Photo: Zxcode · CC BY-SA 3.0Most post-primaries around Riverstown take girls and boys: 0% are single-sex, below Irish towns
On this, Riverstown is below Irish towns (39%). Coola Post Primary School, with 514 pupils, is the only secondary school within 3 km. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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.
The 4 schools in and around Riverstown
Each school in or within 3 km of Riverstown links to a page of its own. There are no letters or results on these cards, because Ireland publishes none school by school.
Where the 4 schools in and around Riverstown 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 Riverstown’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 Riverstown
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 4 schools in and around Riverstown teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Riverstown’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Riverstown | Co. Sligo | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 24% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 2% | 6% |
| Girls | 46% | 48% | 49% |
Fewer of the pupils around Riverstown are at DEIS schools than across Ireland: 0% against 27% (Co. Sligo: 24%). Where this area differs most from Ireland is pupils at all-Irish schools, at 0% against 6%.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardkeerin N.S.Primary | 111 | 50% | ||
| Taunagh National SchoolPrimary | 30 | 50% | ||
| Coola Post Primary SchoolPost-primary · ETB | 514 | 46% | ||
| Sooey N.S.Primary | 112 | 44% |
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.
Who runs Riverstown’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
2 of Riverstown’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Elphin (2), Bishop of Kilmore Elphin & Ardagh COI (1) and Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB (1). None of the 4 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.
The 3 patrons of Riverstown’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
The schools around Riverstown answer to 3 patrons, and Bishop of Elphin leads with 2 of the 4 schools and 29% of their pupils. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of ElphinSooey, Ardkeerin | Catholic | 2 | 223 |
| Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETBCoola Post Primary School | Multi-denominational | 1 | 514 |
| Bishop of Kilmore Elphin & Ardagh COITaunagh | Church of Ireland | 1 | 30 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Riverstown
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
Since 2019/20, 1 of these 4 schools have grown by 5% or more and 2 have shrunk as much; across Ireland the number of pupils changed by +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.
Inspection reports for Riverstown’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, 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 4 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Ardkeerin N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Taunagh National SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Coola Post Primary SchoolPost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Sooey 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 Riverstown
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Families in Riverstown have 3 post-primary schools within 10 km: 2 ETB schools and one voluntary secondary 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 | 2.5 km |
| Coláiste MuireVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 325 | 9 km |
| Corran CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 154 | 9.2 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Riverstown beside the 169 other Irish towns of 300 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 |
| … | ||||||
| Corrandulla | 398 | 1 | 281 | 0 | 0% | 8.1 km |
| Creeslough | 398 | 3 | 225 | 1 | 100% | 12 km |
| Ballinalee | 395 | 1 | 145 | 0 | 0% | 9.8 km |
| Coolgreany | 395 | 2 | 191 | 0 | 50% | 5.5 km |
| Riverstown | 394 | 4 | 767 | 0 | 0% | 2.5 km |
| Geashill | 392 | 1 | 126 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Carrig on Bannow | 391 | 1 | 144 | 0 | 100% | 12 km |
| Shillelagh | 390 | 2 | 96 | 0 | 0% | 5.5 km |
| Lissycasey | 390 | 3 | 199 | 0 | 0% | 9.2 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
Among the 169 other towns, 13 have more pupils at their schools than Riverstown does. 16 of the 170 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Riverstown
Every school in or within 3 km of the town each September, counted where it stands today.
The schools in and around Riverstown had 730 pupils in 2015/16 and 767 in 2025/26.
Pupils at schools in and around Riverstown
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 Riverstown
Schools in or within 3 km of each neighbouring town; distances in a straight line.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverstown | 4 | 767 | 0 | 0% | 2.5 km |
| Collooney 8.3 km | 3 | 580 | 0 | 33% | 3.4 km |
| Ballymote 9.6 km | 3 | 694 | 0 | 67% | 0.5 km |
| Ballysadare 12 km | 4 | 806 | 0 | 25% | 0.2 km |
| Coolaney 14 km | 1 | 174 | 0 | 0% | 7.5 km |
| Sligo 16 km | 17 | 6,012 | 1 | 35% | 0.6 km |
Sligo has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 1. The roll around Riverstown moved −2% since 2019/20; nearby, Collooney grew most (+31%) and Coolaney least (−19%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Riverstown 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 Riverstown
How many schools are there in Riverstown?
In Riverstown or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 1 secondary school, with 767 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Riverstown that teach through Irish?
None in Riverstown or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Riverstown?
No: the secondary school here is free.
What is the best school in Riverstown?
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 Riverstown?
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).