C.B.S. Thurles
Rossa St, Thurles, Co Tipperary · E41 HX75 · Roll number 65450W
C.B.S. Thurles is one of 4 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Thurles. Every school in and around Thurles →
What stands out about C.B.S. Thurles
- 571 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−1%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A boys’ school.
- 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 Edmund Rice Schools Trust; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26C.B.S. Thurles had 571 pupils in 2025/26, down from 729 in 2015/16 (−22%). Its roll rose in 3 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for C.B.S. Thurles
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 C.B.S. Thurles 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 C.B.S. Thurles
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 C.B.S. Thurles
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to C.B.S. Thurles 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.
It takes boys only.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: C.B.S. Thurles is about the size it was in 2019/20 (−1%). All the schools around Thurles together changed by +6%.
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, 3 have more pupils than C.B.S. Thurles. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −1%; 5 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.B.S. Thurles | 571 | −1% | Catholic | English | ||
| Ursuline Secondary School | 895 | +10% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 559 | −10% | Catholic | English | 0.5 km | |
| Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed | 601 | +72% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 0.8 km |
| St Josephs College | 373 | +36% | Catholic | English | 12 km | |
| Our Ladys Secondary School | 646 | +15% | Catholic | English | 13 km | |
| Scoil Ruain | 360 | +1% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 15 km |
The other 23 post-primary schools in Co. Tipperary
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashel Community School | 885 | +4% | Inter-denominational | English | 19 km | |
| Presentation Secondary School | 365 | +31% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 20 km |
| Patrician Presentation | 289 | +88% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 25 km |
| Rockwell College | 455 | −8% | Catholic | English | 25 km | |
| Colaiste Phobáil Ros Cré | 594 | +13% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 30 km |
| Cistercian College | 255 | +16% | Catholic | English | 31 km | |
| St. Ailbe's School | 704 | +101% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 32 km |
| St. Anne's Secondary School | 267 | −19% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St. Joseph's CBS Nenagh | 715 | +33% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| The Abbey School | 354 | −11% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| St Mary's Secondary School | 577 | +28% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Nenagh College | 345 | −26% | Multi-denominational | Some subjects in Irish | 33 km | |
| Colaiste Dun Iascaigh | 889 | +23% | Inter-denominational | English | 34 km | |
| Ardscoil na mBráithre | 706 | +1% | Catholic | English | 37 km | |
| Central Technical Institute, Clonmel | 366 | +43% | Multi-denominational | Irish stream | ✓ | 37 km |
| Presentation Secondary School | 448 | +1% | Catholic | English | 38 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 465 | −5% | Catholic | English | 38 km | |
| Newport College | 407 | +72% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 40 km |
| St. Mary's Secondary School | 719 | +27% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Borrisokane Community College | 723 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | 41 km | |
| Scoil Mhuire | 470 | +8% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 46 km |
| Edmund Rice Secondary School | 305 | +4% | Catholic | English | 46 km | |
| Comeragh College | 613 | +38% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 47 km |
Living in Thurles
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the E41 Eircode area
Housing in Thurles →The median sale price rose from €203,500 in 2023 to €250,000 in 2025 (+23%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the E41 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Thurles
Cost of living in Thurles →New tenancies in Thurles averaged €1,047 a month in 2025, against €978 in 2024 (+7%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Thurles, E41 HX75
Post-primary schools near C.B.S. Thurles
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about C.B.S. Thurles
Is C.B.S. Thurles 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 C.B.S. Thurles have?
571 pupils in 2025/26. That is −1% since 2019/20.
Does C.B.S. Thurles teach through Irish?
No: C.B.S. Thurles teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs C.B.S. Thurles?
C.B.S. Thurles has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Edmund Rice Schools Trust.
How do pupils get a place at C.B.S. Thurles?
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 C.B.S. Thurles?
The nearest are Ursuline Secondary School (0.4 km), Presentation Secondary School (0.5 km) and Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed (0.8 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 Thurles; 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).