Town comparison · Kilkenny vs Thomastown

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Kilkenny or Thomastown?

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.

Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny · R95 · 26,831 people | Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny · R95 · 2,305 people

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

Kilkenny leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
Thomastown leads on
access to its nearest city
31147

Kilkenny aheadlevel or not comparableThomastown ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
KilkennyThomastown
iBoth towns sit in the same Eircode area R95 — on the routing-key area page they would read as one number. At town level they diverge. 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.

Kilkenny
Thomastown

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.

26,831
Population
2,305

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€312k
Median sale pricelower is better
€352k
Kilkenny leads
€235k – €414k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€265k – €396k
1,265
Sales (24m)
116
+3.0%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
14.9%
New-build share
31.9%

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.

10 prim · 7 sec
Schools
1 prim · 1 sec
Kilkenny leads
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
Thomastown · 2 schools (largest first)
Grennan College Secondary
334 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
St Mary's National School Primary
414 pupils · Catholic
29
Creches
4
Kilkenny leads
17
GP practices
1
Kilkenny leads
19
Pharmacies
3
Kilkenny leads
5
Hospitals
2
Kilkenny leads
88
Bus stops
2
Kilkenny leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
1
35
Gyms & leisure
3
Kilkenny leads
48
Parks & playgrounds
4
Kilkenny leads
150
Sports pitches
22
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.

38
Restaurants
5
Kilkenny leads
51
Cafés
4
Kilkenny leads
54
Pubs & bars
8
Kilkenny leads
34
Takeaways
4
Kilkenny leads
0
Nightclubs
0
3
Cinema & theatre
1
Kilkenny leads
149
Residents per venuelower is better
105
Thomastown leads

Kilkenny is a large town and Thomastown is a small 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.

10
Supermarkets
2
Kilkenny leads
24
Convenience shops
1
Kilkenny leads
9
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Kilkenny leads
5
Banks
1
Kilkenny leads
4
Post offices
1
Kilkenny leads
42
Hairdressers
3
Kilkenny leads
14
Dentists
0
Kilkenny leads
4
Vets
2
Kilkenny leads
12
Filling stations
1
Kilkenny leads
36
EV charging
7
Kilkenny leads
29
Library & community centre
2
Kilkenny leads
142
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
110
Thomastown 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.

40m · ~55 rush
Waterfordlower is better
34m · ~50 rush
Thomastown leads
93m · ~130 rush
Dublinlower is better
100m · ~135 rush
Kilkenny leads
106m · ~125 rush
Limericklower is better
122m · ~140 rush
Kilkenny leads
117m · ~140 rush
Corklower is better
124m · ~145 rush
Kilkenny leads
155m · ~180 rush
Galwaylower is better
171m · ~195 rush
Kilkenny leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-2.7
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-2.2
Thomastown leads
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
Thomastown · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-8Jerpoint ChurchBelow average
-5Jerpoint ChurchBelow average
-2ThomastownBelow average
0ThomastownBelow average
40.6%
Third-level educated
34.2%
Kilkenny leads
37.2%
Professional class
40.1%
Thomastown leads
12.3%
Unemploymentlower is better
9.0%
Thomastown leads
58.1%
Owner-occupier
67.1%
Thomastown leads
25.3%
Private rental
12.8%
13.9%
Social housing (LA)
7.7%

Liveability & safety

AREA · R95 / R95

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (KilkennyR95, ThomastownR95); safety & crime are the Kilkenny/Carlow Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

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 (R95 / 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.

KilkennyThomastownOverall (avg)
Safety66626662
Affordability8989
Infrastructure6565
Family7878
Education4343
Environment7777
Economic4949
020406080100020406080100
#35
National rank
#35
#1
County rank
#1
62/100
Safety
62/100
57.6
Crime / 1,000
57.6

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.

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.
Thomastown Below average-2.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Jerpoint Church -8 (least affluent) → Thomastown 0 (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 (Kilkenny/Carlow), 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 106 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.