Town comparison · Cavan vs Donegal

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Cavan or Donegal?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Cavan, Co. Cavan · H12 · 8,695 people | Donegal, Co. Donegal · F94 · 3,000 people

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

Cavan leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportsafetyaccess to its nearest city
Donegal leads on
affluenceeducation levels
34910

Cavan aheadlevel or not comparableDonegal ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CavanDonegal
iCavan sits in H12, Donegal in F94. 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.

Cavan
Donegal

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.

8,695
Population
3,000

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€236k
Median sale pricelower is better
€190k
Donegal leads
€164k – €315k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€128k – €275k
1,075
Sales (24m)
1,549
+25.0%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
4.9%
New-build share
5.2%

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.

7 prim · 4 sec
Schools
4 prim · 1 sec
Cavan leads
Cavan · 11 schools (largest first)
Breifne College Secondary
893 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
St Patrick's College Secondary
809 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Loreto College Secondary
689 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Royal School Cavan Secondary
354 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELAND
St Clares Primary School Primary
550 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Sn Naomh Feidhlim Boys Snr Sch Primary
276 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Dromaili S N Primary
217 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Bhreifne Primary
201 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
Cavan 1 N S Primary
62 pupils · Church Of Ireland
S N Corr Lorgan Primary
57 pupils · Catholic
S N Drom Cnamh Primary
45 pupils · Catholic
Donegal · 5 schools (largest first)
Abbey Vocational School Secondary
999 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil An Linbh Íosa Primary
266 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Aodh Rua&nuala Primary
235 pupils · Catholic
Glebe Ns Primary
121 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Gaelscoil Na Gceithre Maistri Primary
54 pupils · Inter Denominational
15
Creches
11
Cavan leads
4
GP practices
2
Cavan leads
10
Pharmacies
3
Cavan leads
5
Hospitals
1
Cavan leads
64
Bus stops
3
Cavan leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
20
Gyms & leisure
2
Cavan leads
14
Parks & playgrounds
2
Cavan leads
53
Sports pitches
12
Cavan 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
13
Cavan leads
14
Cafés
4
Cavan leads
25
Pubs & bars
14
Cavan leads
10
Takeaways
6
Cavan leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Cavan leads
1
Cinema & theatre
0
Cavan leads
130
Residents per venuelower is better
81
Donegal leads
#2 of 131 small towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#18 of 131 small towns
Cavan 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.

12
Supermarkets
3
Cavan leads
14
Convenience shops
4
Cavan leads
7
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
2
Cavan leads
4
Banks
5
Donegal leads
1
Post offices
1
27
Hairdressers
4
Cavan leads
7
Dentists
1
Cavan leads
1
Vets
2
Donegal leads
7
Filling stations
4
Cavan leads
6
EV charging
4
Cavan leads
11
Library & community centre
4
Cavan leads
90
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
88
Donegal 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.

98m · ~135 rush
Dublinlower is better
186m · ~220 rush
Cavan leads
137m · ~160 rush
Galwaylower is better
177m · ~200 rush
Cavan leads
175m · ~195 rush
Limericklower is better
223m · ~240 rush
Cavan leads
194m · ~210 rush
Waterfordlower is better
283m · ~295 rush
Cavan leads
238m · ~260 rush
Corklower is better
303m · ~325 rush
Cavan leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-10
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-4.2
Donegal leads
Cavan · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-19Cavan UrbanVery disadvantaged
-17Cavan UrbanVery disadvantaged
-5MoynehallBelow average
-3Cavan RuralBelow average
-2Cavan RuralBelow average
-2MoynehallBelow average
Donegal · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-6DonegalBelow average
-3DonegalBelow average
31.4%
Third-level educated
36.1%
Donegal leads
26.4%
Professional class
36.0%
Donegal leads
20.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
10.5%
Donegal leads
48.8%
Owner-occupier
70.6%
Donegal leads
30.9%
Private rental
18.6%
18.2%
Social housing (LA)
9.0%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H12 / F94

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Cavan → H12, Donegal → F94); safety & crime are the Cavan/Monaghan Garda division.

62/100
Quality of Life
57/100
Cavan leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H12 / F94) 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.

CavanDonegalOverall (avg)
Safety62745771
Affordability100100
Infrastructure2422
Family8283
Education4220
Environment7674
Economic3428
020406080100020406080100
#66
National ranklower is better
#93
Cavan leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#2
Cavan leads
74/100
Safety
71/100
Cavan leads
40
Crime / 1,000lower is better
44.8
Cavan 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.

Cavan Disadvantaged-10.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Cavan Urban -19 (least affluent) → Moynehall -2 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Donegal Below average-4.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Donegal -6 (least affluent) → Donegal -3 (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 44 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Cavan

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.