Town comparison · Castleknock vs Sandyford

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Castleknock or Sandyford?

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 | Sandyford, Co. Dublin City · D18 · 3,522 people

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

Castleknock leads on
schools & amenities
Sandyford leads on
public transportsafetyaffordability
141424

Castleknock aheadlevel or not comparableSandyford ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CastleknockSandyford
iCastleknock sits in D15, Sandyford in D18. 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 & Sandyford 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
Sandyford

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
3,522

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€540k
Median sale pricelower is better
€490k
Sandyford leads
€433k – €744k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€400k – €690k
631
Sales (24m)
453
+1.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
+12.9%
17.7%
New-build share
11.0%

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
3 prim · 0 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
Sandyford · 3 schools (largest first)
Stepaside Educate Together National School Primary
514 pupils · Multi Denominational
Gaelscoil Thaobh Na Coille Primary
409 pupils · Catholic
St. Mary's National School Primary
244 pupils · Catholic
20
Creches
12
Castleknock leads
3
GP practices
2
Castleknock leads
8
Pharmacies
5
Castleknock leads
0
Hospitals
1
Sandyford leads
42
Bus stops
52
Sandyford leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
6
Sandyford leads
5
Gyms & leisure
20
Sandyford leads
6
Parks & playgrounds
8
Sandyford leads
66
Sports pitches
13
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
12
Sandyford leads
5
Cafés
17
Sandyford leads
10
Pubs & bars
3
Castleknock leads
9
Takeaways
10
Sandyford leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
116
Residents per venuelower is better
84
Sandyford 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
4
4
Convenience shops
6
Sandyford leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
0
Banks
3
Sandyford leads
2
Post offices
1
Castleknock leads
3
Hairdressers
4
Sandyford leads
4
Dentists
1
Castleknock leads
1
Vets
1
1
Filling stations
1
5
EV charging
6
Sandyford leads
2
Library & community centre
3
Sandyford leads
138
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
114
Sandyford 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
Dublinlower is better
21m · ~40 rush
Castleknock leads
118m · ~130 rush
Waterford
118m · ~130 rush
139m · ~155 rush
Limericklower is better
140m · ~160 rush
Castleknock leads
144m · ~170 rush
Galwaylower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Castleknock leads
178m · ~200 rush
Corklower is better
179m · ~200 rush
Castleknock leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
6.8
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.4
Sandyford 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
Sandyford · 12 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+6Dundrum-sandyfordAffluent
+6Dundrum-balallyAffluent
+8Dundrum-sandyfordAffluent
+9Dundrum-balallyAffluent
+9GlencullenAffluent
+9GlencullenAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
60.1%
Third-level educated
61.5%
Sandyford leads
56.0%
Professional class
52.9%
Castleknock leads
7.1%
Unemploymentlower is better
6.9%
Sandyford leads
71.7%
Owner-occupier
58.0%
Castleknock leads
24.4%
Private rental
32.8%
3.1%
Social housing (LA)
6.7%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D15 / D18

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (CastleknockD15, SandyfordD18); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

66/100
Quality of Life
71/100
Sandyford leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D15 / D18) 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.

CastleknockSandyfordOverall (avg)
Safety66487160
Affordability6634
Infrastructure100100
Family6063
Education6370
Environment6982
Economic5386
020406080100020406080100
#35
National ranklower is better
#10
Sandyford leads
#10
County ranklower is better
#2
Sandyford leads
48/100
Safety
60/100
Sandyford leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
60.2
Sandyford 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.
Sandyford Affluent+7.4
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (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 21 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Sandyford

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.