Photo: James Allan · CC BY-SA 2.0Irish-medium schools are unusually common around Edenderry: 14%, above Co. Offaly’s towns and Irish towns
On this, Edenderry is above both Co. Offaly’s towns (7%) and Irish towns (8%). 2,986 pupils go to the 5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools in or within 3 km of Edenderry. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Edenderry’s schools
Extra support for many schools
Many schools here are in DEIS, which gives schools in disadvantaged areas more teachers, money and help; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. In DEIS: Oaklands Community College (733), Scoil Bhríde Primary School (480), St Patrick's National School (192) and Gaelscoil Éadan Doire (69). Who runs them ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Edenderry’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
5 of Edenderry’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (4), Laois & Offaly ETB (1) and An Foras Pátrúnachta (1). 4 of the 7 are in DEIS, the extra support for schools in disadvantaged areas (30% across Ireland).
Department of Education school lists: ethos 2025/26, patron 2024/25 (the 2025/26 lists don’t give it). DEIS list 2025/26.
Where the 7 schools in and around Edenderry are
Each school where the official list places it, shaded by who runs it and sized by pupils; squares are secondary schools, triangles special schools. The dashed shape is Edenderry’s outline; schools within 3 km of it count.
Places from the Department of Education’s school lists (its own coordinates for all but a handful); map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Teaching through Irish in and around Edenderry
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Edenderry’s 7 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Éadan Doire.
Who Edenderry’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, beside Co. Offaly’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Edenderry | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 49% | 42% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 2% | 2% | 6% |
| Girls | 49% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 18% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
More of the pupils around Edenderry are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 49% against 27% (Co. Offaly: 42%). The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Oaklands Community College is the biggest: 733 pupils.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,035 | 48% | ||
| Oaklands Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 733 | 50% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Bhríde Primary SchoolPrimary | 480 | 50% | ✓ | |
| Edenderry Convent N.S.Primary | 429 | 57% | ||
| St Patrick's National SchoolPrimary | 192 | 36% | ✓ | |
| Gaelscoil Éadan DoirePrimary | 69 | 51% | ✓ | ✓ |
| Edenderry 2 N.S.Primary | 48 | 40% |
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary): enrolments by sex and the DEIS list. Shares are of pupils, not of schools; a county’s are the schools listed with its towns.
The 4 patrons of Edenderry’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin is patron of 4 of the 7 schools around Edenderry, which teach 72% of their pupils; 4 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Kildare & LeighlinSt Mary's, Scoil Bhríde Primary School, Edenderry Convent, St Patrick's | Catholic | 4 | 2,136 |
| Laois & Offaly ETBOaklands | Multi-denominational | 1 | 733 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Éadan Doire | Catholic | 1 | 69 |
| Bishop of Meath & Kildare COIEdenderry 2 | Church of Ireland | 1 | 48 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Edenderry
Starting primary school
Children can start primary school once they are four, and must be in school by six. Families apply to each school directly. Every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice; a school with more applicants than places admits on the criteria in its policy. Since the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, a Catholic or other majority-faith primary school can’t put baptised children first; a school of a minority faith still can, to keep its ethos.
Moving to secondary school
Children move to post-primary school at about twelve, after sixth class. Again, families apply to each school, usually a year or more ahead, and an oversubscribed school admits on its published criteria, often brothers and sisters and its feeder primary schools.
Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018; each school’s admission policy and notice are on its own website.
Which schools are growing
Between 2019/20 and now, 2 of the 7 grew by 5% or more and 5 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +5%.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September, 2019/20 and 2025/26 (preliminary). No capacity is published, so how full a school is can’t be shown.
The 7 schools in and around Edenderry
Every school in Edenderry or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Edenderry’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 7 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Mary's Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Oaklands Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Bhríde Primary SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Edenderry Convent N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| St Patrick's National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil Éadan DoirePrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Edenderry 2 N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Edenderry
All post-primaries within 10 km; at about twelve, families choose and apply school by school
Within 10 km of Edenderry there are 2 post-primary schools: one voluntary secondary school and one ETB school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,035 | 0.3 km |
| Oaklands Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 733 | 0.6 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Edenderry
No special school is in or near Edenderry. 3 of the 5 primary schools have special classes for children who need more support. Their cards ↑
Special schools and primary schools with special classes as the Department lists them; the National Council for Special Education places pupils in special classes.
Edenderry beside the 94 other Irish towns of 5,500 to 10,600 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballina | 10,556 | 14 | 2,979 | 1 | 50% | 0.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Thurles | 8,185 | 10 | 3,787 | 1 | 10% | 0.3 km |
| Clane | 8,152 | 7 | 3,836 | 0 | 14% | 0.7 km |
| Dubber | 7,941 | 54 | 15,781 | 5 | 67% | 1.8 km |
| Monaghan | 7,894 | 11 | 3,968 | 2 | 36% | 0.2 km |
| Edenderry | 7,888 | 7 | 2,986 | 1 | 57% | 0.3 km |
| Farranshone | 7,874 | 49 | 16,369 | 6 | 47% | 0.4 km |
| Baldoyle | 7,864 | 53 | 16,574 | 4 | 28% | 0.7 km |
| Frankfield and Grange | 7,687 | 58 | 20,798 | 6 | 24% | 2 km |
| Perrystown | 7,581 | 94 | 30,259 | 5 | 37% | 0.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Roscrea | 5,542 | 8 | 1,763 | 0 | 50% | 0.5 km |
Of these 94 other towns, 73 count more pupils at their schools than Edenderry. Within 3 km, 88 of these 95 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Edenderry
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Edenderry had 2,795 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,986 in 2025/26. St Mary's Secondary School grew most: +18% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Edenderry
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year, 2015/16 to 2025/26 (preliminary), for every school placed in the area today; schools that have since closed or merged count where they stood.
Schools in the towns around Edenderry
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
The roll around Edenderry moved −3% since 2019/20; nearby, Longwood grew most (+7%) and Kinnegad least (−23%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Edenderry or within 3 km of its outline, as the Department places it: families here use them. Schools further out are on the map of each school’s own page.
- The kinds of school. Primary schools take children from junior infants to sixth class, about ages 4 to 12. Post-primary schools teach the Junior and Leaving Certificate, about ages 12 to 18: voluntary secondary schools (mostly with a religious patron), ETB schools and community colleges run by an Education and Training Board, and community and comprehensive schools. Special schools teach children with particular needs.
- Teaching through Irish. All-Irish: every subject taught through Irish, in the Gaeltacht or, outside it, a Gaelscoil or Gaelcholáiste. Partly in Irish: an Irish stream (some classes entirely through Irish) or some subjects through Irish. Every other school teaches Irish as a subject.
- 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.
- Ethos and patron. Most Irish schools are owned by a patron, mostly a church; the patron sets the school’s ethos. Multi-denominational schools (Educate Together, many ETB schools) teach children of every faith and none together.
- No grade. Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 lets the Minister refuse to release information that would allow schools’ exam results to be compared, and no results are published school by school. So Ireland’s schools have no letters and its towns no School Grade; nothing on this page ranks them.
- What isn’t here. What the UK and French pages show from results, these can’t: results charts, results against pupils’ backgrounds and towns ranked by their schools (no published results), and how full each school is (no capacity is published). Every post-primary school teaches to the Leaving Certificate, so there is no sixth-form split to show.
- Inspections. The Inspectorate’s reports are linked from each school’s page. They give no overall grade, so none is shown.
- The year. The 2025/26 lists are the Department’s preliminary release; numbers can change a little in the final lists.
Questions about schools in Edenderry
How many schools are there in Edenderry?
In Edenderry or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 2,986 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Edenderry that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Éadan Doire teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Edenderry?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Edenderry?
We don’t say. Ireland publishes no exam results school by school, and section 53 of the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them; a ranking would rest on guesses. Each school’s page has its own facts and a link to its inspection reports, and visiting the schools you are weighing is still the best guide.
How do I get a place at a school in Edenderry?
Apply to each school directly: every school publishes an admission policy and a yearly admission notice with its dates. If it has more applicants than places, it admits on the criteria in its policy.
Sources: Department of Education, school lists 2025/26 (preliminary) and enrolments since 2015/16, CC BY 4.0 · one school placed with OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
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).