Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0No secondary school in or near Ballyhack: the nearest is 3.3 km away
Teaching through Irish: 0% of the schools around Ballyhack, below both Co. Wexford’s towns (6%) and Irish towns (8%). Every one of its 4 schools within 3 km has a Catholic ethos. With no school results published in Ireland, and the Education Act 1998 restricting comparisons of them, these schools are described, not graded or ranked.
Schools in the town or within 3 km of its outline, Department of Education lists for 2025/26; the Ireland figures cover all schools listed.
What stands out about Ballyhack’s schools
A wide choice at twelve
Within 10 km of the town there are 6 post-primary schools to choose from, of different kinds; each sets its own admission policy, and many families apply to several. The nearest: Ramsgrange Community School (3.3 km), Gaelcholáiste Phort Láirge (7.4 km) and Newtown School (9.3 km). Post-primary choices ↓
Drawn from the Department of Education’s lists; none of it judges how well a school teaches.
Where the 4 schools in and around Ballyhack 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 Ballyhack’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.
Who runs Ballyhack’s schools
Each school’s ethos, 2025/26: the bars show the share of schools of each kind.
4 of Ballyhack’s 4 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Ferns (2) and Bishop of Waterford & Lismore (2). 1 of the 4 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.
The 4 schools in and around Ballyhack
Every school in Ballyhack or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. No letters and no results: Ireland publishes none school by school.
Teaching through Irish in and around Ballyhack
The schools by teaching language, with Ireland’s share as the black tick.
None of the 4 schools in and around Ballyhack teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Ballyhack’s schools serve
Shares of the pupils at the area’s schools, beside Co. Wexford’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Ballyhack | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 16% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 2% | 6% |
| Girls | 44% | 49% | 49% |
Around Ballyhack, 16% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 37% in Co. Wexford. Set beside Ireland, pupils at all-Irish schools stand out most: 0% against 6%. The largest DEIS school here is S.N. Catriona Nfa, with 61 pupils.
Each of the 4 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Catriona NfaPrimary | 61 | 46% | ✓ | |
| Passage East N.S.Primary | 101 | 44% | ||
| Ramsgrange Central N.S.Primary | 30 | 47% | ||
| S.N. Faiche LiagPrimary | 196 | 43% |
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 2 patrons of Ballyhack’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Of the 4 schools around Ballyhack, 2 have Bishop of Waterford & Lismore as patron, teaching 77% of the pupils; 2 patrons in all.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of Waterford & LismoreS.N. Faiche Liag, Passage East | Catholic | 2 | 297 |
| Bishop of FernsS.N. Catriona Nfa, Ramsgrange Central | Catholic | 2 | 91 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Ballyhack
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, 2 of these 4 schools have grown by 5% or more and 1 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.
Inspection reports for Ballyhack’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and none rated
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 4 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| S.N. Catriona NfaPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Passage East N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Ramsgrange Central N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| S.N. Faiche LiagPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Ballyhack
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Families in Ballyhack have 6 post-primary schools within 10 km: 4 voluntary secondary schools, one community school and one ETB school. One of them is single-sex. Just one teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsgrange Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 636 | 3.3 km |
| Gaelcholáiste Phort LáirgeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | Gaelcholáiste | 146 | 7.4 km |
| Newtown SchoolVoluntary secondary · Quaker | Girls and boys | Boarding | 415 | 9.3 km |
| Abbey Community CollegeETB · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,004 | 9.3 km |
| Waterpark CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 621 | 9.4 km |
| De La Salle CollegeVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Boys | – | 1,023 | 9.4 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Ballyhack
No special school is in or near Ballyhack. 1 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.
Ballyhack beside the 128 other Irish towns of 200 to 300 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Ballynacargy | 215 | 1 | 55 | 0 | 100% | 8.6 km |
| Dunderrow | 213 | 2 | 270 | 0 | 0% | 5.1 km |
| Knocknagree | 213 | 1 | 83 | 0 | 0% | 5.5 km |
| Quigleys Point | 213 | 1 | 199 | 0 | 0% | 12 km |
| Ballyhack | 211 | 4 | 388 | 0 | 25% | 3.3 km |
| Stratford | 211 | 2 | 92 | 0 | 50% | 5.9 km |
| Quilty | 211 | 3 | 183 | 0 | 100% | 3.8 km |
| Ballynoe | 211 | 1 | 111 | 0 | 0% | 14 km |
| Glengarriff | 211 | 2 | 94 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| … | ||||||
| Lahardane | 200 | 1 | 76 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 13 of the other 128 towns than around Ballyhack. 7 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 Ballyhack
Each September’s pupils at every school in or within 3 km of the town, counted where the school stands today.
The schools in and around Ballyhack had 453 pupils in 2015/16 and 388 in 2025/26, fewer than before. Passage East N.S. grew most: +33% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Ballyhack
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 Ballyhack
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
| Town | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyhack | 4 | 388 | 0 | 25% | 3.3 km |
| Grantstown and Ballinakill 7.3 km | 31 | 11,459 | 2 | 36% | 2.1 km |
| Grange Upper 8.7 km | 29 | 11,835 | 2 | 41% | 0.8 km |
| Grange 8.9 km | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1.3 km |
| Ferrybank 9.1 km | 32 | 12,081 | 2 | 38% | 0.6 km |
| Waterford City Centre 10 km | 33 | 12,411 | 2 | 39% | 0.5 km |
| Ballytruckle 10 km | 32 | 12,776 | 3 | 41% | 1 km |
Grange has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 3. Since 2019/20 the pupils around Ballyhack changed by −3%; among its neighbours, Waterford City Centre’s grew most (+4%) and Grantstown and Ballinakill’s least (+1%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Ballyhack 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 Ballyhack
How many schools are there in Ballyhack?
In Ballyhack or within 3 km of it: 4 primary schools, with 388 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Ballyhack that teach through Irish?
None in Ballyhack or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Ballyhack?
Not in Ballyhack or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Ramsgrange Community School, 3.3 km away.
What is the best school in Ballyhack?
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 Ballyhack?
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).