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Franciscan College had 321 pupils in 2025/26, down from 370 in 2015/16 (−13%). Girls are 42% of them. Its largest roll was 470, in 2017/18. Its roll rose in 2 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Franciscan College
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 Franciscan College 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 Franciscan College
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 Franciscan College
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Franciscan College 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.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Franciscan College has shrunk by 26% since 2019/20. All the schools around Gormanston together changed by −7%.
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.
Each of the 6 nearest post-primary schools has more pupils than Franciscan College. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −26%; 6 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franciscan College | 321 | −26% | Catholic | English | ||
| Coláiste Ghlór na Mara | 520 | +63% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 3.5 km | |
| Bremore Educate Together Secondary School | 824 | +124% | Multi-denominational | English | 3.9 km | |
| Balbriggan Community College | 686 | +33% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 4.1 km |
| Loreto Secondary School | 1,220 | −5% | Catholic | English | 4.2 km | |
| Ardgillan Community College | 1,014 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | 5.2 km | |
| Colaiste na hInse | 1,021 | +3% | Multi-denominational | English | 6.5 km |
The other 22 post-primary schools in Co. Meath
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School | 520 | +1,344% | Multi-denominational | English | 9.2 km | |
| Ashbourne Community School | 1,109 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | 18 km | |
| De Lacy College | 929 | +68% | Multi-denominational | English | 18 km | |
| Ratoath College | 1,132 | +6% | Inter-denominational | English | 21 km | |
| Coláiste Rioga | 267 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 25 km | |
| Community College Dunshaughlin | 1,120 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | 25 km | |
| Coláiste na Mí | 913 | +26% | Multi-denominational | English | 27 km | |
| St Peter's College | 1,214 | +0% | Inter-denominational | English | 29 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 920 | +14% | Catholic | English | 29 km | |
| Beaufort College | 926 | +61% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School, Navan, | 682 | −7% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| St Patrick's Classical School | 967 | +7% | Catholic | English | 31 km | |
| Boyne Community School | 1,008 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 37 km |
| Scoil Mhuire | 814 | −1% | Catholic | English | 38 km | |
| O'Carolan College | 725 | +37% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 39 km |
| Coláiste Pobail Rath Cairn | 140 | +9% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 41 km | |
| St Ciaran's Community School | 619 | −4% | Inter-denominational | English | 43 km | |
| Eureka Secondary School | 735 | +5% | Catholic | English | 44 km | |
| Athboy Community School | 681 | +16% | Inter-denominational | English | 45 km | |
| Enfield Community College | 684 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 46 km | |
| Coláiste Clavin | 519 | +40% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 49 km |
| St Oliver Post Primary | 630 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | 63 km |
Living in Gormanston
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the K32 Eircode area
Housing in Gormanston →The median sale price rose from €273,000 in 2023 to €360,000 in 2025 (+32%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the K32 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Meath
Cost of living in Gormanston →New tenancies in Co. Meath averaged €1,542 a month in 2025, against €1,434 in 2024 (+8%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Gormanston, K32 NH30
Post-primary schools near Franciscan College
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Franciscan College
Is Franciscan College 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 Franciscan College have?
321 pupils in 2025/26. That is −26% since 2019/20.
Does Franciscan College teach through Irish?
No: Franciscan College teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Franciscan College?
Franciscan College has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan Fathers) Irish Province.
How do pupils get a place at Franciscan College?
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 Franciscan College?
The nearest are Coláiste Ghlór na Mara (3.5 km), Bremore Educate Together Secondary School (3.9 km) and Balbriggan Community College (4.1 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 Gormanston; 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).