Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0Pupil numbers around Shillelagh have fallen behind Co. Wicklow’s towns and Irish towns: −17% since 2019/20
Measured that way, Shillelagh is below both Co. Wicklow’s towns (+12%) and Irish towns (+4%). Its schools have 96 pupils, 17% fewer than in 2019/20. These schools are described rather than graded, because Ireland publishes no school results and the Education Act 1998 restricts comparing them.
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 Shillelagh’s schools
Fewer pupils than before
Pupil numbers at the schools here have fallen since 2019/20, against +5% across Ireland. Pupils over time ↓
From the Department of Education’s school lists: facts, not judgements of how well a school teaches.
Where the 2 schools in and around Shillelagh 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 Shillelagh’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.
Pupil numbers around Shillelagh
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 Shillelagh had 136 pupils in 2015/16 and 96 in 2025/26, fewer than before.
Pupils at schools in and around Shillelagh
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.
The 2 schools in and around Shillelagh
Here are the schools in Shillelagh or within 3 km of it, every one with its own page. No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Teaching through Irish in and around Shillelagh
Schools by the language they teach in; the black tick is Ireland’s share.
None of the 2 schools in and around Shillelagh teaches every subject through Irish.
Who Shillelagh’s schools serve
The pupils at the area’s schools by share, beside Co. Wicklow’s and Ireland’s, 2025/26
Each bar is the area’s share; the tick marks Ireland’s.
| Share of pupils | Around Shillelagh | Co. Wicklow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at DEIS schools | 0% | 23% | 27% |
| Pupils at all-Irish schools | 0% | 6% | 6% |
| Girls | 53% | 49% | 49% |
DEIS schools teach 0% of the pupils around Shillelagh, a smaller share than Ireland’s 27% (Co. Wicklow: 23%). Furthest from Ireland’s mix is the share of pupils at all-Irish schools: 0% here against 6%.
Each of the 2 schools
| School | Pupils | Girls | DEIS | All-Irish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shillelagh No 1 N.S.Primary | 23 | 52% | ||
| Scoil Mhuire na nAirdPrimary | 73 | 53% |
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 Shillelagh’s schools
Ethos as listed for 2025/26: each bar splits the schools by who runs them.
1 of Shillelagh’s 2 schools have a Catholic ethos, against 80% across Ireland. The patrons with most schools here: Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory COI (1) and Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin (1). None of the 2 is 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.
How children get a place in Shillelagh
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
Between 2019/20 and now, 0 of the 2 grew by 5% or more and 2 shrank as much, while Ireland’s pupil numbers moved +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 Shillelagh’s schools
Reports from the Department of Education’s Inspectorate, every school’s linked and 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 2 schools below links its own.
| School | Reports on gov.ie |
|---|---|
| Shillelagh No 1 N.S.Primary | Inspection reports ↗ |
| Scoil Mhuire na nAirdPrimary | Inspection reports ↗ |
Department of Education Inspectorate reports on gov.ie, found by each school’s roll number.
Post-primary schools within reach of Shillelagh
Post-primary schools within 10 km of the town; children move at about twelve, and families apply to each school
The only post-primary school within 10 km of Shillelagh is Coláiste Bhríde Carnew, an ETB school. It takes girls and boys. None within 10 km teaches every subject through Irish.
| School | Takes | Also | Pupils | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coláiste Bhríde CarnewETB · Multi-denominational | Girls and boys | – | 836 | 5.5 km |
Department of Education post-primary list 2025/26; straight-line distances from the town’s centre point.
Shillelagh beside the 169 other Irish towns of 300 to 500 people
Towns of a similar size, with the schools in or within 3 km of each; ordered by population, never ranked
| Town | People | Schools | Pupils | All-Irish | DEIS schools | Nearest post-primary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 500 | 2 | 134 | 0 | 0% | 8.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Coolgreany | 395 | 2 | 191 | 0 | 50% | 5.5 km |
| Riverstown | 394 | 4 | 767 | 0 | 0% | 2.5 km |
| Geashill | 392 | 1 | 126 | 0 | 0% | 11 km |
| Carrig on Bannow | 391 | 1 | 144 | 0 | 100% | 12 km |
| Shillelagh | 390 | 2 | 96 | 0 | 0% | 5.5 km |
| Lissycasey | 390 | 3 | 199 | 0 | 0% | 9.2 km |
| Carrigans | 389 | 3 | 245 | 0 | 100% | 13 km |
| Carrowkeel | 389 | 2 | 101 | 0 | 100% | 5.6 km |
| Knockcroghery | 388 | 2 | 257 | 0 | 0% | 9.7 km |
| … | ||||||
| Gneevgullia | 300 | 1 | 131 | 0 | 0% | 4.8 km |
More pupils attend the schools around 141 of the other 169 towns than around Shillelagh. Within 3 km, 16 of these 170 towns have a school teaching through Irish.
Department of Education school lists 2025/26 (preliminary); CSO Census 2022 populations.
Schools in the towns around Shillelagh
Each town’s schools in or within 3 km of its outline; distances as the crow flies.
Of Shillelagh’s neighbours, Bunclody saw the most growth in pupils since 2019/20 (+16%) and Carnew the least (−5%); Shillelagh itself: −17%.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Which schools count. Every school in Shillelagh 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 Shillelagh
How many schools are there in Shillelagh?
In Shillelagh or within 3 km of it: 2 primary schools, with 96 pupils between them.
Are there schools in Shillelagh that teach through Irish?
None in Shillelagh or within 3 km of it teaches every subject through Irish; some teach it as a subject only.
Is there a secondary school in Shillelagh?
Not in Shillelagh or within 3 km of it; the nearest is Coláiste Bhríde Carnew, 5.5 km away.
What is the best school in Shillelagh?
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 Shillelagh?
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).