AGaelscoil (Irish pronunciation:[ˈɡeːl̪ˠsˠkɛlʲ]; plural:Gaelscoileanna) is anIrish language-medium school in Ireland; the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions orGaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary and second levels on the island ofIreland.^[1] Additionally, more than 13,000 students are receiving their primary and second level education through Irish in the Gaeltacht.^[2]Gaelscoileanna and Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht are supported and represented byGaeloideachas andAn Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta or COGG in theRepublic of Ireland and byComhairle na Gaelscolaíochta inNorthern Ireland. The largest patron body ofGaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland isAn Foras Pátrúnachta, although the vast majority of schools under their patronage are at primary level.

Students in theGaelscoileanna acquire the Irish language throughlanguage immersion, and study the standard curriculum through it. Gaelscoileanna, unlikeEnglish-medium schools, have the reputation of producing competent Irish speakers.^[3] English-medium schools, in contrast,produce relatively few fluent Irish speakers, despite theIrish language being an obligatory subject in theRepublic of Ireland in both primary and secondary school. This has been attributed in part to the lack of Irish-language immersion programs.^[4]

Gaelscoileanna have undergone a striking expansion over the last few decades, although there are now concerns that rules limiting the founding of new schools are affecting the establishment of new Irish-medium education in areas where there is competition amongst educational patrons. Their success is due to effective (though limited) community support and an efficient administrative infrastructure. They are distinguished by being the product, not of state policy, but of a genuine community movement.

In 1972, there were only 11 such schools at primary level and five at secondary level in theRepublic of Ireland. As of September 2023, there were 188gaelscoileanna at primary level, attended by over 40,000 students, and 32gaelcholáistí and 17aonaid Ghaeilge (Irish language units) at secondary level, attended by over 12,000 students in non-Gaeltacht areas acrossIreland.^[2] 35 of these primary schools, two of the postprimary schools and four of the postprimary units operated are in Northern Ireland.^[2] Additionally, some 4,000 children attend Irish-medium preschools orNaíonrai outside the Gaeltacht with around 1,000 children attendingNaíonraí within the Gaeltacht.^{[citation needed]} There is now at least onegaelscoil in every county in Ireland with over 50 in County Dublin; 30 in County Cork and 13 in County Antrim included.

Gaelscoileanna have acquired a reputation for providing excellent academic results at a moderate cost. They have been described as a system of "positive social selection" giving better than average access to tertiary education and the social and employment opportunities which follow. An analysis of "feeder" schools which send students on to tertiary level institutions shows that 22% of Irish-medium schools send all their students on to tertiary level, compared to 7% of English-medium schools.^[5]

Supporters argue that the bilingualism resulting from early acquisition of another language is of general intellectual benefit and helps children to learn still other languages. Irish-language advocates of the immersion approach sometimes refer to studies showing that bilingual children have advantages over monoglot children in other subjects.^[6]

• Leinster – 19,331 primary students attend 71gaelscoileanna.^[10]
• Ulster – 6,801 primary students attend 45gaelscoileanna.^[10]
• Munster – 11,332 primary students attend 44gaelscoileanna.^[10]
• Connacht – 3,509 primary students attend 18gaelscoileanna.^[10]

A secondary-levelGaelscoil located in a non-Gaeltacht area is commonly known as aGaelcholáiste.^[11] There are 32Gaelcholáistí and 17 second-level Irish language units (aonaid Ghaeilge) on the island of Ireland, attended by over 12,000 students. Close to 4,000 further students receive their second-level education through Irish in theGaeltacht.^[2]

Two new second-levelgaelscoileanna opened in Ireland in 2014:Coláiste Ghlór na Mara inBalbriggan andGaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh inRathfarnham (both inCounty Dublin).Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin opened inCarrigaline andNorthern Ireland's secondgaelcholáisteGaelcholáiste Dhoire opened inDungiven Castle in 2015.Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne opened inKnocknaheeney in 2019.Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad opened inMaynooth in September 2020.^[12]

Gaelcholáistí are supported and represented on a practical day-to-day basis byGaeloideachas (who also support Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht) andAn Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta (whose name translates into English as "The Council for Gaeltacht and Gaelscoileanna Education") or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and byComhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland.

In 2023 An Foras Pátrúnacha revealed that there is a demand for 7 newGaelcholáistí in the Republic of Ireland^[13] and in 2021Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta revealed that there is a demand for 3 newGaelcholáistí in Northern Ireland.^[14]

The function and future of Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland falls within the scope of the20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, published by the then-Irish government in December 2010. This report emphasises the importance of offering all children in primary schools in Ireland the opportunity to experience partial immersion in the formative years of primary education. It calls for primary teachers to have additional immersion classes to improve their competence in the language. This would involve teaching some subjects such as Mathematics and Science in Irish.^[44]

• An Foras Pátrúnachta
• Calandreta, bilingual French-Occitan school inOccitania, France
• Diwan (school) – Breton medium education inBrittany
• Education in the Republic of Ireland
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• La Bressola, a bilingual French-Catalan school network inNorthern Catalonia, France
• List of Irish medium primary schools in Northern Ireland
• Medium of instruction
• Official Languages Act 2003
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• List of Gaelscoileanna in Ireland (Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland)
• Gaelscoileanna.ie (website of Gaelscoileanna Teo)
• Stats on Gaeltacht schools 2004
• Gaeltacht Comprehensive Language Study 2007
• Gaelscoil stats 2010–2011
• Republic of Ireland Census 2006 – daily speakers outside education system

• Gaelscoil
• Irish-language education
• Medium of instruction
• Celtic medium education
• Irish words and phrases
• Minority schools
• School types
• Language immersion

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