Photo: Alex Passmore · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Bunclody than around Co. Wexford’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
On this, Bunclody is below both Co. Wexford’s towns (55%) and Irish towns (39%). 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools are in or within 3 km of Bunclody. 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 Bunclody’s schools
More pupils every year
Pupil numbers at the schools here have grown faster than across Ireland (+5% since 2019/20), so classes and new places are a question worth asking. Pupils over time ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Pupil numbers around Bunclody
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 Bunclody had 1,544 pupils in 2015/16 and 1,912 in 2025/26. Bunclody Community College grew most: +42% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Bunclody
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.
Where the 5 schools in and around Bunclody 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 Bunclody’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 Bunclody
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
None of the 5 schools in and around Bunclody teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Bunclody’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.
DEIS by stage: pupils at DEIS schools
| Share of pupils | Around Bunclody | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 31% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 2% | 6% |
| Girls | 48% | 49% | 49% |
| Post-primary pupils at single-sex schools | 0% | 45% | 29% |
| Post-primary pupils at fee-paying schools | 0% | 0% | 6% |
DEIS schools teach 31% of the pupils around Bunclody, a larger share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Wexford: 37%). Set beside Ireland, post-primary pupils at single-sex schools stand out most: 0% against 29%. The largest DEIS school here is Bunclody Community College, with 310 pupils.
Each of the 5 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F.C.J. Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,075 | 50% | ||
| Bunclody Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | 310 | 44% | ✓ | |
| Scoil Náisiúnta Bhantiarna LourdesPrimary | 287 | 48% | ✓ | |
| Carrigduff Nat SchoolPrimary | 85 | 52% | ||
| Kilmyshall N.S.Primary | 155 | 44% |
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.
Who runs Bunclody’s schools
Who runs each school, as listed for 2025/26; the bars give the share of schools of each kind.
3 of Bunclody’s 5 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Ferns (2), Le Chéile Schools Trust (1) and Waterford & Wexford ETB (1). 2 of the 5 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 patrons of Bunclody’s schools
Patrons own the schools and set their ethos; boards of management run them day to day.
Bishop of Ferns is patron of 2 of the 5 schools around Bunclody, which teach 23% of their pupils; 4 patrons run them in all. The local Education and Training Board runs one.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of FernsScoil Náisiúnta Bhantiarna Lourdes, Kilmyshall | Catholic | 2 | 442 |
| Le Chéile Schools TrustF.C.J. | Catholic | 1 | 1,075 |
| Waterford & Wexford ETBBunclody | Multi-denominational | 1 | 310 |
| Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory COICarrigduff Nat School | Church of Ireland | 1 | 85 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Bunclody
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
4 schools here have grown by 5% or more since 2019/20, 0 have shrunk by as much, out of 5; across Ireland: +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 5 schools in and around Bunclody
Each school in or within 3 km of Bunclody links to a page of its own. There are no letters or results on these cards, because Ireland publishes none school by school.
Inspection reports for Bunclody’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
The Inspectorate inspects schools in several ways: a whole-school evaluation covers teaching, learning and how the school is led; a subject inspection looks at one subject; a follow-through checks on earlier advice. Reports go on gov.ie with the school’s reply.
Reports say what inspectors found and what should improve, without an overall grade, so none appears here; each of the 5 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| F.C.J. Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Bunclody Community CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Náisiúnta Bhantiarna LourdesPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Carrigduff Nat SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Kilmyshall N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Bunclody
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Within 10 km of Bunclody there are 2 post-primary schools: one ETB school and one voluntary secondary school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunclody Community CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 310 | 0.5 km |
| F.C.J. Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Catholic | Girls and boys | – | 1,075 | 1 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Bunclody
No special school is in or near Bunclody. 1 of the 3 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.
Bunclody beside the 97 other Irish towns of 1,400 to 2,800 people
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km, listed by population: Ireland publishes no results, so none is ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blarney | 2,779 | 5 | 2,101 | 1 | 20% | 0.6 km |
| … | ||||||
| Newport | 2,183 | 4 | 1,527 | 0 | 25% | 0.4 km |
| Killorglin | 2,163 | 4 | 1,406 | 0 | 50% | 0.4 km |
| Dunleer | 2,143 | 5 | 1,205 | 0 | 20% | 0.8 km |
| Mountrath | 2,070 | 7 | 1,306 | 1 | 29% | 0.8 km |
| Bunclody | 2,053 | 5 | 1,912 | 0 | 40% | 0.5 km |
| Templemore | 2,005 | 5 | 973 | 0 | 60% | 0.3 km |
| Enniskerry | 2,000 | 10 | 2,487 | 0 | 20% | 2.9 km |
| Termonfeckin | 1,983 | 2 | 508 | 0 | 0% | 5.4 km |
| Strandhill | 1,982 | 1 | 252 | 0 | 0% | 7.1 km |
| … | ||||||
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 2 | 375 | 0 | 0% | 10 km |
Of these 97 other towns, 10 count more pupils at their schools than Bunclody. Teaching through Irish is on offer within 3 km in 20 of the 98.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Bunclody
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunclody | 5 | 1,912 | 0 | 40% | 0.5 km |
| Ferns 13 km | 2 | 324 | 0 | 50% | 10 km |
| Carnew 13 km | 4 | 1,150 | 0 | 50% | 0.3 km |
| Enniscorthy 17 km | 9 | 3,951 | 2 | 44% | 0.9 km |
| Tullow 18 km | 4 | 1,339 | 0 | 75% | 0.5 km |
Enniscorthy has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. Pupils around Bunclody: +16% since 2019/20. Among the neighbours, Tullow led (+6%) and Carnew trailed (−5%).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Bunclody 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 Bunclody
How many schools are there in Bunclody?
In Bunclody or within 3 km of it: 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, with 1,912 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Bunclody that teach through Irish?
None in Bunclody or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Bunclody?
No: all 2 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Bunclody?
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 Bunclody?
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).