Ireland · Limerick

Laurel Hill Coláiste: Irish-medium girls’ education in Limerick

Laurel Hill Coláiste is a Catholic girls’ day school in Limerick where teaching is through Irish. It is separate from the English-medium Laurel Hill Secondary. First Year admission uses Limerick’s common application system, with specific priority and oral-Irish provisions.

First Year to Leaving CertificatedaygirlsResearched 2026-09-03

Official websiteLimerickIreland guide

Quick facts

Typical ages
First Year to Leaving Certificate
Location
Limerick, Ireland
Boarding
day · girls
Curriculum as published
Junior Cycle · Transition Year · Leaving Certificate
Languages of instruction
Irish
Official website
laurelhillcolaistefcj.ie
Researched
2026-09-03

Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ is a Catholic girls’ voluntary secondary school at Cnoc na Labhras, Limerick V94 CR26. Its patron is Le Chéile Schools Trust. FCJ refers to the Faithful Companions of Jesus.

Teaching is through Irish. The nearby Laurel Hill Secondary teaches through English and has its own admissions arrangements. The Coláiste offers Junior Cycle, Transition Year and the Leaving Certificate, not the IB Diploma or boarding.

Language and fit

Consider the Coláiste if Irish-medium learning suits your daughter. The September 2025 policy describes promoting Irish language, heritage and culture. Its oral-Irish priority provision is explained below; it should not be reduced to a general assumption about the language spoken at home.

Compare the Secondary for English-medium FCJ education, Crescent College Comprehensive for a Jesuit comprehensive setting, or Villiers if boarding is needed.

How a child actually gets in

First Year goes through the Limerick Area Post-Primary Common Application System. The Annual Admission Notice for 2026/2027 prints:

  • CAS portal live from 9.00am on Wednesday 1 October 2025
  • Closing date Monday 12 January 2026 at 5.00pm
  • Offers Tuesday 27 January 2026
  • Refusals Wednesday 28 January 2026
  • Accept or refuse by Wednesday 4 February 2026 at 12.00pm
  • Common Registration Night Tuesday 24 February 2026 at 6.30pm

These dates belong to the completed 2026–27 application cycle.

The notice provided 72 First Year places for September 2026. The next intake’s number remains to be confirmed.

The policy gives these oversubscription priorities to first-preference candidates, in order:

  1. Sisters of current or former pupils.
  2. Female children and near relatives of staff and FCJ sisters.
  3. Daughters of former Coláiste pupils, capped at 25% of the annual intake.
  4. Girls whom the school considers to have reasonable oral fluency in Irish that would be likely to regress without admission to an Irish-language school.

Applicants in the fourth category must provide evidence of oral fluency. The policy defines the standard as age-appropriate, taking special educational needs into account. Where applicants within a category exceed available places, selection is by lottery. Ask which category applies and what evidence is required; the policy does not describe an identical language test for every applicant.

The Limerick Education Centre information checked on 3 September 2026 gives 9am on 1 October 2026 as the opening of CAS for 2027–28. Obtain the Coláiste’s own current annual admission notice for its full timetable and place count.

Costs

The policy says the Board does not require fees or contributions as a condition of application, admission or continued enrolment, subject to the statutory exception it cites. This does not establish that every school-related expense is covered.

Our view

Choose the Coláiste if Irish-medium girls’ education, its Catholic ethos and the Limerick location suit your daughter. Compare the English-medium Secondary if learning through English would better meet her needs.

The Limerick guide and Ireland guide provide wider context.

Sources used for this portrait

Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.

Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.

Other school profiles

Keep reading