Town comparison · Blackrock vs Blarney

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Blackrock or Blarney?

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.

Blackrock, Co. Cork City · T12 · 664 people | Blarney, Co. Cork City · T23 · 2,559 people

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

Blackrock leads on
public transport
Blarney leads on
affluenceaffordability
171817

Blackrock aheadlevel or not comparableBlarney ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BlackrockBlarney
iBlackrock sits in T12, Blarney in T23. 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.
!Blackrock is a city suburb — 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.

Blackrock
Blarney

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.

664
Population
2,559

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€425k
Median sale pricelower is better
€334k
Blarney leads
€331k – €573k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€257k – €425k
209
Sales (24m)
165
+8.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
1.9%
New-build share
4.2%

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.

1 prim · 1 sec
Schools
2 prim · 1 sec
Blarney leads
Blackrock · 2 schools (largest first)
Christ King Girls' Secondary School Secondary
703 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Scoil Ursula Primary
188 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Blarney · 3 schools (largest first)
Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal Secondary
1,082 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Scoil Chroí Íosa Primary
287 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Mhuscraí Primary
186 pupils · Catholic
6
Creches
7
Blarney leads
N/A
GP practices
2
2
Pharmacies
2
0
Hospitals
0
18
Bus stops
6
Blackrock leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
3
Gyms & leisure
1
Blackrock leads
4
Parks & playgrounds
4
9
Sports pitches
11
Blarney 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.

4
Restaurants
11
Blarney leads
6
Cafés
2
Blackrock leads
5
Pubs & bars
4
Blackrock leads
5
Takeaways
2
Blackrock leads
0
Nightclubs
0
1
Cinema & theatre
0
Blackrock leads
32
Residents per venuelower is better
135
Blackrock 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
0
Blackrock leads
2
Convenience shops
3
Blarney leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
2
2
Banks
2
1
Post offices
1
1
Hairdressers
7
Blarney leads
0
Dentists
2
Blarney leads
0
Vets
2
Blarney leads
1
Filling stations
2
Blarney leads
2
EV charging
1
Blackrock leads
0
Library & community centre
2
Blarney leads
55
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
107
Blackrock 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.

9m · ~15 rush
Corklower is better
13m · ~20 rush
Blackrock leads
94m · ~110 rush
Limericklower is better
79m · ~95 rush
Blarney leads
105m · ~120 rush
Waterfordlower is better
116m · ~130 rush
Blackrock leads
164m · ~190 rush
Galwaylower is better
149m · ~175 rush
Blarney leads
175m · ~210 rush
Dublinlower is better
186m · ~220 rush
Blackrock leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-2.6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
1.3
Blarney leads
Blackrock · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-8Mahon BBelow average
-4Mahon BBelow average
-3Mahon ABelow average
-2Tramore CBelow average
-1Mahon ABelow average
+1Tramore CAbove average
Blarney · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
0BlarneyBelow average
+3BlarneyAbove average
40.6%
Third-level educated
40.0%
Blackrock leads
36.8%
Professional class
41.8%
Blarney leads
11.6%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.0%
Blarney leads
53.1%
Owner-occupier
75.1%
Blarney leads
22.5%
Private rental
16.6%
22.5%
Social housing (LA)
6.7%

Liveability & safety

AREA · T12 / T23

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BlackrockT12, BlarneyT23); safety & crime are the Cork City Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

66/100
Quality of Life
60/100
Blackrock leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (T12 / T23) 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.

BlackrockBlarneyOverall (avg)
Safety66616061
Affordability7292
Infrastructure8693
Family6455
Education5528
Environment6269
Economic6423
020406080100020406080100
#35
National ranklower is better
#81
Blackrock leads
#9
County ranklower is better
#15
Blackrock leads
61/100
Safety
61/100
58.8
Crime / 1,000
58.8

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.

Blackrock Below average-2.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Mahon B -8 (least affluent) → Tramore C +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Blarney Above average+1.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Blarney 0 (least affluent) → Blarney +3 (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 (Cork City), 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 13 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Blarney

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.