Town comparison · Lucan vs Swords

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Lucan or Swords?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Lucan, Co. Dublin · K78 · 55,785 people | Swords, Co. Fingal · K67 · 38,308 people

Lucan and Swords are closely matched. Each leads on 2 of the 7 dimensions, with 3 level.

Lucan leads on
affluenceeducation levels
Swords leads on
safetyaffordability
19925

Lucan aheadlevel or not comparableSwords ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
LucanSwords
iLucan sits in K78, 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.

Outlines are each town’s CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

Lucan
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.

55,785
Population
38,308

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€460k
Median sale pricelower is better
€436k
Swords leads
€401k – €520k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€361k – €495k
1,217
Sales (24m)
1,098
+5.5%
Price momentum (YoY)
+6.9%
30.6%
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.

16 prim · 7 sec
Schools
12 prim · 5 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
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
43
Creches
40
Lucan leads
2
GP practices
5
Swords leads
9
Pharmacies
12
Swords leads
3
Hospitals
1
Lucan leads
169
Bus stops
125
Lucan leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
0
Lucan leads
12
Gyms & leisure
17
Swords leads
29
Parks & playgrounds
28
Lucan leads
93
Sports pitches
77
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
21
Swords leads
10
Cafés
17
Swords leads
8
Pubs & bars
18
Swords leads
19
Takeaways
28
Swords leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
1
Swords leads
1,138
Residents per venuelower is better
451
Swords leads
#33 of 65 large towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#20 of 65 large towns
Swords leads

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
15
Swords leads
11
Convenience shops
14
Swords leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
6
Swords leads
5
Banks
7
Swords leads
3
Post offices
2
Lucan leads
9
Hairdressers
22
Swords leads
2
Dentists
5
Swords leads
2
Vets
3
Swords leads
4
Filling stations
5
Swords leads
6
EV charging
8
Swords leads
9
Library & community centre
7
Lucan leads
858
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
408
Swords 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
110m · ~125 rush
Waterfordlower is better
127m · ~140 rush
Lucan leads
132m · ~150 rush
Limericklower is better
148m · ~165 rush
Lucan leads
133m · ~155 rush
Galwaylower is better
153m · ~175 rush
Lucan leads
171m · ~195 rush
Corklower is better
187m · ~210 rush
Lucan leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
3.4
Affluence (Pobal HP)
1.6
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
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
49.5%
Third-level educated
40.5%
Lucan leads
45.0%
Professional class
39.9%
Lucan leads
8.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.7%
Swords leads
71.1%
Owner-occupier
72.2%
Swords leads
21.4%
Private rental
21.2%
5.0%
Social housing (LA)
5.4%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K78 / K67

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Lucan → K78, Swords → K67); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

70/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Lucan leads

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

LucanSwordsOverall (avg)
Safety70486659
Affordability5966
Infrastructure9375
Family6967
Education7356
Environment8474
Economic6762
020406080100020406080100
#18
National ranklower is better
#35
Lucan leads
#6
County ranklower is better
#10
Lucan leads
48/100
Safety
59/100
Swords leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
61.8
Swords 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.
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 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 294 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.