Town comparison · Cavan vs Kilkenny

Compare others

Cavan or Kilkenny?

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.

Cavan, Co. Cavan · H12 · 8,695 people | Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny · R95 · 26,831 people

Kilkenny is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Cavan’s 2, with 2 level.

Cavan leads on
safetyaffordability
Kilkenny leads on
affluenceeducation levelsaccess to its nearest city
8935

Cavan aheadlevel or not comparableKilkenny ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CavanKilkenny
iCavan sits in H12, Kilkenny in R95. 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
Kilkenny

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
26,831

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€236k
Median sale pricelower is better
€314k
Cavan leads
€164k – €315k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€238k – €420k
1,075
Sales (24m)
1,255
+25.0%
Price momentum (YoY)
+7.7%
4.9%
New-build share
14.5%

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
10 prim · 7 sec
Kilkenny 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
Kilkenny · 17 schools (largest first)
Loreto Secondary School Secondary
994 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Kilkenny College Secondary
919 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELAND
Presentation Secondary School Secondary
902 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Meánscoil Na Mbráithre Criostaí Secondary
836 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Kieran's College Secondary
802 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
City Vocational School Secondary
311 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Coláiste Pobail Osraí Secondary
222 pupils · 60% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONAL
St Canices Central N S Primary
645 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Osrai Primary
442 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Mhuire Primary
420 pupils · Catholic
S N Padraig Naofa Primary
341 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Naomh Eoin Dea Primary
331 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Iognaid De Ris Primary
255 pupils · Catholic
Kilkenny School Project Primary
240 pupils · Multi Denominational
St Johns Infants N S Primary
223 pupils · CatholicDEIS
St Johns Senior Ns Primary
216 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Kilkenny Mixed N S Primary
208 pupils · Church Of Ireland
15
Creches
29
Kilkenny leads
4
GP practices
17
Kilkenny leads
10
Pharmacies
19
Kilkenny leads
5
Hospitals
5
64
Bus stops
88
Kilkenny leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Kilkenny leads
20
Gyms & leisure
35
Kilkenny leads
14
Parks & playgrounds
48
Kilkenny leads
53
Sports pitches
150
Kilkenny 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
38
Kilkenny leads
14
Cafés
51
Kilkenny leads
25
Pubs & bars
54
Kilkenny leads
10
Takeaways
34
Kilkenny leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Cavan leads
1
Cinema & theatre
3
Kilkenny leads
130
Residents per venuelower is better
149
Cavan leads

Cavan is a small town and Kilkenny is a large town, so their national rankings aren’t like-for-like — each is ranked only against places of its own size. Compare them on the residents-per-venue row instead.

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
10
Cavan leads
14
Convenience shops
24
Kilkenny leads
7
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
9
Kilkenny leads
4
Banks
5
Kilkenny leads
1
Post offices
4
Kilkenny leads
27
Hairdressers
42
Kilkenny leads
7
Dentists
14
Kilkenny leads
1
Vets
4
Kilkenny leads
7
Filling stations
12
Kilkenny leads
6
EV charging
36
Kilkenny leads
11
Library & community centre
29
Kilkenny leads
90
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
142
Cavan 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.

194m · ~210 rush
Waterfordlower is better
40m · ~55 rush
Kilkenny leads
98m · ~135 rush
Dublinlower is better
93m · ~130 rush
Kilkenny leads
175m · ~195 rush
Limericklower is better
106m · ~125 rush
Kilkenny leads
238m · ~260 rush
Corklower is better
117m · ~140 rush
Kilkenny leads
137m · ~160 rush
Galwaylower is better
155m · ~180 rush
Cavan leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-10
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-2.7
Kilkenny leads
Cavan · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-19Cavan UrbanVery disadvantaged
-17Cavan UrbanVery disadvantaged
-5MoynehallBelow average
-3Cavan RuralBelow average
-2Cavan RuralBelow average
-2MoynehallBelow average
Kilkenny · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-8Kilkenny No. 1 UrbanBelow average
-5Kilkenny No. 1 UrbanBelow average
-3Kilkenny No. 2 UrbanBelow average
-3Kilkenny No. 2 UrbanBelow average
-2Kilkenny RuralBelow average
-1Kilkenny RuralBelow average
31.4%
Third-level educated
40.6%
Kilkenny leads
26.4%
Professional class
37.2%
Kilkenny leads
20.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
12.3%
Kilkenny leads
48.8%
Owner-occupier
58.1%
Kilkenny leads
30.9%
Private rental
25.3%
18.2%
Social housing (LA)
13.9%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H12 / R95

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Cavan → H12, Kilkenny → R95); safety & crime are the Cavan/Monaghan Garda division.

62/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Kilkenny leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H12 / R95) 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.

CavanKilkennyOverall (avg)
Safety62746662
Affordability10089
Infrastructure2465
Family8278
Education4243
Environment7677
Economic3449
020406080100020406080100
#66
National ranklower is better
#35
Kilkenny leads
#1
County rank
#1
74/100
Safety
62/100
Cavan leads
40
Crime / 1,000lower is better
57.6
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.
Kilkenny Below average-2.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Kilkenny No. 1 Urban -8 (least affluent) → Kilkenny Rural -1 (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 130 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Kilkenny

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.