Town comparison · Dun Laoghaire vs Swords

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Dun Laoghaire or Swords?

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.

Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin City · A96 · 3,061 people | Swords, Co. Fingal · K67 · 38,308 people

Dun Laoghaire and Swords are closely matched. Each leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions, with 1 level.

Dun Laoghaire leads on
affluenceeducation levelssafety
Swords leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
161521

Dun Laoghaire aheadlevel or not comparableSwords ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
Dun LaoghaireSwords
iDun Laoghaire sits in A96, Swords in K67. 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.
!Dun Laoghaire is a city suburb — 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.

Dun Laoghaire
Swords

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.

3,061
Population
38,308

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€642k
Median sale pricelower is better
€436k
Swords leads
€485k – €859k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€361k – €495k
486
Sales (24m)
1,098
-12.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
+6.9%
2.5%
New-build share
20.2%

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.

3 prim · 1 sec
Schools
12 prim · 5 sec
Swords leads
Dun Laoghaire · 4 schools (largest first)
Rathdown School Secondary
349 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Monkstown Eucate Together Ns Primary
427 pupils · Multi Denominational
St Josephs Primary
392 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Clochar San Dominic Primary
194 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Swords · 17 schools (largest first)
Swords Community College Secondary
930 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Fingal Community College Secondary
866 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONAL
St Finians Community College Secondary
661 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Loreto College Secondary
632 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Coláiste Choilm Secondary
425 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Holy Family Senior N S Primary
627 pupils · Catholic
Holy Family Junior N S Primary
581 pupils · Catholic
Brackenstown Senior N S Primary
569 pupils · Catholic
St Cronans Junior National School Primary
499 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe Primary
444 pupils · Inter Denominational
Swords Educate Together Ns Primary
405 pupils · Multi Denominational
S N Cholmcille C Primary
371 pupils · Catholic
S N Cholmille B Primary
335 pupils · Catholic
Thornleigh Educate Together National School Primary
299 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
River Valley Cns Primary
140 pupils · Multi Denominational
Swords Borough N S Primary
90 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Broadmeadow Community National School Primary
71 pupils · Multi Denominational
13
Creches
40
Swords leads
4
GP practices
5
Swords leads
8
Pharmacies
12
Swords leads
2
Hospitals
1
Dun Laoghaire leads
36
Bus stops
125
Swords leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Dun Laoghaire leads
11
Gyms & leisure
17
Swords leads
17
Parks & playgrounds
28
Swords leads
22
Sports pitches
77
Swords 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.

18
Restaurants
21
Swords leads
30
Cafés
17
Dun Laoghaire leads
7
Pubs & bars
18
Swords leads
14
Takeaways
28
Swords leads
0
Nightclubs
0
2
Cinema & theatre
1
Dun Laoghaire leads
43
Residents per venuelower is better
451
Dun Laoghaire leads

Dun Laoghaire is a small town and Swords 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.

6
Supermarkets
15
Swords leads
12
Convenience shops
14
Swords leads
5
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
6
Swords leads
5
Banks
7
Swords leads
3
Post offices
2
Dun Laoghaire leads
14
Hairdressers
22
Swords leads
5
Dentists
5
2
Vets
3
Swords leads
2
Filling stations
5
Swords leads
8
EV charging
8
7
Library & community centre
7
44
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
408
Dun Laoghaire 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.

21m · ~40 rush
Dublin
21m · ~40 rush
125m · ~140 rush
Waterfordlower is better
127m · ~140 rush
Dun Laoghaire leads
147m · ~165 rush
Limericklower is better
148m · ~165 rush
Dun Laoghaire leads
158m · ~180 rush
Galwaylower is better
153m · ~175 rush
Swords leads
186m · ~210 rush
Corklower is better
187m · ~210 rush
Dun Laoghaire leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
7.3
Affluence (Pobal HP)
1.6
Dun Laoghaire leads
Dun Laoghaire · 15 EDs, poorest → richest
+3Cabinteely-granitefieldAbove average
+4Dun Laoghaire-west CentralAbove average
+4Dun Laoghaire-west CentralAffluent
+5Dun Laoghaire-glasthuleAffluent
+5Cabinteely-granitefieldAffluent
+5Dun Laoghaire-glasthuleAffluent
+7Dun Laoghaire-glenagearyAffluent
+7Dun Laoghaire-sallynoggin WestAffluent
+8Dun Laoghaire-east CentralAffluent
+9Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Dun Laoghaire-east CentralAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+13Dun Laoghaire-glenagearyVery affluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
Swords · 10 EDs, poorest → richest
-4Swords-glasmoreBelow average
-2Swords-glasmoreBelow average
-1Swords VillageBelow average
-1Swords VillageBelow average
+1Swords-lissenhallAbove average
+2Swords-lissenhallAbove average
+4Swords-forrestAbove average
+4Swords-forrestAbove average
+5Swords-seatownAffluent
+5Swords-seatownAffluent
65.3%
Third-level educated
40.5%
Dun Laoghaire leads
56.6%
Professional class
39.9%
Dun Laoghaire leads
7.1%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.7%
Dun Laoghaire leads
51.9%
Owner-occupier
72.2%
Swords leads
37.0%
Private rental
21.2%
6.4%
Social housing (LA)
5.4%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A96 / K67

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Dun Laoghaire → A96, Swords → K67); safety & crime are the DMR East Garda division.

66/100
Quality of Life
66/100

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A96 / K67) 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.

Dun LaoghaireSwordsOverall (avg)
Safety66716659
Affordability1066
Infrastructure8875
Family6267
Education7856
Environment8074
Economic7362
020406080100020406080100
#35
National rank
#35
#10
County rank
#10
71/100
Safety
59/100
Dun Laoghaire leads
41.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
61.8
Dun Laoghaire 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.

Dun Laoghaire Affluent+7.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Cabinteely-granitefield +3 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above the national average.
Swords Above average+1.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Swords-glasmore -4 (least affluent) → Swords-seatown +6 (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 East), 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 134 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Dun Laoghaire

The towns are level, so these are from the first.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.