School planning area

Doon–Cappamore

15 primary schools and 1,560 pupils in 2025/26, in Counties Limerick and Tipperary.

Pupils in 2025/26
1,560
−2 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
+0.3%
1,555 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
15
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
21.79
Average school size: 104.0

By county

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

Change over
Limerick 11 1,130
−12.3%
+20.6%
Tipperary 4 430
+61.7%
+60.4%

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

1,560

−2 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

15

10 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

104.0

96.8 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

21.79

+0.56 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. 175 in 2025/26, −8 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

14 schools with figures for both years

Schools still filling their classes in 2015/16, and schools opened since, are listed separately.

7fell by 10% or more
2within 10%
5grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 3Down 10 to 25% · 4Within 10% · 2Up 10 to 25% · 3Up 25% or more · 2

Average class size in these schools went from 25.1 in 2015/16 to 21.9 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.

Newer schools

1 school still filling its classes in 2015/16 or opened since, with 83 pupils. It isn’t in the figures above.

Class sizes

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

Average class size
21.79
Mainstream classes
68
Classes of 30 or more
5
Schools with a class of 30+
4

Teachers

Teachers in the 15 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
68
Up 12 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 17%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 118
Estimate: 68 class teachers, 6 principals and deputies, 30 special education and 14 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
88
The Department's last count of every teacher
Since 2024/25
0 / 1
0 schools 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 Doon–Cappamore planning area, and the special classes in the 15 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
14
In 7 of 15 schools. 7 in 2020/21
Allocated for 2026/27
15
In 8 schools: 1 new class, 1 school with its first
Autism classes
14
100% of special classes

Special classes since 2020/21

In the Doon–Cappamore planning area's mainstream schools, from the NCSE's yearly lists

  • 2020/21 7
  • 2021/22 8
  • 2022/23 11
  • 2023/24 12
  • 2024/25 14
  • 2025/26 14
  • 2026/27 15

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

551 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Doon–Cappamore planning area: 383 with children at its schools and 168 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
551
46% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
39% / 38%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
18% / 27%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
3% / 4%
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: 39%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 38%

Teaching through Irish

No school here now

  • Pupils in such schools now: 0%
  • Parents: children at school: 18%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 27%

Single-sex

172 pupils (11%) in 2 schools

  • Pupils in such schools now: 11%
  • Parents: children at school: 3%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 4%

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
S N AilbheBrittas 187 50 of 111 ±11.3 32%10%6% –
Caherline N SCaherconlish 183 30 of 123 ±14.4 50%30%0% –
S N Ma RuaLimerick 142 33 of 109 ±13.8 45%6%6% –
S N na hAilleAn Mhóin Ard 128 44 of 77 ±12 43%11%2% –
Cappawhite N SCappawhite 126 51 of 91 ±11.2 45%20%0% –
Doon Convent N SDoon 116 37 of 91 ±13.1 38%14%8% –
Nicker N SPallasgreen 113 32 of 71 ±14 28%9%0% –
Bilboa N SchoolCappamore 95 35 of 64 ±13.4 37%20%0% –
Annacarty N SAnnacarty 93 24 of 58 ±15.9 25%21%4% –
Rossmore National SchoolCashel 83 20 of 50 ±17.3 30%20%0% –
Scoil ChaitríonaCappamore 82 15 of 52 ±19.5 40%20%0% –
S N Toinn an TairbhCappamore 79 22 of 57 ±16.5 36%14%0% –
Scoil na mBraithreDoon 56 22 of 49 ±16.5 45%18%14% –
Cloverfield N SDromkeen 42 6 of 11 ±27.9 33%17%0% –
Scoil na mBearnanPallasagreen 35 13 of 26 ±20.8 23%31%8% –

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

15 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
S N AilbheBrittas 07857D Limerick 187
+15.4%
+105.5%
7 24.14 33 1
Caherline N SCaherconlish 15226K Limerick 183
+2.2%
+103.3%
7 24.43 35 2
S N Ma RuaLimerick 18600A Limerick 142
−18.9%
+4.4%
6 23.67 35 1
S N na hAilleAn Mhóin Ard 17799V Tipperary 128
+40.7%
+93.9%
5 23.20 27 0
Cappawhite N SCappawhite 14791N Tipperary 126
+21.2%
+18.9%
5 22.80 25 0
Doon Convent N SDoon 14625T Limerick 116
0.0%
0.0%
5 21.40 27 0
Nicker N SPallasgreen 14231V Limerick 113
−15.0%
+13.0%
5 22.60 28 0
Bilboa N SchoolCappamore 15692Q Limerick 95
−18.1%
−1.0%
4 23.75 29 0
Annacarty N SAnnacarty 18528S Tipperary 93
+31.0%
−3.1%
4 23.25 30 1
Rossmore National SchoolCashel 20504Q Tipperary 83 – – 4 20.75 26 0
Scoil ChaitríonaCappamore 20233L Limerick 82
+15.5%
– 4 17.75 24 0
S N Toinn an TairbhCappamore 18367U Limerick 79
−43.6%
−36.8%
4 19.75 21 0
Scoil na mBraithreDoon 16713D Limerick 56
−22.2%
−18.8%
3 18.67 23 0
Cloverfield N SDromkeen 15700M Limerick 42
−40.0%
+31.2%
3 14.00 22 0
Scoil na mBearnanPallasagreen 16439J Limerick 35
−36.4%
−57.3%
2 15.50 18 0