School planning area

Cootehill

12 primary schools and 1,263 pupils in 2025/26, in Counties Cavan and Monaghan.

Pupils in 2025/26
1,263
−36 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
+6.2%
1,189 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
12
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
20.64
Average school size: 105.2

By county

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

Change over
Cavan 7 717
+9.6%
+66.4%
Monaghan 5 546
+2.1%
+21.6%

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 Cavan and Monaghan, schools with no planning area had 0.0% of pupils in 2015/16, 2.6% in 2005/06 and 24.2% in 1975/76. Known data issues

Pupils

1,263

−36 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

12

7 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

105.2

64.6 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

20.64

+0.08 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. 151 in 2025/26, +7 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

2fell by 10% or more
7within 10%
3grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 2Down 10 to 25% · 0Within 10% · 7Up 10 to 25% · 1Up 25% or more · 2

Average class size in these schools went from 22.7 in 2015/16 to 20.6 in 2025/26. 2 of the 2 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
20.64
Mainstream classes
59
Classes of 30 or more
5
Schools with a class of 30+
5

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
59
Up 19 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 42%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 90
Estimate: 59 class teachers, 4 principals and deputies, 19 special education and 8 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
68
The Department's last count of every teacher
Since 2024/25
0 / 2
0 schools gained a class teacher, 2 lost one

Class teachers since 2006/07

One for each mainstream class, every school year

Special schools and special classes

1 special school in the Cootehill planning area, and the special classes in its 12 mainstream schools. Special schools aren't counted in the pupils, class sizes or teachers above.

All special schools
Pupils in special schools
182
In 1 school, up from 156 in 2015/16
Special classes in 2025/26
8
In 3 of 12 schools. 6 in 2020/21
Allocated for 2026/27
9
In 4 schools: 1 new class, 1 school with its first
Autism classes
6
75% of special classes

Special classes since 2020/21

In the Cootehill planning area's mainstream schools, from the NCSE's yearly lists

  • 2020/21 6
  • 2021/22 6
  • 2022/23 6
  • 2023/24 7
  • 2024/25 8
  • 2025/26 8
  • 2026/27 9

2026/27, dashed: allocated for next year.

Special schools in the Cootehill planning area
Special school Pupils Since 2015/16 Teaching posts SNAs
Holy Family S SCootehill · Moderate general learning disability 182
+16.7%
30 67

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

What parents would prefer

352 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Cootehill planning area: 247 with children at its schools and 105 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
352
42% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
30% / 35%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
17% / 29%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
1% / 2%
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

130 pupils (10%) in 1 school

  • Pupils in such schools now: 10%
  • Parents: children at school: 30%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 35%

Teaching through Irish

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 17%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 29%

Single-sex

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 1%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 2%

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
Naomh Oliver PlunkettLoughmourne 255 57 of 145 ±10.6 23%7%0% –
St Michaels National SchoolCootehill 232 49 of 181 ±11.4 31%14%0% 30 answered
LattonCastleblayney 161 42 of 103 ±12.3 24%14%0% –
S N Doire na CeiseCootehill 143 47 of 92 ±11.7 19%17%2% –
Darley N SCootehill 130 21 of 91 ±16.9 52%5%0% –
Kill N SCootehill 126 33 of 70 ±13.8 30%15%0% –
Scoil MhuireRockcorry 76 10 of 29 ±23.1 10%50%10% –
S N PadraigCootehill 51 7 of 23 ±26.4 29%29%0% –
Rockcorry N SRockcorry 34 11 of 25 ±22.2 45%9%0% –
St Mary's N.S.Ballyhaise 31 Too few to publish – ––– –
Drumcorrin N SDrum 20 5 of 13 ±29.6 20%20%0% –
Drung No 2 NSDrung 4 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
Naomh Oliver PlunkettLoughmourne 19469K Monaghan 255
+15.4%
+72.3%
9 25.22 34 1
St Michaels National SchoolCootehill 20277I Cavan 232
+6.9%
– 13 17.85 24 0
LattonCastleblayney 19434O Monaghan 161
−7.5%
+3.2%
6 26.83 30 1
S N Doire na CeiseCootehill 17601U Cavan 143
+8.3%
−2.7%
6 22.83 30 1
Darley N SCootehill 12312L Cavan 130
+35.4%
+136.4%
5 23.80 31 1
Kill N SCootehill 19285A Cavan 126
+65.8%
+75.0%
5 25.20 30 1
Scoil MhuireRockcorry 10429W Monaghan 76
−8.4%
−11.6%
4 19.00 23 0
S N PadraigCootehill 18340A Cavan 51
−7.3%
−13.6%
3 17.00 20 0
Rockcorry N SRockcorry 06028F Monaghan 34
−2.9%
+6.2%
2 17.00 22 0
St Mary's N.S.Ballyhaise 16520P Cavan 31
−34.0%
−53.0%
2 15.50 16 0
Drumcorrin N SDrum 19703P Monaghan 20
−9.1%
−25.9%
2 10.00 11 0
Drung No 2 NSDrung 19921C Cavan 4
−87.1%
−87.5%
2 2.00 2 0