Irish interest in education is boarding on obsession

There’s just something about boarding schools that fascinates people in Ireland.

Over the past few months, Sylvia Thompson has visited several of Ireland’s most interesting boarding schools – focusing on the experiences of students, teachers, staff and families. The series has offered a contemporary picture of education in modern Ireland – and looked at why a parent would send their child to a boarding school in 2026.

The latest instalment, published in The Irish Times today, profiles a boarding school for 11- and 12-year-olds – Scoil na Leanaí in Co Waterford’s Ring Gaeltacht.

Boarding Schools

This is part of a series by Sylvia Thompson on boarding schools in Ireland – life inside the schools for students and teachers, pros and cons, the costs involved, and the freedoms and limitations. And why parents would choose to send their children to a boarding school in 21st century Ireland.

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Also today, Kate Mellett talks to a woman from Co Offaly who says her son has been unable to attend school for almost three years due to “severe school-related anxiety”.

‘Technical skills are important but so is your ability to communicate and engage with others’

What decisions about third level do you have to make?

‘September can be a shock to the system’: Congestion in Dublin and the return of the school run

Education Correspondent Niamh Towey reports on how Irish teenagers are achieving significantly lower scores in reading and maths than they were a decade ago.

In The Irish Times print edition today, you will find an eight-page (complete with map) guide to next week’s Higher Options event. Held every September, 130 universities, colleges, technological universities and further education providers will gather in the RDS, Dublin.

The Higher Options supplement is an essential guide for sixth-year students and their families and, inside and at irishtimes.com/education, you’ll find expert advice on preparing for the year ahead, making sense of college and career choices, navigating the CAO process, and getting the most from next week’s event.

And, if that wasn’t enough, it’s also Grad Week in The Irish Times. Every day this week, we have news, views and advice for those finished, or close to completing, their third level studies. You can read it all at irishtimes.com/graduateoptions. And don’t forget to pick up the Graduate Options magazine with The Irish Times this Friday.

So, whatever stage your (or your child’s) education is at, we’ve got you covered.

Thank you,

Damian Cullen.