Town comparison · Ballsbridge vs Castleknock

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Ballsbridge or Castleknock?

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.

Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin · D04 · 33,242 people | Castleknock, Co. Dublin City · D15 · 3,716 people

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

Ballsbridge leads on
affluenceeducation levelspublic transportsafety
Castleknock leads on
schools & amenitiesaffordability
211120

Ballsbridge aheadlevel or not comparableCastleknock ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallsbridgeCastleknock
iBallsbridge sits in D04, Castleknock in D15. 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.
!Ballsbridge & Castleknock are city suburbs — its boundary follows the postal area (the Small Areas whose addresses carry the name), not an official settlement line, so it can run broader than the local core and the figures cover that wider postal patch.

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

Ballsbridge
Castleknock

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.

33,242
Population
3,716

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€800k
Median sale pricelower is better
€530k
Castleknock leads
€561k – €1310k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€435k – €737k
907
Sales (24m)
617
+26.9%
Price momentum (YoY)
+1.0%
4.3%
New-build share
17.7%

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.

4 prim · 2 sec
Schools
7 prim · 3 sec
Castleknock leads
Ballsbridge · 6 schools (largest first)
St Michaels College Secondary
726 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
The Teresian School Secondary
239 pupils · 80% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
St Christopher's Ns Primary
567 pupils · CatholicDEIS
John Scottus Ns Primary
166 pupils · Multi Denominational
Scoil Caitriona Na Mbraithre Primary
148 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Eoin Primary
50 pupils · Multi Denominational
Castleknock · 10 schools (largest first)
Castleknock Community College Secondary
1,290 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Luttrellstown Community College Secondary
998 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Edmund Rice College Secondary
813 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Patricks Ns Primary
891 pupils · Catholic
St Brigids Mxd N S Primary
878 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Thomais Primary
640 pupils · Catholic
Castleknock Educate Together Ns Primary
409 pupils · Multi Denominational
St Francis Xavier J N S Primary
388 pupils · Catholic
St Francis Xavier Senior N S Primary
376 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Naisunta Chnuacha Primary
199 pupils · Church Of Ireland
14
Creches
20
Castleknock leads
1
GP practices
3
Castleknock leads
3
Pharmacies
8
Castleknock leads
5
Hospitals
0
Ballsbridge leads
58
Bus stops
42
Ballsbridge leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Castleknock leads
11
Gyms & leisure
5
Ballsbridge leads
7
Parks & playgrounds
6
Ballsbridge leads
56
Sports pitches
66
Castleknock 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.

24
Restaurants
8
Ballsbridge leads
21
Cafés
5
Ballsbridge leads
14
Pubs & bars
10
Ballsbridge leads
12
Takeaways
9
Ballsbridge leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
468
Residents per venuelower is better
116
Castleknock leads

Ballsbridge is a large town and Castleknock is a small town, so their national rankings aren’t like-for-like — each is ranked only against places of its own size. Compare them on the residents-per-venue row instead.

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

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

6
Supermarkets
4
Ballsbridge leads
5
Convenience shops
4
Ballsbridge leads
0
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Castleknock leads
2
Banks
0
Ballsbridge leads
2
Post offices
2
4
Hairdressers
3
Ballsbridge leads
5
Dentists
4
Ballsbridge leads
0
Vets
1
Castleknock leads
2
Filling stations
1
Ballsbridge leads
5
EV charging
5
0
Library & community centre
2
Castleknock leads
1,072
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
138
Castleknock 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.

8m · ~15 rush
Dublinlower is better
17m · ~35 rush
Ballsbridge leads
120m · ~135 rush
Waterfordlower is better
118m · ~130 rush
Castleknock leads
142m · ~160 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Castleknock leads
151m · ~175 rush
Galwaylower is better
144m · ~170 rush
Castleknock leads
181m · ~205 rush
Corklower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Castleknock leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
11
Affluence (Pobal HP)
6.8
Ballsbridge leads
Ballsbridge · 24 EDs, poorest → richest
-2Pembroke East ABelow average
-2Pembroke East ABelow average
+5Pembroke East DAffluent
+6Pembroke East DAffluent
+9South DockAffluent
+10Rathmines East AAffluent
+10Pembroke West AAffluent
+10Pembroke East BAffluent
+10Pembroke East EAffluent
+11South DockAffluent
+11Pembroke East BAffluent
+11Pembroke East CAffluent
+11Pembroke West CAffluent
+12Pembroke West AAffluent
+12Rathmines East DAffluent
+12Rathmines East BAffluent
+12Pembroke East CVery affluent
+12Pembroke West BVery affluent
+12Rathmines East AVery affluent
+13Pembroke West BVery affluent
+13Pembroke East EVery affluent
+13Rathmines East DVery affluent
+14Rathmines East BVery affluent
+15Pembroke West CVery affluent
Castleknock · 8 EDs, poorest → richest
-7Blanchardstown-coolmineBelow average
-6Blanchardstown-coolmineBelow average
0Blanchardstown-delwoodBelow average
+0Blanchardstown-delwoodAbove average
+8Castleknock-knockmaroonAffluent
+9Castleknock-knockmaroonAffluent
+9Castleknock-parkAffluent
+10Castleknock-parkAffluent
76.9%
Third-level educated
60.1%
Ballsbridge leads
60.7%
Professional class
56.0%
Ballsbridge leads
5.6%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.1%
Ballsbridge leads
43.8%
Owner-occupier
71.7%
Castleknock leads
49.5%
Private rental
24.4%
3.2%
Social housing (LA)
3.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D04 / D15

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Ballsbridge → D04, Castleknock → D15); safety & crime are the DMR South Garda division.

65/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Castleknock leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D04 / D15) 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.

BallsbridgeCastleknockOverall (avg)
Safety65606648
Affordability1566
Infrastructure100100
Family3860
Education7863
Environment8069
Economic8653
020406080100020406080100
#50
National ranklower is better
#35
Castleknock leads
#13
County ranklower is better
#10
Castleknock leads
60/100
Safety
48/100
Ballsbridge leads
60.2
Crime / 1,000lower is better
79.6
Ballsbridge leads

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.

Ballsbridge Affluent+11.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Pembroke East A -2 (least affluent) → Pembroke West C +15 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Castleknock Affluent+6.8
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Blanchardstown-coolmine -7 (least affluent) → Castleknock-park +10 (most affluent). It straddles 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 (DMR South), 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 158 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Ballsbridge

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.