St Mary's Diocesan School
St Mary's Diocesan School is a secondary school boys only in Louth. 917 pupils, Catholic ethos, 1 special class, oversubscribed last year.
The facts
| Type | Secondary school |
|---|---|
| Gender | Boys only |
| Ethos | Catholic |
| Patron | Bishop of Meath |
| Fees | Free |
| Enrolment | 917 (917 boys, 0 girls) 2025/26 |
| Language of instruction | English Medium School |
| Roll number | 63841E |
| Eircode | A92TF24 |
| Address | Beamore Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth |
Getting in
Oversubscribed last year. The notice carries a previous-year breakdown, which schools only have to publish when more people applied than there were places.
| Places in the coming year | 180 |
|---|---|
| Places last year | 150 |
| Applications last year | 316 |
| Waiting list | 18 |
| Applications open | 01 October 2025 |
| Decisions issued by | 28 November 2025 |
| Offers must be accepted by | 28 November 2025 |
The school received 319 applications in total across every class and every special class. The 316 above is the figure for this intake alone, which is the one that can be compared with the places offered for it.
check the notice — it lists more than one intake.
Read the school's Annual Admission Notice ↗ (2025/26)
Ireland has no catchment areas. A place depends on the school's own oversubscription criteria — siblings, feeder school, parish, distance, date of application — not on where you live. Read the admissions policy for those.
Special classes
1 special class sanctioned for 26/27:
- 1 × Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders
This is the school's first special class.
Source: National Council for Special Education. Children in a special class travel under a separate transport scheme with its own rules.
The area around this school
School planning area: Drogheda. This is how the Department plans where to build capacity. It is not a catchment.
Local house prices: the median residential sale price in Eircode district A92 (Drogheda) was €380,000 in 2025. That is up 52.0% since 2020. CSO figures for the whole district, not the streets beside the school.
Area profile: the Pobal HP Deprivation Index rates St. Lawrence Gate at -3.01 (Marginally Below Average), where 0 is the national average. 36% of adults there hold a third-level qualification.
Contact
| Principal | Catherina McNicholas |
|---|---|
| Phone | 0419837581 |
| office@stmarysds.ie | |
| Local authority | Louth County Council |
Other schools in Drogheda
- ABACAS School Special school, Co. Louth
- Aston Village Educate Together National School Primary school, Louth
- Ballymakenny College Secondary school, Louth
- Callystown Mixed N S Primary school, Louth
- Drogheda Grammar School Secondary school, Louth
- Gaelscoil An Bhradáin Feasa Primary school, Meath
- Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School Secondary school, Meath
- Le Cheile Educate Together Ns Primary school, Louth
- Naomh Seosamh Primary school, Louth
- Our Lady's College Secondary school, Louth
- Presentation Convent Primary school, Louth
- Rathmullan N S Primary school, Louth
How we know
DoE Schools GIS 2026 (CC BY 4.0) — checked 2026-08-27.