Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer single-sex secondaries around Gorey than around Co. Wexford’s towns or Irish towns: 0%
That puts Gorey below both Co. Wexford’s towns (60%) and Irish towns (39%). Its primary schools are big ones: 389 pupils each on average, against 175 across Ireland. Ireland publishes no school results, and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them, so these schools are described here, never graded or ranked.
Counted from the Department of Education’s 2025/26 lists: every school in the town or within 3 km of it, against every school in Ireland.
What stands out about Gorey’s schools
A choice beyond the church schools
Most schools in Ireland have a church patron; here more of them are multi- or inter-denominational than in most places (14% across Ireland). They are Gorey Community School (1,546), Creagh College (1,061), Gorey Educate Together NS (369), Gorey Educate Together Secondary School (323) and Gaelscoil Mhoshiolog (152). Who runs them ↓
Few schools in DEIS
Only 1 of the 8 schools here are in DEIS, the programme of extra teachers and money for schools serving disadvantaged areas; across Ireland, 30% of schools are. The one in DEIS: Gorey Educate Together Secondary School (323). Who goes there ↓
Facts from the Department of Education’s lists; nothing here judges how well a school teaches.
Who runs Gorey’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
2 of Gorey’s 8 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Ferns (2), Educate Together (2) and Waterford & Wexford ETB & Loreto Sisters of Ireland (1). 1 of the 8 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 8 schools in and around Gorey
Every school in Gorey or within 3 km of its outline, each linked to its own page. Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Where the 8 schools in and around Gorey 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 Gorey’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 Gorey
How many schools teach through each language; the tick marks Ireland’s share.
1 of Gorey’s 8 schools teach every subject through Irish: Gaelscoil Mhoshiolog.
Who Gorey’s schools serve
How the area’s pupils divide, against 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 Gorey | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 7% | 37% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 3% | 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% |
Around Gorey, 7% of pupils attend a school in DEIS; across Ireland it is 27%, and 37% in Co. Wexford. The biggest difference from Ireland is in post-primary pupils at single-sex schools: 0% here, 29% there. Of the DEIS schools here, Gorey Educate Together Secondary School is the biggest: 323 pupils.
Each of the 8 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorey Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | 1,546 | 51% | ||
| Creagh CollegePost-primary · ETB | 1,061 | 47% | ||
| Bunscoil LoretoPrimary | 665 | 51% | ||
| Scoil Naomh IosephPrimary | 522 | 43% | ||
| Gorey Educate Together NSPrimary | 369 | 47% | ||
| Gorey Central SchoolPrimary | 237 | 38% | ||
| Gaelscoil MhoshiologPrimary | 152 | 61% | ✓ | |
| Gorey Educate Together Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | 323 | 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.
The 6 patrons of Gorey’s schools
The patron owns the school and sets its ethos; a board of management runs it day to day.
Bishop of Ferns is patron of 2 of the 8 schools around Gorey, which teach 24% of their pupils; 6 patrons run them in all. Education and Training Boards run 2 of them. Educate Together runs 2.
| Patron | Ethos | Schools | Pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop of FernsBunscoil Loreto, Scoil Naomh Ioseph | Catholic | 2 | 1,187 |
| Educate TogetherGorey Educate Together NS, Gorey Educate Together | Multi-denominational | 2 | 692 |
| Waterford & Wexford ETB & Loreto Sisters of IrelandGorey | Inter-denominational | 1 | 1,546 |
| Waterford & Wexford ETBCreagh College | Multi-denominational | 1 | 1,061 |
| Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory COIGorey Central School | Church of Ireland | 1 | 237 |
| An Foras PátrúnachtaGaelscoil Mhoshiolog | Multi-denominational | 1 | 152 |
Department of Education school lists: patron 2024/25, ethos 2025/26.
How children get a place in Gorey
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 7 schools have grown by 5% or more and 2 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 Gorey’s schools
The Department of Education’s Inspectorate: every school’s reports linked, none rated
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.
The reports describe what inspectors saw and what each school should do next. They give no overall grade, so none is shown here; the 8 schools below each link their own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Gorey Community SchoolPost-primary · Community school | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Creagh CollegePost-primary · ETB | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Bunscoil LoretoPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Naomh IosephPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gorey Educate Together NSPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gorey Central SchoolPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gaelscoil MhoshiologPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Gorey Educate Together Secondary SchoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Gorey
Every post-primary school within 10 km of the town; families choose and apply to each, at about twelve
Within 10 km of Gorey there are 3 post-primary schools: one community school, one voluntary secondary school and one ETB school. Every one of them takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorey Community SchoolCommunity school · Inter-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,546 | 0.6 km |
| Gorey Educate Together Secondary SchoolVoluntary secondary · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | DEIS | 323 | 0.7 km |
| Creagh CollegeETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 1,061 | 1.3 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Special schools and classes around Gorey
No special school is in or near Gorey. 3 of the 5 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.
Gorey beside the 88 other Irish towns of 8,100 to 15,500 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clontarf West | 15,296 | 151 | 40,521 | 9 | 51% | 0.3 km |
| … | ||||||
| Cavan | 11,741 | 14 | 4,634 | 1 | 29% | 1.2 km |
| Ballygall | 11,704 | 118 | 32,759 | 10 | 55% | 0.4 km |
| Kilnamanagh | 11,703 | 112 | 38,733 | 8 | 48% | 0.4 km |
| Phibsborough | 11,657 | 146 | 40,148 | 12 | 51% | 0.5 km |
| Gorey | 11,517 | 8 | 4,875 | 1 | 13% | 0.6 km |
| Tramore | 11,277 | 5 | 2,549 | 1 | 0% | 0.4 km |
| Drumcondra | 11,149 | 151 | 41,836 | 12 | 58% | 0.3 km |
| Ronanstown | 11,130 | 76 | 32,256 | 6 | 40% | 0.2 km |
| Athy | 11,035 | 7 | 2,975 | 1 | 57% | 0.8 km |
| … | ||||||
| Clane | 8,152 | 7 | 3,836 | 0 | 14% | 0.7 km |
Of these 88 other towns, 61 count more pupils at their schools than Gorey. 86 of the 89 towns have an all-Irish school within 3 km.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Pupil numbers around Gorey
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 Gorey had 3,975 pupils in 2015/16 and 4,875 in 2025/26. Creagh College grew most: +29% since 2019/20.
Pupils at schools in and around Gorey
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 Gorey
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
Arklow has the most schools teaching through Irish nearby: 2. Of Gorey’s neighbours, Ferns saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+5%) and Courtown the least (−16%); Gorey itself: +10%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Gorey 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 Gorey
How many schools are there in Gorey?
In Gorey or within 3 km of it: 5 primary schools and 3 secondary schools, with 4,875 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Gorey that teach through Irish?
Yes, 1: Gaelscoil Mhoshiolog teach every subject through Irish.
Are there fee-paying secondary schools near Gorey?
No: all 3 secondary schools here are free.
What is the best school in Gorey?
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 Gorey?
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).