Ballybay Community College
Ballybay, Co Monaghan · A75 V882 · Roll number 72170H
Ballybay Community College is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ballybay. Every school in and around Ballybay →
What stands out about Ballybay Community College
- A small post-primary school: 344 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−3%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- An ETB school: run by the county’s Education and Training Board.
- Its patron is the Cavan & Monaghan ETB; its ethos is multi-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Ballybay or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Ballybay Community College had 344 pupils in 2025/26, against 293 in 2015/16 (+17%). Girls are 49% of them. Its largest roll was 363, in 2023/24. Its roll rose in 7 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Ballybay Community 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 Ballybay Community 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 Ballybay Community 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 Ballybay Community College
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Ballybay Community 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: Ballybay Community College is about the size it was in 2019/20 (−3%). All the schools around Ballybay together changed by +2%.
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 Ballybay Community College. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −3%; 5 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybay Community College | 344 | −3% | Multi-denominational | English | ||
| Our Lady's Secondary School | 883 | +24% | Catholic | English | 10 km | |
| Castleblayney College | 434 | +61% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 11 km |
| St Aidans Comprehensive School | 654 | +28% | Inter-denominational | English | 12 km | |
| Monaghan Collegiate School | 234 | −10% | Inter-denominational | English | 13 km | |
| Beech Hill College | 897 | +55% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 14 km |
| St. Louis Secondary School | 532 | +3% | Catholic | English | 14 km |
The other 6 post-primary schools in Co. Monaghan
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Oiriall | 402 | +16% | Multi-denominational | All in Irish | 16 km | |
| St. Macartan's College | 617 | +3% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Inver College | 733 | +98% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 20 km |
| Patrician High School | 453 | −4% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| St Louis Secondary School | 414 | −21% | Catholic | English | 21 km | |
| Largy College | 505 | +23% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 22 km |
Living in Ballybay
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the A75 Eircode area
Housing in Ballybay →The median sale price rose from €200,000 in 2023 to €265,000 in 2025 (+33%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the A75 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Ballybay
Cost of living in Ballybay →New tenancies in Ballybay averaged €982 a month in 2025, against €874 in 2024 (+12%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ballybay, A75 V882
Post-primary schools near Ballybay Community College
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Ballybay Community College
Is Ballybay Community 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 Ballybay Community College have?
344 pupils in 2025/26. That is −3% since 2019/20.
Does Ballybay Community College teach through Irish?
No: Ballybay Community College teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Ballybay Community College?
Ballybay Community College has a multi-denominational ethos. Its patron is Cavan & Monaghan ETB.
How do pupils get a place at Ballybay Community 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 Ballybay Community College?
The nearest are Our Lady's Secondary School (10 km), Castleblayney College (11 km) and St Aidans Comprehensive School (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 Ballybay; 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).