ETB to discuss need for additional Gaelscoileanna
The need for additional Gaelscoileanna in Cavan is set to be discussed at the next meeting of the Cavan-Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB).
Confirmation of the forthcoming discussion was flagged in a response received by Sinn Féin councillor Stiofán Conaty to a question he raised directly with the executive at the January monthly meeting of elected members, held on Monday, January 12.
Ahead of that meeting, Cllr Conaty had queried whether, following a motion tabled by him in July 2025 calling for the establishment of additional Gaelscoileanna in Cavan, correspondence had taken place with CMETB on the issue. In reply, the local authority stated it had been advised that a motion is now on the agenda for the next CMETB meeting for “discussion and consideration”.
At the July council meeting, Cavan councillors debated the need for at least three new Irish-medium primary schools in the county- one in the west, one in the south-east, and one in the Cootehill area. They also highlighted the need for a Gaelcholáiste (Irish-medium secondary school) to provide progression for pupils graduating from these bunscoileanna.
Calling for “serious investment” in the Naíonra sector, Cllr Conaty stressed the importance of ensuring young children in every town and village in Cavan have access to Irish-medium pre-school education.
He said: “When kids leave Gaelscoil Bhréifne at the age of 12 or 13, with no avenue to continue their Irish-medium education at secondary level, they can very quickly lose both interest in and ability to speak Irish.”
In 2020, the Department of Education wrote to CMETB to explore the possibility of locating a permanent Irish-medium secondary school on the grounds of the former Dún Uí Néill barracks outside Cavan Town.
The proposal mirrors a model adopted in Monaghan, where in January 2009 - following more than 32 years of army service - the 20-acre barracks site was repurposed for educational use. That development included a 16-class primary school (Gaelscoil Ultain), a 400-pupil all-Irish post-primary school (Coláiste Oiriall), and an Institute of Further Education.
The Dún Uí Néill barracks closed a year later and, in 2012, ownership of the site transferred to the then Cavan VEC in a deal valued at €1.25M.
Meanwhile, the existing Gaelscoil in Cavan Town has only recently moved to a new permanent location at Tullymongan Lower, on the site of the former St Clare’s Convent.
The Irish school has expanded several times over the years, having previously operated from the Cavan Scout Den on Railway Road and later from the former Jackson’s Garage on Farnham Street, a building now used by the HSE.