Town comparison · Athenry vs Clifden

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Athenry or Clifden?

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.

Athenry, Co. Galway · H65 · 5,306 people | Clifden, Co. Galway · H71 · 1,014 people

Athenry is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Clifden’s 2, with 1 level.

Athenry leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiesaccess to its nearest city
Clifden leads on
public transportaffordability
26188

Athenry aheadlevel or not comparableClifden ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
AthenryClifden
iAthenry sits in H65, Clifden in H71. 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.

Athenry
Clifden

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.

5,306
Population
1,014

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€372k
Median sale pricelower is better
€255k
Clifden leads
€300k – €423k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€190k – €320k
212
Sales (24m)
77
+1.6%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
28.8%
New-build share
1.3%

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.

3 prim · 3 sec
Schools
1 prim · 1 sec
Athenry leads
Athenry · 6 schools (largest first)
Clárin College Secondary
1,102 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Presentation College Secondary
1,081 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Coláiste An Eachréidh Secondary
238 pupils · 60% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Athenry Primary School Primary
514 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Riada Primary
168 pupils · Catholic
Carnain N.s. Primary
97 pupils · Catholic
Clifden · 2 schools (largest first)
Scoil Phobail Secondary
494 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Scoil Mhuire Primary
241 pupils · CatholicDEIS
13
Creches
1
Athenry leads
2
GP practices
N/A
4
Pharmacies
2
Athenry leads
0
Hospitals
0
0
Bus stops
7
Clifden leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Athenry leads
8
Gyms & leisure
5
Athenry leads
1
Parks & playgrounds
2
Clifden leads
21
Sports pitches
16
Athenry 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.

8
Restaurants
8
4
Cafés
3
Athenry leads
12
Pubs & bars
13
Clifden leads
3
Takeaways
2
Athenry leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
1
Clifden leads
197
Residents per venuelower is better
38
Clifden 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.

2
Supermarkets
3
Clifden leads
5
Convenience shops
3
Athenry leads
4
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
4
2
Banks
2
1
Post offices
1
7
Hairdressers
2
Athenry leads
1
Dentists
1
2
Vets
0
Athenry leads
3
Filling stations
2
Athenry leads
3
EV charging
2
Athenry leads
1
Library & community centre
1
171
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
48
Clifden 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.

24m · ~45 rush
Galwaylower is better
67m · ~90 rush
Athenry leads
69m · ~85 rush
Limericklower is better
140m · ~160 rush
Athenry leads
133m · ~170 rush
Dublinlower is better
209m · ~245 rush
Athenry leads
148m · ~170 rush
Corklower is better
219m · ~240 rush
Athenry leads
176m · ~190 rush
Waterfordlower is better
252m · ~265 rush
Athenry leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
0.6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-6.5
Athenry leads
Athenry · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-1AthenryBelow average
+2AthenryAbove average
Clifden · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-8ClifdenBelow average
-5ClifdenBelow average
44.8%
Third-level educated
34.9%
Athenry leads
40.7%
Professional class
31.2%
Athenry leads
9.6%
Unemploymentlower is better
11.8%
Athenry leads
67.0%
Owner-occupier
60.4%
Athenry leads
24.9%
Private rental
24.2%
7.9%
Social housing (LA)
9.6%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H65 / H71

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (AthenryH65, ClifdenH71); safety & crime are the Galway Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

67/100
Quality of Life
62/100
Athenry leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H65 / H71) 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.

AthenryClifdenOverall (avg)
Safety67616261
Affordability7594
Infrastructure4889
Family8681
Education6021
Environment7664
Economic6526
020406080100020406080100
#15
National ranklower is better
#24
Athenry leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#2
Athenry leads
61/100
Safety
61/100
60.1
Crime / 1,000
60.1

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.

Athenry Above average+0.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Athenry -1 (least affluent) → Athenry +2 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Clifden Below average-6.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Clifden -8 (least affluent) → Clifden -5 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below 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 (Galway), 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 23 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Athenry

The stronger town on the data.

Compare somewhere else

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