St Ciaran's Community School
Navan Rd, Kells, Co Meath · A82 N677 · Roll number 91456J
St Ciaran's Community School is one of 2 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Kells. Every school in and around Kells →
What stands out about St Ciaran's Community School
- 619 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−4%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- 106 girls and 513 boys: more of one than the other.
- A community school: run by a board of the local Education and Training Board and the religious or other bodies that founded it.
- Its patron is Louth & Meath ETB & Congregation of Christian Brothers; its ethos is inter-denominational.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Ciaran's Community School had 619 pupils in 2025/26, against 606 in 2015/16 (+2%). Girls are 17% of them. Its largest roll was 646, in 2019/20. Its roll rose in 8 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for St Ciaran's Community School
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 St Ciaran's Community School 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 St Ciaran's Community School
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 St Ciaran's Community School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Ciaran's Community School 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: St Ciaran's Community School is about the size it was in 2019/20 (−4%). All the schools around Kells together changed by −3%.
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.
Of the 6 nearest post-primary schools, 5 have more pupils than St Ciaran's Community School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −4%; 5 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Ciaran's Community School | 619 | −4% | Inter-denominational | English | ||
| Eureka Secondary School | 735 | +5% | Catholic | English | 1.2 km | |
| Athboy Community School | 681 | +16% | Inter-denominational | English | 11 km | |
| Coláiste Pobail Rath Cairn | 140 | +9% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 12 km | |
| O'Carolan College | 725 | +37% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 13 km |
| St Patrick's Classical School | 967 | +7% | Catholic | English | 14 km | |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School, Navan, | 682 | −7% | Catholic | English | 15 km |
The other 17 post-primary schools in Co. Meath
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loreto Secondary School | 920 | +14% | Catholic | English | 15 km | |
| Beaufort College | 926 | +61% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 15 km |
| Coláiste na Mí | 913 | +26% | Multi-denominational | English | 17 km | |
| Scoil Mhuire | 814 | −1% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| St Oliver Post Primary | 630 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | 20 km | |
| Boyne Community School | 1,008 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 20 km |
| Coláiste Clavin | 519 | +40% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Community College Dunshaughlin | 1,120 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | 32 km | |
| Coláiste Rioga | 267 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 33 km | |
| Enfield Community College | 684 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 35 km | |
| Ratoath College | 1,132 | +6% | Inter-denominational | English | 37 km | |
| Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School | 520 | +1,344% | Multi-denominational | English | 38 km | |
| De Lacy College | 929 | +68% | Multi-denominational | English | 38 km | |
| Ashbourne Community School | 1,109 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | 40 km | |
| Colaiste na hInse | 1,021 | +3% | Multi-denominational | English | 41 km | |
| Franciscan College | 321 | −26% | Catholic | English | 43 km | |
| St Peter's College | 1,214 | +0% | Inter-denominational | English | 43 km |
Living in Kells
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the A82 Eircode area
Housing in Kells →The median sale price rose from €240,000 in 2023 to €310,000 in 2025 (+29%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the A82 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Kells
Cost of living in Kells →New tenancies in Kells averaged €1,290 a month in 2025, against €1,215 in 2024 (+6%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Kells, A82 N677
Post-primary schools near St Ciaran's Community School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Ciaran's Community School
Is St Ciaran's Community School 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 St Ciaran's Community School have?
619 pupils in 2025/26. That is −4% since 2019/20.
Does St Ciaran's Community School teach through Irish?
No: St Ciaran's Community School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Ciaran's Community School?
St Ciaran's Community School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Louth & Meath ETB & Congregation of Christian Brothers.
How do pupils get a place at St Ciaran's Community School?
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 St Ciaran's Community School?
The nearest are Eureka Secondary School (1.2 km), Athboy Community School (11 km) and Coláiste Pobail Rath Cairn (12 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 Kells; 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).