Ardscoil na Mara
Summerhill, Tramore · X91 Y981 · Roll number 68141B
Ardscoil na Mara is the only one of the post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Tramore. Every school in and around Tramore →
What stands out about Ardscoil na Mara
- One of the larger post-primary schools: 1,227 pupils, against a typical 585.
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (+3%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- 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 Joint patronage between the Edmund Rice Schools Trust and the Religious Sisters of Charity; its ethos is Catholic.
- The only post-primary school in Tramore or within 3 km of it.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Ardscoil na Mara had 1,227 pupils in 2025/26, against 1,100 in 2015/16 (+12%). Girls are 48% of them. Its largest roll was 1,227, in 2023/24. 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 Ardscoil na Mara
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 Ardscoil na Mara 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 Ardscoil na Mara
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 Ardscoil na Mara
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Ardscoil na Mara 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: Ardscoil na Mara is about the size it was in 2019/20 (+3%). All the schools around Tramore together changed by −2%.
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.
Ardscoil na Mara has more pupils than any of the 6 nearest post-primary schools. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by +3%; 4 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardscoil na Mara | 1,227 | +3% | Catholic | English | ||
| Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge | 146 | +11% | Catholic | All in Irish | 9.5 km | |
| St Angela's Secondary School | 937 | −0% | Catholic | English | 9.9 km | |
| St Paul's Community College | 792 | +46% | Inter-denominational | English | ✓ | 10 km |
| Presentation Secondary School | 458 | +12% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 10 km |
| Newtown School | 415 | +2% | Quaker | English | 11 km | |
| C.B.S. Mount Sion, Waterford | 494 | +54% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 11 km |
The other 10 post-primary schools in Co. Waterford
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De La Salle College | 1,023 | −5% | Catholic | English | 11 km | |
| Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School | 479 | −1% | Catholic | English | ✓ | 11 km |
| Waterpark College | 621 | +19% | Catholic | English | 11 km | |
| St Declan's Community College | 783 | +5% | Multi-denominational | English | 18 km | |
| St Augustines College | 1,069 | +42% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| Meánscoil San Nioclás | 159 | +11% | Inter-denominational | All in Irish | ✓ | 31 km |
| Ardscoil na nDéise | 265 | −18% | Catholic | English | 32 km | |
| Scoil na mBraithre | 338 | −8% | Catholic | English | 33 km | |
| Dungarvan College-Coláiste Dhún Garbhán | 247 | +6% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 33 km |
| Blackwater Community School | 943 | +22% | Inter-denominational | English | 53 km |
Living in Tramore
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the X91 Eircode area
Housing in Tramore →The median sale price rose from €265,000 in 2023 to €320,000 in 2025 (+21%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the X91 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Tramore
Cost of living in Tramore →New tenancies in Tramore averaged €1,267 a month in 2025, against €1,130 in 2024 (+12%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Tramore, X91 Y981
Post-primary schools near Ardscoil na Mara
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Ardscoil na Mara
Is Ardscoil na Mara 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 Ardscoil na Mara have?
1,227 pupils in 2025/26. That is +3% since 2019/20.
Does Ardscoil na Mara teach through Irish?
No: Ardscoil na Mara teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Ardscoil na Mara?
Ardscoil na Mara has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is Joint patronage between the Edmund Rice Schools Trust and the Religious Sisters of Charity.
How do pupils get a place at Ardscoil na Mara?
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 Ardscoil na Mara?
The nearest are Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge (9.5 km), St Angela's Secondary School (9.9 km) and St Paul's Community College (10 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 Tramore; 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).