School planning area

Bruff–Hospital

12 primary schools and 1,286 pupils in 2025/26, in Counties Limerick and Tipperary.

Pupils in 2025/26
1,286
−6 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
−11.7%
1,456 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
12
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
21.77
Average school size: 107.2

By county

This planning area crosses county lines. Select a county to see its part of the area.

Change over
Limerick 11 1,164
−13.5%
+7.6%
Tipperary 1 122
+9.9%
–

Each year counts the schools in this planning area today, plus any that closed from 2023/24. Dotted lines bridge 1983/84 to 1992/93. 1974/75 is left out because that year's source file is missing five counties.

Earlier years are incomplete

The Department's files only record planning areas from 2023/24, so schools that closed or amalgamated before then aren't counted in any area. The further back you go, the more pupils are missing, and an amalgamation can look like a sudden rise. Across Counties Limerick and Tipperary, schools with no planning area had 3.1% of pupils in 2015/16, 8.2% in 2005/06 and 34.5% in 1975/76. Known data issues

Pupils

1,286

−6 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

12

9 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

107.2

81.7 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

21.77

−0.28 on 2024/25

2006/072025/26

Pupils in these schools

Junior infants, girls and boys, and Irish-medium schools over time, for the same schools as the trends above.

Junior infants

Pupils starting school each year. Class-by-class figures start in 2020/21. 140 in 2025/26, −4 on 2024/25.

Girls and boys

From 1976/77: earlier files don't split every school's pupils into girls and boys.

Irish-medium schools

No school in this area teaches all subjects through Irish.

Growing and falling since 2015/16

Each school's change in pupils over 10 years, from 2015/16 to 2025/26. A change of 10% or more either way counts as growing or falling.

Every school's change

12 schools with figures for both years

7fell by 10% or more
3within 10%
2grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 4Down 10 to 25% · 3Within 10% · 3Up 10 to 25% · 0Up 25% or more · 2

Average class size in these schools went from 25.0 in 2015/16 to 21.8 in 2025/26. 3 of the 7 schools that fell by 10% or more kept or added classes. A fall in pupils can mean smaller classes rather than fewer children wanting places. Smaller classes

Sort the table below by the change column to see which schools grew or fell most.

Class sizes

Mainstream class groups only. The source does not identify which standard/year group each class group belongs to.

Average class size
21.77
Mainstream classes
56
Classes of 30 or more
5
Schools with a class of 30+
3

Teachers

Teachers in the 12 mainstream primary schools here, 2006/07 to 2025/26. Class teachers are counted every year; all teaching posts where they're known.

How we count teachers
Class teachers in 2025/26
56
Up 10 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 18%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 99
Estimate: 56 class teachers, 4 principals and deputies, 27 special education and 12 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
85
The Department's last count of every teacher
Since 2024/25
1 / 1
1 school gained a class teacher, 1 lost one

Class teachers since 2006/07

One for each mainstream class, every school year

Special schools and special classes

0 special schools in the Bruff–Hospital planning area, and the special classes in the 12 mainstream schools. Special schools aren't counted in the pupils, class sizes or teachers above.

All special schools
Pupils in special schools
0
No special school here
Special classes in 2025/26
12
In 7 of 12 schools. 5 in 2020/21
Allocated for 2026/27
13
In 8 schools: 1 new class, 1 school with its first
Autism classes
12
100% of special classes

Special classes since 2020/21

In the Bruff–Hospital planning area's mainstream schools, from the NCSE's yearly lists

  • 2020/21 5
  • 2021/22 6
  • 2022/23 6
  • 2023/24 8
  • 2024/25 10
  • 2025/26 12
  • 2026/27 13

2026/27, dashed: allocated for next year.

Sources: Department of Education enrolment lists; NCSE special class lists and special school allocations (CC BY 4.0).

What parents would prefer

502 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Bruff–Hospital planning area: 324 with children at its schools and 178 with children not yet at school. Each said whether they would prefer co-educational or single-sex schooling, a denominational or multi-denominational patron, and teaching through Irish or English.

Compare with other areas
Households that answered
502
49% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
30% / 37%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
18% / 25%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
1% / 1%
Children at school / not yet at school

Preferences beside what the schools offer now

Share of pupils in schools of each kind in the area, and share of parents who would prefer it

  • Pupils in such schools now
  • Parents: children at school
  • Parents: children not yet at school

Multi-denominational patron

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 30%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 37%

Teaching through Irish

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 18%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 25%

Single-sex

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 1%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 1%

Bars run from 0 to 50%.

Each school's parents

Parents of children at each school. Bold marks the school's set-up now.

Share of parents at each school who would prefer each
Scoil Dean CussenBruff 219 56 of 125 ±10.7 39%18%4% –
Scoil Nais Cnoc AineHospital 200 60 of 133 ±10.4 37%17%2% –
Hospital NSHospital 156 22 of 69 ±16.5 14%9%0% –
S N GallbhaileGalbally 135 47 of 86 ±11.7 26%17%0% –
Ballylanders N SKIlmallock 128 38 of 83 ±12.9 29%24%0% –
St Ailbe's National SchoolTipperary 122 20 of 50 ±17.3 60%15%10% –
Scoil AilbheKilmallock 104 30 of 72 ±14.4 40%20%0% –
Scoil Baile an AirdHerbertstown 83 21 of 65 ±16.9 29%19%0% –
Scoil Cnoc Loinge BKnocklong 72 25 of 41 ±15.6 28%24%0% –
Kilteely N SKilteely 32 5 of 18 ±29.6 20%40%0% –
Garrydoolis N SPallasgreen 29 10 of 16 ±23.1 20%10%0% –
S N Loch GuirBruff 6 Too few to publish – ––– –

Grey margins of error are 15 points or more: so few parents answered that the figures could be well off. “Too few to publish”: the Department held back the school's results, but its parents' answers still count in the area figures. Not yet at school: how many parents of children not yet at school chose the school, shown where 30 or more did. Special schools in the area are counted in the area figures above.

Source: Department of Education and Youth, Primary School Survey results, published 23 June 2026. The area figures count each household once, including parents at schools too small for their own results, so they aren't the school figures added up. About these figures

Schools

12 schools, largest first. A dash in the change column means the school had no pupils recorded in that year, usually because it opened later or took a new roll number after an amalgamation.

Change over

Select a column heading to sort

Roll number
Scoil Dean CussenBruff 20133H Limerick 219
−28.4%
−23.7%
9 23.11 29 0
Scoil Nais Cnoc AineHospital 17212J Limerick 200
+53.8%
+115.1%
7 26.86 32 2
Hospital NSHospital 19952N Limerick 156
−20.4%
+4.0%
6 25.33 31 2
S N GallbhaileGalbally 13459A Limerick 135
+5.5%
+48.4%
6 21.50 25 0
Ballylanders N SKIlmallock 14305B Limerick 128
+2.4%
+100.0%
6 21.33 26 0
St Ailbe's National SchoolTipperary 20467N Tipperary 122
+9.9%
– 5 20.80 29 0
Scoil AilbheKilmallock 18030I Limerick 104
−22.4%
+16.9%
4 23.00 30 1
Scoil Baile an AirdHerbertstown 17364J Limerick 83
−27.8%
+33.9%
4 20.75 23 0
Scoil Cnoc Loinge BKnocklong 18142T Limerick 72
−36.8%
−42.4%
3 24.00 27 0
Kilteely N SKilteely 14005M Limerick 32
+45.5%
−38.5%
2 14.00 18 0
Garrydoolis N SPallasgreen 10991B Limerick 29
−23.7%
−3.3%
2 14.50 15 0
S N Loch GuirBruff 07117J Limerick 6
−83.8%
−84.6%
2 3.00 5 0