Town comparison · Athenry vs Loughrea

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Athenry or Loughrea?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Athenry, Co. Galway · H65 · 5,306 people | Loughrea, Co. Galway · H62 · 5,629 people

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

Athenry leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiesaccess to its nearest city
Loughrea leads on
public transportaffordability
221912

Athenry aheadlevel or not comparableLoughrea ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
AthenryLoughrea
iAthenry sits in H65, Loughrea in H62. 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
Loughrea

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
5,629

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€372k
Median sale pricelower is better
€330k
Loughrea leads
€300k – €423k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€260k – €388k
212
Sales (24m)
218
+1.6%
Price momentum (YoY)
+20.8%
28.8%
New-build share
11.0%

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
3 prim · 2 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
Loughrea · 5 schools (largest first)
St Brigids College Secondary
754 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St Raphaels College Secondary
741 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
S N Ide Naofa Primary
304 pupils · Catholic
St Brendans N S Primary
226 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Riabhach Primary
171 pupils · Multi Denominational
13
Creches
9
Athenry leads
2
GP practices
N/A
4
Pharmacies
3
Athenry leads
0
Hospitals
0
0
Bus stops
12
Loughrea leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Athenry leads
8
Gyms & leisure
5
Athenry leads
1
Parks & playgrounds
5
Loughrea leads
21
Sports pitches
13
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
4
Athenry leads
4
Cafés
2
Athenry leads
12
Pubs & bars
12
3
Takeaways
4
Loughrea leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
197
Residents per venuelower is better
256
Athenry leads
#34 of 131 small towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#43 of 131 small towns
Athenry 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
4
Loughrea leads
5
Convenience shops
5
4
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
4
2
Banks
3
Loughrea leads
1
Post offices
1
7
Hairdressers
6
Athenry leads
1
Dentists
2
Loughrea leads
2
Vets
3
Loughrea leads
3
Filling stations
3
3
EV charging
4
Loughrea leads
1
Library & community centre
1
171
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
156
Loughrea 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
33m · ~55 rush
Athenry leads
69m · ~85 rush
Limericklower is better
72m · ~90 rush
Athenry leads
133m · ~170 rush
Dublinlower is better
130m · ~165 rush
Loughrea leads
148m · ~170 rush
Corklower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Athenry leads
176m · ~190 rush
Waterfordlower is better
160m · ~175 rush
Loughrea leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
0.6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-3.5
Athenry leads
Athenry · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-1AthenryBelow average
+2AthenryAbove average
Loughrea · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-6Loughrea UrbanBelow average
-1Loughrea UrbanBelow average
44.8%
Third-level educated
37.1%
Athenry leads
40.7%
Professional class
33.0%
Athenry leads
9.6%
Unemploymentlower is better
13.1%
Athenry leads
67.0%
Owner-occupier
52.7%
Athenry leads
24.9%
Private rental
31.1%
7.9%
Social housing (LA)
13.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H65 / H62

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (AthenryH65, LoughreaH62); safety & crime are the Galway Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

67/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Athenry leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H65 / H62) 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.

AthenryLoughreaOverall (avg)
Safety67616661
Affordability7588
Infrastructure4835
Family8680
Education6051
Environment7688
Economic6557
020406080100020406080100
#15
National ranklower is better
#35
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.
Loughrea Below average-3.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Loughrea Urban -6 (least affluent) → Loughrea Urban -1 (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 42 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.