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Oldcastle, Co. Meath · A82 RK76 · Roll number 71990R
St Oliver Post Primary is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Oldcastle. Every school in and around Oldcastle →
What stands out about St Oliver Post Primary
- 630 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+6%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- An ETB school: run by the county’s Education and Training Board.
- Its patron is the Louth & Meath ETB; its ethos is multi-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Oldcastle or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Oliver Post Primary had 630 pupils in 2025/26, against 559 in 2015/16 (+13%). Girls are 44% of them. Its largest roll was 641, in 2024/25. 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 Oliver Post Primary
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 Oliver Post Primary 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 Oliver Post Primary
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 Oliver Post Primary
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Oliver Post Primary 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 Oliver Post Primary has grown by 6% since 2019/20. All the schools around Oldcastle together changed by −1%.
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, 3 have more pupils than St Oliver Post Primary. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +6%; 3 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Oliver Post Primary | 630 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | ||
| Virginia College | 809 | +13% | Multi-denominational | English | 8.3 km | |
| St Clare's College | 578 | −6% | Catholic | English | 11 km | |
| Castlepollard Community College | 318 | +15% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 14 km |
| Eureka Secondary School | 735 | +5% | Catholic | English | 19 km | |
| St Ciaran's Community School | 619 | −4% | Inter-denominational | English | 20 km | |
| Bailieborough Community School | 754 | +19% | Inter-denominational | English | 20 km |
The other 21 post-primary schools in Co. Meath
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athboy Community School | 681 | +16% | Inter-denominational | English | 23 km | |
| Coláiste Pobail Rath Cairn | 140 | +9% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 26 km | |
| O'Carolan College | 725 | +37% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 28 km |
| St Patrick's Classical School | 967 | +7% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St. Joseph's Secondary School, Navan, | 682 | −7% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| Beaufort College | 926 | +61% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 35 km |
| Loreto Secondary School | 920 | +14% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| Scoil Mhuire | 814 | −1% | Catholic | English | 35 km | |
| Boyne Community School | 1,008 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 35 km |
| Coláiste na Mí | 913 | +26% | Multi-denominational | English | 37 km | |
| Coláiste Clavin | 519 | +40% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 39 km |
| Enfield Community College | 684 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 46 km | |
| Community College Dunshaughlin | 1,120 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | 50 km | |
| Coláiste Rioga | 267 | – | Multi-denominational | English | 51 km | |
| Ratoath College | 1,132 | +6% | Inter-denominational | English | 56 km | |
| De Lacy College | 929 | +68% | Multi-denominational | English | 57 km | |
| Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School | 520 | +1,344% | Multi-denominational | English | 57 km | |
| Ashbourne Community School | 1,109 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | 59 km | |
| St Peter's College | 1,214 | +0% | Inter-denominational | English | 60 km | |
| Colaiste na hInse | 1,021 | +3% | Multi-denominational | English | 61 km | |
| Franciscan College | 321 | −26% | Catholic | English | 63 km |
Living in Oldcastle
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the A82 Eircode area
Housing in Oldcastle →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 Co. Meath
Cost of living in Oldcastle →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 ↗














Oldcastle, A82 RK76
Post-primary schools near St Oliver Post Primary
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Oliver Post Primary
Is St Oliver Post Primary 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 Oliver Post Primary have?
630 pupils in 2025/26. That is +6% since 2019/20.
Does St Oliver Post Primary teach through Irish?
No: St Oliver Post Primary teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Oliver Post Primary?
St Oliver Post Primary has a multi-denominational ethos. Its patron is Louth & Meath ETB.
How do pupils get a place at St Oliver Post Primary?
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 Oliver Post Primary?
The nearest are Virginia College (8.3 km), St Clare's College (11 km) and Castlepollard Community College (14 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 Oldcastle; 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).