St.Brendan's Community School
Birr, Co Offaly · R42 KN92 · Roll number 91491L
St.Brendan's Community School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Birr. Every school in and around Birr →
What stands out about St.Brendan's Community School
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 875 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+5%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- In 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.
- 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 Laois & Offaly ETB & Presentation Brothers; its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Birr or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St.Brendan's Community School had 875 pupils in 2025/26, down from 939 in 2015/16 (−7%). Girls are 53% of them. Its largest roll was 957, in 2016/17. Its roll rose in 5 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.Brendan'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.Brendan'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.Brendan'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.Brendan's Community School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St.Brendan'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.
It is in DEIS, so it has extra support for pupils from disadvantaged areas.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: St.Brendan's Community School is about the size it was in 2019/20 (+5%). All the schools around Birr together changed by +4%.
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.
St.Brendan's Community School has more pupils than any of the 6 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +5%; 5 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St.Brendan's Community School | 875 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | |
| Banagher College | 556 | −6% | Multi-denominational | English | 10 km | |
| Coláiste Naomh Cormac | 316 | +36% | Multi-denominational | English | 15 km | |
| Cistercian College | 255 | +16% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Borrisokane Community College | 723 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | 18 km | |
| Colaiste Phobáil Ros Cré | 594 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 19 km |
| Gallen Community School | 441 | +17% | Inter-denominational | English | 19 km |
The other 7 post-primary schools in Co. Offaly
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killina Presentation Secondary School | 759 | +53% | Catholic | English | 28 km | |
| Ardscoil Chiaráin Naofa | 333 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 33 km |
| Colaiste Choilm | 699 | +15% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| Tullamore College | 742 | +8% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 34 km |
| Sacred Heart Secondary School | 571 | −4% | Catholic | English | 34 km | |
| Oaklands Community College | 733 | −9% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 62 km |
| St Mary's Secondary School | 1,035 | +18% | Catholic | English | 63 km |
Living in Birr
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the R42 Eircode area
Housing in Birr →The median sale price rose from €180,000 in 2023 to €240,000 in 2025 (+33%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the R42 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Birr
Cost of living in Birr →New tenancies in Birr averaged €1,034 a month in 2025, against €879 in 2024 (+18%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Birr, R42 KN92
Post-primary schools near St.Brendan'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.Brendan's Community School
Is St.Brendan'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.Brendan's Community School have?
875 pupils in 2025/26. That is +5% since 2019/20.
Does St.Brendan's Community School teach through Irish?
No: St.Brendan's Community School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St.Brendan's Community School?
St.Brendan's Community School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Laois & Offaly ETB & Presentation Brothers.
How do pupils get a place at St.Brendan'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.Brendan's Community School?
The nearest are Banagher College (10 km), Coláiste Naomh Cormac (15 km) and Cistercian College (16 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 Birr; 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).