Top Secondary Schools in Ireland 2014

There are no official statistics published by the Irish government about the performance of secondary schools in Ireland.
It is hard to compare schools without any data to use . The Sunday Times (Irish Edition) usually compile a League Table of schools based on the numbers of pupils getting into Third Level courses.
It's not an ideal method of comparison - but until teachers and the government agree on publishing exam results it's all we have.

Here are the top 20 "Best" Schools in Ireland - based on the percentage of final year pupils getting a place at University.  The figure on the right is the percentage of students getting a place at Universty in 2014

1 Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ, Sth Circular Rd., Limerick     Girls 88.7 %
2 Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co. Limerick      Fee Paying (Boys) 88.3%
3 Colaiste Iosagain, Booterstown, Co. Dublin  Girls 88.2%
4 Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin 6      Fee Paying (Boys)  87.4%
5 Mount Anville Secondary School, Goatstown, Dublin 14  Fee Paying (Girls)  84.7%
6 Alexandra College, Milltown, Dublin Fee Paying (Girls)  84.6%
7 Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Cork   Fee Paying (Boys)  84.6%
8 Colaiste na Coirbe, Tuam Road, Galway     Mixed 81.8%
9 Scoil Mhuire, Sydney Place, Cork  Fee Paying (Girls) 81.6%
10 Holy Child School, Killiney, Co. Dublin  Fee Paying (Girls)  80.6%
11 Mount Mercy College, Model Farm Rd., Cork  Girls 79.0%
12 Colaiste Ide, Dingle, Co. Kerry  Girls 78.9%
13 Colaiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire, Co. Cork     Mixed 77.7%
14 Loreto College, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 Fee Paying (Girls) 77.6%
15 Colaiste Ailigh, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal Mixed 77.3%
16 Rathdown School, Glenageary, Co. Dublin  Fee Paying (Girls) 76.7%
17 The Teresian School, Donnybrook, Dublin  Fee Paying (Girls) 76.5%
18  Christian Brothers College, Sidney Hill, Cork  Fee Paying (Boys) 76.4%
19 Castleknock College, Castleknock, Dublin 15  Fee Paying (Boys) 76.1%
20 Colaiste Eoin, Booterstown, Co. Dublin Boys 76.1%

Twelve of the top 20 schools are private (fee paying) schools.
The best "free" schools are  highlighted in Bold.