Photo: Richard Webb · CC BY-SA 2.0Pupil numbers around Ballintogher are rising faster than around Irish towns: +28% since 2019/20
Measured that way, Ballintogher is above Irish towns (+4%). Pupils: 129, up 28% since 2019/20. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Ballintogher’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Ballintogher 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 Ballintogher’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.
Pupil numbers around Ballintogher
Pupils every September at the schools in or within 3 km of the town, each counted at today’s site.
The schools in and around Ballintogher had 115 pupils in 2015/16 and 129 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballintogher
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.
Who runs Ballintogher’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Ballintogher’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise (1) and Bishop of Elphin (1). None of the 2 is 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.
Teaching through Irish in and around Ballintogher
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 2 schools in and around Ballintogher teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballintogher’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against Co. Sligo’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Ballintogher | Co. Sligo | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 24% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 2% | 6% |
| Girls | 47% | 48% | 49% |
0% of the pupils around Ballintogher are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (24% in Co. Sligo). Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballintogher N.S.Primary | 87 | 46% | ||
| Kilross N.S.Primary | 42 | 50% |
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.
How children get a place in Ballintogher
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
2 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 0 have shrunk by as much, out of 2; across Ireland: +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 2 schools in and around Ballintogher
Each school in or within 3 km of Ballintogher links to a page of its own. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Inspection reports for Ballintogher’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
Each school is visited by inspectors from time to time, for a whole-school evaluation of teaching, learning and leadership, for one subject, or to follow up earlier advice, and every report is posted on gov.ie with the school’s response.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 2 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Ballintogher N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Kilross 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 Ballintogher
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Ballintogher have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: 2 voluntary secondary schools 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coola Post Primary SchoolETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 514 | 5.1 km |
| St Marys CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 264 | 9.5 km |
| Mercy CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 718 | 10 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Ballintogher beside the 297 other Irish towns of 200 to 500 people
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km, listed by population: Ireland publishes no results, so none is ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Dunkineely | 352 | 3 | 112 | 0 | 100% | 5.5 km |
| Newbliss | 352 | 1 | 101 | 0 | 0% | 6.3 km |
| Collinstown | 351 | 1 | 166 | 0 | 0% | 6.8 km |
| Newcastle | 351 | 1 | 111 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Ballintogher | 351 | 2 | 129 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Shanbally | 350 | 13 | 4,633 | 2 | 8% | 2.6 km |
| Kill | 349 | 1 | 105 | 0 | 0% | 6.7 km |
| Legan | 346 | 1 | 69 | 0 | 100% | 11 km |
| Ballyporeen | 346 | 1 | 135 | 0 | 100% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Lahardane | 200 | 1 | 76 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
Among the 297 other towns, 170 have more pupils at their schools than Ballintogher does. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 23 of the 298.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Ballintogher
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballintogher | 2 | 129 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Collooney 8.5 km | 3 | 580 | 0 | 33% | 3.4 km |
| Ballysadare 9.6 km | 4 | 806 | 0 | 25% | 0.2 km |
| Sligo 11 km | 17 | 6,012 | 1 | 35% | 0.6 km |
| Coolaney 16 km | 1 | 174 | 0 | 0% | 7.5 km |
| Ballymote 16 km | 3 | 694 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Strandhill 17 km | 1 | 252 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
Sligo has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. Pupils around Ballintogher: +28% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Collooney led (+31%) and Coolaney trailed (−19%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballintogher 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 Ballintogher
How many schools are there in Ballintogher?
In Ballintogher or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 129 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballintogher that teach through Irish?
None in Ballintogher or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballintogher?
Not in Ballintogher or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Coola Post Primary School, 5.1 km away.
What is the best school in Ballintogher?
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 Ballintogher?
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).