Town comparison · Ballybay vs Carrickmacross

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Ballybay or Carrickmacross?

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.

Ballybay, Co. Monaghan · A75 · 1,310 people | Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan · A81 · 5,377 people

Carrickmacross is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 5 of the 7 dimensions to Ballybay’s 1, with 1 level.

Ballybay leads on
affordability
Carrickmacross leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
61828

Ballybay aheadlevel or not comparableCarrickmacross ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallybayCarrickmacross
iBallybay sits in A75, Carrickmacross in A81. 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.

Ballybay
Carrickmacross

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.

1,310
Population
5,377

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€225k
Median sale pricelower is better
€283k
Ballybay leads
€140k – €313k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€200k – €322k
46
Sales (24m)
197
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
+2.0%
23.9%
New-build share
21.3%

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.

2 prim · 1 sec
Schools
3 prim · 3 sec
Carrickmacross leads
Ballybay · 3 schools (largest first)
Ballybay Community College Secondary
345 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Éanna Primary
216 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Ballybay Central Ns Primary
56 pupils · PresbyterianDEIS
Carrickmacross · 6 schools (largest first)
Inver College Secondary
700 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Patrician High School Secondary
413 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Louis Secondary School Secondary
409 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Bunscoil Louis Naofa Primary
267 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Rois Primary
258 pupils · Catholic
St Joseph's National School Primary
238 pupils · Catholic
2
Creches
6
Carrickmacross leads
N/A
GP practices
3
0
Pharmacies
4
Carrickmacross leads
0
Hospitals
0
5
Bus stops
9
Carrickmacross leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
0
Gyms & leisure
12
Carrickmacross leads
4
Parks & playgrounds
4
8
Sports pitches
17
Carrickmacross 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.

0
Restaurants
2
Carrickmacross leads
0
Cafés
5
Carrickmacross leads
7
Pubs & bars
12
Carrickmacross leads
2
Takeaways
11
Carrickmacross leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
146
Residents per venuelower is better
179
Ballybay 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.

1
Supermarkets
4
Carrickmacross leads
3
Convenience shops
5
Carrickmacross leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
5
Carrickmacross leads
1
Banks
3
Carrickmacross leads
1
Post offices
1
2
Hairdressers
14
Carrickmacross leads
0
Dentists
0
0
Vets
0
2
Filling stations
5
Carrickmacross leads
1
EV charging
3
Carrickmacross leads
2
Library & community centre
3
Carrickmacross leads
87
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
125
Ballybay 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.

91m · ~125 rush
Dublinlower is better
70m · ~105 rush
Carrickmacross leads
172m · ~195 rush
Galwaylower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Ballybay leads
197m · ~210 rush
Waterfordlower is better
176m · ~190 rush
Carrickmacross leads
209m · ~225 rush
Limericklower is better
197m · ~215 rush
Carrickmacross leads
258m · ~280 rush
Corklower is better
237m · ~260 rush
Carrickmacross leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-9.7
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-6.3
Carrickmacross leads
Ballybay · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-16Ballybay UrbanVery disadvantaged
-10Ballybay RuralDisadvantaged
-7Ballybay UrbanBelow average
-7Ballybay RuralBelow average
Carrickmacross · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-10Carrickmacross UrbanDisadvantaged
-8Carrickmacross UrbanDisadvantaged
-6Carrickmacross RuralBelow average
-3BallymackneyBelow average
-2Carrickmacross RuralBelow average
-2BallymackneyBelow average
26.3%
Third-level educated
31.3%
Carrickmacross leads
26.3%
Professional class
28.3%
Carrickmacross leads
15.0%
Unemploymentlower is better
14.0%
Carrickmacross leads
52.6%
Owner-occupier
56.0%
Carrickmacross leads
29.8%
Private rental
25.7%
13.2%
Social housing (LA)
13.3%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A75 / A81

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BallybayA75, CarrickmacrossA81); safety & crime are the Cavan/Monaghan Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

68/100
Quality of Life
70/100
Carrickmacross leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A75 / A81) 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.

BallybayCarrickmacrossOverall (avg)
Safety68747074
Affordability10098
Infrastructure8789
Family8180
Education3232
Environment6482
Economic3936
020406080100020406080100
#13
National ranklower is better
#18
Ballybay leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#2
Ballybay leads
74/100
Safety
74/100
40
Crime / 1,000
40

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.

Ballybay Disadvantaged-9.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Ballybay Urban -16 (least affluent) → Ballybay Rural -6 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Carrickmacross Below average-6.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Carrickmacross Urban -10 (least affluent) → Ballymackney -2 (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 (Cavan/Monaghan), 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 28 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Carrickmacross

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.