Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Around Ballinroad, 14% of schools teach every subject through Irish, more than around Co. Waterford’s towns or Irish towns
In the comparison, Ballinroad comes above both Co. Waterford’s towns (6%) and Irish towns (8%). 4 primary schools and 3 secondary schools are in or within 3 km of Ballinroad, with 2,813 pupils between them. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
Every school in the town or within 3 km of its outline, from the Department of Education’s lists for 2025/26; Ireland’s figures are every school in the lists.
What stands out about Ballinroad’s schools
One school growing fast
Of the schools here, St Augustines College has grown fastest, from 753 in 2019/20 to 1,069. Getting a place ↓
Few schools in DEIS
Just 1 of the 7 schools here get DEIS support for disadvantaged areas; 30% do across Ireland. The one in DEIS: Scoil Naomh Seosamh (151). Who goes there ↓
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 5 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: St Augustines College (1.1 km), Ardscoil na nDéise (3.4 km) and Scoil na mBraithre (3.7 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Ballinroad’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
7 of Ballinroad’s 7 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Waterford & Lismore (4), Order of St Augustine (Augustinians) (1) and CEIST (1). 1 of the 7 are 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.
Where the 7 schools in and around Ballinroad 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 Ballinroad’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 Ballinroad
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
1 of Ballinroad’s 7 schools teach every subject through Irish: Scoil Gearbhain.
Who Ballinroad’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Waterford’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 Ballinroad | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 5% | 30% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 11% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 53% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 16% | 35% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
5% of the pupils around Ballinroad are at a DEIS school, fewer than the 27% across Ireland (30% in Co. Waterford). The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 16% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Scoil Naomh Seosamh is the biggest: 151 pupils.
Each of the 7 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Augustines CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,069 | 53% | ||
| Scoil GearbhainPrimary | 310 | 45% | ✓ | |
| S.N. an Garrain BhainPrimary | 225 | 50% | ||
| S N Dun na MainistreachPrimary | 455 | 49% | ||
| Ardscoil na nDéisePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 265 | 100% | ||
| Scoil Naomh SeosamhPrimary | 151 | 0% | ✓ | |
| Scoil na mBraithrePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 338 | – |
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.
The 4 patrons of Ballinroad’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
4 patrons run the 7 schools around Ballinroad; the largest, Bishop of Waterford & Lismore, has 4 of them and 41% of the pupils.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Waterford & LismoreS N Dun na Mainistreach, Scoil Gearbhain, S.N. an Garrain Bhain, Scoil Naomh Seosamh | Catholic | 4 | 1,141 |
| Order of St Augustine (Augustinians)St Augustines College | Catholic | 1 | 1,069 |
| Edmund Rice Schools TrustScoil na mBraithre | Catholic | 1 | 338 |
| CEISTArdscoil na nDéise | Catholic | 1 | 265 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballinroad
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, 3 of these 7 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.
The 7 schools in and around Ballinroad
Here are the schools in Ballinroad or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Inspection reports for Ballinroad’s schools
The Inspectorate’s published reports for each school, linked, without ratings
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 7 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| St Augustines CollegePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil GearbhainPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. an Garrain BhainPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S N Dun na MainistreachPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ardscoil na nDéisePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh SeosamhPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil na mBraithrePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballinroad
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
Within 10 km of Ballinroad there are 5 post-primary schools: 3 voluntary secondary schools and 2 ETB schools. Only one teaches girls and boys apart. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Augustines CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,069 | 1.1 km |
| Ardscoil na nDéiseVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls | – | 265 | 3.4 km |
| Scoil na mBraithreVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 338 | 3.7 km |
| Dungarvan College-Coláiste Dhún GarbhánETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 247 | 3.9 km |
| Meánscoil San NioclásETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | Gaeltacht school, DEIS | 159 | 6.3 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballinroad
No special school is in or near Ballinroad. 2 of the 4 primary schools have special classes for children who need more support. Their cards ↑
Special schools and primary schools with special classes as the Department lists them; the National Council for Special Education places pupils in special classes.
Ballinroad beside the 128 other Irish towns of 1,000 to 1,900 people
Schools in or within 3 km of each town, by population; none is ranked, as Ireland publishes no results
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeyleix | 1,897 | 2 | 353 | 0 | 0% | 4.5 km |
| … | ||||||
| Muff | 1,418 | 1 | 196 | 0 | 0% | 14 km |
| Oldcastle | 1,409 | 2 | 852 | 0 | 50% | 0.4 km |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 2 | 375 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
| Moville | 1,390 | 5 | 1,100 | 1 | 40% | 0.8 km |
| Ballinroad | 1,389 | 7 | 2,813 | 1 | 14% | 1.1 km |
| Rathdowney | 1,368 | 2 | 627 | 0 | 50% | 1.1 km |
| Castlepollard | 1,349 | 3 | 512 | 0 | 67% | 1 km |
| Lismore | 1,347 | 3 | 1,250 | 0 | 0% | 0.5 km |
| Ballybay | 1,329 | 4 | 772 | 0 | 50% | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||||
| Carragh | 1,006 | 2 | 1,383 | 0 | 0% | 3.5 km |
Of the other 128 towns, 6 have more pupils at the schools around them than Ballinroad. 15 of the 129 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Ballinroad
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 Ballinroad had 2,441 pupils in 2015/16 and 2,813 in 2025/26. St Augustines College grew most: +42% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballinroad
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 Ballinroad
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinroad | 7 | 2,813 | 1 | 14% | 1.1 km |
| Dungarvan 3.4 km | 12 | 3,623 | 1 | 25% | 0.5 km |
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballinroad 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 Ballinroad
How many schools are there in Ballinroad?
In Ballinroad or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, with 2,813 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballinroad that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Scoil Gearbhain teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Ballinroad?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Ballinroad?
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 Ballinroad?
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).