School planning area
Rathdowney
6 primary schools and 655 pupils in 2025/26, in County Laois.
- Pupils in 2025/26
- 655
- +4 on 2024/25
- Since 2015/16
- +7.2%
- 611 pupils in 2015/16
- Schools
- 6
- No change on 2024/25
- Average class size
- 22.00
- Average school size: 109.2
Trends in Rathdowney
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.
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 Laois, schools with no planning area had 13.7% of pupils in 2015/16, 18.2% in 2005/06 and 40.4% in 1975/76. Known data issues
Pupils
655
+4 on 2024/25
Schools
6
4 in 1975/76
Average pupils per school
109.2
97.8 in 1975/76
Average class size
22.00
−0.56 on 2024/25
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. 87 in 2025/26, +14 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). 49 pupils in 2025/26, 7.5% of the area's pupils, against 5.4% 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.
6 schools with figures for both years
Average class size in these schools went from 25.4 in 2015/16 to 22.0 in 2025/26. 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
- 22.00
- Mainstream classes
- 28
- Classes of 30 or more
- 3
- Schools with a class of 30+
- 2
Teachers
Teachers in the 6 mainstream primary schools here, 2006/07 to 2025/26. Class teachers are counted every year; all teaching posts where they're known.
- Class teachers in 2025/26
- 28
- Up 3 since 2006/07, while pupils rose 6%
- Teaching posts in 2025/26
- about 51
- Estimate: 28 class teachers, 3 principals and deputies, 13 special education and 7 special class teachers
- Teachers in 2015/16
- 35
- The Department's last count of every teacher
- Since 2024/25
- 1 / 0
- 1 school gained a class teacher, 0 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 Rathdowney planning area, and the special classes in the 6 mainstream schools. Special schools aren't counted in the pupils, class sizes or teachers above.
- Pupils in special schools
- 0
- No special school here
- Special classes in 2025/26
- 7
- In 3 of 6 schools. 4 in 2020/21
- Allocated for 2026/27
- 7
- In 3 schools
- Autism classes
- 5
- 71% of special classes
Special classes since 2020/21
In the Rathdowney planning area's mainstream schools, from the NCSE's yearly lists
- 2020/21 4
- 2021/22 4
- 2022/23 4
- 2023/24 5
- 2024/25 7
- 2025/26 7
- 2026/27 7
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
300 households answered the Department of Education and Youth's Primary School Survey for the Rathdowney planning area: 197 with children at its schools and 103 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.
- Households that answered
- 300
- 45% of households asked
- Prefer a multi-denominational patron
- 44% / 39%
- Children at school / not yet at school
- Prefer teaching through Irish
- 14% / 21%
- Children at school / not yet at school
- Prefer single-sex
- 2% / 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
No school here now
Teaching through Irish
49 pupils (8%) in 1 school
Single-sex
No school here now
Bars run from 0 to 50%.
Each school's parents
Parents of children at each school. Bold marks the school's set-up now.
| Scoil BhrideRathdowney | 244 | 76 of 175 | ±9.3 | 45% | 12% | 4% | – |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiladooley Mixed N SBorris-in-Ossory | 132 | 45 of 85 | ±11.9 | 47% | 9% | 0% | – |
| St Josephs National SchoolBorrin-in-Ossory | 95 | 20 of 63 | ±17.3 | 50% | 0% | 5% | – |
| S N Naomh ColmcillePortlaoise | 71 | 16 of 52 | ±19 | 56% | 12% | 0% | – |
| Cloch an Tsionnaigh N SAbbeyleix | 64 | 14 of 32 | ±20.1 | 43% | 14% | 0% | – |
| Gaelscoil an Tsli DalaAn Bealach Mór | 49 | 10 of 36 | ±23.1 | 50% | 90% | 0% | – |
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
6 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.
Select a column heading to sort
| Roll number | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil BhrideRathdowney | 20071L | 244 |
+21.4%
+19.0%
+8.4%
|
+8.4%
|
10 | 23.20 | 30 | 1 |
| Kiladooley Mixed N SBorris-in-Ossory | 12692B | 132 |
+18.9%
+26.9%
+61.0%
|
+61.0%
|
5 | 26.40 | 32 | 2 |
| St Josephs National SchoolBorrin-in-Ossory | 07442U | 95 |
+1.1%
−2.1%
−22.1%
|
−22.1%
|
4 | 19.50 | 27 | 0 |
| S N Naomh ColmcillePortlaoise | 18780F | 71 |
−11.2%
+7.6%
−4.1%
|
−4.1%
|
4 | 17.75 | 22 | 0 |
| Cloch an Tsionnaigh N SAbbeyleix | 15562D | 64 |
−14.7%
−39.6%
−20.0%
|
−20.0%
|
3 | 21.33 | 25 | 0 |
| Gaelscoil an Tsli DalaAn Bealach Mór | 20224K | 49 |
+2.1%
+48.5%
– |
– | 2 | 19.50 | 22 | 0 |
No schools match that filter.