School planning area

Ennistymon

10 primary schools and 745 pupils in 2025/26, in County Clare.

Pupils in 2025/26
745
−20 on 2024/25
Since 2015/16
−0.4%
748 pupils in 2015/16
Schools
10
No change on 2024/25
Average class size
19.10
Average school size: 74.5

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 County Clare, schools with no planning area had 0.6% of pupils in 2015/16, 6.1% in 2005/06 and 24.8% in 1975/76. Known data issues

Pupils

745

−20 on 2024/25

1975/762025/26

Schools

10

7 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average pupils per school

74.5

60.6 in 1975/76

1975/762025/26

Average class size

19.10

−1.03 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. 104 in 2025/26, +13 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

Pupils in schools that teach all subjects through Irish (1 school today). 29 pupils in 2025/26, 3.9% of the area's pupils, against 4.3% in 2015/16. Each school counts under its current classification for every year.

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

10 schools with figures for both years

4fell by 10% or more
3within 10%
3grew by 10% or more
Down 25% or more · 3Down 10 to 25% · 1Within 10% · 3Up 10 to 25% · 2Up 25% or more · 1

Average class size in these schools went from 22.0 in 2015/16 to 19.1 in 2025/26. 3 of the 4 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
19.10
Mainstream classes
39
Classes of 30 or more
0
Schools with a class of 30+
0

Teachers

Teachers in the 10 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
39
Up 16 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 60%
Teaching posts in 2025/26
about 55
Estimate: 39 class teachers, 1 principals and deputies, 15 special education and 0 special class teachers
Teachers in 2015/16
48
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 Ennistymon planning area, and the special classes in the 10 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
Allocated for 2026/27
1
In 1 school: 1 new class, 1 school with its first

Special classes since 2026/27

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

  • 2026/27 1

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

257 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Ennistymon planning area: 140 with children at its schools and 117 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
257
49% of households asked
Prefer a multi-denominational patron
47% / 58%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer teaching through Irish
30% / 37%
Children at school / not yet at school
Prefer single-sex
1% / 0%
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

158 pupils (21%) in 1 school

  • Pupils in such schools now: 21%
  • Parents: children at school: 47%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 58%

Teaching through Irish

29 pupils (4%) in 1 school

  • Pupils in such schools now: 4%
  • Parents: children at school: 30%
  • Parents: children not yet at school: 37%

Single-sex

No school here now

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

Bars run from 0 to 100%.

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
Saint Marys N S LahinchLahinch 166 45 of 98 ±11.9 58%22%0% –
Mol an Óige Community National SchoolEnnistymon 158 53 of 108 ±11 87%26%2% –
S N LiosceanuirLiscannor 105 14 of 31 ±20.1 43%14%0% –
Kilnaboy N SEnnis 80 17 of 49 ±18.5 29%18%0% –
Ennistymon National SchoolEnnistymon 64 14 of 35 ±20.1 21%14%0% –
S N Colm CilleEnnistymon 58 14 of 36 ±20.1 79%14%0% –
St Fachnan & St Attractas N SKilfenora 57 17 of 34 ±18.5 12%29%0% –
S N Iosef NaofaAn Leacht 29 13 of 19 ±20.8 62%100%0% –
S N Aibhistin NaofaKilshanny 21 Too few to publish – ––– –
Forgleann N SLahinch 7 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

10 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
Saint Marys N S LahinchLahinch 18753C 166
+16.9%
+38.3%
7 23.71 27 0
Mol an Óige Community National SchoolEnnistymon 20313J 158
+8.2%
– 8 19.75 23 0
S N LiosceanuirLiscannor 18410S 105
+54.4%
+14.1%
5 21.00 26 0
Kilnaboy N SEnnis 17832Q 80
−9.1%
+27.0%
4 20.00 24 0
Ennistymon National SchoolEnnistymon 20245S 64
−28.1%
– 3 21.33 24 0
S N Colm CilleEnnistymon 17270A 58
+23.4%
+41.5%
3 19.33 25 0
St Fachnan & St Attractas N SKilfenora 20149W 57
−13.6%
−9.5%
3 19.00 21 0
S N Iosef NaofaAn Leacht 18339P 29
−9.4%
+31.8%
2 14.50 15 0
S N Aibhistin NaofaKilshanny 17847G 21
−40.0%
−47.5%
2 10.50 12 0
Forgleann N SLahinch 18768P 7
−80.0%
−77.4%
2 3.50 5 0