A Gaelscoil (; plural: ) is an Irish language-medium school in Ireland; the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary and second levels on the island of Ireland. Additionally, more than 13,000 students are receiving their primary and second level education through Irish in the Gaeltacht. English-medium schools, in contrast, produce relatively few fluent Irish speakers, despite the Irish language being an obligatory subject in the Republic of Ireland in both primary and secondary school. This has been attributed in part to the lack of Irish-language immersion programs.
thumb|Gaelscoileanna and Irish language-medium schools in the Gaeltacht are supported and represented by Gaeloideachas and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland.
Gaelscoileanna have undergone a striking expansion over the last few decades, although there are now concerns that rules limiting the founding of new schools are affecting the establishment of new Irish-medium education in areas where there is competition amongst educational patrons. Their success is due to effective (though limited) community support and an efficient administrative infrastructure. They are distinguished by being the product, not of state policy, but of a genuine community movement.
In 1972, there were only 11 such schools at primary level and five at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2023, there were 188 at primary level, attended by over 40,000 students, and 32 and 17 (Irish language units) at secondary level, attended by over 12,000 students in non-Gaeltacht areas across Ireland.
Supporters argue that the bilingualism resulting from early acquisition of another language is of general intellectual benefit and helps children to learn still other languages. Irish-language advocates of the immersion approach sometimes refer to studies showing that bilingual children have advantages over monoglot children in other subjects.
Statistics
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Primary level
! Republic of Ireland
(2024-25)
! North of Ireland
(2025)
|-
| Total no. of schools
| 3,064
| 775
|-
| No. of Gaelscoileanna
(non-Gaeltacht)
| 150
| 28
|-
| No of Gaelscoileanna
(in Gaeltacht)
| 102
| -
|-
| Total no. of pupils
| 535,476
| 174,778
|-
| No. Gaelscoil pupils (%)
(non-Gaeltacht)
| 36,136 (6.8%)
| 4,269 (2.4%)
|-
| No. Gaelscoil pupils (%)
(in Gaeltacht)
| 7,013 (1.3%)
| -
|-
| colspan = 3 | <small>Sources:</small>
|}
By province (primary level)
- Leinster – 19,331 primary students attend 71 .
- Ulster – 6,801 primary students attend 45 . There are 32 and 17 second-level Irish language units () on the island of Ireland, attended by over 12,000 students. Close to 4,000 further students receive their second-level education through Irish in the .
Two new second-level opened in Ireland in 2014: in Balbriggan and in Rathfarnham (both in County Dublin). in 201: opened in Cork's Carrigaline and Gaelcholsáite Dhoire the North of Ireland's second opened in Dungiven Castle. in 2019: opened in Cork's Knocknaheeney. In September 2020: opened in Maynooth.
Gaelcholáistí are supported and represented on a practical day-to-day basis by Gaeloideachas (who also support Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht), by COGG - An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta (council for gaeltacht and gaelscoileanna education) in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in the North of Ireland.
In 2023 An Foras Pátrúnacha revealed that there is a demand for 7 new in the Republic of Ireland and in 2021 revealed that there is a demand for 3 new in Northern Ireland.
List of Gaelcholáistí
thumb|Coláiste an Phiarsaigh<!-- Please maintain alphabetical order (A-Z) when updating table. -->
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
!School name
!
!Location
!County
!Region
!Ref.
|-
|Coláiste Ailigh
|
|Letterkenny
|Donegal
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Chilliain
|
|Clondalkin
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Cois Life
|
|Lucan
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Eoin
|
|Booterstown
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Feirste
|
|Belfast
|Antrim
|Northern Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Ghlór na Mara
|
|Balbriggan
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Mhuire
|
|Cabra
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Ráithín
|
|Bray
|Wicklow
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste an Eachréidh
|
|Athenry
|Galway
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste an Phiarsaigh
|
|Cork
|Cork
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste de hÍde
|
|Tallaght
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste na Coiribe
|
|Galway
|Galway
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste na Tulchann
|
|Clonsilla
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Coláiste Íosagáin
|
|Booterstown
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin
|
|Cork
|Cork
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach
|
|Carlow
|Carlow
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí
|
|Tralee
|Kerry
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara
|
|Naas
|Kildare
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Chéitinn
|
|CTI Clonmel
|Tipperary
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Choilm
|
|Cork
|Cork
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Dhoire
|
|Dungiven
|[[County Londonderry|Londonderry<!-- Please do not change Londonderry to Derry.
Please do not remove hyperlink.
As per MOS:Derry, the county should be referred to as Londonderry, while the city is referred to as Derry. -->]]
|Northern Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh
|
|Limerick
|Limerick
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad
|
|Maynooth
|Kildare
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Mhuire (A.G.)
|
|Cork
|Cork
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste Reachrann
|
|Donaghmede
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcholáiste na Mara
|
|Arklow
|Wicklow
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Gaelcoláiste an Phiarsaigh
|
|Rathfarnham
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Meanscoil Gharman
|
|Enniscorthy
|Wexford
|Republic of Ireland
|
|-
|Scoil Chaitríona
|
|Glasnevin
|Dublin
|Republic of Ireland
|
|}
Strategy proposals
The function and future of Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland falls within the scope of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, published by the then-Irish government in December 2010. This report emphasises the importance of offering all children in primary schools in Ireland the opportunity to experience partial immersion in the formative years of primary education. It calls for primary teachers to have additional immersion classes to improve their competence in the language. This would involve teaching some subjects such as Mathematics and Science in Irish.
See also
- An Foras Pátrúnachta
- Calandreta, bilingual French-Occitan school in Occitania, France
- Diwan (school) – Breton medium education in Brittany
- Education in the Republic of Ireland
- Education in Northern Ireland
- French immersion in Canada
- Gaelic medium education in Scotland – Scottish Gaelic equivalent in Scotland
- Ikastola, similar education centre in Basque language
- Kōhanga reo and Kura Kaupapa M%C4%81ori, Māori language immersion schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand
- La Bressola, a bilingual French-Catalan school network in Northern Catalonia, France
- List of Irish medium primary schools in Northern Ireland
- Medium of instruction
- Official Languages Act 2003
- Welsh medium education
References
External links
- List of Gaelscoileanna in Ireland (Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland)
- Gaelscoileanna.ie (website of Gaelscoileanna Teo)
- Stats on Gaeltacht schools 2004
- Gaeltacht Comprehensive Language Study 2007
- Gaelscoil stats 2010–2011
- Republic of Ireland Census 2006 – daily speakers outside education system