Gallen Community School
Main Street, Ferbane, Co. Offaly · R42 N8P8 · Roll number 91515W
Gallen Community School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ferbane. Every school in and around Ferbane →
What stands out about Gallen Community School
- 441 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 441 pupils, 17% more than the 377 of 2019/20.
- 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 & Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise; its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Ferbane or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Gallen Community School had 441 pupils in 2025/26, against 388 in 2015/16 (+14%). Girls are 47% of them. Its roll rose in 6 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Gallen 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 Gallen 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 Gallen 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 Gallen Community School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Gallen 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: Gallen Community School has grown by 17% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ferbane together changed by +10%.
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, 4 have more pupils than Gallen Community School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +17%; 2 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallen Community School | 441 | +17% | Inter-denominational | English | ||
| Coláiste Naomh Cormac | 316 | +36% | Multi-denominational | English | 12 km | |
| Banagher College | 556 | −6% | Multi-denominational | English | 14 km | |
| Killina Presentation Secondary School | 759 | +53% | Catholic | English | 16 km | |
| Moate Community School | 913 | +7% | Inter-denominational | English | 16 km | |
| Ardscoil Chiaráin Naofa | 333 | +10% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 16 km |
| Our Lady's Bower | 630 | −11% | Catholic | English | 18 km |
The other 6 post-primary schools in Co. Offaly
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St.Brendan's Community School | 875 | +5% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 19 km |
| Colaiste Choilm | 699 | +15% | Catholic | English | 23 km | |
| Tullamore College | 742 | +8% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 23 km |
| Sacred Heart Secondary School | 571 | −4% | Catholic | English | 23 km | |
| Oaklands Community College | 733 | −9% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 52 km |
| St Mary's Secondary School | 1,035 | +18% | Catholic | English | 52 km |
Living in Ferbane
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the R42 Eircode area
Housing in Ferbane →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 Co. Offaly
Cost of living in Ferbane →New tenancies in Co. Offaly averaged €1,198 a month in 2025, against €1,089 in 2024 (+10%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ferbane, R42 N8P8
Post-primary schools near Gallen 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 Gallen Community School
Is Gallen 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 Gallen Community School have?
441 pupils in 2025/26. That is +17% since 2019/20.
Does Gallen Community School teach through Irish?
No: Gallen Community School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Gallen Community School?
Gallen Community School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Laois & Offaly ETB & Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise.
How do pupils get a place at Gallen 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 Gallen Community School?
The nearest are Coláiste Naomh Cormac (12 km), Banagher College (14 km) and Killina Presentation Secondary School (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 Ferbane; 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).