Our Lady's Bower
Retreat Rd., Athlone, Co Westmeath · N37 TR58 · Roll number 63210P
Our Lady's Bower is one of 4 post-primary schools in or within 3 km of Athlone. Every school in and around Athlone →
What stands out about Our Lady's Bower
- 630 pupils, near the middle for post-primary schools in Ireland (the median is 585).
- About as many pupils as in 2019/20 (−11%).
- Teaches through English, with Irish as a subject.
- A girls’ 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 La Sainte Union Sisters; its ethos is Catholic.
Pupils over time
2015/16 to 2025/26Our Lady's Bower had 630 pupils in 2025/26, down from 715 in 2015/16 (−12%). Its roll rose in 1 of the 10 years.
Department of Education enrolments at 30 September each year; girls and boys where the lists give them.
No letter for Our Lady's Bower
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 Our Lady's Bower 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 Our Lady's Bower
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 Our Lady's Bower
Every school admits under its own published admission policy; no admissions numbers are published.
Families apply to Our Lady's Bower 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 girls only.
No figures on applications are published, but the roll shows demand: Our Lady's Bower has shrunk by 11% since 2019/20. All the schools around Athlone together changed by +11%.
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 Our Lady's Bower. Since 2019/20 its roll has changed by −11%; 6 of the 6 grew faster.
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Lady's Bower | 630 | −11% | Catholic | English | ||
| Athlone Community College | 1,117 | −5% | Multi-denominational | Some subjects in Irish | 0.3 km | |
| Marist College | 610 | +26% | Catholic | English | 0.4 km | |
| Coláiste Chiaráin | 1,040 | +127% | Catholic | English | 4.6 km | |
| Moate Community School | 913 | +7% | Inter-denominational | English | 13 km | |
| Gallen Community School | 441 | +17% | Inter-denominational | English | 18 km | |
| Ballymahon Vocational School | 391 | −5% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 19 km |
The other 9 post-primary schools in Co. Westmeath
| School | Pupils | Since 2019/20 | Ethos | Language | DEIS | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meán Scoil an Chlochair | 740 | +24% | Catholic | English | 30 km | |
| Wilson's Hospital School | 453 | +12% | Church of Ireland | English | 39 km | |
| St Finian's College | 891 | +9% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Colaiste Mhuire, | 873 | +11% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Loreto College | 825 | −3% | Catholic | English | 40 km | |
| Mullingar Community College | 367 | +22% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 41 km |
| St Joseph's Secondary School | 1,129 | +26% | Catholic | English | 41 km | |
| Castlepollard Community College | 318 | +15% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 49 km |
| Columba College | 278 | +14% | Multi-denominational | English | ✓ | 53 km |
Living in Athlone
The town’s figures, not this street’s.
Homes in the N37 Eircode area
Housing in Athlone →The median sale price rose from €245,000 in 2023 to €324,000 in 2025 (+32%).
New against second-hand, 2023 to 2025
Property Price Register sales in the N37 Eircode routing area, 2023 to 2025.
Renting in Athlone
Cost of living in Athlone →New tenancies in Athlone averaged €1,315 a month in 2025, against €1,221 in 2024 (+8%).
Residential Tenancies Board rent index, new tenancies, 2024 and 2025.
Location
Directions ↗Athlone, N37 TR58
Post-primary schools near Our Lady's Bower
Nearest first, as the crow flies, up to 25 km. Each school’s own admission policy decides who gets a place.
Questions about Our Lady's Bower
Is Our Lady's Bower 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 Our Lady's Bower have?
630 pupils in 2025/26. That is −11% since 2019/20.
Does Our Lady's Bower teach through Irish?
No: Our Lady's Bower teaches in English, with Irish as a subject.
Who runs Our Lady's Bower?
Our Lady's Bower has a Catholic ethos. Its patron is La Sainte Union Sisters.
How do pupils get a place at Our Lady's Bower?
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 Our Lady's Bower?
The nearest are Athlone Community College (0.3 km), Marist College (0.4 km) and Coláiste Chiaráin (4.6 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 Athlone; 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).