Blackwater Community School
Ballyanchor Road, Lismore, Co Waterford · P51 N472 · Roll number 91509E
Blackwater Community School is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Lismore. Every school in and around Lismore →
What stands out about Blackwater Community School
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 943 pupils, against a typical 585.
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- Growing: 943 pupils, 22% more than the 775 of 2019/20.
- A community school: run by a board of the local Education and Training Board and the religious or other bodies that founded it.
- Its patron is Waterford & Wexford ETB & Congregation of Christian Brothers; its ethos is inter-denominational.
- The only post-primary school in Lismore or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Blackwater Community School had 943 pupils in 2025/26, against 783 in 2015/16 (+20%). Girls are 51% of them. Its largest roll was 964, in 2024/25. Its roll rose in 8 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Blackwater Community School
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 Blackwater Community School 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 Blackwater Community School
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 Blackwater Community School
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Blackwater Community School 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: Blackwater Community School has grown by 22% since 2019/20. All the schools around Lismore together changed by +13%.
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, 1 have more pupils than Blackwater Community School. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +22%; 1 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwater Community School | 943 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | ||
| Pobalscoil na Tríonóide | 1,086 | +11% | Inter-denominational | Irish stream | 21 km | |
| Dungarvan College-Coláiste Dhún Garbhán | 247 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 22 km |
| Scoil na mBraithre | 338 | −8% | Catholic | English | 22 km | |
| Ardscoil na nDéise | 265 | −18% | Catholic | English | 23 km | |
| Loreto Secondary School | 729 | +18% | Catholic | English | 23 km | |
| Coláiste Cholmáin | 716 | +39% | Catholic | English | 23 km |
The other 13 post-primary schools in Co. Waterford
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Augustines College | 1,069 | +42% | Catholic | English | 24 km | |
| Meánscoil San Nioclás | 159 | +11% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 27 km |
| St Declan's Community College | 783 | +5% | Multi-denominational | English | 36 km | |
| Ardscoil na Mara | 1,227 | +3% | Catholic | English | 53 km | |
| St Paul's Community College | 792 | +46% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 56 km |
| Presentation Secondary School | 458 | +12% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 57 km |
| Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School | 479 | −1% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 57 km |
| St Angela's Secondary School | 937 | −0% | Catholic | English | 58 km | |
| C.B.S. Mount Sion, Waterford | 494 | +54% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 58 km |
| De La Salle College | 1,023 | −5% | Catholic | English | 59 km | |
| Newtown School | 415 | +2% | Quaker | English | 59 km | |
| Waterpark College | 621 | +19% | Catholic | English | 59 km | |
| Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge | 146 | +11% | Catholic | All in Irish | 61 km |
Living in Lismore
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the P51 Eircode area
Housing in Lismore →The median sale price rose from €230,000 in 2023 to €266,200 in 2025 (+16%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the P51 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Co. Waterford
Cost of living in Lismore →New tenancies in Co. Waterford averaged €1,247 a month in 2025, against €1,133 in 2024 (+10%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Lismore, P51 N472
Post-primary schools near Blackwater Community School
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Blackwater Community School
Is Blackwater Community School 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 Blackwater Community School have?
943 pupils in 2025/26. That is +22% since 2019/20.
Does Blackwater Community School teach through Irish?
No: Blackwater Community School teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Blackwater Community School?
Blackwater Community School has a inter-denominational ethos. Its patron is Waterford & Wexford ETB & Congregation of Christian Brothers.
How do pupils get a place at Blackwater Community School?
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 Blackwater Community School?
The nearest are Pobalscoil na Tríonóide (21 km), Dungarvan College-Coláiste Dhún Garbhán (22 km) and Scoil na mBraithre (22 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 Lismore; 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).