Gaelcholáistí: Irish-medium secondary schools explained
How Irish-medium secondary schools work, whether your child needs to have gone to a gaelscoil, how admissions priority works, exemptions from Irish, and bonus marks for answering through Irish.
Updated 16 October 2026
A Gaelcholáiste teaches every subject through Irish. Irish is the language of the classroom, the corridor and school life.
How many there are
In 2025/26, 50 secondary schools taught all subjects through Irish to all students. Of these, 21 are in Gaeltacht areas and 29 are outside it. Another 12 schools have an Irish-medium stream, sometimes called an aonad, where some students take all their subjects through Irish. A further 11 teach some subjects through Irish.
Gaelcholáistí aren't a separate type of school. Most are run by Education and Training Boards; others are voluntary secondary, community or comprehensive schools.
Does your child need to have gone to a gaelscoil?
Not by law, but it helps. Children who went to an English-medium primary school will need confidence in spoken Irish to follow lessons in every subject. Ask the school what support it gives students who join from English-medium schools.
Admissions are where it matters most. If the school is full:
- An Irish-medium secondary school can give priority to children from Irish-medium primary schools.
- It can also give priority to children who can show fluency in Irish, but it can't rank fluent children against each other by how fluent they are.
- It can't require an interview to test your child's Irish.
Check the admission policy of each school for its exact criteria. How admissions work.
Exemptions from Irish
Exemptions from studying Irish apply only in English-medium schools. They're granted by the school in set circumstances, for example a student who was educated abroad for at least three years and arrives aged 12 or older, or a student with significant literacy difficulties that meet specific criteria. If you think your child may need an exemption, a Gaelcholáiste is unlikely to suit.
Bonus marks for answering through Irish
Students who answer State exam papers through Irish can get bonus marks, wherever they go to school:
- Up to 10% extra in many subjects, such as geography and chemistry, and 5% in others, such as maths.
- The bonus shrinks for marks above 75%.
- It doesn't apply to the Irish or English papers, and the whole exam must be answered in Irish.
From the Leaving Cert in 2027, and the Junior Cycle in 2028, the bonus extends to all parts of the exam, including coursework and the new additional assessment components. The State Examinations Commission sets the detailed rules.
See every Gaelcholáiste on a map, or find Irish-medium schools near you.
Sources
- gov.ie: Post-primary schools 2025/26 data
- Education Act 1998, section 62 (as revised): admission policy
- gov.ie: Exemptions from the study of Irish, post-primary (Circular 0055/2022)
- Circular 0055/2022: Exemptions from the study of Irish (full text)
- Citizens Information: The Leaving Certificate
- gov.ie: Bonus marks for all components through Irish (Circular 0002/2026)
Rules and rates change. Check the official source before you rely on a detail, and tell us at [email protected] if something's out of date.