Town comparison · Blackrock vs Castleknock

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Blackrock 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.

Blackrock, Co. Dublin City · A94 · 6,359 people | Castleknock, Co. Dublin City · D15 · 3,716 people

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

Blackrock leads on
affluenceeducation levelspublic transportsafety
Castleknock leads on
schools & amenitiesaffordability
261313

Blackrock aheadlevel or not comparableCastleknock ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BlackrockCastleknock
iBlackrock sits in A94, 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.
!Blackrock & 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.

Blackrock
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.

6,359
Population
3,716

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€860k
Median sale pricelower is better
€540k
Castleknock leads
€610k – €1228k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€433k – €744k
683
Sales (24m)
631
+0.0%
Price momentum (YoY)
+1.5%
10.7%
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.

6 prim · 2 sec
Schools
7 prim · 3 sec
Castleknock leads
Blackrock · 8 schools (largest first)
Newpark Comprehensive School Secondary
849 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELAND
Dominican College Secondary
508 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Carysfort Ns Primary
588 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Padraig Naofa B Primary
512 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Lorcáin Primary
488 pupils · Catholic
St Patricks Gns Primary
487 pupils · Catholic
Booterstown N S Primary
92 pupils · Church Of Ireland
All Saints N S Primary
50 pupils · Church Of Ireland
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
12
Creches
20
Castleknock leads
8
GP practices
3
Blackrock leads
8
Pharmacies
8
1
Hospitals
0
Blackrock leads
62
Bus stops
42
Blackrock leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
1
Blackrock leads
23
Gyms & leisure
5
Blackrock leads
7
Parks & playgrounds
6
Blackrock leads
43
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.

16
Restaurants
8
Blackrock leads
22
Cafés
5
Blackrock leads
6
Pubs & bars
10
Castleknock leads
13
Takeaways
9
Blackrock leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
112
Residents per venuelower is better
116
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.

3
Supermarkets
4
Castleknock leads
10
Convenience shops
4
Blackrock leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Blackrock leads
4
Banks
0
Blackrock leads
1
Post offices
2
Castleknock leads
19
Hairdressers
3
Blackrock leads
7
Dentists
4
Blackrock leads
1
Vets
1
1
Filling stations
1
3
EV charging
5
Castleknock leads
4
Library & community centre
2
Blackrock leads
116
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
138
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.

17m · ~35 rush
Dublin
17m · ~35 rush
123m · ~135 rush
Waterfordlower is better
118m · ~130 rush
Castleknock leads
145m · ~165 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Castleknock leads
156m · ~180 rush
Galwaylower is better
144m · ~170 rush
Castleknock leads
184m · ~205 rush
Corklower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Castleknock leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
9.5
Affluence (Pobal HP)
6.8
Blackrock leads
Blackrock · 17 EDs, poorest → richest
+5Blackrock-newparkAffluent
+6Blackrock-templehillAffluent
+6Blackrock-newparkAffluent
+7Blackrock-templehillAffluent
+9Foxrock-deansgrangeAffluent
+9Stillorgan-prioryAffluent
+9Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Stillorgan-prioryAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+10Blackrock-seapointAffluent
+10Blackrock-glenomenaAffluent
+11Blackrock-seapointAffluent
+12Blackrock-centralAffluent
+12Blackrock-glenomenaAffluent
+12Blackrock-centralVery affluent
+17Mansion House BVery 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
72.2%
Third-level educated
60.1%
Blackrock leads
63.9%
Professional class
56.0%
Blackrock leads
5.8%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.1%
Blackrock leads
68.9%
Owner-occupier
71.7%
Castleknock leads
25.5%
Private rental
24.4%
3.6%
Social housing (LA)
3.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A94 / D15

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BlackrockA94, CastleknockD15); safety & crime are the DMR East Garda division.

72/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Blackrock leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A94 / 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.

BlackrockCastleknockOverall (avg)
Safety72716648
Affordability1066
Infrastructure88100
Family7660
Education8563
Environment8069
Economic9453
020406080100020406080100
#4
National ranklower is better
#35
Blackrock leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#10
Blackrock leads
71/100
Safety
48/100
Blackrock leads
41.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
79.6
Blackrock 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.

Blackrock Affluent+9.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Blackrock-newpark +5 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above 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 East), 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 34 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Blackrock

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.