Mercy Primary School

The facts

What DEIS means here

DEIS Urban Band 1. This is the most intensively supported band. Junior classes are capped at 17:1, vertical schools at 19:1 and senior schools at 21:1 — smaller than almost any non-DEIS school in the country.

17:1 junior class size cap. Urban Band 1 primary schools have the lowest pupil-teacher ratio in Ireland: 17:1 in junior classes (infants to 2nd), 19:1 in vertical schools, and 21:1 in senior schools. That is smaller than almost any fee-paying school in the State.

Worth knowing: several things people associate with DEIS are now available in every school. Schoolbooks are free at primary and post-primary regardless of DEIS status, and since 2025 all primary schools are eligible for the hot school meals programme. What remains specific to DEIS is the staffing — reduced class sizes in Urban Band 1, the Home School Community Liaison coordinator, School Completion Programme access and enhanced capitation.

Band as published in the Department's DEIS list, last revised 2022-10-12.

What DEIS is, band by band, HEAR college entry, and whether it says anything about how good a school is →

Special classes

2 special classes sanctioned for 26/27:

• 2 × Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders

1 of these are newly sanctioned for 26/27, up from 1 classes last year.

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: Birr. 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 R42 (Birr) was €240,000 in 2025. That is up 84.6% since 2020. CSO figures for the whole district, not the streets beside the school.

Area profile: the Pobal HP Deprivation Index rates Birr Urban at -9.54 (Marginally Below Average), where 0 is the national average. 30% of adults there hold a third-level qualification.

Contact

Other schools in Birr

• Carrig N S Primary school, Tipperary
• Ceann Eitigh N S Primary school, Offaly
• Croinchoill N S Primary school, Offaly
• Gaelscoil Na Laochra Primary school, Offaly
• S N An Cillin Primary school, Tipperary
• S N Flannain Naofa Primary school, Tipperary
• S N Naomh Eoin Primary school, Offaly
• S N Osmann Primary school, Offaly
• Seir Kierans N S Primary school, Offaly
• Shinrone Mixed N S Primary school, Offaly
• St Brendans Monastery Primary school, Offaly
• St.Brendan's Community School Secondary school, Offaly