Town comparison · Ashbourne vs Kilmessan

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Ashbourne or Kilmessan?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 52 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Ashbourne, Co. Meath · A84 · 13,321 people | Kilmessan, Co. Meath · C15 · 563 people

Ashbourne and Kilmessan are closely matched. Each leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions, with 1 level.

Ashbourne leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
Kilmessan leads on
affluenceeducation levelsaffordability
30139

Ashbourne aheadlevel or not comparableKilmessan ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
AshbourneKilmessan
iAshbourne sits in A84, Kilmessan in C15. Each figure below is tagged with the geographic level it’s actually measured at. The town ahead on a row is the one in green. Scores and percentages are charted against a true 0 to 100 scale; every other row is charted against the larger of the two towns, so the bars compare but don’t imply a ceiling.

Outlines are each town’s CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

Ashbourne
Kilmessan

Size

TOWN · census

Resident population at the 2022 CSO census, summed over the Small Areas that make up each town. Not scored: a bigger town isn’t a better one, it just explains why the counts below differ.

13,321
Population
563

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€427k
Median sale pricelower is better
€350k
Kilmessan leads
€315k – €463k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€290k – €445k
541
Sales (24m)
27
+14.7%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
40.3%
New-build share
N/A

Schools, health & amenities

TOWN · counts

Facilities in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.

6 prim · 2 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Ashbourne leads
Ashbourne · 8 schools (largest first)
Ashbourne Community School Secondary
1,111 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONAL
De Lacy College Secondary
913 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Nais Deaglain Primary
647 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Mhuire Primary
481 pupils · Catholic
Ashbourne Educate Together National School Primary
410 pupils · Multi Denominational
Ashbourne Community National School Primary
303 pupils · Multi Denominational
Gaelscoil Na Mí Primary
283 pupils · Multi Denominational
Gaelscoil Na Cille Primary
227 pupils · Catholic
Kilmessan · 1 schools (largest first)
Kilmessan Mxd N S Primary
231 pupils · Catholic
13
Creches
2
Ashbourne leads
4
GP practices
N/A
5
Pharmacies
0
Ashbourne leads
0
Hospitals
0
29
Bus stops
6
Ashbourne leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
22
Gyms & leisure
0
Ashbourne leads
6
Parks & playgrounds
0
Ashbourne leads
46
Sports pitches
12
Ashbourne leads

Social life

TOWN · counts

Places to eat, drink and go out in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. The residents per venue row is the fairer read — raw counts just track town size, so a big town wins by being big.

10
Restaurants
1
Ashbourne leads
8
Cafés
0
Ashbourne leads
5
Pubs & bars
3
Ashbourne leads
12
Takeaways
0
Ashbourne leads
0
Nightclubs
0
1
Cinema & theatre
0
Ashbourne leads
370
Residents per venuelower is better
141
Kilmessan leads

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

The errands you run without thinking about them. Same caveat — read the residents-per-service row alongside the counts.

8
Supermarkets
1
Ashbourne leads
9
Convenience shops
1
Ashbourne leads
3
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Ashbourne leads
3
Banks
0
Ashbourne leads
0
Post offices
1
Kilmessan leads
8
Hairdressers
0
Ashbourne leads
3
Dentists
0
Ashbourne leads
1
Vets
0
Ashbourne leads
4
Filling stations
0
Ashbourne leads
1
EV charging
0
Ashbourne leads
3
Library & community centre
0
Ashbourne leads
310
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
141
Kilmessan leads

Commute by car

TOWN · from centre

Drive time from the town centre to each city centre — typical off-peak, with an estimated weekday rush hour. OSRM road routing.

27m · ~55 rush
Dublinlower is better
43m · ~80 rush
Ashbourne leads
127m · ~140 rush
Waterfordlower is better
138m · ~150 rush
Ashbourne leads
153m · ~175 rush
Galwaylower is better
142m · ~165 rush
Kilmessan leads
148m · ~165 rush
Limericklower is better
160m · ~180 rush
Ashbourne leads
187m · ~210 rush
Corklower is better
199m · ~220 rush
Ashbourne leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-5.3
Affluence (Pobal HP)
2.1
Kilmessan leads
Ashbourne · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-10DonaghmoreDisadvantaged
-4DonaghmoreBelow average
+3KilbrewAbove average
+3KilbrewAbove average
Kilmessan · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
+1KilmessanAbove average
+3KilmessanAbove average
28.4%
Third-level educated
38.6%
Kilmessan leads
35.8%
Professional class
41.1%
Kilmessan leads
12.5%
Unemploymentlower is better
6.1%
Kilmessan leads
90.0%
Owner-occupier
81.4%
Ashbourne leads
6.7%
Private rental
13.3%
1.8%
Social housing (LA)
3.4%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A84 / C15

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (AshbourneA84, KilmessanC15); safety & crime are the Meath Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

62/100
Quality of Life
57/100
Ashbourne leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A84 / C15) from official data — Garda crime, CSO income & census, OPW flood, EPA water, and transport/healthcare/broadband coverage. Refreshed quarterly. The dashed line is each town’s overall score (that average) — dimensions to its right beat the average, to its left fall short. Two towns can share a score with a very different mix.

AshbourneKilmessanOverall (avg)
Safety62475747
Affordability7980
Infrastructure5929
Family9079
Education5750
Environment5666
Economic4348
020406080100020406080100
#66
National ranklower is better
#93
Ashbourne leads
#2
County ranklower is better
#3
Ashbourne leads
47/100
Safety
47/100
76
Crime / 1,000
76

Affluence range

Pobal HP deprivation index, published per Electoral Division, so the spread shows the town’s poorest to richest ED. A town that is a single ED shows one mark, no range.

Ashbourne Below average-5.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Donaghmore -10 (least affluent) → Kilbrew +3 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Kilmessan Above average+2.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Kilmessan +1 (least affluent) → Kilmessan +3 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

TOWN
Prices, amenities and commute are exact and town-specific.

Prices come from individual PPR sales inside the town’s Small-Area boundary; schools, GPs, transport, gyms and parks are counted the same way; commute is routed from the town centre.

ED
Affluence, profile and tenure are Electoral-Division level.

Published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town’s EDs, with a range where the town spans several.

AREA
Liveability and safety are wider-area, not the town.

Quality of life and rank are per Eircode routing key; safety and crime are the Garda division (Meath), coarser than a town, so two towns in the same county read the same.

Population growth isn’t shown: the 2016 and 2022 censuses don’t use the same Small Areas, and the areas that were re-cut are the ones that grew, so a like-for-like comparison understates growth badly. Rent and yield are still too sparse to show per town. Built from 42 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Ashbourne

The towns are level, so these are from the first.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.