Town comparison · Lucan vs Rathcoole

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Lucan or Rathcoole?

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.

Lucan, Co. Dublin · K78 · 55,785 people | Rathcoole, Co. Cork · P51 · 218 people

Lucan is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 5 of the 7 dimensions to Rathcoole’s 2.

Lucan leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
Rathcoole leads on
safetyaffordability
32128

Lucan aheadlevel or not comparableRathcoole ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
LucanRathcoole
iLucan sits in K78, Rathcoole in P51. 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.

Lucan
Rathcoole

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.

55,785
Population
218

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€460k
Median sale pricelower is better
€285k
Rathcoole leads
€401k – €520k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€200k – €295k
1,217
Sales (24m)
13
+5.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
30.6%
New-build share
N/A

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.

16 prim · 7 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Lucan leads
Lucan · 23 schools (largest first)
Adamstown Community College Secondary
980 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Lucan Community College Secondary
966 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St Joseph's College Secondary
937 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Kishoge Community College Secondary
925 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Coláiste Phádraig Cbs Secondary
704 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Griffeen Community College Secondary
537 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St. Kevin's Community College Secondary
488 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Scoil Aine Naofa Primary
617 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Mhuire Primary
576 pupils · Catholic
St Thomas Junior National School Primary
568 pupils · Catholic
Lucan B N S Primary
515 pupils · Catholic
St Marys N S Primary
495 pupils · Catholic
Griffeen Valley Educate Together Ns Primary
480 pupils · Multi Denominational
Adamstown Castle Educate Together National School Primary
432 pupils · Multi Denominational
Lucan East Etns Primary
427 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
St. John The Evangelist National School Primary
418 pupils · Catholic
Esker Educate Together Ns Primary
391 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
St Andrews N S Primary
387 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Lucan Educate Together Ns Primary
384 pupils · Multi Denominational
Lucan Community National School Primary
383 pupils · Multi Denominational
Gaelscoil Naomh Padraig Primary
378 pupils · Catholic
Divine Mercy Senior National School Primary
306 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Divine Mercy Junior National School Primary
213 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Rathcoole · 1 schools (largest first)
S N Breandan Naofa Primary
75 pupils · Catholic
43
Creches
2
Lucan leads
2
GP practices
N/A
9
Pharmacies
0
Lucan leads
3
Hospitals
0
Lucan leads
169
Bus stops
0
Lucan leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
0
Lucan leads
12
Gyms & leisure
1
Lucan leads
29
Parks & playgrounds
0
Lucan leads
93
Sports pitches
1
Lucan 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.

12
Restaurants
0
Lucan leads
10
Cafés
0
Lucan leads
8
Pubs & bars
0
Lucan leads
19
Takeaways
0
Lucan leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
1,138
Residents per venue
N/A

Lucan is a large town and Rathcoole 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.

12
Supermarkets
0
Lucan leads
11
Convenience shops
0
Lucan leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Lucan leads
5
Banks
0
Lucan leads
3
Post offices
0
Lucan leads
9
Hairdressers
0
Lucan leads
2
Dentists
0
Lucan leads
2
Vets
0
Lucan leads
4
Filling stations
0
Lucan leads
6
EV charging
0
Lucan leads
9
Library & community centre
0
Lucan leads
858
Residents per shop or service
N/A

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
Dublinlower is better
24m · ~50 rush
Lucan leads
110m · ~125 rush
Waterfordlower is better
99m · ~115 rush
Rathcoole leads
132m · ~150 rush
Limericklower is better
121m · ~140 rush
Rathcoole leads
133m · ~155 rush
Galwaylower is better
146m · ~170 rush
Lucan leads
171m · ~195 rush
Corklower is better
160m · ~180 rush
Rathcoole leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
3.4
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-1.5
Lucan leads
Lucan · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
0Lucan HeightsBelow average
+1Lucan HeightsAbove average
+2Lucan-eskerAbove average
+3Lucan-st. HelensAbove average
+4Lucan-eskerAffluent
+6Lucan-st. HelensAffluent
Rathcoole · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-3RathcoolBelow average
+0RathcoolAbove average
49.5%
Third-level educated
28.9%
Lucan leads
45.0%
Professional class
35.1%
Lucan leads
8.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.1%
Rathcoole leads
71.1%
Owner-occupier
83.5%
Rathcoole leads
21.4%
Private rental
11.7%
5.0%
Social housing (LA)
3.8%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K78 / P51

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Lucan → K78, Rathcoole → P51); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

70/100
Quality of Life
64/100
Lucan leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (K78 / P51) 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.

LucanRathcooleOverall (avg)
Safety70486456
Affordability5999
Infrastructure9357
Family6982
Education7341
Environment8466
Economic6749
020406080100020406080100
#18
National ranklower is better
#58
Lucan leads
#6
County ranklower is better
#12
Lucan leads
48/100
Safety
56/100
Rathcoole leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
67
Rathcoole 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.

Lucan Above average+3.4
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Lucan Heights 0 (least affluent) → Lucan-st. Helens +6 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Rathcoole Below average-1.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Rathcool -3 (least affluent) → Rathcool +0 (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 171 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Lucan

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.