Town comparison · Lucan vs Rathfarnham

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Lucan or Rathfarnham?

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 | Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin City · D14 · 2,265 people

Lucan and Rathfarnham are closely matched. Each leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions, with 1 level.

Lucan leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
Rathfarnham leads on
affluenceeducation levelssafety
30814

Lucan aheadlevel or not comparableRathfarnham ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
LucanRathfarnham
iLucan sits in K78, Rathfarnham in D14. 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.
!Rathfarnham 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.

Lucan
Rathfarnham

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
2,265

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€460k
Median sale pricelower is better
€705k
Lucan leads
€401k – €520k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€570k – €890k
1,217
Sales (24m)
747
+5.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
+11.2%
30.6%
New-build share
12.2%

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.

16 prim · 7 sec
Schools
4 prim · 2 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
Rathfarnham · 6 schools (largest first)
Loreto High School Secondary
645 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
St Columba's College Secondary
351 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Scoil Mhuire Boys Primary
388 pupils · Catholic
Na Maighdine Muire Girl Primary
224 pupils · Catholic
Scoil An Maighdine Mhuire Boys Primary
201 pupils · Catholic
Whitechurch Nat School Primary
199 pupils · Church Of Ireland
43
Creches
12
Lucan leads
2
GP practices
1
Lucan leads
9
Pharmacies
3
Lucan leads
3
Hospitals
0
Lucan leads
169
Bus stops
41
Lucan leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
0
Lucan leads
12
Gyms & leisure
7
Lucan leads
29
Parks & playgrounds
6
Lucan leads
93
Sports pitches
41
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
1
Lucan leads
10
Cafés
5
Lucan leads
8
Pubs & bars
6
Lucan leads
19
Takeaways
3
Lucan leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
1
Rathfarnham leads
1,138
Residents per venuelower is better
142
Rathfarnham leads

Lucan is a large town and Rathfarnham 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
7
Lucan leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Lucan leads
5
Banks
3
Lucan leads
3
Post offices
2
Lucan leads
9
Hairdressers
3
Lucan leads
2
Dentists
0
Lucan leads
2
Vets
0
Lucan leads
4
Filling stations
3
Lucan leads
6
EV charging
2
Lucan leads
9
Library & community centre
2
Lucan leads
858
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
98
Rathfarnham 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
Dublinlower is better
17m · ~35 rush
Rathfarnham leads
110m · ~125 rush
Waterfordlower is better
118m · ~130 rush
Lucan leads
132m · ~150 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Lucan leads
133m · ~155 rush
Galwaylower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Lucan leads
171m · ~195 rush
Corklower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Lucan leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
3.4
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.1
Rathfarnham leads
Lucan · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
0Lucan HeightsBelow average
+1Lucan HeightsAbove average
+2Lucan-eskerAbove average
+3Lucan-st. HelensAbove average
+4Lucan-eskerAffluent
+6Lucan-st. HelensAffluent
Rathfarnham · 16 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+4Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+5Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+7Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+7Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+8Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+9Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+10Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+11Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
49.5%
Third-level educated
59.2%
Rathfarnham leads
45.0%
Professional class
61.6%
Rathfarnham leads
8.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
5.7%
Rathfarnham leads
71.1%
Owner-occupier
84.6%
Rathfarnham leads
21.4%
Private rental
12.9%
5.0%
Social housing (LA)
2.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K78 / D14

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Lucan → K78, Rathfarnham → D14); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

70/100
Quality of Life
71/100
Rathfarnham leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (K78 / D14) 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.

LucanRathfarnhamOverall (avg)
Safety70487160
Affordability5910
Infrastructure93100
Family6975
Education7386
Environment8474
Economic6790
020406080100020406080100
#18
National ranklower is better
#10
Rathfarnham leads
#6
County ranklower is better
#2
Rathfarnham leads
48/100
Safety
60/100
Rathfarnham leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
60.2
Rathfarnham 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.
Rathfarnham Affluent+7.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Churchtown-landscape +12 (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 178 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Lucan

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.