{"id":469556,"date":"2026-05-27T13:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/469556\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:13:08","slug":"schools-across-carlow-close-after-threatening-emails-warn-of-mass-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/469556\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools across Carlow close after threatening emails warn of mass shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Multiple schools<\/a> across Carlow town and county received threatening emails claiming there would be a mass shooting involving staff and children.<\/p>\n

At least 10 primary schools in Carlow town and Tullow were advised by garda\u00ed<\/a> not to open on Wednesday following the threats.<\/p>\n

It is understood that up to 16 primary schools were targeted by two separate emails.<\/p>\n

Several other schools across the county also received similar emails. Some remained closed, while others opened as normal.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Anthony Farrell confirmed that a number of primary schools received threatening emails on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

A Garda investigation team has been established at Carlow Garda Station. Senior Garda\u00ed are also in contact with the Department of Education.<\/p>\n

Supt Farrell said: \u201cA process is underway to establish the identity of the sender and the credibility of the message. There was no advance warning of this email.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He asked school management teams across the county to undertake a \u201ccursory search of their building and grounds\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cThere is a possibility this email will be followed up by a ransomware attack \u2014 I ask that you do not click any links in any follow-up email. Advise Carlow Garda Station instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTargeted patrols, including armed patrols, are being carried out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Scoil Mhuire Gan Sm\u00e1l, an all-girls primary school on Green Lane in Carlow town, contacted parents and guardians at 8.19am to inform them the school would not open.<\/p>\n

The message stated that \u201cwe, like some schools in the area, have received a threatening email this morning\u201d.<\/p>\n

The email added: \u201cIn the interests of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our school community, Scoil Mhuire Gan Sm\u00e1l will remain closed today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of our pupils and staff is always our absolute priority. We are working closely with the appropriate agencies and will keep you informed of any further updates as information becomes available.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parents and guardians have been advised to follow updates directly from their child\u2019s school and avoid sharing unverified information.<\/p>\n

Scoil Mhuire Gan Sm\u00e1l, the Church of Ireland Primary School, St Laserian\u2019s Special School, Scoil Mhuire Lourdes in Tullow, St Fiacc\u2019s NS, Ballyconnell NS, Rathvilly Primary School, Scoil Molaise in Old Leighlin, Askea NS, Rathmore NS, Drumphea NS, and St Columba\u2019s were among the schools that decided to close.<\/p>\n

Students were either told not to attend or were due to be sent home by 11am. The correspondence received on Wednesday morning came from an \u201cunidentified\u201d source.<\/p>\n

Local Fine Gael councillor and principal of St Joseph\u2019s National School, Fergal Browne, said the email came from an unknown Gmail account and confirmed schools were liaising with garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an increased garda presence around the town. A generic email came around. God knows where it came from. The email detailed that there would be mass shooting in the schools,\u201d said Cllr Browne.<\/p>\n

He said he decided to keep St Joseph\u2019s National School open after speaking with garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to reassure all parents and guardians.These things happen unfortunately. It\u2019s very upsetting for school staff and parents. We are being extra vigilant today and liaising with garda\u00ed at all times.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately these things do happen. It\u2019s an outrageous thing to happen. All schools have tightened up on this in recent years. We have to be vigilant but not under or over react. Garda advice is sacrosanct,\u201d he told KCLR FM.<\/p>\n

The principal added that, once the current scare subsides, school safety measures should be reviewed again in future.<\/p>\n

No secondary schools are known to have received either of the emails.<\/p>\n

In a statement, garda\u00ed said they are \u201caware\u201d of a \u201ccommunication that has been sent to a number of educational establishments in Co Carlow today\u201d.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed added that they are \u201ccurrently assessing the contents and credibility of that communication\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenior Garda leadership have opened communication with the affected educational establishments. No further information is available at this time\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Multiple schools across Carlow town and county received threatening emails claiming there would be a mass shooting involving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,45,835,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-469556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-education","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}