Town comparison · Castleblayney vs Smithborough

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Castleblayney or Smithborough?

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.

Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan · A75 · 3,801 people | Smithborough, Co. Monaghan · H18 · 320 people

Castleblayney is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Smithborough’s 0, with 4 level.

Castleblayney leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiesaccess to its nearest city
281410

Castleblayney aheadlevel or not comparableSmithborough ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CastleblayneySmithborough
iCastleblayney sits in A75, Smithborough in H18. 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.

Castleblayney
Smithborough

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.

3,801
Population
320

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€240k
Median sale pricelower is better
€218k
Smithborough leads
€160k – €285k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€195k – €235k
129
Sales (24m)
17
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
3.1%
New-build share
N/A

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.

5 prim · 2 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Castleblayney leads
Castleblayney · 7 schools (largest first)
Our Lady's Secondary School Secondary
865 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Castleblayney College Secondary
412 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Castleblayney Convent Infants National School Primary
192 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Scoil Mhuire Bns Primary
188 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Lorgan Primary
154 pupils · Inter Denominational
Castleblayney Convent National School Primary
153 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Castleblayney Cent N S Primary
10 pupils · Presbyterian
Smithborough · 1 schools (largest first)
Scoil Mhuire Primary
100 pupils · Catholic
7
Creches
1
Castleblayney leads
1
GP practices
N/A
4
Pharmacies
0
Castleblayney leads
1
Hospitals
0
Castleblayney leads
3
Bus stops
2
Castleblayney leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
3
Gyms & leisure
2
Castleblayney leads
5
Parks & playgrounds
1
Castleblayney leads
23
Sports pitches
3
Castleblayney 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.

3
Restaurants
0
Castleblayney leads
7
Cafés
0
Castleblayney leads
16
Pubs & bars
2
Castleblayney leads
7
Takeaways
1
Castleblayney leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Castleblayney leads
1
Cinema & theatre
0
Castleblayney leads
109
Residents per venuelower is better
107
Smithborough 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
0
Castleblayney leads
7
Convenience shops
1
Castleblayney leads
3
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Castleblayney leads
3
Banks
0
Castleblayney leads
1
Post offices
1
6
Hairdressers
0
Castleblayney leads
2
Dentists
0
Castleblayney leads
0
Vets
0
4
Filling stations
1
Castleblayney leads
1
EV charging
0
Castleblayney leads
2
Library & community centre
0
Castleblayney leads
123
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
107
Smithborough 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.

84m · ~120 rush
Dublinlower is better
110m · ~145 rush
Castleblayney leads
187m · ~210 rush
Galwaylower is better
166m · ~190 rush
Smithborough leads
189m · ~205 rush
Waterfordlower is better
216m · ~230 rush
Castleblayney leads
211m · ~230 rush
Limericklower is better
204m · ~220 rush
Smithborough leads
250m · ~270 rush
Corklower is better
266m · ~290 rush
Castleblayney leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-7.7
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-8
Castleblayney leads
Castleblayney · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-10Castleblayney UrbanDisadvantaged
-7Castleblayney RuralBelow average
Smithborough · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-9DrumsnatDisadvantaged
-7DrumsnatBelow average
29.4%
Third-level educated
26.9%
Castleblayney leads
28.4%
Professional class
29.5%
Smithborough leads
12.0%
Unemploymentlower is better
11.0%
Smithborough leads
54.0%
Owner-occupier
70.0%
Smithborough leads
26.0%
Private rental
13.3%
14.9%
Social housing (LA)
11.5%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A75 / H18

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (CastleblayneyA75, SmithboroughH18); safety & crime are the Cavan/Monaghan Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

68/100
Quality of Life
72/100
Smithborough leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A75 / H18) 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.

CastleblayneySmithboroughOverall (avg)
Safety68747274
Affordability100100
Infrastructure8788
Family8179
Education3244
Environment6482
Economic3938
020406080100020406080100
#13
National ranklower is better
#4
Smithborough leads
#1
County rank
#1
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.

Castleblayney Below average-7.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Castleblayney Urban -10 (least affluent) → Castleblayney Rural -7 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Smithborough Below average-8.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Drumsnat -9 (least affluent) → Drumsnat -7 (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 17 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Castleblayney

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.