St Marys College
Ballysadare, Co Sligo · F91 DX82 · Roll number 65130E
St Marys College is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Ballysadare. Every school in and around Ballysadare →
What stands out about St Marys College
- A small post-primary school: 264 pupils, against a typical 585.
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 264 pupils, 103% more than the 130 of 2019/20.
- 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.
- The only post-primary school in Ballysadare or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26St Marys College had 264 pupils in 2025/26, against 205 in 2015/16 (+29%). Girls are 41% 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 St Marys College
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 Marys College 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 Marys College
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 Marys College
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to St Marys College 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: St Marys College has grown by 103% since 2019/20. All the schools around Ballysadare together changed by +21%.
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, 5 have more pupils than St Marys College. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +103%; 0 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Marys College | 264 | +103% | Catholic | English | ||
| Summerhill College | 1,155 | +14% | Catholic | English | 6.4 km | |
| Mercy College | 718 | +44% | Catholic | Some subjects in Irish | 6.9 km | |
| Ursuline College | 603 | −15% | Catholic | English | 7.4 km | |
| Sligo Grammar School | 475 | +6% | Church of Ireland | English | 7.6 km | |
| Ballinode College | 258 | +51% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 8.3 km |
| Coola Post Primary School | 514 | +4% | Multi-denominational | English | 11 km |
The other 6 post-primary schools in Co. Sligo
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Muire | 325 | +8% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Corran College | 154 | +108% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 13 km |
| Grange Post Primary School | 302 | +47% | Multi-denominational | English | 20 km | |
| St Attracta's Community School | 735 | +8% | Inter-denominational | English | 24 km | |
| Coláiste Iascaigh | 267 | +92% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Jesus & Mary Secondary School | 244 | −22% | Catholic | English | 38 km |
Living in Ballysadare
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the F91 Eircode area
Housing in Ballysadare →The median sale price rose from €189,000 in 2023 to €275,000 in 2025 (+46%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the F91 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Sligo
Cost of living in Ballysadare →New tenancies in Co. Sligo averaged €1,156 a month in 2025, against €1,044 in 2024 (+11%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Ballysadare, F91 DX82
Post-primary schools near St Marys College
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about St Marys College
Is St Marys College 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 Marys College have?
264 pupils in 2025/26. That is +103% since 2019/20.
Does St Marys College teach through Irish?
No: St Marys College teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs St Marys College?
St Marys College has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is CEIST.
How do pupils get a place at St Marys College?
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 Marys College?
The nearest are Summerhill College (6.4 km), Mercy College (6.9 km) and Ursuline College (7.4 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 Ballysadare; 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).