Town comparison · Castleknock vs Rathfarnham

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Castleknock or Rathfarnham?

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.

Castleknock, Co. Dublin City · D15 · 3,716 people | Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin City · D14 · 2,265 people

Castleknock is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Rathfarnham’s 1, with 3 level.

Castleknock leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
Rathfarnham leads on
safety
181915

Castleknock aheadlevel or not comparableRathfarnham ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CastleknockRathfarnham
iCastleknock sits in D15, Rathfarnham in D14. 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.
!Castleknock & Rathfarnham 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.

Castleknock
Rathfarnham

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.

3,716
Population
2,265

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€540k
Median sale pricelower is better
€705k
Castleknock leads
€433k – €744k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€570k – €883k
631
Sales (24m)
740
+1.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
+15.6%
17.7%
New-build share
12.3%

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.

7 prim · 3 sec
Schools
4 prim · 2 sec
Castleknock leads
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
Rathfarnham · 6 schools (largest first)
Loreto High School Secondary
645 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
St Columba's College Secondary
351 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Scoil Mhuire Boys Primary
388 pupils · Catholic
Na Maighdine Muire Girl Primary
224 pupils · Catholic
Scoil An Maighdine Mhuire Boys Primary
201 pupils · Catholic
Whitechurch Nat School Primary
199 pupils · Church Of Ireland
20
Creches
12
Castleknock leads
3
GP practices
1
Castleknock leads
8
Pharmacies
3
Castleknock leads
0
Hospitals
0
42
Bus stops
41
Castleknock leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Castleknock leads
5
Gyms & leisure
7
Rathfarnham leads
6
Parks & playgrounds
6
66
Sports pitches
41
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.

8
Restaurants
1
Castleknock leads
5
Cafés
5
10
Pubs & bars
6
Castleknock leads
9
Takeaways
3
Castleknock leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
1
Rathfarnham leads
116
Residents per venuelower is better
142
Castleknock 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.

4
Supermarkets
0
Castleknock leads
4
Convenience shops
7
Rathfarnham leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
0
Banks
3
Rathfarnham leads
2
Post offices
2
3
Hairdressers
3
4
Dentists
0
Castleknock leads
1
Vets
0
Castleknock leads
1
Filling stations
3
Rathfarnham leads
5
EV charging
2
Castleknock leads
2
Library & community centre
2
138
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
98
Rathfarnham 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
118m · ~130 rush
Waterford
118m · ~130 rush
139m · ~155 rush
Limerick
139m · ~155 rush
144m · ~170 rush
Galwaylower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Castleknock leads
178m · ~200 rush
Cork
178m · ~200 rush

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
6.8
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.1
Rathfarnham leads
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
Rathfarnham · 16 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+4Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+5Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+7Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+7Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+8Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+9Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+10Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+11Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
60.1%
Third-level educated
59.2%
Castleknock leads
56.0%
Professional class
61.6%
Rathfarnham leads
7.1%
Unemploymentlower is better
5.7%
Rathfarnham leads
71.7%
Owner-occupier
84.6%
Rathfarnham leads
24.4%
Private rental
12.9%
3.1%
Social housing (LA)
2.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D15 / D14

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (CastleknockD15, RathfarnhamD14); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

66/100
Quality of Life
71/100
Rathfarnham leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D15 / D14) 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.

CastleknockRathfarnhamOverall (avg)
Safety66487160
Affordability6610
Infrastructure100100
Family6075
Education6386
Environment6974
Economic5390
020406080100020406080100
#35
National ranklower is better
#10
Rathfarnham leads
#10
County ranklower is better
#2
Rathfarnham leads
48/100
Safety
60/100
Rathfarnham leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
60.2
Rathfarnham 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.

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.
Rathfarnham Affluent+7.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Churchtown-landscape +12 (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 West), 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 20 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Castleknock

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.