Coláiste Muire
Ballymote, Co Sligo · F56 NA09 · Roll number 65140H
Coláiste Muire is one of 2 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ballymote. Every school in and around Ballymote →
What stands out about Coláiste Muire
- A small post-primary school: 325 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+8%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A voluntary secondary school: owned by its trustees, most often a religious order or its successor trust, and paid for by the State.
- Its patron is CEIST; its ethos is Catholic.
- Outside Ballymote’s outline, 0.2 km away; listed with Ballymote, the nearest town in its county.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Coláiste Muire had 325 pupils in 2025/26, against 256 in 2015/16 (+27%). Girls are 47% of them. Its largest roll was 337, in 2022/23. 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 Coláiste Muire
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 Coláiste Muire 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 Coláiste Muire
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 Coláiste Muire
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Coláiste Muire 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: Coláiste Muire has grown by 8% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ballymote together changed by +15%.
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 Coláiste Muire. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +8%; 5 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Muire | 325 | +8% | Catholic | English | ||
| Corran College | 154 | +108% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 0.3 km |
| Coola Post Primary School | 514 | +4% | Multi-denominational | English | 11 km | |
| St Marys College | 264 | +103% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| St Attracta's Community School | 735 | +8% | Inter-denominational | English | 17 km | |
| Summerhill College | 1,155 | +14% | Catholic | English | 19 km | |
| Mercy College | 718 | +44% | Catholic | Some subjects in Irish | 20 km |
The other 6 post-primary schools in Co. Sligo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sligo Grammar School | 475 | +6% | Church of Ireland | English | 20 km | |
| Ursuline College | 603 | −15% | Catholic | English | 20 km | |
| Ballinode College | 258 | +51% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 21 km |
| Grange Post Primary School | 302 | +47% | Multi-denominational | English | 33 km | |
| Coláiste Iascaigh | 267 | +92% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 36 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 244 | −22% | Catholic | English | 40 km |
Living in Ballymote
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F56 Eircode area
Housing in Ballymote →The median sale price rose from €166,000 in 2023 to €190,500 in 2025 (+15%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F56 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Ballymote
Cost of living in Ballymote →New tenancies in Ballymote averaged €1,000 a month in 2025, against €942 in 2024 (+6%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗near Ballymote, F56 NA09
Post-primary schools near Coláiste Muire
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Coláiste Muire
Is Coláiste Muire 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 Coláiste Muire have?
325 pupils in 2025/26. That is +8% since 2019/20.
Does Coláiste Muire teach through Irish?
No: Coláiste Muire teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Coláiste Muire?
Coláiste Muire has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at Coláiste Muire?
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 Coláiste Muire?
The nearest are Corran College (0.3 km), Coola Post Primary School (11 km) and St Marys College (13 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 Ballymote; 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).